We Love Villains! Young adult paranormal giveaway hop!

Giveaway time!!! Curse of the Ice Dragon is part of the YA Paranormal Giveaway Hop organized by Kathy from I Am A Reader, Not A Writer and by [YA] Between the Lines. The giveaway runs from February 21st to February 27th and features Young Adult books with Paranormal elements. Some of the authors featured in the giveaway are: Alexia Purdy, Lizzy Ford, Cameo Renae, J. Anne Huss, Alivia Anders, Brina Courtney, and Angela Orlowski-Peart . Click HERE to see all of the blogs and authors participating in the hop.

Back to villains.

Why do I love them?

Because without villains, the hero would have no reason to save the damsel, himself, or maybe even the fate of humanity. Or else, the damsel would have no reason to kick the villain’s butt and assert herself as an independent woman.

Without villains, there wouldn’t be much of a story. Harry Potter would have nothing to overcome without Voldemort. He would simply be another troublemaker at Hogwarts. Who knows? Maybe he would have been chummy with Malfoy and his goons at the Slytherin House.

So despite all of Voldemort’s nefarious deeds, we readers love him for making the story memorable, just like we love Darth Vader, The Grinch, Cruella De Vil, and all those evil step-mothers and step-sisters.

Out of all the movie and book villains, my favorite would have to be Gollum from Lord of the Rings. I think it’s because of the many emotions he inspires; from pity, to disgust to hatred.  With his multiple personalities, he really is a mixed bag of villains, and my family just can’t seem to tire of ‘MY PRECIOUS!’ jokes.  

And now a scene from Curse of the Ice Dragon with the cruel and selfish villain Madhea, Goddess of the Sky.

***

Under the mystic glow of pale lights, Madhea sat on her ornate ice throne, looking down into the swirling mists. Try as she might, she could not summon forth an image of her dragon. Lydra was lost for now, trapped under the crush of heavy snow. The foolish beast had failed her.

Cursing, she slapped the vortex of spinning vapor, scattering wisps of clouds across the stones. Madhea was tired this night and her magic was draining, but she needed to know what had become of the boy. With one final attempt, she spun her hand around the circle of stones beneath her, calling forth her vision spell until a faint image of the boy hunter appeared.

He looked too much like his father, with coarse midnight hair and a thick, square jaw. Her wingtips twitched and hummed as her mind conjured up images of the one night she’d spent in the cradle of Rowlen’s strong arms.

Rowlen, why did you leave me?

“Lydra is trapped, My Deity.” Her servant, Jae, a beautiful girl with long coppery curls that fell just below her waist, stood at the threshold of the throne room, her feet obscured by a soft fog rising from the floor.

“Yes, I know about the dragon,” Madhea answered flatly, as her wings drooped at her sides. Unable to mask her annoyance, Madhea waved away the servant with a flick of her wrist.

Jae stood grounded to the spot while she leveled Madhea with the direct gaze of her tapered amber eyes. The girl was bold. Her insolence would have to be dealt with — soon.

Madhea knew it was her beauty that made the servant so. She too had been that way once, when the allure of her ivory hair and vivid green eyes were matched by no woman. Madhea had been a youth then, though it seemed only a few winters ago. But, once her heart had been shattered into a thousand splintering ice crystals, her beauty died with it. Her death from within, from the plague that ate at her soul, crept outward, gnawing at her flesh until naught was left but the wrinkled skin of an old woman.

But Madhea had had her revenge — the curse she put upon Rowlen’s heart before he descended. His young bride and sickly son did not know he would return a monster. Now that he was dead, the last remnants of Madhea’s heart had withered to dust. But she would mourn silently. The Elementals need not gain another reason to doubt her powers.

“Do you wish me to release the pixies?” asked Jae, waving a hand toward the dark, deep void in the wall behind Madhea’s throne. Upon hearing their names, an eruption of squeals began. Thousands of pixies, each no bigger than a child’s fist, screamed from behind an iron grate for their release.

“No, girl.” Madhea leered at her servant from beneath pale lashes and silenced the pixies with a wave of her hand.

Jae’s eyes bulged. “My Goddess, please do not tell me you will waste your magic.”

“Do you dare tell me what to do?” Rising, Madhea slammed her fists against the stones.

The girl worried for nothing, brainwashed by the Elementals of the ice coven. Madhea knew her magic was not waning. The ice was not melting. Her towering pillars of frozen crystallites had withstood over ten thousand winters and they would protect them for thousands more to come.

“Forgive me, My Goddess.” Casting her gaze downward, Jae bit her lower lip.

Sighing, Madhea sank into the furs lining her throne. She was tired and needed rest. By morning, her magic would be revived. “Why should I release the pixies or use my magic?”

Narrowing her eyes, she looked down at the circle of stones as the boy’s image faded away. “I give him no more than another day. The boy hunter will not survive my mountain.”

*** So who’s your favorite movie or novel villain? Leave an answer and your reason below for a chance to win one of three free downloads of Curse of the Ice Dragon, the first in my epic paranormal fantasy Keepers of the Stones saga. ***