Here’s a little sneak peek at Volume 3 of my Chattenberg Saga. The manuscript currently stands at over 70,000 words and will soon be going through its second round of editing.
The book will be published on 31 October 2026 in German at Amazon. The English translation will follow shortly afterwards.
Spoiler alert: Please only read the two chapters that have been released if you have read Volume 2, “The Crystal Acolyte”.
Ferron stood at the window of his study, his hands clasped behind his back. He stared up at the sky. Veiled clouds were rolling in from the west. It was thanks to the air and water magicians, for he hadn’t seen any clouds over Chattenberg for a long time. But the swallows were still circling far too high for him to expect the rain that was to bring the hot summer to an end any time soon. There was a knock at the wooden door and he flinched. The corners of his mouth turned upwards and he turned around. “Come in.” Glandera’s shy expression softened the moment their eyes met. As he looked into her large, brown eyes, his heart beat faster. She was the woman of his life and he thanked Allah every day for having found her.
“Good morning, Master Ferron.”
“Good morning, Acolyte Glandera. Please sit down, we have a few things to discuss.” His voice sounded more formal than he’d intended, and he cleared his throat. How he would have loved to pull her into his arms, but in his role as her Master, he kept his distance.
Her eyebrows knitted together. “You look so serious. What’s happened?”
Ferron walked over to the visitor’s chair and held the armrest until she sat down. “Nothing. I’ve just got a lot on my mind and have decided to hand over some responsibilities.”
She stared at her index finger and rubbed the spot where Terrasia’s Mastress’s Ring usually sat. “Was that the reason I was no longer allowed to attend the Collegium Arcanum on Tuesday?”
He paused for a moment. Nereida’s instructions were unambiguous: Glandera must not be told any details about his mission. “No, I want to talk to you about the gold mine.” Ferron walked around the desk and sat down as well. “It was thanks to you that we were able to continue gold mining in Chattenberg without interruption. You know the area just as well as I do and have been down in the mines with the miners. You’re even friends with the forewoman. That’s why I wanted to ask you if you’d like to take over the management?”
“I’m to manage the mine?” Her face lit up. “Yes, I’d be delighted. I’m honoured.”
“The task will be easy for you. You might even handle it better than I can.”
“Thank you for your trust.” Glandera reached for the amulet hanging from her necklace.
“You can ask me for advice anytime.” Ferron found it challenging to keep his voice gentle. Glandera let go of the artefact and brushed a strand of her dark hair behind her ear. His heart warmed. How I’d love to cover her neck with kisses. “Why have you taken off the Mastress Ring?”
Glandera held out her hand. “Tomorrow, Dorianna and I are visiting my mother. That bling would only distract her.”
“Are you sure the time is right?”
“Yes, I don’t want to keep hiding from her any longer that I’m an earth mage. It’s just… I’m worried about how Gladis will take it.”
“Understandable.”
“Hopefully Dorianna is right and Grandmother will remember her.”
“I’ll be thinking of you. How far have you got with the encyclopaedia?”
“I’ve read through Chapter 4.3 on the Magicians’ Academy’s rest periods,” she replied in a calm voice. “You can test me.”
“I won’t do that.”
Glandera stared at him for a moment. “But you said I should recite the text.”
“Yes, but today I’m certain you know your limits. It would be foolish to disappoint me again and pretend you know what’s in it.” Ferron gave her a serious look. “We can save ourselves the time. I have to prepare for a mission and work out some complicated calculations. A lot of work piled up last week.”
Her lower lip jutted out. “Do you want me to leave?”
The glass clinked softly as Ferron opened the inkwell. He dipped his quill into it and stared at the blank page in his book. The upcoming mission had to be planned down to the last detail. “If you were merely my acolyte, I would agree, but you are the woman I love and for whom I have waited my whole life. I want you by my side always.” Ferron took a deep breath, but his tension did not ease. “You have completed the lesson. I’ll have Terrasia’s crystals brought to you at once so you can work in your room.”
Glandera stood up and walked around his desk. She ran her fingertips through his short, dark brown hair. “You told me you have no secrets from me. Will you tell me what’s weighing on your mind?”
With his eyes closed, he savoured her touch. I don’t know how much time we have left. We really could make better use of it. “Be patient,” he whispered, opening his eyes. He cursed inwardly, as he couldn’t hide the subtle nuances in his voice from her.
Her lips were warm and soft as she kissed him on the forehead. “You’ll find me in my room.”
The corners of his mouth turned up. The remark had been unnecessary. As her Master, he could always pinpoint her location via the bracelet he’d placed on her wrist at the start of her training. He watched her longingly until the door clicked shut.
Delicate blue-violet lines floated in Ferron’s study. Only the columns marred the three-dimensional representation of Machu Picchu. The vision allowed him to better visualise the two-hundred-kilometre-wide landscape. Ferron stared at the point where the four Veer distortions met, forming an X-shape. “Why on earth did the Incas have to build their places of worship there of all places?” he cursed aloud. He could feel the pressure that had built up there, just waiting to be released in a massive earthquake. He would gladly evacuate the population before the tremor, but from centuries of experience he knew that even people doomed to die would not leave their sanctuaries. Never before had he seen millions of men, women and children persuaded by magicians’ portals to relocate to distant lands. One thing was therefore certain: if he failed, thousands would die.
