Class Reunion: AFV Defender

By Michelle L. Levigne

They were the anomalies, the Talents that didn't check all the boxes or fit within neat, understood, traditional guidelines. Gathered together under a Premier Master at the Academy on Le'anka, the nine Talents were called Infrenx, for the magical bird of legend, of healing and power … and sometimes destruction.

 

When they graduated, they scattered through the Alliance, using their Talents to serve and protect.

 

Their greatest challenge came when some members of Infrenx class returned to Le'anka for what they thought would be a time of rest and fun and reunion. An enemy had struck, managing to slide past the security precautions of the Academy, the headquarters and birthplace of the Alliance. As the members of Infrenx class discovered, even the mighty bird of legend had a nemesis, and it would take all their combined strength and training and the ultimate sacrifice to defend their home.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ye Olde Dragon Books
• Release date: Jul 15, 2020
• ISBN: 9781952345166

Michelle L. Levigne

On the road to publication, Michelle fell into fandom in college and has 40+ stories in various SF and fantasy universes. She has a bunch of useless degrees in theater, English, film/communication, and writing. Even worse, she has over 100 books and novellas with multiple small presses, in science fiction and fantasy, YA, suspense, women's fiction, and sub-genres of romance. Her official launch into publishing came with winning first place in the Writers of the Future contest in 1990. She was a finalist in the EPIC Awards competition multiple times, winning with Lorien in 2006 and The Meruk Episodes, I-V, in 2010, and was a finalist in the Realm Award competition, in conjunction with the Realm Makers convention. Her training includes the Institute for Children’s Literature; proofreading at an advertising agency; and working at a community newspaper. She is a tea snob and freelance edits for a living ([e-mail] for info/rates), but only enough to give her time to write. Her newest crime against the literary world is to be co-managing editor at Mt. Zion Ridge Press and launching the publishing co-op, Ye Olde Dragon Books. Be afraid … be very afraid.  www.Mlevigne.com www.MichelleLevigne.blogspot.com www.YeOldeDragonBooks.com www.MtZionRidgePress.com @MichelleLevigne Look for Michelle's Goodreads groups: Guardians of Neighborlee Voyages of the AFV Defender NEWSLETTER: Want to learn about upcoming books, book launch parties, inside information, and cover reveals? Go to Michelle's website or blog to sign up.

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COPYRIGHT © 2020  BY Michelle L. Levigne

ISBN 13: 978-1-952345-16-6

PUBLISHED IN THE UNITED States of America

Publication Date: July 15, 2020

Cover Art Copyright by Ye Olde Dragon Books 2020

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Names, characters and incidents depicted in this book are products of the author's imagination, or are used in a fictitious situation. Any resemblances to actual events, locations, organizations, incidents or persons – living or dead – are coincidental and beyond the intent of the author.

Part One

THE ACADEMY

Northern Continent of Le’anka

Headquarters of the Alliance

M’kar stopped counting after the ninth student in the soft green robes of first-year students turned to stare at her as she walked through the central plaza of the Academy. She considered how her classmates would laugh if she remarked on how above-average the eyesight of first-year students was, compared with the students in their class. None of them had stared very long at her, when they were first gathered together in the garden of the home of their teacher, Premier Master Reydon.

In her dark silver-blue dress uniform, she should have blended in with all the other Fleet officers who were arriving at the start of the academic term, preparing to teach. Instead, she constantly drew second looks. Mouths dropped open and faces went pale when her gaze met theirs. More than she would have garnered if she walked across the plaza barefoot, with her favorite knife raised and dripping blood. From several dozen meters away, they couldn’t possibly see her facial tattoos and recognize her as Nisandrian. Could they? How, when she had such a deep tan from her last planetside mission? Did she have a sign hovering in the air above her head, flashing glowing letters, warning everyone to stay away from the barbarian? Or had someone she had clashed with during her own time here as a student decided to get revenge, and sent out her image and a warning, as soon as she landed on Le’anka and stepped onto Academy grounds?

Then again, it probably wasn’t a former classmate. More likely her father was punishing her for not coming to see him and her mother before she met with her classmates. Chieftain Ashrock of Nisandros was nearly a tourist attraction in his own right. He was probably wandering throughout the many paths of the Academy, looking for every first-year student, warning them to be on the lookout for his daughter, a Fleet officer, who was probably in a bad mood while she was separated from her ship.

The Defender had come to Le’anka so Captain Hollis and his command officers, including M’kar, could file their regular reports and have face-to-face meetings with their section heads. She had finished her reports as Chief of Talents earlier than she thought she would, and was taking advantage of the free time to get some fresh air, enjoy the smells and sights of Le’anka, and just relax. Chaos would settle around her soon enough when her classmates caught up with her. Infrenx class was together again for the first time in three years. Well, most of Infrenx class. There were some whose duties kept them far enough from Le’anka to make it impossible to come back for this