It's ALIVE!!!!!!!

It has been a looooooooooong and sometimes hair-pulling process, but book 4 in the Protectors Saga is finally done...AND DONE! It's available for download at Smashwords (link posted below), and should be up for download at Barnes and Noble for Nook in just a day or two. I really hope all of you that have been patiently waiting and cheering me on enjoy it! Your opinions and reviews are always more than welcome. Thanks again for reading! It is now time to give myself a small pat on the back and one big glass of tequila!
~Paige

https://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/PaigeDooling

The 4th Book Lives!!!!!

There has been a name change for my 4th book. If you read this blog, then you know the 4th book in The Protectors Saga was tentatively going to be called 'Shattered Glass', but I never really formed a lasting connection to the name, and more importantly, I was not feeling how the cover was coming along - tedium and frustration do not make a happy little cover maker. Therefore, the name has been changed to 'Demon's Gate' and I'm actually diggin the cover. Despite all the wonderful suggestions I got, I just could not make them work. Photoshop and I were definitely having a bit of a tussle - it won because no matter how many four letter words I threw at it, it just refused to surrender to my demands.
So, for my wonderful readers I am giving you a preview of the cover for the 4th book - soon to be released once I get all the tedious and frustrating formatting done (something I unfortunately cannot bail on)!

Dravery - I shall call it!

This might not be much of a news flash, but I love Draven! Sometimes I stay up to all hours of the night imagining conversations between him and Avery. And despite the fact that I actually write the story and know when he's going to show up - I get super excited knowing I get to write a Draven scene! It's like my fictional writer's Disneyland (I'm also a ginormous fan of Disney for anyone who didn't know).
So, for any of my readers who are as big a fan of DravenxAvery as I am, I decided to post a little snippet of Dravery below. Just a little teaser before the book comes out. Fingers crossed for a Sept. date! To my readers and followers...thank you...I love you!
~Paige

                A small smile began to form on the side of Draven’s mouth, “Are you…” he stood up from the table and took a few steps towards Avery, “jealous.”

                Avery felt her face redden, “No!” She asserted, standing up straight.

                Draven stepped up to Avery and leaned one of his arms against the bookcase, right next to her head, so that their faces were only a few inches apart, “Did you ride all the way over here, at this time of night,” his smile widened, “because you saw me with another woman?”

                Obviously the room wasn’t big enough for them to not end up cramped together. At this proximity it was hard for Avery to remember why they couldn’t be together. She tilted her head up just a fraction of an inch, her breathing becoming frantic. Draven’s smile disappeared and his eyes flickered down to her lips. Avery blinked her eyes, trying to focus on the reason she had come, and telling herself that no matter how much she may want Draven, nothing would change the fact that he was part Demon and she was a Protector.

Music Monday - I won't surrender so I won't stop!

This Music Monday is devoted to the rhythmically cheerful and lyrically poetic genius of a song Sweet Disposition by The Temper Trap. I love this song for so many different reasons that it's impossible to go into. I've been using it to write Protector scenes since the 1st book. It's great for writing group scenes with all five girls. It's fun, it's beautiful, and it keeps me going!
A moment of love
A dream
A laugh
A kiss
A cry
Our rights
Our wrongs
If these lyrics don't speak for the Protectors, then I don't know what song would. Although, honestly, I think the lyrics speak for any person who loves and lives life to the fullest. So, listen to it and then go off and have your own little moment of reckless abandon. And remember, you 're all wonderful...I love you!

I'll work, but I refuse to whistle!

I think the hardest thing about being an author, especially a self-published one is the necessity to have a day job. Like most of society, I actually have bills I have to pay, and money is needed for those bills (show of hands for those who feel the barter system needs to make a comeback). Anyways, working for the public school system allows me a nice summer break, something I intended to use to finish up my 4th book. Sadly, there were some major family issues that also arose over the summer, and pretty much all of July was taken over by it. I'd like to file a formal protest with Father Time and get my month back! I'm not even kidding, I will bitch slap that wrinkle giving patriarch! But anyways, because of aforementioned lack of July and ongoing family matters I fear the next book shall not be out by the allotted time I had given myself - which was the end of August. And to add to my frustration, as much as I do love teaching, it is EXHAUSTING! I have to nap everyday, not just because it is one of my favorite things to do (a good nap is true bliss), but also because if I don't I'm a walking zombie for the remainder of the day - no good for anything except a horror movie. I'm still going to try to get an hour or two of writing/editing/etc a day in. I am itching to get the next book in The Protector's Saga out there. So, my new deadline, that I am fingers crossed, clutching a four leaf clover, while knocking on wood hoping that I will make is going to be mid to late Sept.
I would just like to give a GIANT thank you to anyone who has read and enjoyed the books up till now. And it is for all of you that I keep pushing along. You're wonderful, I love you...thank you!

