Feral Magic: World Breaker Beginnings, #5

By N. R. Hairston

This book contains two exuberant men who are wild and unrestrained in their attraction toward one another.
They live under the oppressive Nix rule.
They met while trying to steal the same bag of flour.
They fight together to get away.
Now they're being hunted.
They're more powerful than anyone knows.
Their attraction to each other is explosive.
The Nix have ruled for hundreds of years.
Tieden and Kalem broke the rules by stealing.
They defeated a herd of Nix in their escape.
Tieden and Kalem are Belen.
The Belen are supposed to be inferior to the Nix.
How could two Belen take out so many Nix?
Now they're a threat. The Nix want them dead.
Tieden and Kalem plan on fighting until their hearts stop and their blood no longer flows. Falling in love was easy. Staying alive may be impossible.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Fire Ink Media
• Release date: May 25, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201772628

Book preview

Feral Magic

World Breaker Beginnings

N. R. Hairston

Copyright © 2021 by N.R. Hairston All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Cover Design: Covers by Christian

Published By

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OTHER TITLES BY N. R. Hairston

Magic and Mischief Series

A Magical Reckoning, Book One

A Symptom of Magic, Book Two

A Victim of Magic, Book Three

Sun Cursed

Cursed Magic, Book One

Savage Magic, Book Two

Lethal Magic, Book Three

World Breaker

Rogue Magic, Book One

Bloody Magic, Book Two

Battle Magic, Book Three

World Breaker Beginnings (Novellas set before the events in Rogue Magic, though you don’t have to read one to read the other.) Read this series for free when you join my mailing list, here.

Rebel Magic, Book One

Stolen Magic, Book Two

Crooked Magic, Book Three

Dirty Magic, Book Four

Feral Magic, Book Five

Lawless Magic, Book Six 

Rise of the Dragons

Fire and Ash, Book One

Smoke and Flame, Book Two

Dust and Cinder, Book Three

Atina and Ridge

We Got Powers Too, Book One

We Wreak Havoc Too, Book Two

We Got Witches Too, Book Three

Rebel Writers Anthologies

Street Spells

Contents

Chapter 1

Tieden

Chapter 2

Tieden

Chapter 3

Kalem

Chapter 4

Kalem

Chapter 5

Kalem

Chapter 6

Tieden

Chapter 7

Tieden

Chapter 8

Kalem

Chapter 9

Tieden

Chapter 10

Kalem

Chapter 11

Kalem

Chapter 12

Tieden

Chapter 13

Kalem

Chapter 14

Kalem

Chapter 15

Tieden

Chapter 16

Tieden

Chapter 17

Kalem

Chapter 18

Kalem

Chapter 19

Many, Many, Years Later

Tieden

Author Note

Other Titles by N. R. Hairston

Acknowledgments

About the Author

Feral Magic:

This book contains two exuberant men who are wild and unrestrained in their attraction toward one another. 

They live under the oppressive Nix rule.

They met while trying to steal the same bag of flour.

They fight together to get away.

Now they’re being hunted.

They’re more powerful than anyone knows.

Their attraction to each other is explosive.

The Nix have ruled for hundreds of years.

Tieden and Kalem broke the rules by stealing.

They defeated a herd of Nix in their escape.

Tieden and Kalem are Belen.

The Belen are supposed to be inferior to the Nix.

How could two Belen take out so many Nix?

Now they’re a threat. The Nix want them dead.

Tieden and Kalem plan on fighting until their hearts stop and their blood no longer flows. Falling in love was easy. Staying alive may be impossible.

If you enjoy reading about Tieden and Kalem and would like to see more of them, please check out my World Breaker Series:

Rogue Magic, Book One

Bloody Magic, Book Two

Battle Magic, Book Three

Chapter 1

Tieden

Y ou’ll probably die ! Toi’s lips trembled, moisture accumulating in his eyes.

I hung my head low, deciding to give him my fullest attention before I left. If I didn’t, he’d be jumping off the walls with worry until I got back.

Toi may have been tall, but he was still slim like most who often went without food.

Toi would lay down his life for any of the hundred people in this room. He’d do it without thinking about it because that’s who he was.

Yilen nodded. Be careful, Tieden! They’re killing Belen on sight. They feed our bones to their hogton hounds. You could become hogton meat and we’d never even know it.

