Tainted magic. A twisted curse. Can Agnes save the dragon planet before civil war explodesâand claims her life?
Agnes is settling into her role as Arch Mage after saving her planet from annihilation, when the dragon leader, Menneth, contacts her. Secret radicals threaten Third Earth and Menneth desperately needs her magic to expose them. A terrifying mission, but how can she say no to a dragon?
However, the mission soon becomes far more than expected. Caught in the scheme of an evil mastermind, Agnes is stripped of her allies one by oneâeven her own magic betrays her. Alone and considered an enemy of dragonkind, the lives of her friends and the peace of Third Earth hang in the balance. Agnes must summon every ounce of courage to survive and fight the sinister dragon manipulator.
Third Earth is Book Three in the thrilling Arch Mage YA fantasy series that readers canât put down. If you like magical creatures, intrigue, exhilarating adventures, and journeys of epic proportions, youâll love Cami Murdock Jensenâs enthralling story.
Buy Third Earth to jump to magical worlds and unexpected adventures today!
Tainted magic. A twisted curse. Can Agnes save the dragon planet before civil war explodesâand claims her life?
Agnes is settling into her role as Arch Mage after saving her planet from annihilation, when the dragon leader, Menneth, contacts her. Secret radicals threaten Third Earth and Menneth desperately needs her magic to expose them. A terrifying mission, but how can she say no to a dragon?
However, the mission soon becomes far more than expected. Caught in the scheme of an evil mastermind, Agnes is stripped of her allies one by oneâeven her own magic betrays her. Alone and considered an enemy of dragonkind, the lives of her friends and the peace of Third Earth hang in the balance. Agnes must summon every ounce of courage to survive and fight the sinister dragon manipulator.
Third Earth is Book Three in the thrilling Arch Mage YA fantasy series that readers canât put down. If you like magical creatures, intrigue, exhilarating adventures, and journeys of epic proportions, youâll love Cami Murdock Jensenâs enthralling story.
Buy Third Earth to jump to magical worlds and unexpected adventures today!
Darkness surrounded me as I fell into consciousness. To shake off the fog in my head, I tried to stretch. Hard, unyielding walls inhibited my movement. I was trapped in a small space.
A deep voice, as large as a world, rang within my prison. âHas the future changed?â
It happened again, the horrible question Iâd been asked thousands of timesâthe reason I remained in this prison worse than any grave. What happened to me? Where was I? How did I come to be here?
âLet me out,â I yelled. Unused to speaking, my plea grated and cracked.
A force lifted my small prison and rattled me inside it. Knees, elbows, and head battered against the walls; weakness prevented any protection.
âAnswer me,â raged the powerful voice.
âStop,â I cried, pain stinging my bones. âIâll see.â
The shaking ceased. All tears cried out long ago, my lids closed with a raspy scrape, and I retreated into my only remaining comfort, my own magic.
Show me the future, I whispered in my mind.
A vision filled the darkness. I saw a universe full of planetsâand planets full of people. Each life was precious beyond measure, and blissfully unaware of the doom advancing across the universe. Like smoke spread by the wind or the plague spread by touch, the shadow smeared across populated planets. It reached into every gap and cranny, enclosing them gently into its grip.
Glimpses of brightness gleamed in the doom. Brave beings whose mercy prevented the plague from sealing its hold. A cluster of golden stars in the center of the universe radiated strength. Galaxies away, a star with a purple hue shone with steady wisdom. One mysterious glimmer of green traveled from planet to planet, bringing justice and healing. Countless flickers of love dotted the black expanse. They gave me hope. I cast my focus to the planet of flame. It had burned for eons in unwavering order, but now shadow crept between the dancing embers, quietly weakening the united light, and I despaired.
No. Had the child fallen?
In the darkness, I searched for a light shining brighter than the rest, a white light of pure, innocent power. It yet remained. Iâd foreseen it millennia ago, and I desperately searched its future. Nothing had changed. This human child, little more than a speck of dust in the grand scheme of existence, stayed rooted in goodness, a sliver in the hand of my captorâs shadowed fist.
