Officially, my second novel A Whisper in the Shadows, which began the Rangers of Laerean a series, featured two main characters, though it was the Ranger Baric that was featured throughout the initial trilogy. Yet, without the second character, Baric’s story would never have been told. The second character that also appears throughout the trilogy was a female assassin named Whisper.
The idea came to me early on to create a female assassin named Whisper. I liked the name, and the concept of her interacting with a heroic Ranger who had a heart of gold. The contrast between the moral Baric, and the slightly immoral Whisper intrigued me. So, when I finally sat down to write the first book, A Whisper in the Shadows, I was really panstering off this connection between the two characters. I had no idea where the story would go.
Whisper is one of the Vaar’da, a race that many will say resemble traditional elves, but they are not elves. They have pointed ears, slightly, and an arrogant nature, but their resemblance to the the typical fantasy trope of elves ends there. First of all, they are small, not tall, as most think of elves. The Vaar’da are a small, dark-skinned people with pale blue to deep hazel eyes. All pure-blood Vaar’da have black hair.
By contrast, Humans come in many shapes and sizes, from short to tall, light to dark skinned, with a huge variety of eye and hair colors. Some may even think of Vaar’da, and the other races in the story (Draldur and Zumarian) as different species, but this is not the case. They can interbreed, despite their cultural and physical differences, though in the initial trilogy I do not bring up the possibility of half-breeds.
Unfortunately, I can’t speak much on this subject, as the origin of all these different races is part of what the stories are all about. I don’t want to spoil anything. But, let’s get back to Whisper.
Her real name is Raimerestha. At least, that is the name given to her by her adopted father, who was a Vaar’da assassin himself. Her nickname, Whisper, comes from a magical ability she possesses. The ability to walk in shadows and appear as if from nowhere. Whisper is also gifted with other shadow abilities and illusion magic. These talents, along with her use of deadly dual daggers, makes her a formidable opponent, and a master assassin.
Again, what happens with Whisper in the trilogy is a spoiler, so I will not go into much detail about what she does. However, to entice potential readers, I am adding an excerpt below from the third book in the trilogy, The Shadow of Narwyrm, which demonstrates just how effective her talents can be.
If you want to find out more, then read The Shadow of Narwyrm trilogy, the first three books in the Rangers of Laerean series. This is an ongoing series, with future adventures being in different time periods, and about many different characters. I’m currently writing the fourth novel in this series, which will be a stand-alone novel, but will have some characters in it from the trilogy.
The following excerpt is from The Shadow of Narwyrm, the third book in the Rangers of Laerean series, and the final book in The Shadow of Narwyrm trilogy.
Excerpt from The Shadow of Narwyrm
As she got closer, it was evident they were just a group of bandits, camping away from the roads and pathways near Chartol. She counted six of them as she approached their fire. Two men stood watch, and the one she approached became instantly alert as he saw her dark outline coming closer.
“What have we here?” he smirked, recognizing she was a female. “You lost, little bird?”
The others, hearing their companion, started to gather around him as Whisper walked confidently toward them. By the light of their fire, they could now see she was Vaar’da, and though small in frame, quite beautiful. Their sneers grew in anticipation of what they saw as an easy target walking right into their lair.
“She’s one of them Vaar’da,” said one of the men. “Looks like we got ourselves some entertainment tonight.”
Whisper’s smile grew into an evil and malevolent grin, like a snake sizing up its prey. As the men started forward to grab her, she vanished in an instant, without making a sound. The bandits had no time to wonder where she had gone, as the next seconds moved like time was standing still to Whisper.
Reappearing behind the man furthest away, she slid her dagger across his throat with ease. His life flowed out in a rush, but Whisper had vanished again before his body even hit the ground.
Immediately she appeared behind another, driving her long dagger into his spleen with her left hand, while another dagger in her right stabbed him in the neck, then she was gone again. Vanishing, and reappearing so rapidly the eye could not follow, she assassinated the remaining four men before they could even realize what was happening. In mere seconds, the six men lay dead at her feet.
She wiped her blades on the clothing of one of the bodies, then sheathed them beneath her black robe. Searching the men, she found some coins and rusty weapons, but nothing of real value. Then she calmly continued her march southward, leaving behind a roaring campfire and six bloody corpses.