To Mordor young Hobbits...

If you didn't know it or couldn't guess from my proclivity to write "epic" fantasy, I am a HUGE Lord of the Rings fan...LOTR for the true Ringlings. And yes, I have an adored fake One Ring that I sometimes wear and pretend I'm questing to Mordor. Something that's not hard to do in the 110 degree heat of Arizona.
As a fan, I truly love this vid and only dream about ever being talented enough to come up with something like it.

Music Monday - If you're the Emperor, I'm the Empress!

EMPIRE OF THE SUN - Walking on a Dream

If you've never heard of this group you NEED to listen to them, and if you have heard of them, well then good for you! They're a bit alternative so they're not gonna float everyone's boat, but they definitely float my over-sized badass battleship. It helps that they remind me a little of Bowie (my fantasy master - the Goblin King of my heart!)
I love having this playing when I'm writing filler scenes...or a more literary polite way to say it is, scenes that don't require as much emotion. It's just a fun song. A good writing song and a good road trip song.
Before you listen I've written down the little chorus bit for you. I'm doing this because when I first heard the song I had no idea what he was actually saying, and like all of us do - I made up my own lyrics. But it's always nice to know what exactly the artist meant to portray (even if you end up still using your lyrics).You'll know the part I'm talking about while moving your shoulders along to the infectious beat!
Lyrics-

Is it brand new when two people become one

I can feel it when two people become one

Cover Me...Yellow? Green? Taupe?

Hello friends and readers!!! 
I'm seeking your help. My 4th book in The Protectors Saga is nearing completion. A lot of stuff still needs to be done, though, like designing the cover. This is where I need your help. If you read my books, you know there's usually a color theme to the covers. The first book was purple, the second was blue, and the third was red. I would love to hear your ideas about color palette's or images!
The book is tentatively called Shattered Image, but that may change depending on my mood.
Now get suggesting, Lovelies!

Book 1

Book 2

Book 3

Supernatural Comic-Con run-down

Let Another Season of Pain Begin

First off, I'd like to start by saying I was not actually at Comic-Con. It's taken me a whole box of tissues and some very inexpensive wine coolers to deal with this fact, so please let's just not bring it up again. Any information I have is taken from hours of youtube footage watching and first hand reports by people much cooler and luckier than I!
Now...onto my thoughts -

1) Sam's recuring love interest

•       I must admit I'm torn on this one. A part of me really wants to see Sam have a life (or at least as much of a life as he can have) without Dean. All the Sam/love interest episodes I ended up really liking, except for Ruby, but I'll call that Sam/lust/crazy not Sam/love. Of course, it would suck to see Sam dipping his toes into the waters of happiness only to have the waters dry up and his toes left to prune. I hated the Dean/Lisa storyline...Ick! Memory erase please! However, I've always felt like Sam could be the one to handle a home life better than Dean, to let other people in, and not feel the need to jump in a badass muscle car and battle evil. There's always been something keeping him in it..revenge for Jess...guilt over his dad...trying to save Dean from hell...revenge on Lillith...guilt over releasing Satan...guilt over his soul-less self...stopping the Leviathans and controlling his crazy...and of course, most importantly, not wanting to leave Dean hunting alone. Now without Dean and all their battles fought there's nothing really keeping him in the hunting lifestyle. In conclusion, I'm gonna wait and see how much I actually like this new girl (If she was anything like a hetero Charlie I'd be sold), and how they handle the storyline. We...shall...see

2) Dean in Purgatory

• I think it was Carver who said that Dean would be getting out of Purgatory fairly quick and it was given away that he would be "saved" by a Vampire named Benny, who is both dark and dangerous and a recurring character. Personally, after sorting through my feelings, I think I'm fine with this...as long as they make Benny a likeable and interesting character. Like Crowley, he may be evil, but you just can't help liking him! This could potentially be good.

