Character Name: The Girl (I have several aliases depending on the situation)
Which book/world do you live in? I live in the Sunspear world. I have been on this journey from the beginning and still remain despite close calls.
Tell us about yourself: I usually avoid this question.
There’s only two people left that know who I am and that’s Alika and Alena. I wish they didn’t know. I’m always afraid of putting them in danger, but it can’t be helped. My parents are both dead. Their death haunts me for different reasons, one I grieve still and the other I wish it had come sooner. You must think me a horrible person for saying such a thing, but if you knew the truth maybe you wouldn’t think so. Perhaps you still would. I’ve seen close up the ugliness of the Black Dragon, and so I fight them. However, my past requires I battle differently. I routinely rotate between a number of roles to get the job done. I’m the shipping dealer, the disguised Black Dragon soldier, the security advisor, and the list goes on. You’d think I would be confused, but I keep it straight. Part of it is I have to. Survival is a strong motivation. It’s a deadly game I play. So, one day I’m Chris the shipping dealer, another day to another person I take on another random name for my shipping cover, then another day I’m Kate the advisor, and then another day Dante calls me … (She shakes her head). I still can’t understand that one, how he sees me like that. Alika tells me Dante sees clearly when it comes to me, that I’m one with the distorted vision on that one. He hasn’t convinced me yet. Of course, no one sees the images I do, the gift from the Ancient One. I tell myself it’s a gift, and it is because it helps us in a lot of ways. Yet, there are images I can’t get out of my head, that I can’t unsee. Honestly, it scares me to death. It’s something that you can’t extinguish with a sunspear blade like a Black Dragon agent.
What are your greatest strengths and weaknesses?
Strengths, huh? I’m excellent in a fight, but a give a lot of credit to my teachers, Alika and Alena. I can also get into about anything electronic; it’s invaluable in the operations we carry out, with hacking into systems and creating clearances. I’m always had a knack for it, just like my… well I guess that kind of stuff isn’t passed down in genes, but sometimes it feels like it. I can play whatever role needed or at least so far, I’ve been able to. Some are harder to reconcile than others once the scene is played out, but I have to bury it and move on from the aftermath. There’s a line, and certainly I’ve walked it more than once now. Honestly, I’m certain I’ve stepped across it. Beyond those, strengths get hard to find if the truth were told with my vision, but others disagree with my assessment. Alika and Alena frequently tell me I’m my worst critic, that I don’t see this incredible person I am. It’s easier just to nod and pretend to agree with them those times. They already know that’s all I’m doing. They try to convince me I’m not to blame for everything I place on myself. I see the failures though, the ones I didn’t make it in time to save, like my … (She looks down momentarily). I guess that’s one of my weaknesses. Any victory is swallowed up in the memories of what I couldn’t change, of what the Black Dragon has taken away. It drives me to never let them have victory again and that means protecting those around me at all costs. I vow never to fail them again, and that’s a good thing. However, sometimes the anger boils to the surface faster than I realize, and it consumes me all over again. Regrettably anyone in the path of it feels its fury, and I hate it about myself. I don’t know how many times I’ve had to beg for Alika’s forgiveness, but thankfully he never gives me what I deserve for how I act. Instead, he gives me a hug and affectionally calls me by the name he uses on me still, his child. I’m grown now, but I’m okay with that name, because I still feel like a child in so many ways. That desire to protect those around me and to fight for them is also what gets me into many of the messes I find myself in. Even though we go in with a plan for an operation, I’m impulsive and change the game plan on my own. If that means it’s my last stand so that someone I care about survives, I’ll make that trade any day.
Name three important people/creatures/institutions in your world (such as lovers, pets, government institutions, leaders, gods etc).
