The Beacon Campaigns – Book One

The Lady of Souls

Cover for “The Lady of Souls” by Jenn Gott

What does it mean to be a hero?

For Praxis Fellows, greatness has always been a given. But life doesn’t always go according to plan, and now she finds herself half a world away from where she started. Banned from using magic, employed by the son of a railroad baron to realize a dead man’s dreams, Praxis’s life has become a sort of living death.

Kaedrich Mannly has never done anything of consequence. As the newest member of the household staff of Brindlewood Hall, his role is simple: stay out of sight and do as he’s told. It’s a far cry from the dreams of his childhood, when he and his twin would rule their imaginary kingdom in the forest, but even if he was brave enough to take on the hero’s role these days, there’s too much at stake for him to risk stepping out of his narrow comfort zone.

When a mysterious beast attacks the local village, both Praxis and Kaedrich end up with more than they bargained for. Soon they find themselves bound together on a quest to discover the source of a growing breach between the land of the living and the dead, on a journey that will take them far beyond the walls of their quiet lives—if they have the nerve to see it through. Because as they both soon realize, saving the world isn’t quite the fate that they’d dreamed it would be.

Chapter One

The bundle in her hands was already struggling as she stepped out the front door. Leathery wings slipped through twiggy fingers, thrashing as though it could lift them both up through sheer force of will. “Hush now,” she said over the chittering. “Go on then.” Praxis threw the mass into the air, tipping her head back to watch as it unfurled, a brilliant chaos of iridescent blue and silver. In the harsh morning sun its wings flashed for only an instant, and then with a squeak it was gone, zooming over the spiral rooftops of the great house. “And don’t bring back any canaries this time!” Praxis shouted after it. She listened as a caw to rival those of the largest birds of prey drifted back down over her, and then she shook her head. She rapped her knuckles on the doorframe behind her. “All right, let’s get this over with.”

On cue, the errand boy stumbled over the threshold into the morning light. His arms were loaded down with empty crates and boxes, and a large wire cage was strapped to his back. Wide leather belts wrapped themselves several times around his chest and shoulders. He glared at Praxis as she pulled a pair of wire-rimmed spectacles out of her pocket and slipped them primly over her eyes. The lenses were tinted so dark that they looked black, and not for the first time, the errand boy wondered how it was that Praxis saw out of them at all. She donned a gentleman’s bowler hat, turned up the collar of her slate-blue overcoat, and set off down the steps, leaving the errand boy to struggle with closing the door on his own.

Read More

More in the series

Cover of “Fixing Fate” by Jenn Gott

Book 2

Cover of “Heart’s Blood” by Jenn Gott

Book 3

Cover of “Whispers of the Ice” by Jenn Gott

Book 4

To Be Announced

Book 5

To Be Announced

Book 6