Stranger's Handbook - Chapter 16: Training with the Soldiers

It's been 25 years since the apocalypse, when the world we knew changed forever. It was then that terrible monsters appeared and some of humanity evolved to fight them.Seraphine a 18 year old citizen in Newber, was living a peaceful life with her parents, learning at the Academy, to get a nice job within the government. At least, until everything turned for the worse and she ended up as an Evolved in a destroyed city.

The world is terrorized by the powerful Black Witch who has been sealed in the moon. Every ten years, the night of Hexennacht arrives and a chosen witch must battle the Black Witch in hopes of finally defeating her.

As the current decade’s Hexennacht approaches, a mysterious girl named Kagami Kagami arrives and meets Horinouchi Mitsuru, the daughter of the previous Hexennacht representative.

It takes place between Kyoukai Senjou no Horizon and the City Series, two other series by the author.

Holo’s life was once a series of relentless hardships—bullies at school, abusive parents, and heartbreak at the hands of those he trusted. After a failed suicide attempt, a mysterious man offers him a deal: help rehabilitate four psychopathic girls, and in return, earn ten million dollars. Desperate and naive, Holo accepts, not realizing the chaos and danger awaiting him.Each girl comes with her own dark tendencies—Trixie, a violent and feral girl who acts on impulse; Scarlet, a master manipulator who delights in breaking people down; Felicia, a dangerously seductive woman battling a sex addiction; and Eleanor, a cold, calculating girl with a desire to watch the world burn. As Holo works to bring out their humanity, the girls become obsessively devoted to him, their love transforming into something darker.

What life is left for a warrior when there is no more enemy to fight?

…He knelt before her in the posture of a soldier giving honor to their Queen. And she didn’t even know it.

“Harth,” he rasped, “I come empty-handed. I bring no weapon. Because I swear to you, I will never choose to harm you. Never draw your blood—in anger, or in fear. I bring no shield. Because I vow I will never defend myself from your eyes, your hands, your mind. I am yours.”

*****

After a year of peace in Anima, Tarkyn finds himself… lonely. As the Captain of the Queen’s Guard and a lion-shifter, he has met every female in the tribes, but never found his mate. Certain he must have overlooked someone, Tarkyn undertakes a grueling ritual, pleading with the Creator to reveal her. But the ritual presses him to the end of even his formidable strength.

Yet, the Creator heard his cry…

Discovered on the brink of death by his mate, Harth, and nursed back to health, Tarkyn now faces the most difficult battle of his life. Because Harth isn’t just a stranger to the Anima, she is a weapon of the humans who tried to destroy them.

Can the love of a warrior and his enemy bring peace to Anima? Or will they be torn apart forever by war between their peoples?

*****

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STANDALONE STORY: While Tarkyn’s story is a part of the Anima world and fans will be reunited with some of their favorites as side-characters, Tarkyn and Harth are new POV characters and their story is a new plot arc, so their story can be enjoyed without reading the previous books! But please add Falling in Love with the King of Beasts, and Taming the Queen of Beasts to your library to enjoy later!