A hint of connection warmed my gift. Silently, I called to the child, pleading for help. But why? The white light shone on a planet on the other side of the universe. None knew I still existed. None knew of my plight. None heard my pleas.
Anguish overcame me, and I retreated from my vision.
âThe future holds its course,â I reported to my captor.
He bellowed in fury, and an insurmountable fatigue washed over me. As I drifted away, the hint of connection sparked a theory. It required pondering, but for the first time in my memory, I had a reason to fight the spell that took away my mind. It was worth the pain.
ââright, Ags?â
The small cell no longer squeezed my jointsâonly a cold, hard surface pressed against my forehead, conveying the steady hum of tires on the road.
âAgs? Hellooo?â
Heavy rain clouds drooped to the horizon, and blurred, wet rooftops slowly came into focus. For some reason, I blinked several times to moisten my eyes, but they werenât dry. Weird. They were dry a second ago.
âHey, are you awake?â
âYeah,â I heard myself say. âIâm awake.â
âWhat are you staring at?â
I didnât know. Shakily, I lifted my head from the window and shifted the seatbelt strap away from my jaw. It was wet with drool. Gross. I wiped the corner of my mouth on my coat sleeve.
âYou okay, babe?â
My best friend, Sadie, sat next to me, her blond hair curling inches from my face. In front of us, the backs of three heads, Dr. James Buchanan, Sadieâs grandfather and my mentor, Dr. Bâs assistant, Ms. Chippy, and my mom, swayed in unison as the airport shuttle zoomed around a curve in the road.
âAgnes?â Sadie asked again. âWe were talking, and you just kind of slumped against the window. You okay?â
âI think so.â
I rubbed my thighs. They burned with nerve pain. I didnât know why. I didnât do anything to aggravate my neuropathy beyond sitting for an hour.
âAre you nauseous, sunshine?â Mom asked over her shoulder. âYou havenât been car sick for months. Remember our old Volkswagen bug convertible? I miss that old heap.â
âIâm not nauseous,â I said. âI think I fell asleep. I had this short, really intense dream.â
âCreepy.â Sadie leaned away a few inches. âYour eyes were wide open and staring out the window.â
Dr. Buchananâs rich, tenor voice joined in. âSleeping with the eyes open is not unheard of. As a blind person, I suffer from it myself occasionally. My ophthalmologist recommended a complex treatment involving taping my eyelids closed while I slept to fix the dryness.â
Dry eyes. That was in my dream. My magical gift of truth made telepathy easy for me. Did I drift off and accidentally access a memory from Dr. B? But why dream about a painful prison? And why suddenly start sleeping with my eyes open?
Sadie put the back of her hand against my forehead, feeling for a fever. âYou look pale, Ags.â
âI do feel kind of freaked. That dreamâso strange.â
âAlmost there,â she said, her phoneâs navigation app glowing on her perfect skin. âFive minutes is all. Can you hold on?â
âYes.â
She still thought I was car sick, but I wasnât. Outside the window, an early April storm coated everything with gray: sky, roads, buildingsâeverything. Only the occasional billboard popped with color, but even the flashy advertisements faded in the cloud-muted light. I was so ready for summer.
In the airportâs covered drop-off zone, the driver hurried to open the doors and help us with our bags. The lighted, red lettering of the marquis just inside the sliding glass door glowed âWelcome to LaGuardiaâ in a pleasant display of color. The wheels of our carry-ons rattled over the grating, and we merged into a throng of passengers hurrying to the boarding desk.
âEverybody have all their stuff?â Mom asked, huffing with the quick pace. âTickets? Phones? IDs? Money? Luggage?â
Dr. Buchanan, Sadie, and Ms. Chippy patted their pockets and dug into their bags to see. I unzipped my coat and slapped my thigh through my long, flowing shirt. My Aether pouch, strapped over my leggings, bulged with the familiar shapes of my seven Aether Stones, my arch mage crest, and my cell. Red armor, PJs, and a couple of outfits were folded neatly in my carry-on, and around my neck hung a cat pendant of snowflake obsidian.
Check, check, check, andâdang it. I left my makeup bag with all my toiletries on the vanity at home. Oh well.