Yilen stood tall in character, though he was small in height. He was a bit on the slim side, his skin overly pale.

He was one of the bravest guys I knew, though he wasn’t acting so at the moment.

Yilen spoke in a loud voice because it was the only way to be heard amidst all the ruckus in the abandoned building we lived in.

The noise around us was immense. Everywhere I turned the sound of talking, laughing, fussing, and fighting hit against my ears. We were a rowdy bunch, but we were family and that’s all that mattered.

Yilen threw a hand over Toi’s shoulder. He pulled him close. Both hung their heads, the air around them tense and scared.

I let my shoulders drop. I couldn’t leave them in such a state. They’d worry themselves silly until they knew I was okay. Sometimes one had to comfort one’s friends. I didn’t mind.

Though I was in a bit of a hurry. Still, they had a right to be worried, so I’d try my best. Even if they were being a bit dramatic about the whole thing.

They really thought one of the hogton hounds would gobble me up as soon as I stepped outside the door. Hogton hounds were the foulest of beasts. They stood eight feet tall, breathed poison, had teeth that could break your neck with one bite, and claws that could kill you with a simple swipe.

Uncouth animals, the lot of them. They were trained by the Nix to kill people like us, Belen. The whole thing was beyond rude, but the ones in power made the rules, so here we were.

Both Toi and Yilen stared at me for reassurance. They often did that, depended on me to make them feel better. I reached out to ruffle Toi’s long brown hair. It sat nicely against his dark skin.

At twenty Toi had an innocence and vulnerability I’d never been able to break. Yes, I was only three years older than him, but we lived in a world where staying out a minute past curfew could end your life. We were hunted daily. I worried about him.

I’d been two minutes late coming home once. He’d gone into a seismic meltdown. He’d run from person to person, telling them they’d never see me again because my body had been burned to keep the Nix warm.

Yilen placed a pale hand on Toi’s shoulder. I’ll stay up with you tonight. We’ll wait for him together. If you want.

I shook my head. Yilen often indulged Toi in his delusions. I’d never been quite sure if he actually believed them or was just being nice. It was perplexing, to say the least.

Toi nodded okay. Yilen’s golden eyes turned big with pleasure. At twenty-two, you’d think Yilen wouldn’t allow himself to be pulled into Toi’s fantasies like this, but apparently, he couldn’t help himself.

Yilen’s thick red hair tumbled into his face. It often did that. Toi kept a hair tie around his arm for just that reason.

They watched me with sad eyes, but Toi went ahead and tied Yilen’s hair back for him.

Yilen quietly thanked him, both staring at the dirt beneath their feet. I let out a sigh. They acted like once I left, they’d never see me again. Maybe that’s what they truly believed. Instead of walking to the exit, I walked toward Yilen and Toi.

I was really late. But I had to assuage their fears before I left. There was no way around it. I’ve survived this long, I said. If I don’t come back, then pour out some Blizin wine in my name and toast to me when you drink it.

All conversation in the room stopped. Over a hundred pairs of eyes turned my way. Oh, boy. I’d done it now. I tried to smile.

Belens weren’t allowed to live within ten miles of any Nix. That’s why we were crowded inside an abandoned building on the outskirts of town. We weren’t allowed to hold jobs either. Which meant we had to scrape for every bit of food we found.

Many of the faces staring at me were covered in dirt, their hair matted to their heads. They looked to me as their leader, and I’d just casually advertised my death. A stupid thing to do when you thought about it.

Stop scaring them. Lena gave me a chastising look. At thirty, Lena was only a few years older than me, but she really took pleasure in bossing me around. Well to be fair, Lena was the peacekeeper around here.

Yes, we needed someone to keep order. Though I did believe a person needed to run free every now and then. When you had over a hundred people living in a cramped space, sometimes it was best to let them be as undisciplined as they liked.

Lena gave me a look that wasn’t very kind. She’d found water today. I could tell because her brown skin didn’t have a trace of dirt on it. Also, even though her hair was lifeless, it was still clean. It didn’t shine. Her hair was a beautiful shade of black, but we didn’t have the supplies that could really make it glow. 

No one’s more powerful than you. She said this loudly, probably wanting to remind everyone who and what I was.

I shook my head. She knew better than that. The look on my face let her know exactly what I thought of that sentence. I can’t kill them all, Lena. You know this.

Her eyes told me