A Guard's Refrain - The Light of Miera Book 1 (1)

With the creation of the Valnyr Galaxy, the Guardians vowed never to interfere with the affairs of the mortal realm. However, when sinister forces seek to steal the power of the Manastream, Alamantra's Guardian finds that some oaths are easier to keep than others, in Ash Hester's debut novel, A Guard's Refrain.

A terrible blight corrupting the mana held within a person's body sweeps across Freya, leaving Princess Arafrey stripped of all she holds dear, but all is not lost. Her loyal guards Reyla and Tharin accept a quest from the Gods in hopes of curing the sickness, crossing Alamantra to face the trials of the Ten Ancestors in search of The Hand of Miera. But will they be able to find it in time?

Meanwhile, in the East, The Duran Empire marshals their forces as the Emperor seeks to invade the starved deserts of Sudra. However, the Sudra hold an ancient secret and Queen Nymati will not surrender her ambitions without a fight. The Great Emperor may be undefeated in battle, but how will he fare in the face of Sudra's Demon Queen?

Ash Hester started her career in comics and animation, but always had a love for storytelling and fantasy. Contributing to several indie press projects, she later founded Niche: Treat Your Geek to showcase news and reviews featuring the many talented people within her reach. Fuelled by Anime, Television and Video Games, her imagination shows no bounds leading her to begin writing her first epic fantasy novel in 2019. Venturing deeper into the nerd havens of Twitch and Twitter, she found herself welcomed within the D&D and TTRPG community and now features in several Actual Plays.Yorkshire born and Scottish grown, Ash always gravitated towards geeky circles. Raised on a healthy diet of Star Trek and Pokemon, she found herself on the anime, cosplay and sci-fi convention circuits in her university years. With over 15 years in and around the industry, she continues to encourage the passions of others and offers writing advice on her Twitch and TikTok.As a disabled lesbian, Ash naturally writes strong female and minority characters and has a penchant for high action drama which will have you hooked.