 3) CAS!

• There wasn't much information given about Cas for the upcoming season, except that he's not going to be the one to rescue Dean from Purgatory. Again, this causes mixed emotions. I would love to have Cas be the one to save Dean, simply because I love to see his human, protective of his Winchester's side. On the other hand, Cas already saved both Dean and Sam from hell once. They can't just keep using him as the go-to fallback for a Winchester in trouble. Plus, it seems like, from what Misha Collins has said, all the Cas scenes so far have been filmed in Purgatory. He's trapped there with Dean (not sure if their scenes are together) and just trying to survive. Misha said he's not even sure if Cas survives Purgatory, but for my own emotional well being I'm going to assume he does. It could be very interesting or it could be frustrating. So, again depending on how they handle Cas and his storyline, I'll suspend judgement. 

 4) Other Suff

• Jim Beaver was at the panel, but didn't really give away any clues as to whether Bobby was returning. MIXED EMOTIONS ALERT: I love, love, love, love my Bobby, but this dying and coming back is getting old. You have to make death impactfull, make it matter, and it just doesn't hit you as hard if you're saying, 'Ah, it don't matter, they'll just bring him back in a few eps anyway. Oh look, a Crossroads Demon!'
• Apparently they're jumping a year into the future. A good move considering Sam is supposed to be making steps in moving on. I know, it still doesn't seem like enough time to go by for me either. 
• Super hoping there's more Kevin this season - so many hearts for him! And another guest stint for Charlie or Chuck would be the sprinkles on my cupcake!
• I know it's been asked for and questioned to death and I know the actors/writers/producers keep telling up to just let it go, but I want the SAMULET back. I can't help it! I'm a sappy little fan-girl, dammit!
• Hoping the "Big Bad" is something better than the Leviathans. I just wasn't too keen on them as far as villains go. I've always been a fan of the monster of the week. My favorite time is when the boys are together, hunting something evil, and saving a few people...that's my happy time!

Music Monday ....What if I wanna be the Pirate AND the Princess?

 So, one of my big writing habits is listening to the same song over and over again. It's usually for a scene or perhaps a chapter. It's like a theme song for my characters and situations. Every Monday I'm gonna post my song of the moment to this blog...just give anyone who may be interested a little insight into my writing. I'll also give the briefest description of the scene I'm working on...wouldn't want too give too much away, or bore...it could go either way.
WARNING: Some of the songs may be incredibly stupid, grotesquely overplayed, or obnoxiously catchy. Risk of the song annoyingly playing throughout your head for the rest of the day is a large possibility. LISTEN AT YOUR OWN RISK!
Now that we've gotten that out of the way, my first ever MUSIC MONDAY song is I'm a Pirate, You're a Princess by PlayRadioPlay!
The scene I've been writing today is a pretty light scene between all 5 Protectors that transitions into another light scene between Avery and Jade. The vibe of the song puts me in a cheerful state of mind, without getting me too pumped. If I'm up and dancing around I'm obviously not going to be writing.
Sorry the vids a bit crap quality...it's the best I could find...le sigh.

SHELTER SUNDAY - For the love of shelter dogs!!!

One thing you might not know about me is that I volunteer at a no-kill animal shelter almost every Saturday with my Mom. I love being around the animals and selfishly it makes me feel good about myself. I can't help it, I'm only human :)
My three wonderful dogs (Fable, Frost, and Brahms) are all used dogs themselves, and I couldn't love them more. There's something special about a shelter dog. You're giving them a second chance at a happy ending and boy do they love you for it. So, I've decided every Sunday I'll dedicate a little blog post to some of the shelter dogs I have the joy to play with every week, and just maybe help give a little awareness to what truly good pets these animals can make. I hope they can bring a smile to your face just as they do to mine.
As of right now I'm only gonna be putting up pics of dogs. The main reason for this is because I'm horribly, grotesquely, pathetically allergic to cats, but if I ever decide to pop a few Benadryl I promise to get some cat pics. As I wrote that sentence I realized I could just send my non-allergic mother into the cattery. So, scratch that and rewind...cat pics will follow in the upcoming weeks.

