The Alkebulan Chronicles — Book V is published
The Memory Cartographer · Book V · Part I. The Mauritanian desert, a ruined well, gunfire, and a pack of wolves materialising out of the dark.
Elena is running. She is also, as it happens, four months pregnant.
One by one they emerge — fantastic shapes, silver and amber-eyed — circling protectively. Asdar appears last, a giant wolf, and right before my stunned gaze he shifts form. Bone and fur ripple, his snout shortens, shoulders straighten, and suddenly he stands before me, dust swirling around his bare feet.
Without another word he crouches, and I climb onto his back. The pack sweeps ahead — a silent phalanx, purposeful and swift. We race through the night until the looming silhouettes of the Tagant plateau rise against the sky.
“It’s the children,” he says quietly. “Their blood is old — older than you or Tarmo or me. Old magic calls to itself, especially when you bleed or burn or love too deeply. That’s what drew me here tonight.”
[ Kobo — available Thursday 21 May]
The Alkebulan Chronicles, Part I · The Memory Cartographer Book V Available Thursday on Kobo Writing Life.
© 2026 I.Ph. de Lange · All rights reserved · Published by CYcrds OÜ
The Memory Cartographer 