I consider Alika and Alena my family now. Alika is an Elder, one of those called to the task of training sunspear-bearers. However, he’s so much more than that to me. He’s shown me the love of a father, but never been afraid to challenge me at the same time when he knew I was moving into dangerous waters. Alena, a spear-bearer herself, has helped trained me, but more than that she is the sister I never had. She has seen me through the darkest moments of my world and been the shoulder I cried on. They both continued all the teachings of the Ancient One. The Ancient One is this other one in my world that some days it’s a wonder He doesn’t leave me be. Somehow though as many times as I come unravelled, He’s there to reassure me I’m still His and that He has me in His hands. As far as my world, I’ve seen different landscapes at various points in my life. I’ve lived as a child in a household that seemed to the rest of the world as normal and played my role to survive. Then when it fell apart to the outside world finally, I became formally accustomed to a new world, one that frequently saw the inside of bars as a shipping dealer. Then there’s the other side of me, the other world I found myself drawn into or better yet, the person I found myself drawn to. That would be Dante. I saw him in the visions and tried to tell myself that’s all it was. I knew better. I had admitted the truth to myself long before he understood. It scares me to death though even as I long for every moment I get with him. If anyone finds out what he means to me, what’s growing between us, what will be the price? If something happened to him because of me, that would be it. The final blow in my world.
What does ‘heroism’ mean to you?
A hero… I guess for a lot of people it’s measured in how many kills you make with a blade. If you took a poll in many of the places I hang out, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s your top answer. It’s a pretty shallow measure though. Not to say those good with the blade don’t qualify. I mean, those I consider closest to me now are all masters with a blade. Yet it’s their heart and spirit that’s behind the blade that makes them a hero. It’s why they swing the blade repeatedly and keep getting up to battle again that gives them the title. Yet there’s those that never swing a blade, and yet they are heroes as much as the others. I watched that battle too, the one who is bent over from wounds of battles and yet struggles over and over again to one’s feet until the strike of the death wound. What the two have in common is what is heroism. It is the willingness to give of oneself, to put it all the line, in order to stand up against the darkness and to protect others.
What do you think of your ‘creator’?
Liz, as we know her as, is a lot of things. Somebody else asked Dante and I about Liz recently. She’s a lot of things. She pushes herself hard and keeps to an insane schedule. It’s no surprise then how she pushes us. I’m grateful for the splashes of down time she does give us. I’ve learned to treasure that time with Dante (she smiles). She does put us through a lot though, and I guess in some ways for that I could say I didn’t like her too much sometimes. I can’t though, because she never has us go through it alone. She’s steadfast and has proved herself a true friend. She fights beside us, reminding us we’re stronger than the battlefield in front of us. Sometimes that means being the shoulder to cry on. She gets that battlefield too, and it doesn’t scare her. She listens to us too, willing to help, but still lets us direct our own way. Honestly, I can’t blame her for the mishaps, because I do rush into things a fair amount of the time, especially when it involves people I care about. Liz gets me though, and I can be me with her too. There are other people it feels similar with, but Liz really does know all my secrets after all. Sometimes there’s parts of me that I don’t like, that I can’t imagine how anyone would still stay if they knew all of it. Yet, she does, because she doesn’t leave those she cares about. But I guess that’s what it comes down to with Liz. Even though we go through a lot of stuff with her, she loves us as we are and so we trust her. Because we’ve seen her heart, and so we’re not afraid of the journey ahead since she’s traveling with us.
Give us your favourite piece of advice:
That’s a tough one. I’ve been given so much training and words of wisdom already in my small number of years. Some I try to practice because they really are wisdom, but I find I’ve regrettably failed at keeping those at crucial moments. Others I’ve practiced not as much for their true wisdom, but to survive in the situation I found myself. It’s not a noble reason to follow it, but sadly it’s what I had to do. I suppose one of the best pieces of advice I ever got was from Alika. “Do not fear what is ahead. You are equipped for the path you chose. Remember who you are and cling to that truth.” It is the moments that I have strayed from that path, forgotten who I am, and believed the lies of the darkness that I have paid the price.
Links to book
https://books2read.com/TheSpinningOfDeception
https://books2read.com/Deceptions-Hold
https://books2read.com/ShadowedBonds
Social media links for author
https://elizabethlavender.net
https://twitter.com/Elavenderauthor
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https://instagram.com/elizabethlavender.author
https://www.amazon.com/Elizabeth-Lavender/e/B07ZLS4G93
https://www.bookbub.com/authors/elizabeth-lavender
https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/19685019.Elizabeth_Lavender
(13) Elizabeth Lavender | LinkedIn
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