Always happy - I could learn a thing or two from her!

My new besties! And, yes, I'm gonna make them drive me everywhere. Hope they have their license (Haha, it's a pun, get it?!) I have many more folks...prepare yourselves.

Hand + Cage = Frustration!

Mini Lassie! Now all I need is a well to fall down so she can rescue me.

Ignore the hair on my Mom's pants...hazards of the job...anyone wanna call Mike Rowe?

Take me home or I shall judge you!

So well behaved...until I turn my back!

EWOK!!!! Somebody try to communicate in "EWOKESE"

They're seriously watching me struggle after an invading pebble in my shoe rendered me lame for a moment

And I end with my favorite photo

1 Chapter is better than none...right?

As promised, here is the rest of Chapter 1...I hope you all enjoy! A family emergency has delayed some of the editing for the 4th book in The Protectors Saga, but I'm still hoping to have it out 
by the end of summer *fingers crossed*

That’s exactly where Avery wanted to be…out of this conversation. She dismissively waved her hand at Jade and turned to continue back to the village. They weren’t that far out into the woods, only a ten minute walk back to Havyn, but having to listen to Jade continue spouting on about the recklessness of attempting to use their powers made the walk seem like hours to Avery. As they entered into the village with Jade still lecturing on, Avery couldn’t take it anymore.

                “Alright, enough!” Avery shouted, lifting her hands up to her ears, “Your voice is seriously becoming a cheese grater on my brain!”

                Jade opened up her up her mouth in a tiny half smile, as if Avery’s aggravation amused her.

                “You want me safe, I get it.” Avery said, and she did get it. In truth, she knew that Jade wanted to find out if the Emperor was telling the truth or not, maybe even more so than Avery did, but there was no way she was going to agree to do anything that would put Avery in danger, and after the Emperor and the battle at Blackmore, where Avery had to use her power to help stop the Emperor’s army from sacking the kingdom, an action that left Avery unconscious for days, Jade viewed their powers as a kind of dangerous parasite they were stuck with, especially Avery and her power of energy. Avery understood where Jade was coming from, but sometimes her overprotective nature was a real pain in the ass.

                Skylar laughed uncomfortably, “How about a group hug to break up all this tension.”

                Both Avery and Jade looked at Skylar like she had gone nuts, as Bunny tried to suppress a giggle.

                Avery took a breath and shook her head, composing herself, “I’ll see you two tomorrow at training.” She told Skylar and Bunny before they had a chance to annoy her further.

                The two girls got the hint and said their goodbyes, taking off towards their homes.

                Once they were gone, Avery calmly said to Jade, “I don’t want to fight about this anymore. I still think we need to talk about it,” she made clear, “but I’m just too tired to keep fighting with you.”

                Jade appeared like she could definitely keep arguing, but she nodded her head and bit down on her lips, agreeing with Avery.

                “Look,” Avery said, feeling better now that Jade had agreed to stop arguing, “let’s just forget about this whole Emperor thing for a day or two.” Jade smiled, liking that idea, “Besides,” Avery added, “it’s probably the last thing my parents want discussed at the dinner table.”

                Jade grimaced, taking in a sharp intake of breath, “Yeah, about dinner,” Avery knew what Jade was going to say before she even said it, “I’m not gonna be able to make it tonight.”

                Avery also knew the reason she would be missing dinner, but decided to ask anyway, if only to put Jade on the spot, “Why?”

                Jade looked as uncomfortable as Avery had wanted her to feel, “I’ve got…um, I’ve just,” she scratched at the back of her head, “I’ve got things to do.”

                Avery knew full well the only thing Jade was going to be doing later was Prince Eryk. Jade and the Fairy Prince had been having a not so secret affair ever since Avery had made the decision to stay on Orcatia. Jade didn’t talk about Eryk much, mainly due to the fact that she knew how much Avery disapproved of their relationship. It wasn’t that Avery didn’t like Eryk, she could easily see how much the Prince loved Jade, it was more that Avery didn’t want the King and Queen of the Fairies pissed at the Protectors, but Avery had promised Jade that she only had to stay away from Eryk till the Emperor was defeated, and Avery had stayed true to her word, although it caused her constant anxiety.

