Novels by Mana Sol

Anzi lasted all of three more hours before her spite-fired endurance ran out. Searching for dangerous serpents in the Adaraat's sands with not a hint of a scale or tail around was fast becoming torturous. She wanted to go back. Netra would definitely be awake now, and she would getting hungry. Anzi had already guessed that Bisset wouldn't lift a finger to feed her and had asked the guard on duty to tend to her instead, but she dreaded to think what the colonel might do if the hatchling irritated him with her insistent screeching in the meantime....She should go back, but she hadn't decided whether to report the encounter with the old witch crone in her head along with the information that something had triggered the migration and swarms yet. Should she? But if she did, that would be one more reason for Bisset and everyone else to keep an even closer eye on her. She didn't want to attract more attention. She needed to blend in.Yet if she didn't report the incident, sh

Before departing, Anzi had changed into lightweight desert garb in anticipation of boiling heat, but the sunlight that streamed down over her was more comforting than hot. It had been a long time since she had last trekked this far into the desert, although this wasn't anywhere near the true deep sands at all. They'd gone no more than twenty kilometers, roughly, and the stallion was still trotting comfortably over the dunes with no signs of tiring. Large, fanned ears flicked this way and that, and over Anzi's head, the creature's long, tufted tail did the same, providing both of them shade.Captain Gorien had been telling the truth: this stallion was a remarkable specimen. Well-trained, intelligent, strong, and possessing even greater stamina than its kind typically had. Anzi was sure they could go another twenty kilometers before they had to stop for a rest, and that only because of her own limitations, not the sand horse's.Then again, her bruises felt far less uncom

Surprisingly, Netra remained soundly asleep as Anzi carried her in her arms all the way down to the palace courtyard. The hatchling was an enthusiastic sleeper, but not a heavy one, and she typically screeched at disturbances that dared wake her from her post-gorge slumber. Not today, however, and that was a turn of good fortune: Anzi dreaded to think what might happen if the colonel realized that Netra could speak. It was better this way.The man was waiting for her on top of his dragon already when she arrived. As she crossed the remaining distance over the grass, the enormous creature extended her wing and blanketed the ground with a rumbling, leathery sound. The clinking of heavy scales made Anzi's hair stand on end, and although she never slowed her stride, her gaze fell away from the colonel's stern face to land on his dragon's instead.What a truly massive leviathan. Her twelve meter body lay flat on the grass, but the relaxed stance did nothing to make the drag

She had talked.When was anyone going to tell Anzi that not only did dragons speak, but they could also barge into someone's mind to do so? She had always thought there was a special bond between a dragon and its partner that would allow for some kind of special communication, but firstly, she had assumed all such communication would be something more instinctive and primal, and secondly, she had dashed away all such suspicions when she learned that riders enslaved their dragons rather than bonding with them.How could she have known that she was right all along - or at least half-right? Bastien had said nothing about this, certainly. Or was it possible that this had only happened because her relationship with Netra was so different? Was it because Anzi treated her with the respect and dignity due to another living being, one that thought and felt and deserved more than the future it had been promised?Or maybe it was something else entirely. What was i

Every part of Anzi's body still ached, but she had no regrets about remaining firmly grounded in her own body last night. After Kai told her that it was her doing and not his, she made sure to remain especially vigilant so that she wouldn't make the same mistake again. Her? Wanting to see him? If that was what he thought, then she was only too happy to prove him wrong. From now on, she would stay well away from him and deal with this on her own. If things became so dire that she needed his help, or that of his strange distance-healing magic, at least, she would consider compromising - but as it was, it would be suspicious if she recovered too quickly. Especially since she strongly suspected the Emperor had instructed the physicians to delay her recovery, too.She could never let him discover the extent of Kai's magic. If she were ever forced to ally with him against the Emperor, she needed his advantages to remain a surprise. Tet was strong, stronger than she was. If sh

Of course the healers were inadequate. Making excuses that her injuries were too extensive and serious for her to possibly get up and move around on her own anytime soon, and claiming she needed to waste several more days lying in bed and doing nothing at all - these were supposed to be the best in all the Imperial City? Anzi scowled at their efforts, and it was the only time she wished that she were surrounded by those more adept in magic.Damn them. She had expected to be back on her feet today. Experienced healers, her foot. Four days! Four days even with her preternaturally strong constitution, they said, and all that time, she was going to have to rely on someone else to care for Netra. Whoever was responsible for the task had not revealed themselves, nor had they brought the dragon to her. But she couldn't be surprised. Netra was probably terrorizing them according to her ways and would scarcely be manageable to toted around by strangers.All the more reason that

The ending has been modified due to feedback from several readers that were unsatisfied with the ending. While I can't really say I'm proud of the cut version because it doesn't properly envison what I had in mind for the story's conclusion, I'm happy to let readers leave off the story on a thoroughly final note.As a result, I have withdrawn plans to write a sequel and will leave the story as is. But thank you all anyway for coming with me on this journey! :DFind me on facebook @ManaSolStories so that you can keep up with my other stories here on GoodNovel instead.

