HELLO FRENS, IT IS ME, THE ABSENTEE AUTHOR WHO HAS TAKEN A VERY LONG TIME TO BRING YOU A WOEFULLY SHORT TEASER FOR THE NEXT BOOK

I hope you will forgive me and also please enjoy this snippet of what is tentatively called:

Dun dun dunnnnn........

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It's late evening, and Sapphire City is burning.

The flames dance hazily in front of my drooping eyes, as I fight to stay conscious. It feels like my brain is underwater and I'm struggling to break the surface. Metaphorically, of course, as after a moment I realize that I can't move a single limb, and I can't string two brain cells together to move anything with them, either.

An unfamiliar feeling begins to creep in through the fog in my head: fear, unadulterated, with a deep sense that there is nothing I can do to fix it. It's helpless, and I hate it.

I feel a very different sense of hatred as a voice finally filters down into the part of my consciousness that's still functioning.

"Have you ever thought about the end of the world, Kenna?"

It's a supreme effort to speak, but I manage, through gritted teeth. "Not lately, Morgan, but that's because I'm not a psychotic cartoon villain."

He chuckles, like he's enjoying himself. Which he probably is, given the whole cartoon villain thing. "The apocalypse is so much more delicious when you get to bring it about yourself."

I snort. It hurts, but it's worth it. "Someone's got a Lucifer complex."

"You know, everything you say is just so delightful, Kenna. Really. Very amusing. I'm just so glad that you could be here with me today to witness the beginning, because it wouldn't be possible without you, of course."

"Don't you dare say that," I snarl.

He finally comes into my bleary field of view, and the look on his face is pure, gleeful malice.

"Oh, but Kenna, you know as well as I do that it's all your fault."

With a gasp, I sat bolt upright in my own bed.

Weird, giddy laughter started to bubble from me as I realized that it was all just a dumb dream. Probably due to the extra large latte that I had downed in the evening, disregarding Ewan, who warned me very accurately, as it turned out, that I'd definitely not sleep well.

Speaking of Ewan, my spooky laughter must have woken him up, because he stirred beside me.

"Kenna? Are you possessed?" he mumbled, sounding adorably confused.

"Just a freakish nightmare involving a deep sense of personal guilt, basically every bad guy from Scooby Doo combined into one man and a little torture and apocalypse. No worries, definitely not a demon anyway." I joked, still feeling relief sweep through me.

The relief turned cold as Ewan's voice changed.

"Oh Kenna," Morgan grinned up at me, looking like a killer clown in the shadows of my bedroom, "you're always so dramatic."

This time, I screamed until I woke up for real.

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So, please let me know what you think, and I will see you all soon for the official beginning of the new book, stay tuned! I will update here as well when it's been posted!