Zanderbolt & the Ice Queen

By J. J. Brandyn

18-year-old Zinny Zanderbolt is a cold, calculating, and devious dark wizard living in New York City. As heir to the Zanderbolt fortune, he must prove himself to the dark wizarding council as being capable of handling the family's affairs on his own.

The opportunity presents itself one day when a mysterious sorceress requests the Zanderbolt family's aid in eliminating her family's killer and enemy of the council -- the infamous dark wizard, Jackson Kent. The pair must infiltrate Kent's clandestine masquerade ball and take him down before his sinister plans come to fruition; to bind all high profile masquerade attendees to his will with baleful wizardry, and consequently take over New York City.

Zinny embarks upon the mission of espionage for his own self-interests, but finds himself desiring to discover more about the sorceress' secretive and seemingly troubled past. A past not unlike his own. Can he prevent New York City from falling under Kent's control while unraveling the myriad secrets of the enigmatic Ice queen?

• Language: English
• Publisher: J. J. Brandyn
• Release date: Mar 31, 2019
• ISBN: 9780463937082

J. J. Brandyn

J. J. Brandyn is a fantasy writer with a passion for urban fantasy, high fantasy and general science fiction. When not writing, he enjoys martial arts training, hiking and spending time at the beach.

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Zanderbolt & the Ice Queen

by

 J. J. Brandyn

Contact the author: [e-mail]

Author’s website: jjbrandyn.com

Table of Contents

Chapter 1 - The Proposition

Chapter 2 - The Ice Queen

Chapter 3 - To New York City

Chapter 4 - Dark Secrets Unveiled

Chapter 5 - The Masquerade

Chapter 6 - A Fateful Decision

Chapter 7- The Hand of Vengeance

The Proposition

I love power. Who does not? Some people claim they don‘t care for it, but they are fools. 

Liars and fools.

Everyone desires power. Everyone craves for it in some way or another—no matter how much they deny it. What is truer, is that few can have it. Few people can have true power.

Thus, was I grateful to be a dark wizard, and a powerful one at that. Although, it did cost me a normal childhood. I had missed out on many nurturing experiences as a child, but power had been given to me in exchange.

I learned from an early age that through the power of dark wizardry, one could rule the forces of nature and control the actions of others. My parents understood these things well: it was no wonder they were among the most infamous practitioners of the dark arts while alive.

I followed closely in their footsteps to reach my own plateau of prowess. My parents: their recent deaths were quite sudden, but not unexpected, given their chosen paths in life.

I contemplated their untimely passing’s while pacing through the darkened streets of Toadsboro. Toadsboro was the secret, sixth Borough of New York City and where most wizarding families of the State of New York chose to reside. It existed purely in a magically created space between Manhattan and Brooklyn: such enchanted places of residency were to be found throughout America—from Salem to Alaska. The surrounding architecture was reminiscent of that perhaps existing in 1800’s America, similar to the style of the illustrious Brokaw and Vanderbilt homes of the time. Upon the pointed housetops were colorful flags that complimented the flamboyant hues of the houses’ walls.

Within the windows of each house, shone a light of one color or the other. The streets were quite empty at this hour, compared to those of the other, non-magical boroughs. It was six o’clock, which meant dinner time for most families. It was only occasionally that a wizard or wizardess walked hurriedly along the layered orange and red bricks: disappearing almost immediately from sight at a house‘s doorstep. They were no doubt hurrying to get home to their meals. Wizardly-folk took dinner time very seriously, since it involved quite a lot of socializing and discussing the day‘s events.

Advancing onward, I came to a dark gray manor: the flag upon its rooftop prominently displayed the Zanderbolt family‘s crest—a thunderbird with a strikingly powerful hue of blue plumage. Its wings were defiantly and dominantly spread wide as it looked downward. To wizardly-folk, the thunderbird was a powerful symbol of guile, energy and transcendence. Such a magnificent and beautiful creature of rarity was barely ever spotted, save but for during the most violent thunderstorms. My quickened pace led me across the front yard and to the front door. The center of the door extended outward in a face-like form, speaking firmly and with authority, PASSWORD, it demanded in a mighty, thundering voice.

Dragon fangs in the cauldron. My voice was low, almost a whisper—a normal tone for me, even when moved by the vigor of anger’s force.

At once, the head reformed into the door. A resulting click prompted me to enter. I pushed open the door and walked into the manor‘s interior, where a pair of large, golden eyes greeted me in the far corner. They belonged to a large, black cat. The cat paced over slowly toward me and, by and by, transformed into a middle-aged man; he was tall and formidable in stature—dressed in a long, black robe. Welcome back, Master Zanderbolt, he curtly said. His voice was deep and booming. How was the meeting?

I replied, It went well, Mandrake. The dark wizarding council has officially accepted me as the head of the Zanderbolt family, instead of my aunt.

Mandrake clasped his hands together. Very good, Sir. They’ll be surely watching carefully to see how you organize your parents’ affairs.

My tongue clucked slowly. Being observed by the regular wizarding council and the dark wizarding council, it’s just too much love for one guy to handle, I mused.

You will have to be extra careful, of course I will be here to assist you with whatever you need.

Thank you, Mandrake. My eyes peered around the room. The walls’ frames, floor, stairs, and banisters above were crafted of thick pinewood. The wood was lacquered with special varnishing that reflected a shimmering, new look, despite the manor’s old age. I appraised the seemingly vacant stairs to the left which led to the bedrooms above. I said, I hope you two weren’t going through my chests up there.

A disembodied male voice replied, Oho! Why? Whatcha got in ‘em?

A female voice which appeared to have no owner added, Let’s go check them right now, Salamander.

My brows raised. Do it, and you’ll both end up as frogs in stew. The sounds of footsteps racing up the stairs then followed. As I was about to add another verbal threat, my eyes quickly glanced to the left. The sound of a soft cough coming from the living room had caught my attention. I also noticed the door leading to it was partially opened. I queried to Mandrake, Who else is here?

Ah, yes. He raised a fist to his mouth, clearing his throat loudly.

My eyes narrowed and head cocked. Who is it?

It is Ms. Pantomina Holmes.

The tip of my tongue poked into my right cheek as I stared thoughtfully at the partially-opened door. Pantomina, huh? My eyes shifted to Mandrake. Did she say why she came?

His head shook slowly from side to side. She did not, Sir.

Tell her I’ve arrived and will be with her shortly.

As soon as Mandrake left to relay the message, I focused upon the mantlepiece built into the walled partition a few feet ahead. Steadily, my feet led me there. I gazed into the long, rectangular mirror above the mantelpiece—my narrow-set eyes locked with the dark-brown pair of my reflection. They were observant eyes, not unlike a bird of prey. My brows remained

Reviews for Zanderbolt & the Ice Queen

[Jacob Thorn · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I enjoyed this novella a lot. It was quite different than most things I've read, since as a dark wizard, the main character isn't the typical "good" character, but isn't really evil either per se IMO and also helped at some points to achieve/do good things. The buildup of suspense from beginning to end was also kept my interest to read on.