SAZUMA Cover Concept (+ Excerpt) (Patreon)

My first (unfinished) attempt at a cover for my spy fantasy, Sazuma. Not a winner, in my opinion. The face says “horror” a little more than I was intending, kind of “oh no, I’m being chased through the woods by a monster” vibes. While dark, Sazuma is definitely not a horror story, so I ended up scrapping this one without finishing it.

EXCERPT:

The night breathed, as it always did in Sazuma. The sigh of wind through the sky canopy usually brought calm. Tonight, it just made Zahn hyper-aware of his own breathing, his own heartbeat too hard against his ribs. It had been six years since he had killed anyone with his own hands, and he had never killed a woman.

Get it together, Zahn, he willed himself as he slunk along Sazuma’s roots toward his target. It’s just another job. This was one of several mantras he had run through in the past hour, including, ‘You have no choice,’ ‘It’s probably for a good reason,’ and ‘You’ve killed before, idiot. Calm down.’ None had done anything to loosen the knot of dread in his stomach.

Only late-shift workers walked the winding pavebark this late at night, weary shapes trudging home beneath the glow of street lanterns. Part of Zahn wanted one of the golden-haired tactomancers to spot him and cry out in alarm. Maybe the delay would mean that he had to put the hit off for one more day, give Winnow Han-Madrom one more day to live.

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