                “There’s no point in trying to come up with a lie.” Avery sighed, “I know you’re skipping dinner to meet up with your winged boyfriend.”

                Jade tilted her head, like a little kid who had just been scolded, “We’re being discreet.”

                Avery snorted. Jade never had any talent for being discreet, and her rendezvous with Prince Eryk were no different. Her relationship with him was whispered about all throughout the village, and Avery suspected the kingdom, as well. She had not received any threatening letters from King Audwode or Queen Vaniana as of yet, but she thought it impossible that they couldn’t know.

                “My own mother doesn’t concern herself with my love life as much as you.” Jade joked, “Stop worrying. Everything is going to be fine.” Jade tried to assure her, picking up Avery’s hand in her own and giving it a squeeze.

                Taking her hand back from Jade, Avery couldn’t help but think back to when they were ten years old and Jade had gotten her hands on some fireworks. When Avery had brought up that they maybe shouldn’t light them without any adult supervision around, Jade had told her, ‘Relax, everything’s going to be fine’. They had ended up not only lighting Avery’s favorite jacket on fire, but also burning down a good portion of the cacti in the field where they lit the fireworks off. When Avery’s parents had found out, they made Avery volunteer for the park service that entire summer. While she picked up trash in the hundred degree heat, Jade, whose parents didn’t take quite as much of a disciplinary interest in their daughter as Avery’s parents did, ran around town all summer on her skateboard, annoying the local residents. Then there was that time in the eighth grade, when Jade had talked her into skipping school for the first time. ‘Everything’s gonna be fine,’ is what Jade had said to her right before Avery’s father had caught them walking down the street in the middle of the school day. Avery had been grounded for a week, while Jade’s parents were so used to Jade ditching they didn’t even bother to bring up the incident. Then, just a few months before they had come to Orcatia, Jade had started fooling around with the boyfriend of Avery’s biology lab partner, Crystal Simms. When Avery had pleaded with Jade to stop messing around with the boy, Jade had told her, ‘Chill out, Captain Love, everything’s going to be fine’. Of course, as usual, nothing was fine. Crystal found Jade and her boyfriend friskily going at each other in the biology closet and was so pissed at Avery for not telling her about it that she purposely blew her half of their lab grade, leaving Avery with the first D of her life. Jade, who Crystal was understandably too scared of to do anything to, got away clean, moving on to a new guy to string along.

                With all of these memories going through her head, Avery asked Jade, “Why is it that whenever you say, ‘Everything’s going to be fine’, nothing is fine?”

                “That’s so not true.” Jade shook her head, looking confused.

                “Oh, it may not be true for you,” Avery said, feeling more and more heated by her lingering memories, “since you never seem to suffer any consequences. You get away with everything! It’s everyone else that has to deal with fallout of shit!”

                Jade had obviously not been expecting Avery’s anger, because she looked like someone had just thrown a bucket of ice water in her face, “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” she said, lifting up her hands, palms facing outward, “you need to put the brakes on your venom! Don’t take it out on me just because you’re having issues.”

                Avery scrunched up her face, “What are you talking ab…”

                “I’m talking about Draven.” Jade cut Avery off, “I’m talking about the fact that you’re all moody and PMS-ing because Eryk and I are happy and together, and you’ve barely spoken to your Demon creep in three months!”

                Avery took in an involuntary gasp. She couldn’t believe Jade had gone there. It was so harsh, but what bothered her even more is that it was so right. Avery had only seen Draven once since the Emperor was defeated, and it was a meeting strictly about business, attended by all the Protectors, and neither Avery nor Draven could look the other one in the eyes for more than a few seconds.

                “Fine,” Avery exhaled in a high-pitched tone, “that’s fine,” she turned around to stomp back to her house, “go and have a good time with your fly boy, I don’t even care anymore.”

                “Avery!” Jade called to her, but didn’t run after her, “Avery, don’t be so sensitive! You should be glad you’ve only seen him once…he’s a dick!”