âIâm good,â I said.
âMe, too.â Sadie stuffed her designer pocketbook under her coat.
Ms. Chippy snapped open Dr. Buchananâs briefcase and rifled through tidy folders bearing The Bounteous Life logo, a yellow sheaf of wheat growing out of a black crack in the ground. Dr. B had started the nonprofit group to help people recover from the earthquakes in February. Well, Dame Maudine actually started itâdisguising herself in scrubs and helping the woundedâbut Dr. B took over and turned it into an official foundation. Satisfied with the paperwork, Ms. Chippy secured the locks and glanced at the boarding desk.
âAye. The lines are so long. People are starting to travel again, yes?â
âLend me your arm, Ms. Chippy,â Dr. Buchanan said. âWe can save a place while Agnes says goodbye.â
âWait, wait, I have to say goodbye too.â She bustled over and wrapped her plump arms around me. âI still think you are too young for a job that makes you travel alone,â she said into my shoulder. âWhat idiot government sends a child into the mountains to look for wild animals?â
âEndangered species,â Dr. Buchanan corrected. âWeâve covered this already. This is a good opportunity. She was lucky to get selected.â
My internal lie detector buzzed, but since Dr. Buchanan lied for me, I ignored it. Technically, I was looking for rare animals, just not on this planet. And finding sun larvae in molten cores was way more dangerous than hiking in the mountains. I hated lying to Ms. Chippy, but it was far easier for her to believe the government hired me to report on wildlife. There was no way she would understand a magical, gigantic sun larvaâs hunger meltdown nearly exploded the entire planet.
Ms. Chippyâs energetic gaze conflicted with the bags under her eyes. âCome with us to Illinois. You can report to the government that the cow population survived the quakes.â
âIâm proud of Agnes,â Sadie said. âSheâs doing important work.â
âOur volunteers do important work,â Ms. Chippy argued. âShe can work for us.â
Dr. Buchanan tutted in disagreement. âThe key word, my dear assistant, is volunteer. With my financial empire massively depleted after the Great Quakes Calamity, she is wise to earn money at every opportunity. Government jobs are rare, with so many resources assisting countries that suffered far more than ours. Agnes will be fine. Even you have to admit sheâs getting stronger.â
Someone noticed. I started with squats.
Ms. Chippy pursed her lips in protest, but harrumphed through her nose and gave in. âYes, yes, she is. I am so proud of my good girl,â she stroked my cheek. âYou take care, chiquita. Donât get eaten by a puma. Oh! I almost forgot.â She pulled a plastic baggie full of homemade donuts from her oversized coat pocket. âIn case you get hungry.â
âDonuts? Yes! Thanks, Ms. Chippy. Iâll be careful.â
âI know you will,â she said.
Dr. Buchanan reached out a hand, and when it felt my shoulder, he scooped me in for a one-armed hug. Of all the people on my planet, only the four of us knew his sight had been restored, and only three of us knew the cure was magic.
âYou have the compensation contract, right?â he whispered into my ear.
âIn my bag,â I whispered back.
âWonderful. Then let Operation Bounteous Harvest begin.â
âYes, sir.â
He released me and held his arm straight out from his shoulder. âTo the everlasting line, Ms. Chippy.â
âSee you in a few days.â Ms. Chippy placed his outstretched hand on her shoulder. Still believing his restored vision might be temporary, she helped him pull off his blind act, in case one of his millions of fans happened to be watching. âThis way, Doctor.â
A man in a business suit ran into Sadie, knocking her off balance.
âOh, sorry,â he blurted, still walking full speed. Then he nearly broke his neck wrenching it around gawk at her.
No surpriseâSadie was especially gorgeous today.
âI miss the private jet,â Sadie muttered.
âWhat do you expect when youâre so pretty?â I asked.
âItâs the cream you magicked.â Sadie touched her smooth, perfect face in pure satisfaction. âI donât even wear foundation anymore. Your clear skin spell is miraculous.â
âAll those ripped farm boys will go crazy over you.â
âThereâs a door.â Mom pointed out a janitorâs closet behind us. âCome on, girls.â
We rolled our luggage over. I pulled my solid-gold arch mage crest from my Aether pouch, then hid it behind my back as a group of young New Yorkers laden down with ski equipment passed. One young guy with an âXtremeskiâ beanie slouched over his ears stared at my scars.
