Justine Manzano Presents Creatures of the Dusk
Hi everybody!
When The Order of the Key was first re-released by Sword & Silk books, I introduced you to the heroes (and perhaps hidden villains) of the world of Keys & Guardians.
The heroes of the Order deal with more than enough human villains in their lives, but the mission of the Order is to seal the rifts between dimensions and to protect humanity from the interdimensionals who threaten their way of life.
But not every interdimensional is necessarily evil.
Meet Cxarana. While nobody is exactly sure what side Cxarana lands on, she claims to be on the side of humanity and the people of the Dawn.
Cxarana is a member of the Arvokian race. Her people were slaves within the Dusk. When they ran from their oppressors, they accidentally punched holes between dimensions, leading the creatures of the Dusk to spill into our world, the Dawn. Now taking up residence in the pocket between the two worlds, the Arvokians have discovered they are more powerful in the in-between.
Since then, the Arvokians have sworn to assist the Order of the Key in defeating the creatures of the Dusk. However, it is possible the Arvokians are enjoying the power they have outside of the Dusk. Is closing the Rifts in their interests? Or would it be smarter to keep them open and reap the benefits of the damage they accidentally caused?
Maybe the Order will figure that out soon.
The very first interdimensional being Jacklyn encountered was a Gorvhan. Gorvhans are like the rabid dogs of the Dusk. They are unintelligent beasts who hunger for humans and their internal body fluids, but they have no concept of their behavior or morality. They are ravenous beasts with no emotions who are used like attack dogs by Sirins. These things are creepy, but they roam aimlessly looking for food. However, they do latch on to the Aegis energy inherent in both Keys and Guardians when they use their abilities.
Also, they’re really REALLY creepy.
The mob bosses of the Dusk. These are the creatures who enslaved the Arvokians and the creatures who have now settled in the Dawn, creating drug trades and smuggling Gorvhans and other interdimensional creatures through. Rumor has it, they have deals with either the Arvokians or the Order itself to keep the Rifts open. But who can ever really be sure when everyone is lying?
The scariest thing about Sirins is their intelligence. These aren’t aimless monstrosities like the Gorvhans. These are strategic thinkers who know enough about the Order to be able to use the Death-Bringer Ritual, the one that permanently detaches a Key from their life-death-rebirth cycle. It kills for good. How did they get that Ritual anyway?
The Skeleton Key releases Tuesday, April 12th! You can preorder book 2 in this award winning series here. And stay tuned next week for our release party via Instagram Live, 7pm EST via Author Justine Manzano.