                Clenching, her fists together tightly, it took all of Avery’s strength not to turn around and tell Jade to go screw herself.

                When Avery got home she slammed the door shut so hard that Cinder, who had been sitting on the floor, brushing Romeo the cat, gave a startled scream and jumped. The cat made a dash for underneath the sofa.

                “Sorry, Cin.” Avery said, not really sounding sorry.

                “Is everything alright?” Avery’s mother asked, coming out from around the kitchen.

                Avery cocked one eyebrow up at her mother, as if to say, ‘does everything look like it’s fine?’

                “Do you want to talk about it?” Her mother pulled out one of the chairs around the dining table and motioned for Avery to sit down.

                Instead, Avery remained standing in the entryway, staring down at Cinder trying to coax Romeo out from under the sofa. Avery felt that if she were to talk about what was bothering her, it would only put her in an even worse mood, and that was something she didn’t want entering her house. This place was her sanctuary, with Cinder, and her pets, and her parents. She still wasn’t quite sure if the root of her problem was Jade related, or Draven related, or Protector related, but whatever it was, she was going to keep it to herself.

                “I’m going up to my room.” She told her mother, hoping to shake off some of her moodiness and anger before having to deal with her family, “Call me when dinner’s ready.”

                After a nice hot shower, a good hour long nap, and a meal of roasted chicken and vegetables, Avery’s mood had greatly improved. It helped that her family kept all dinner conversation away from not only the day’s events, but from anything involving the Protectors in any way. Instead, Cinder gave a fifteen minute step-by-step tutorial on how to grow the perfect corn, something a friend’s father had showed her that day. For her mother’s part, she talked about spilling strawberry jam all over the kitchen floor and having it primarily cleaned up by their three dogs. Her father talked about working on the crops in the field and how much richer the soil seemed this year, and all the while Avery didn’t say a thing, she just listened and smiled, happy to be in her sanctuary.

                Later that night, after slipping on her beloved Batman pajamas, Avery stepped outside onto her balcony. The warm May air surrounded her like a blanket. She couldn’t help herself from thinking about what Jade had said earlier. Avery did miss Draven. They had both made the choice that they couldn’t be together, but that didn’t stop her from missing him, even if she told herself not to. There was truth to what Jade said, one of the reasons Jade and Eryk’s relationship bothered her so much was because she was jealous. Jade could be with the person she loved and Avery couldn’t.

                “Dammit” Avery cursed under her breath, ripping at an overhanging vine leaf. She hated that Jade was right, and she hated even more that she would probably have to apologize to Jade.

                Just as Avery was about to turn around and go back inside, she heard a loud laugh coming from down in the village. Avery would know that laugh anywhere. That was Jade’s laugh; half guffaw and half chuckle, a laugh of pure happiness. Soon, it was joined by a deeper and softer laugh, a male’s laugh. Avery leaned over her balcony and scanned the village floor. There, in the bright moonlight she spotted Jade and Eryk, running from the back door of Jade’s house towards the forest. Mid-way to their destination Jade jumped on Eryk’s back, wrapping her slender legs around his torso. He continued running, only stopping when Jade arched herself forward, catching Eryk’s mouth in her own. He stumbled slightly as he tried to kiss her back, causing both of them to once again break into laughter.

                “So glad they’re being discreet.” Avery grumbled, tossing the leaf she had ripped off of the vine in Jade and Eryk’s general direction.

                As she watched them disappear into the forest together Avery came to two conclusions. One, although she may be jealous of their relationship, the main problem she had with Jade and Eryk as a couple was definitely the fact that it could seriously screw the Protectors, and two, there was no way in hell she was going to apologize to Jade.

A Wee Little Sample

Here are the first 5 pages of book 4 in the Protector's Saga, tentatively called 'Shattered Image'. I'm thinking of posting the rest of chapter 1 sometime in the coming week. I hope you all enjoy and I wuv y'all!! ;)

Chapter 1

The troll’s club slammed into Avery’s stomach, sending her soaring backwards and crashing into a large Oak tree. Avery heard a loud crack and wasn’t sure if it was from the tree or her back. Sliding down the tree, Avery landed in a squatting position on the ground. She shook her head vigorously, trying to regain the senses that had been knocked out of her and looked up in time to see the troll begin to stride towards her, his dangerous club dragging behind him. He stepped over the body of another troll Avery had dispatched only moments before.

