Hi friends,

I come to you as a humble, hopeful author-to-be. One of the missing pieces I have, before I can call the book “complete,” is for me to make up my mind on what will be the first thing people read when they open the book. It has to grab attention (without giving too much away) and leave the reader wanting more.

So, with the help of my editor, Earl, I’ve narrowed the prologue down to two potential candidates, taken from the text of my book, and provided here for your enjoyment.

All I need from you is a vote on which one you’d rather see. Which one intrigues you more? Which one do you like better?

I have a lot of brilliant friends, and I trust your input implicitly. So, please, take about a minute (depending on how fast you read. If you have to read it out loud, chances are it will take longer) and let me know which one you prefer.

Without further ado, here are the two candidates!

1) In her two short years as an apprentice, she had only caught glimpses of the Otherworld. She had heard stories of its power, and of how it could be entered by using an artifact strong enough. But never in her life did Elyasha imagine that she would one day stand inside it. She felt the surging energy that had been there when she stepped on the Anvil of the Worldforge – energy that flowed through her when she trained in the art of Breaking. 
 Now, that energy was all around them, permeating the air and their bodies. It was almost to the point of discomfort. She found herself suddenly pushing it away – forcing it back, rejecting its allure. Something in the back of her mind told her that if she let it in, it might never stop.

Squinting, Yasha fixed her eyes on a dim point of light on the horizon. “He said to help you, whatever that means. Come on,” she said as she waved him towards her. “I think I see where we need to go.”

She couldn’t quite tell, but it almost looked like the light was reaching up and clawing at the sky, waving around like the branches of a tree. “Maybe we can find some answers there.”
 With Yasha in the lead, the two of them headed toward a speck in the distance, beckoned by an invisible force that seemed to pull them in – away from the Anvil and towards whatever it was that lay on the other end.

***
(Or, the second option)
***

2)  Mordha’s hand trembled as she loosened her grip on the blade and looked at the Kienari before her. “I was so scared that day. Until then, death and cruelty had been strangers to me, yet suddenly they appeared before me in the flesh. Never before have I felt such relief and such terror at the same time.” Her voice trembled with emotion. “I thought the creature that had appeared before me wanted nothing more than to slit my throat and the throat of my sister, as it had just done to our captors,” she said. She closed her eyes in sorrow and turned her face to the ceiling. “It was a death I welcomed. I’d had enough of begging for my life.”

***