He paced restlessly around the room. Nereida had instructed him to acclimatise his body to the high altitude over the coming days. It would be difficult for him not to spend a night in his cave as usual. Some colleagues had already begun bringing gemstones and crystal steps to the site. Glandera would know how much energy they were expending in total, but he could not possibly explain the full significance of his mission to her.
Ferron pinched the bridge of his nose between his thumb and forefinger. The thought that she might never see him again sent a shiver down his spine. He had only just found the reincarnation of his soulmate and wished to spend his life with her. If he died now, he would leave her untrained. Concetto had promised to look after her, and Glandera was too strong to be broken. As long as no new earth mages were born, I would surely be reincarnated. How many decades would it take for the mages to find my next body? The thought of what Glandera would have to endure on her own made him feel sick. He must not fail.
The knock on his door snapped the earth mage out of his thoughts. He quickly let the magical image fade and snapped his book shut before Glandera entered.
“Are you coming to lunch?”
“Is it that late already?” he asked, fiddling with his breast pocket. When he looked at the pocket watch, he was startled.
“It struck noon ten minutes ago. You look tired. What have you been working on?”
“Calculations. They’re exhausting,” he evaded her question. “What have you been studying?”
Glandera furrowed her brow. “Levitos brought me Terrasia’s crystals. You’d asked him to, hadn’t you? I’ve been examining them all morning to get a feel for how they work. But I haven’t managed to delve into them to read them. Do you perhaps have an idea?”
Ferron ran his fingers through his short, dark hair. Of course, she wanted to study the books. How could I have been so forgetful? “As a crystal mage, you possess the intuitive gift. That should make it much easier for you. Metals do have a crystalline structure too, but as a metal mage, delving into gemstones isn’t really my forte. I could identify the trace elements in them.” Ferron turned his hand and pressed the brass handle down. The patio door opened magically. In the garden, the heat no longer shimmered in the air. “Perhaps Terrasia could have taught me too, and she withheld her knowledge. Your ancestor was a Mastress of mineralogy and made the books accessible only to those worthy of them. My gut tells me that either you’re not ready yet, if you can’t read the crystal, or you’re going about it in the wrong order. You’ll have to try different approaches until you succeed.”
Dusk was falling in Sicily. After Arminio had dried the last plate and put it away in the kitchen cupboard, he turned to his father. Concetto wiped the sink with the towel and hung it up. After dinner, Arminio’s mother had set off with his sisters for an evening stroll on Mount Etna, and Furio was once again pottering about. He used magic to make sure no one was within earshot. “Something has changed since the last few times we were with Aset.”
Concetto turned to him and lifted his chin. No one else would have noticed that he was tensing his shoulders. “That’s true.”
Arminio raised his eyebrows.
“You became Capitano because of your excellent powers of observation, and we’re too much alike for me to try to fool you. So I didn’t bother trying to hide it from you.”
“What’s behind this change of heart, no longer keeping it from me?”
“I can’t tell you that.”
Arminio puffed out his cheeks and replied with a dismissive wave of his hand. “For years, I’ve waited outside Nonna’s door until you left her prison. No one else knows where she is. And yet, you don’t trust me enough to let me know what has changed?”
“Your mother has been in the know for a few days,” Concetto corrected him.
Arminio’s eyes narrowed. He tilted his head and waited. It was the same strategy his father used during interrogations, so it was only a matter of time before one of them gave in.
Concetto’s jaw muscles tensed. “I volunteered to be the mission leader for Machu Picchu so that I’d be kept informed of Ferron’s movements.” His face flushed and he swallowed hard before continuing: “Aset prophesied that his next mission would exceed his powers. I must prevent that.”
“Merda,” whispered Arminio, rushing to his father. Concetto pulled him close and buried his head in the crook of his neck. Ferron was a member of the family, the brother his father had never had. He couldn’t imagine what it would be like to lose a friend he’d known for over two hundred years. Arminio’s chest tightened, but he refused to let himself grow weak. His neck grew damp. The last time he’d seen the head of the family cry was when his sister Gioconda was born. This situation was unfamiliar to him. He gave Concetto time, and only when the church bells struck the hour did his father lift his head. He quickly turned his face away, pulled a handkerchief from his trousers and blew his nose.
“That’s why you’re always on the move. Did she explain how you can avert it?” Arminio pressed.
His father shook his head. “It’s no use. She sees which souls are dying, but not how.”
“How frustrating.”
Concettos turned around. “At first I thought she was trying to manipulate me. It wouldn’t be the first time. But the more I thought about it, the more I believed her.” His father looked him firmly in the eye. “I will never let a member of la famiglia run to their death. I wish I could speak to Ferron. But apart from you, there’s no one I can confide in.”
“True. They’d ask you about your source,” Arminio noted.
“That’s why I’m exhausting every resource at my disposal whilst pretending to carry on with my life as usual.”
Arminio sighed. “How can I help you with that?”
His father took a deep breath and stared at the floor. When he looked up, nothing of his helplessness remained to be seen except his red eyes. “I’ll let you know when something comes up.” He squared his shoulders. “Until then, I want you to take history lessons from Aset.”
Arminio raised his arms and spread his hands to the sides. “Don’t always treat me like a schoolboy.”
“No arguing.” Concetto lifted his chin and stared at him until Arminio finally lowered his head. Then he turned and went into his study.
Arminio watched him go. Ferron’s prophecy explained why his father was so worried, but not why he was suddenly being so friendly towards Aset. Once again, he had skilfully steered the conversation away from the subject, and Arminio wondered what else his father was keeping from him.