                Gripping her sword tightly, Avery readied herself for the troll’s attack. When he was only a few feet from her, the troll suddenly stopped, his eyes widened and his mouth slacked open. He reached around towards his back, and then fell to the ground dead. Avery saw Jade’s sword sticking out from the center of the troll’s spine. Jade was standing behind the troll, her body still slightly arched forward from throwing her sword. Avery glanced to her right and spotted Sasha and Skylar taking down the last remaining troll with their crossbows.

                “Are you alright?” Jade asked, walking over and stretching out her hand for Avery.

                Avery grabbed onto Jade’s hand and allowed herself to be pulled up, “Peachy.” she said sarcastically, massaging her sore shoulder.

                “This blows.” Jade grumbled, kicking at one of the dead trolls.

                “What does?” Avery asked. Knowing Jade, Avery wasn’t sure if she was referring to the minor beating they had just taken, or the fact that it was over so quickly.

                Jade gave the troll another quick kick, “These trolls attacked us. You’d think they would at least put up a good fight…that was pathetic.”

                Avery sighed, thinking she should have known it would be the latter, “Well, if you want a real fight…” Avery began, but was immediately interrupted by Jade.

                “Just stop!” Jade snapped, pointing her finger at Avery, “We are not having this conversation again.”

                It was a conversation they had had over a dozen times. During the final battle with the Emperor, in his dying moments he had told the Protectors that there was something far worse he out there, something that was coming for them. Ever since then Avery had wanted to search for the being the Emperor had been talking about. Gumptin hadn’t been able to find out anything from the Elementals, or any of his other magical contacts. He said there were only three places where the Protectors might be able to find some answers. One of the places was at the Temple of the Ancients, where the Council of the Ancients met. It was on the top of Mount Aural, halfway across the world. The second choice the Protectors had was to cross the Wasted Desert, where Gumptin said any creature that used dark magic would have been at some point in their life. Finally, Gumptin told them they could take a trip to the Underworld and question its inhabitants. However, Gumptin also made it very clear that he didn’t think the girls were ready for any of the suggestions, and he was adamantly against the idea of them taking any journey. To Avery’s great surprise, Jade had agreed with Gumptin, and for the past three months since the Emperor’s death she and Jade had continued to argue about it. Avery wanted to find out who the Emperor was talking about before they had a chance to cause any problems, while she also selfishly maintained the hope that if the Protectors killed them then they could return home to Earth. Jade continued to argue that Gumptin was right, that it was too dangerous, they weren’t ready, and Avery was only going to get herself killed.

                Avery was at her wit’s end trying to have a rational conversation with Jade on the topic, “I don’t understand your reluctance to at least agree that we should find who the Emperor was talking about.”

                “We’re not ready.” Jade said sharply, “Sasha, back me up.”

                Avery turned and saw Sasha, Skylar, and Bunny walking up behind them. Skylar had a small cut on her cheek, and blue troll blood staining her white cotton tunic. Bunny was rubbing at her hand like she had injured it during the skirmish.

                If Jade had been hoping that Sasha would support her, she had another thing coming, “Oh, is my opinion actually going to count for something now.” Sasha complained as the other girls all rolled their eyes.

                “Spare us, Sasha.” Avery grumbled.

                As sick as Avery was about arguing with Jade, she was even sicker of having to listen to Sasha constantly moaning about the fact that they were still stuck on Orcatia.

                “I’m sorry if my complete unhappiness is inconvenient for you, Avery.” Sasha snapped.

                “Oh God,” Jade grumbled, “I’m sorry I even asked you. Just shut up and go play Drama Queen somewhere else.”

                Sasha threw her hands up in Drama Queen frustration and began stomping back off to the village.

                “I’m sorry,” Bunny spoke up, grabbing the rest of the girls attention, who had been getting a kick out of watching Sasha almost trip over her own feet as she stormed away, “I’m sorry, but I kind of agree with what Jade is saying about us not being ready.”

                “Oh, shut up, Bunny,” Jade began, “no one asked…” she stopped when she realized that Bunny was actually agreeing with her.