Jia pushed Atlas away from herself with a furtive look around the dim rear hallway they found themselves in. "Stop that! Someone will see."But he didn't listen. With a low, rumbling chuckle in his chest, he pressed her up against the wall and nuzzled her neck, breathing her in as if he couldn't get enough of her scent. She did her best to keep from melting in his arms as they snaked around her, one around her waist and the other coming up to cup the back of her neck, but a small gasp left her lips when she felt him grind his hips against hers."The things you do to me," he whispered in her ear, and she had to bite down hard on her tongue so that she didn't let out a breathy moan and tremble against him.No, they were absolutely not doing this. They were in a restaurant. In public! At a party! The last time they had done this, they had almost gotten caught by a waiter and only barely managed to hide themselves in a tangled mess in the utility closet.

When Atlas finally came to bed, it was past already two in the morning. Jia had let the twins know she wouldn't be coming home - and although they probably thought she was up to mischief, the reality was that she knew she couldn't leave Atlas alone tonight. Even now, he sat on the side of the bed, slouched over with his elbows on his knees.She sat up and rested her fingertips on his bare, muscular shoulder. He felt so strong, and yet..."Sleep," she told him. "You'll know what to do tomorrow."He reached back and grasped her hand in his before turning around and sliding under the covers beside her. She was ready when he pulled her close and began kissing her neck and working his way down her chest, pulling on her clothes with growing insistence. But instead of yielding, she reached up to cradle his face in her hands and urged him with slight pulls to lift his head and look at her."Atlas," she murmured as she stared up at him. "I'm glad you told me

Clearly, they weren't going to be heading back into the building anytime soon. Jia took a deep breath before turning to look at Ava, making sure her face betrayed nothing but steady composure."You care about Atlas," she said shortly, "and so do I. It's your right to doubt my intentions, but our relationship is ours and no one else's. Meaning that it's his choice to stay in one with me, just like it's my choice to do the same with him.""So, in other words, you don't care. About letting the company crash because you can't give him up?""...I'll consider everything you said to me today. You can interpret my intentions however you want. I care about Atlas. He is important to me. So is Pandora Lights. I am not 'giving' either of them up like I'm swapping trading cards.""That's a nice, self-righteous way of saying you'd rather screw the whole company over rather than let go of his money. Before you say it's not about that, I'll just remind you that it's funn

"How is our new schedule working for you?"Jia pressed her knees together and looped her hands around them as she thought about how to answer. She liked this place more than she had thought she would the first time she came, and the second. It was strange how liberating it felt to be in the one place she felt the most vulnerable."I think it's good," she said. "I didn't think I'd want to be here more than I had to, but you were right. I felt a lot better this week. And I think I was more stable. Well, stronger, I guess.""That's good," Dr. Brody - or Lisa, she preferred - remarked. She smiled at Jia and settled back in her armchair. "Do you want to tell me about it?"She made herself more comfortable on the sofa as well. Their very first meeting a month and a half ago, Lisa had told her that she was free to lie down if she preferred, that the kind of therapy she conducted encouraged her to be as comfortable as she could be physically so that she could be

"Mr. Burhock!""Jia, so good to see you again. How are you! You look ten times more lovely than before, how is that possible? Maybe if I spin around once, it'll happen again."Mr. Burhock was his sweet, jovial self as usual as he pulled her into a hug and pounded her back a little too hard with his plump fist. He babbled on about his new grandchild and about the rigors of childproofing his house now that there would be yet another small baby running about wild. No, he wasn't his usual jovial self - he was exceedingly so, more than normal.They were meeting in the hotel lobby of the Ritz-Carlton hotel. Ava would be here in a second as well once she adjusted her makeup in the bathroom. And then they would be off to a eat a celebratory dinner, a reservation at Burhock's favorite Greek restaurant. Jia was looking forward to it for more than one reason. For one, it was the one time Atlas would be eating with them instead of working himself to death in his offic