Chill Breeze

Cartref is a typical isolated small town in the mountains of Mynyds on the borders of Tiarna. The people there work hard, fight off bandits, farm the land, worship the gods and goddesses, raise their families, and ritually kill anyone found to have magic. After all, magic can be used to harm and kill, as the bandits prove over and over again, so magic is evil and those who can wield it are worse than demons.

Cinnia is a typical girl born in Cartref. She loves her family, all of her parents and siblings, she does well in school and loves participating in the winter sports competitions. She finds herself bothered by the ritual deaths that come whenever a magic wielder is found, they are gruesome and give her nightmares but she understands that it is done by the priests to protect them from evil. She accepts it – until she finds herself doing unexplainable things without knowing how.

What would you do if you lived somewhere magic was punished by death and you found yourself able to do it? That is Cinnia's eventual dilemma as she grows into the newly discovered powers she must struggle with her feelings of fear and wonder. The fear of discovery and the wonder and awe of what she can do.

“Chill Breeze” is set in a created world that is rich in description and characterization. The religion and its implications are explored, as are the family units consisting of multiple spouses of both sexes in mixed marriages. The families live in large communal homes with expectations of everyone based on their position within the family. It is a fascinating society explored through the eyes of one young girl.

Written by Elaine Letsen, cover art by Nick Nestel