âWhoa, wrong face,â he sneered. âEver hear of plastic surgery?â
Iâd heard a lifetimeâs worth of inconsiderate comments, but it still stung. A soft hiss rose from my pendant, and I clutched it gently out of habit. Sadie judged him with that scathing stare popular girls used to control the rabble.
âYou clearly havenât. You go skiing and faceplant into an ugly tree?â She turned away but wasnât done. âExtreme posers, you mean.â
The guy strutted into the center of his crew, still laughing at me. âWhat a deformity.â
Mom tensed up, preparing to chase them down and slap the sass out of them.
âIâve got this, Mom,â I said.
Accessing my magic, I opened my hand and shot a magical beam of white light near the ground right in the path of beanie boy.
âHarden,â I whispered, closing my fist.
My spell worked perfectly. Two months of intense illusionist training with Mistress Glaydn and Chiri enabled me to solidify my light into a dense block. Xtremeski kid tripped dramatically over the invisible block, and the weight of his skis tipped him forward. In a cascade of flailing arms, he and the heavy bag hit the ground. His buddies scrambled to avoid him and quickly shifted their mocking from me to their unfortunate friend.
âInstant karma, bra,â one taunted, slapping the poor kidâs head as he walked past.
âShut up,â he yelled back, snatching his beanie from the airport floor and pulling it over his shame-reddened ears.
âDid you do that?â Mom asked me. Other people couldnât see my magic light unless I wanted them to.
âYup,â I said proudly.
âWell, he had it coming,â she approved. âCount that as homework for Mistress Glaydn. Frankly, theyâre lucky I didnât get hold of their punk rears.â
âTheyâre just dumb kids, Mom,â I said. âLet âem live.â
âFine way to treat someone who saved the whole world from tearing apart.â
âIâm glad they donât know,â I admitted. âI hate being famous. At least here I can live a relatively normal life.â
âTrue,â agreed Mom. âI hardly see you as it is.â
âIâd love being famous,â mused Sadie, âif I had a handsome bodyguard to chase off stalkers.â
âLike Nemantia and Jenz?â I asked her. âIllinois isnât exactly your scene. You could come with me. Nemantia is asking for a visit. She hasnât been shopping in weeks.â
âOh, neither have I.â Sadieâs manicured fingers twirled a blond lock longingly.
Sadie loved First Earth. My amazing boyfriend, Prince Temnon Odonata, matter-shaper extraordinaire, and his cousin, the necromancer Princess Nemantia, always treated Sadie like a visiting dignitary.
âIâm tempted,â she said. âI need a good pampering, but Iâve got negotiations to conduct.â
âWith farmers? What are you up to?â
âDonât worry about me. Youâve got your own work.â
That was mysterious. It wasnât like Sadie to brush me off, but I let it go. It was probably about her grandpaâs foundation. She had a knack for making herself indispensable.
Sadie kissed my cheeks European style. âLove you, Ags. Be safe.â
âYou too, and watch your step in Illinois,â I teased, but kind of not. Her shoes were worth more than my whole outfit.
Mom hugged me, nearly smushing my donuts. âThese goodbyes never get any easier.â
âMom, Iâm an arch mage, not a baby,â I reminded her. âI have responsibilities.â
âI do, too,â she retorted, âand my most important responsibility is making sure you reach adulthood in one piece. Your part-time job makes that a lot harder.â
âWhy are you so worried? Iâve survived five cores already. Dr. Buchanan isnât complaining.â
âOf course, he isnât. Your fees help his foundation with earthquake recovery. But isnât there a safer way to do it? Just ask your truth magic if thereâs a sun larva. You canât lie. That should be enough for the government types on these planets.â
âIâm a Wielder of Truth, not an all-knowing psychic. My magic doesnât work on stuff Iâm not in contact with.â
âBut what about when you . . .â
âOkay,â I admitted, âoccasionally I know universal truths that apply to everyone and never change, but I havenât figured out how to control that part of my gift. I can ask about outside truths that affect people I know, but I canât just ask my magic any random question and expect an answer. I have to look for the sun larva myself.â
âItâs not just the sun larvae.â Mom argued. âRemember Fourth Earth? They didnât like your report and things got heated.â
Stupid Chief Galdor. The leader of the centaur clan tried to make the condition of their sun larva my fault, as if my tiny mission into its brain caused centuries of malnourishment. Really? Theyâd known about the planetary magic shortage forever, so yeah, blame me, that made sense. Still, I shouldnât have called Galdor stubborn, or brainless for that matter. Thank goodness Arch Mage Claude stepped in before I called him a âroid rage nag.