                As both Avery and Jade stared at her with their mouths open, Bunny explained, “I just don’t know if we’re ready to face something even worse than the Emperor, and I don’t want any of us to get hurt…especially you, Avery.”

                Jade, who pretty much had never praised Bunny a day in her life, gave Bunny’s shoulder a squeeze and said, “See, I always said Bunny was the sensible one. You can’t read all those books and not have a good head on your shoulders.”

                Avery bit her tongue, stopping herself from stating that most of the time Jade thought Bunny was as sensible as a bikini in the Arctic.

                Hoping for a little support herself, Avery asked Skylar, “What do you think?”

                Skylar glanced back and forth from Avery to Jade, who stood across from each other, both stern faced, Jade with her arms folded across her chest, and Avery with her hands on her hips.

                Hesitating before she finally replied, Skylar shrugged, “Honestly, I can see both of your points.”

                Avery groaned, she should have known better than to look to diplomatic Skylar to take her side.

                Skylar was going to elaborate on her answer, but Jade cut her off, as frustrated with Skylar’s non-committal answer as Avery was, “Avery, listen to me,” Jade said, struggling to keep her tone calm, “you almost died defeating the Emperor.”

                “That’s not…” Avery began to protest, but Jade held up her hand, waving it vigorously in front of Avery’s face and stopping her.

                “It is true!” Jade stated, her calm tone slipping, “The only way to beat something as powerful…more powerful than the Emperor is to use our powers, and putting aside the fact that none of us have been able to actually use our powers since the Emperor was killed, we have no idea what these powers could actually do to us.” Anticipating Avery interrupting her, Jade quickly added, “I’ll be damned if the thing that gets you killed is your own power.”

                Avery gave a long exasperated sigh and turned to walk back to Havyn.

                “I’m not talking about using my power,” she said to the others as they followed her, “all I’m saying is that we should at least be trying to find out who or what the Emperor was talking about…or if they even exist.”

                “He was evil,” Bunny said, walking behind Avery, “and evil lies.”

                “Exactly!” Jade exclaimed, uncharacteristically agreeing with Bunny, “He was probably just blowing smoke up our asses, and even if he wasn’t it doesn’t matter because we’re not going to do a damn thing about it, and that’s final.”

                Avery stopped dead in her tracks and whipped around to face Jade, who almost ran smack into her. She was used to disagreeing and arguing with Jade, but being ordered around by her was something that always chaffed Avery, especially when she was already riled.

                “I’m sorry,” Avery said sarcastically, “I thought I was supposed to be the leader around here.”

                A look of shock only lasted for a few seconds on Jade’s face before her jaw clenched and she said, “Don’t you dare pull that leader card! Pre-death Jade might have been fine with your control freak leash around her neck, but that is not a trait that survived re-birth, especially when the leadership decisions you want to make could get you hurt.”

                Avery looked over to Skylar and Bunny. Skylar pointed towards bunny and shaking her head vigorously told Avery, “Uh uh, we’re staying out of this one.”

Hello Lovelies - That means you Readers!!!

I know I'm absolutely terrible at keeping up this blog. Bad Paige *slaps myself lightly* bad Paige!!! I'm going to be making a very big effort to correct that, especially now that my job is off for the summer. I work at a school if y'all didn't know, so although Summer equals no paycheck it also equals no work, which I'm so OK with!
Anyway, this post is basically to thank all my WONDERFUL, AMAZING, BEAUTIFUL fans who have supported me in so many ways, from leaving feedback to reviews, even posting something on my sad little blog...you are all so fantastic. I couldn't do this without your support, and I just wanted you all to know that. I know it's taken me longer to get the 4th book out than I had hoped, but it is coming along, and for any of you super fans that would be interested, I'll be posting the first few pages up on my blog sometime later this week. Hopefully, it'll give a little taste back into the Protectors world and a peak into book 4 :)

*DUSTS OFF COBWEBS*

Wow, it has been way too long since I was on here. Life and Tumblr seemed to get in the way of my blog. It's a sorry excuse, but it's mine so you'll have to forgive me!

Quick update: Book 4 of The Protectors Saga is coming along slowly but surely.