About Heart Song

Written by K.L. Richardsson

Print Information:
208 pages / 55000 words / 5x8 trade paperback
ISBN: 978-1-60370-552-3, 1-60370-552-X

eBook Information:
146 pages / 55000 words
Available file types - html, lit, pdf, prc
ISBN: 978-1-60370-582-0, 1-60370-582-1

Genre: Fantasy

Age Range: 14 and up.

After a daring rescue, and the realization that Katjin and Mikael's empathic and physical bond isn't going to go away on its own, the two boys are exiled from the Clan Lands for training, accompanied by Katjin's sometimes-rival, sometimes-friendly cousin, Soren. As
Lowlanders and Clanfolk alike both fear and revile the demonic Shahi, all three of the boys are surprised to learn that that's their destination: the mythic lands of the Shahi, located over mountains that few dare to cross.

In the Shahi lands nothing is what they thought it would be. While most Shahi are magic users, none eat babies or breathe fire as the stories always told. Katjin and Mikael's taskmaster, Tai, however, could be one of the monsters of old, the way he tries to manage the psychic bond between Katjin and Mikael. As the boys strain against Tai's iron rule, they realize just how out of control their combined powers are, and how much they'll have to work together to control them. Before they can, though, word comes to the Shahi land of the whereabouts of Soren and Katjin's kidnapped clan, and the three boys rush off to try to save them. Can the boys overcome all of their doubts, or will their relationship work against them?

Sample

     Hoofbeats thundered around him, echoing in his ears until it was all he could hear. They reverberated off each other until Mikael couldn’t tell where the horses and their riders were coming from. All he could do was press his face into Katjin’s back and hope that Shanti could outrun the cavalry.

Shanti was an amazing horse, one of the best the Clan had ever bred. The cavalry, though, also rode some of the finest Clan horses, and that could be a problem.

So Mikael tried to imagine himself as light as a bird, tried not to breathe, and let Shanti carry them away to safety.

Around the storm of hoofs, he could hear the rush of blood roaring. He squeezed Katjin tighter and tighter, trying to do something. His body demanded that he act, that he act now, but he wasn’t sure what he could do. It wasn’t like he could get off Shanti’s back and push her any faster.

He hated riding. He hated horses. He hated being chased. He hated the thought of the cavalry, that they’d kidnap him again and attempt to—attempt to— He shuddered. He wasn’t going to think about that now, not when they were almost free.

“Why didn’t you bring another horse?” Mikael wheezed into Katjin’s ear. “Silly to risk Shanti like that…”

“Why didn’t you wait for me to rescue you?” Katjin yelled back into the wind. His grip on Mik’s arms tightened.

“Can’t leave you to have all the fun,” was all Mikael could get out. Katjin’s responding snort lightened his mood a little bit.

This wasn’t exactly what he’d had in mind, when he’d sung the aiding song at Katjin all those moons ago. Then again, the life of a renegade ‘path wasn’t exactly one he would’ve chosen either…