Please help me give a warm welcome to Author Ann Snizek today!
Book Title: Secret of the Shielded
Author: Ann Snizek
Release Date: March 9, 2013
Genre: YA Fantasy, Sci-Fi
Length: Over 75,000 Words
Publisher: Snow Flower Enterprises
Presented by: As You Wish Tours
BLURB
This brave band of spectacular friends must go on a horrendous journey to remove all threats to
the newly reclaimed throne. They will discover amazing new truths and face heart wrenching
choices. Who are the Philo birds singing about? How will their song play out in the lives of these
young people? Will it all be for nothing??
Song of the Philo birds:
Twelve companions all will travel
Eleven this song try to unravel
Ten don’t know which is the way
Nine are going to have to pay
Eight are wondering what they will find
Seven speak with mouth and mind
Six shall get a brand new name
Five will never be the same
Four the enemy will take
Three have choices they must make
Two have powers they must use
Or, One friend in death will lose.
EXCERPTS
Krissa sat up, instantly wide-awake. She gasped to catch her breath. This was not a
good thing. There were only two lines that stood out at the time was that one of her
What about all the other stuff? She would have to tell them all about it. Looking
over at the clock, she realized that breakfast would be ready before long, so she decided
to go ahead and get up. There wasn't enough time to get back to sleep anyway.
The palace held onto the night's stillness. Only a few servants and guards were
moving around as Krissa left her room. Normally she wouldn't consider herself a
"morning person", but the song she heard in her dream made it impossible to sit still. She
repeated it as she wandered about the palace without any goal.
"Twelve companions all will travel, Eleven this song try to unravel, Ten don't know
which is the way, Nine are going to have to pay," she mumbled as she turned a corner.
"Eight are wondering what they will find, Seven speak with mouth and mind, Six shall
get a brand new name, Five will never be the same…" She stepped out onto the rooftop
garden. It was so peaceful in the early morning light. "Four the enemy will take; Three
have choices they must make," she sighed. At least she wasn't the only one that would
have to make a decision. "Two have powers they must use or one friend in death will
lose." Krissa shuddered. Were they truly ready for all they were getting themselves into?
She walked over and sat on a bench. Well, obviously Krissa wouldn't figure this one out
"I'm sorry, it slipped my mind earlier," Krissa began talking to Phex silently, "but I
was wondering…What are 'flurm' and 'hmar'? I didn't understand those words."
Phex laughed a little jingling laugh, and Krissa couldn't help smiling. "Reza is a
hmar. If you were a Tunuftolate, you would be also. I believe you would say adolescent.
It doesn't fall in the same number of years as yours does," he explained. "Reza is sixteen
years old. She just became a hmar last year. Before that, she was a flurm. From birth
until reaching hmar, our young are flurm. I thought you had known Reza since you were
a flurm yourself." He sounded slightly confused.
"I have lost many memories," she told him sadly.
"Do not fear, Chosen One," he reassured her. "You are a Rue. It will come back to
you in time. Please tell your friends to remain as quiet as possible for some time, once
we enter the next chamber… our flurm are very shy to begin with, and most of us hmukt,
mature ones, have never seen humans before."
After about an hour of searching, they had circled around and found a cave within a
short ride from the injury site. Krissa had spotted the shadows, and Nester cried out in
relief. The original site they went to look at turned out to be worthless to them, so the
cave was a welcome sight for them all. Daisy Mae put her nose to the ground and sniffed
around the entrance before going in. Cautiously, she entered and the rest waited for her
to return, or call for them. Another ten minutes later and Daisy Mae came out wagging
her tail with her head up and tongue down.
They all dismounted and approached the cave mouth. Sealey pulled out his flashlight
"Not as fancy as our last lodging, but beats a tent." He walked in farther and
examined the cave as it opened up and led to three other rooms. "It has enough space to
bring the horses in. On top of that, the spring in the back is thermally heated. So, we will
"There's a stream just about twenty feet down the slope outside also. Plenty of cool
water for Rania," Nester said. "And plenty of dry timber for a fire."
"We better collect that quickly," Lonnie added. "It feels like it's going to rain tonight.
I can make a couple litters, one for Pin and one that should be able to carry Rania, if she
Khevin's shoes scuffed softly on the ground as he moved. The fire snapped and the
nighttime creatures sang to the night beyond the cave. Her sleeping friends made little to
no sound as they slumbered and the horses made occasional sounds. Krissa enjoyed the
quiet. It felt relaxing to be able to think without a lot of commotion around her. She
smiled her thanks to Khevin as he silently handed her the medicated drink. Looking into
the cup, Krissa sighed and swallowed it. Quickly, she focused on changing into the
dragon's shape before she could fall asleep. It seemed easier that time.
"What time is it?" Krissa asked Khevin.
He looked at his watch. "It's 1:23, why?"
"Just curious," she said. Krissa discovered that the bandages didn't transform with
her, but did mold to her new shape properly. It amazed her. Her clothes became her skin;
though it never affected the color… she always turned a soft lavender color.
She also noticed that while she still hurt, she could move somewhat. Carefully, she
made her way to the mouth of the cave and looked out. Though it was dark, she had no
problem knowing where things were. Not that she could see them, but she could hear
them. Perhaps it was some sort of echolocation… like bats.
Everyone stared at Krissa in expectation (OK, Lonnie just turned in her direction, but
he gave the impression of looking). She could feel the butterflies growing in her stomach
and grabbed at an offensive weed that had been by her side. "What should I try to do?"
Please thank Ann for joining us today! Please check out her series and other books which can be found on Amazon.com.
Keep Writing!
Jodie Pierce
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