âOkay, so I didnât handle that in the most mature manner,â I admitted, âbut even presidents say things they regret.â
âIâm just not sure youâre ready for this kind of responsibility,â she said, âAnd about the contractâOperation Bounteous Harvestâcanât Temnon . . . ?
I knew what she was going to ask. âSure, Temnon can shape dirt into whatever I ask for, but that doesnât mean he should. These missions are about more than sun larva. Theyâre also about building good relationships with other planetsâtrading and alliances and political stuff. Iâm trying to do things the right way.â
âMost sixteen-year-olds work in a burger joint to learn people skills. Maybe you should try that while youâre training your magic.â
Fighting to keep my tone positive, I said, âMost sixteen-year-olds arenât arch mage of a planet, but if you really want me serving slabs of processed meat fillers to crackheads and handsy pedophiles . . .â
Mom glared. âYou know that isnât what I meant,â she said with a stern edge.
I laughed. âIâm only teasing. I do have a lot to learn, but Iâm not in this alone. My team takes good care of me.â
My pendant shifted against my neck.
âI know, I know,â Mom kissed my forehead. âItâs just that, as soon as things calm down for us, some huge, unconquerable disaster happens, and you nearly die again.â
âDonât jinx me.â
âYouâre right. Sorry, sunshine.â Mom put both hands on my shoulders. âCall us when you get back, and weâll send you the coordinates so you can transport to Illinois. All clear on the plan?â
âGot it,â I said and emphasized it with a firm nod.
âGood, see you soon. Say hi to Tem and his family. Love you, hon.â
âBye, Mom.â
I held my crest against the janitorâs closet and wished for the Apex. I opened the door a crack, trying to conceal the bright, early morning tropical sunlight pouring from the door.
âStay safe,â Sadie said.
âThanks, Sades. Have fun in farmland.â
I closed the door behind me. Instantly, I went from being with Mom and Sadie in New York to over 5,000 miles away in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Magic was so cool.
Now, on to Earth 22.
Third Earth is a young adult fantasy book with whimsical characters and great world building. It's a coming of age story of a young mage called Agnes and tells the story of how she is growing stronger in the use of her special magic. The characters are believable and their story arcs develop and complete throughout the story. Clearly it is part of a series, and if you haven't read the previous books in the series, you may feel robbed, but on its own it is a great read too.
I enjoyed reading Third Earth. From the first page in the book until the last, the story had me hooked. I was curious to find out about Agnes and her struggles, her joys, and her adventures. She grows during the story and her problems are relatable. The main conflict in the story is mostly her belief in herself. Something not only young adults struggle with, but older people too. Add on all the different characters in the book that help or support her, and the different worlds she visits, and it ends up a book full of fantasy, magic, old-fashioned good versus evil fighting: a book that is very well rounded. The characters all are unique but with very recognizable human traits. They all struggle with some things, but also triumph in others. Each character is described well and they come alive on the pages of the book. Even though it is part of a series, the story still comes full circle from beginning to end, so it is possible to read the book as a stand-alone, though some things may want you to start from the first book in the series.
I recommend Third Earth to anyone that likes fantasy. Even though the characters are young and it is a coming of age story, there are lessons in it for adults too. From world building, to all the characters, all in all it is a great book and can take its place proudly as part of the fantasy genre. A highly recommended read and one I thoroughly enjoyed.