Today I’m featuring a portrait of Corostomir that was sketched in pencil by an artist friend of mine, and which I scanned and digitally colored. Corostomir is the primary Point-of-View character of my up-coming release, Kindred of the Sea, and you can see the Cover Reveal for that here.

Corostomir is the asexual partner of Aderan, who is the secondary Point-of-View character in Kindred of the Sea. Their relationship is completely asexual. It’s mostly platonic with perhaps a dash of romance, and it’s very intimate and affectionate. Corostomir and Aderan met as boys and have been together ever seen, and they share a deep love of the ocean. They joined the Valor Army and were regular footsoldiers until they were forced to defect or waste their lives in a useless war. Corostomir is an excellent swimmer, more of an endurance swimmer than a sprinter, and he is also the rider of the dragon Aglarath and, later, the dolphin-bonded of Arlas, a magical pink-peach dolphin from the planet Alaer.

Here’s a short excerpt from the very first chapter:

Corostomir’s gaze locked upon the elven forest with trepidation. How could two humans fight through the Land of the Five Rivers? According to legend, the Elethrians fought as no man could fight. Their powers, their arts, and their skills rendered them much stronger than any human; according to the legends, it took ten men to a single elf. Perhaps they could hold their own against the elves if the elves were the invaders, but it was hard for Corostomir to believe that even all the forces the Valor Alliance could call up would be able to take Elethri. The forest … it was so alien, so foreboding. It was a place that the elves could navigate effortlessly, a place to which they were born, a place that would camouflage them perfectly. Without being seen by human eyes, there could be hundreds of elves nestled in those trees, ready to rain arrows down upon them as they approached, and then, still unseen by the Valor Soldiers, those elves could retreat and fire again … or, really, whatever they chose. They could jump on them with flaming swords stretched out and cut down dozens of them to a single elf before the Valor Soldiers even knew what was happening.

Aderan clapped his friend on the shoulder. “What are you worrying about, Corostomir? Is it the forest again?”

“Of course,” said Corostomir. “Now that I see it, it’s worse than I thought, and I never thought we stood a chance at invading these Elethrians’ homeland. It’s not that I don’t think the cause is just. The cause is perfectly just. It’s just that they are so much stronger than we are. We should never have had an alliance with them in the first place; they’re almost nightmare creatures themselves.”

If any of that interests you, you can preorder Kindred of the Sea. The Kindle version will become available on June 24th.

And you can stay tuned for more art and quotes every weekend or so until release!

Preorder Kindred of the Sea

Areaer Novellas and Standalones