Guest Post with Ralene Burke - Sword of Soter

Photo Content from Ralene Burke

Whether she’s wielding a fantasy author’s pen, a social media wand, or a freelance editor’s sword, Ralene Burke always has her head in some dreamer’s world. And her goal is to help everyone #SHINEBeyond their circumstances! Her fantasy novels are available on Amazon.

When her head’s not in the publishing world, she is wife to a veteran and homeschooling mama to their three kids. Her Pinterest board would have you believe she is a master chef, excellent seamstress, and all-around crafty diva. If she only had the time . . . You can also find her on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, or at her website.

        

Sword of Soter
(Sacred Armor Trilogy #2)
By Ralene Burke
September 25th 2019 by Elk Lake Publishing Inc

YA Fantasy, Christian
Paperback & ebook, 275 Pages

OTHER BOOKS IN THE SERIES — ARMOR OF ALETHEIA

The death of her king changes Karina’s life forever. Fleeing the royal house, she must leave her life behind to seek out the Armor of the Creator—to save the very people who now hunt her.

Faramos, the evil warlock waiting to unleash hell, knows the Creator has already chosen his warrior, so he sends his bounty hunter to retrieve her. After Tristan abducts her, he witnesses Karina’s gentle nature and strong independence, and he finds he can’t complete his assignment.

Together, they set out to retrieve the armor and defeat the hordes of creatures sent to destroy them. But is Tristan’s heart secure as he faces certain death for defending the queen? And will Karina have the courage to become all the Creator intends her to be? Failure will condemn the world to eternal darkness.

A SWORD OF SOTE CHATTERER PANEL  — RALENE BURKE

Interviewer: Welcome one and all to the Sword of Soter panel. We have got the noble questers for the sacred armor with us today: Karina, Queen of Aletheia and Prophetess of the Creator; Tristan, Prince of Tzedek; Rashka, Guardian of Shadowed Wood; and Sam, Knight of Aletheia.

Sam (growls): I am not a knight.

Karina: Of course, you are! You have shown more courage and strength of character in the last weeks than most of the knights of Aletheia have shown in lifetimes. It’s an honor that would have been bestowed upon you more officially if we’d been in Aletheia.

Sam: Thank you, Your Highness.

Interviewer: Well, that is a beautiful way to start our panel. Again, we are so pleased you all could join us today. Let us get right to the questions. Karina, did you ever imagine you would be in this position? Queen of Aletheia, Prophetess of the Creator…

Karina: Oh goodness, no. After the death of my parents, I was content to train as a healer with the hopes of serving my kingdom as such for the rest of my life. I have never been one to crave power or to be in the middle of everyone’s attentions. But the Creator had greater plans!

Interviewer: I am sure that was not an easy thing for you to accept then, was it?

Karina: After the death of King Pistis, I revolted against all the responsibilities placed on my shoulders after my secret came out, and then again after the Servant of the Creator anointed me as a prophetess. I was ashamed by my initial behavior, but the journey is half the battle, right?

Interviewer: Indeed. And what happened when you finally accepted your new place in society?

Karina: Ah, then the Creator sent me on a quest. There is an evil spreading through the Three Kingdoms, and he charged me with retrieving the sacred armor in order to defeat it. 

Interviewer: Then how did the rest of these fine people come to join your quest?

Tristan (groans): Oh, no. Do we have to keep going through this?

Karina (chuckles): Tristan was the first to join my quest. Though, at first, he actually kidnapped me.

(*gasps*)

Karina: No, no. It is fine. If he had not kidnapped me, I fear his heart would not have changed, and he would not have become the man I…have come to respect. 

Rashka: Is that what you humans call it?

Interviewer: Rashka, are you saying there is more than respect between Tristan and Karina?

Rashka (rolls her eyes): We would be done with this quest if those two would quit making moon eyes at each other. 

Sam (laughs): They aren’t that bad.

Rashka: Yes, they are.

Interviewer: Do you have an issue with a little romance?

Rashka: There will be time for romance when the world is not being infected by a creeping evil that is destroying lives without thought or purpose other than to spread its evil. 

Interviewer: Ah, you are very goal-oriented, then?

Rashka: I suppose. At least in situations like this.

Sam: Are you kidding? This woman is the type that is very focused, very organized, very…well, like I said, focused. 

Interviewer: And which type are you?

Sam: I am the trusty sidekick type. Good in a fight or when you need a listening ear.

Karina (giggles): Good at getting into trouble. 

Sam: Or out of trouble.

Karina: Or sweet-talking the cook for an extra tart or two.

Sam: Why thank you.

Interviewer: I take it the two of you know each other rather well?

Sam: We have been the best of friends since Queen Karina returned to the royal house at the age of eleven.

Karina: Ever since then, we have been getting into scrapes, testing the patience of our parents and guardians, laughing…

Sam: Indeed.

Tristan: A relationship that is rather hard to compete with.

Interviewer: Do you feel as if you are competing with Sam for Karina’s affections?

(long, awkward silence)

Tristan: Of course not. Like Sam said, they are only friends. I know Karina’s heart. 

Karina: And I know Tristan’s.

Interviewer: As you adventured through Soter, did you add any more to your merry band of questers?

Karina: Yes, we did. We added—

(Loud noises, clamoring, shouts…)

Interviewer: What is going on?

Unfamiliar male voice: We need to leave. Now. 

Unfamiliar female voice: They found us again!

Tristan: We apologize. We must leave. Faramos’s minions have found us.

Interviewer: Wait! Who’s Faramos?

Karina: I am sorry. There is no time.

(The panel flees.)

Interviewer: Well, that, folks, was the questers who hold our lives in the balance as they seek to destroy the ancient evil overtaking our world. May the Creator’s might go with them.

Find out more about Karina and her journey in the first 2 books of the Sacred Armor Trilogy. 

What would YOU take on a quest?

NEW KINGDOM. NEW FRIENDS.

NEW DANGERS.

NOT EVERYONE CAN BE TRUSTED …

Karina, Tristian, Rashka, and Sam venture forth into the wilderness of Soter on the next leg of their quest to retrieve the Armor of the Creator. With the ancient evil already affecting the kingdom, nothing in Soter is what it seems—from what skulks beneath the canopies of the woods to what lies within the sleek white and gold of the capitol city to the people Karina and Tristan have known since they were children.

Danger lurks around every corner. Discerning who to trust is paramount to staying alive and discovering the location of the Temple of Soter. Yet, to Karina’s horror, Faramos’s reach finds them time and again. The longer they are forced to dawdle, the more people are affected by the growing panic in Soter, and the closer Faramos is to taking over the Three Kingdoms. Can Karina retrieve the information they need while Tristan keeps his brother at bay? Or will the entire quest disintegrate before they even arrive at the temple?

You can purchase Sword of Soter at the following Retailers:

       

One winner will win a prize pack that will include print copies of Armor of Aletheia and Sword of Soter, a plush blanket, a tumbler with candy, a journal, and a pen all inside a half-bushel basket inlaid with a gorgeous book print material.

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