I am absolutely thrilled to share that the first draft of Book Seven is 100% written and officially complete!

This is my best work yet. I would describe Book Seven as the revelation and payoff book of the series. The scale, lore reveals, twists, historical revelations, side-plot investigation, and the payoff of long-running story threads all come together to give this book the feeling of a true convergence novel.

Book Seven is going to be extremely hard to top, with only two books left to wrap up this epic series!

And there’s even more good news. Book Eight is already well underway, with the prologue and five chapters written. Having the full series outline in place has really streamlined the writing process. I have some great new ideas combined with older ones that have been sitting on the drawing board for more than two years, just waiting for Book Eight to begin. Hopefully, they will make this installment just as exciting as Book Seven, if not even more so.

Once the entire series is 100% written, the editing process will begin with Book One, The Curse of the Catalyst, as I prepare it for release.

Writing this installment has been an incredible journey, and I cannot wait to share this epic grimdark series with you. We are now one huge step closer to publication day!

And because you’ve all been so patient, I want to let you in on another little secret.

I also have two novellas and several snippets set in the World of Aden that are completely separate from the main series. Those will actually be released first!

So, for your reading pleasure, I’m going to give you one of these snippets free right here and now.

I hope you enjoy it… please leave a comment and tell me what you think!

A TAVERN TALE – By Justin Arrow

Tennest spotted Captain Aillum shouldering his way into the lamplit pub and lifted a hand in greeting. Months had passed since the two sea captains had last shared a drink.

The older of the two captains cut through the small crowd with what looked like a storm brewing across his face as he strode across the floorboards.

Tennest signaled the barkeep with two raised fingers. Fresh glasses were already being poured by the time Aillum reached him.

The younger captain rose slightly from his stool with a grin. “Captain Aillum… it is so good to see you again. Sit, man, share a drink with me. I trust the year’s treated you well enough.”

Aillum clasped his hand, then dropped heavily onto the stool beside him. “The year, aye. The day, no. A quarter of my fruit shipment from the Isles rotted in the hold. I’ll be lucky to break even, assuming my buyer doesn’t try to shave the price. And of course, it’s Olverten.”

Tennest barked a laugh, though there was no mirth in it. “That miserly eel. No wonder you look ready to throttle someone. Drink’s on me, old friend. Let’s speak of lighter things.”

The brandy arrived with an amber color and carrying an expensive fragrance. They touched glasses, making a sharp ting that merged with the low murmurs of the tavern.

Aillum exhaled after his first swallow. “Bless you for this, Tennest. I needed it. My back’s screaming at me, and to top it off, I was accosted outside by that one-eyed cripple. Damned nuisance. I come to the Upper City taverns to avoid the likes of him. Why isn’t he down in the Lower City where the beggars belong?”

“Ah,” Tennest breathed while swirling his drink. “So you met Malcolm. You truly don’t know his story?”

“I assumed he was some soldier who crossed blades with the Awsool warlords in whatever bloody feud they’re fighting now. I’ve no patience for tragic tales. One of my own hands lost his leg to a shark after going overboard. You don’t see him begging in the streets. He strapped on a peg and went back to work, grateful to be breathing.”

Tennest took a slow sip. “If you don’t know Malcolm’s tale, Aillum, you might want to hear it before you judge the man. He’d have counted himself lucky if a shark had taken that missing arm of his.”

Aillum snorted. “What then? Did he bed the wrong man’s wife?”

“If only,” Tennest murmured, his tone shifting to something weightier. “Malcolm was a treasure hunter, a famous one… one who had cheated death both in the Cynder Waste and again in Nembliss… But then he tried to cheat fate itself.”

Aillum leaned in. “Nembliss? You don’t say… Go on.”

Tennest lowered his voice and leaned in. “He went to see… her.”

Aillum blinked. “You said it wasn’t over a woman... Wait… You don’t mean… Are you saying what I think you are? He did not seek out the Elder Witch? The one down in the Isles?”

“Aye, the devil’s oracle. He went to her cave and tried to bargain with the devils of the Abyss that the old bitch serves, he did.”

“By the dragons’ balls,” Aillum breathed. “Was he mad? Everyone knows the devils never deal in fair trade.”

“Just so. And that’s why he’s no common beggar.”

“So the arm and the eye… that was the price?” Aillum asked, taking another drink.

Tennest nodded. “And in return he asked for gold, more than any man had ever laid eyes on, as the story goes. And the devils granted it, in their way. They burned the location of the treasure into his mind and took their bloody payment in flesh.”

“And?”

“And Malcolm, left Abagaillicah’s cave and the Abyss behind, left her cave with one less arm and one less eye and spent the rest of his fortune to set out and claim what he’d bargained for.”

“Then why beg… Are you saying he did not find it?”

“Oh, he found it,” Tennest said. “Exactly where they said it would be, another cave, far up among the Isles of the Shattered Sea near Nembliss.”

Aillum’s eyes narrowed. “How much chip was in there? Or was the gold fashioned in jewelry? Crowns perhaps?”

Tennest set down his glass. “None of those, Captain. What he found was a hive.”

“A what? A bloody hive?” Aillum blurted, looking confused.

“The largest bee hive in the world, by his telling. And it was full of honey… golden as the sunrise. Just as the Devils promised him… More gold than any man had ever laid eyes on.”

Aillum stare in complete astonishment. “By the King’s ass… those trixsome bastards” He finally breathed.

He drank down the rest of his brandy. He would not let his prejudices cloud his judgment of this particular beggar ever again, in fact, he thought, I’ll be sure to spare a chip for the poor soul on my way out.

###THE END###

Exciting news! I have finished drafting and polishing the first fourteen chapters of Book 7 in The Rejuvenation Series! That’s more than a quarter of the novel, and the stakes are beginning to rise for our heroes.

In fact, Chapter Fourteen is a long-awaited culmination of several story arcs finally coming together in an emotional scene I’ve been patiently waiting to write. I’m genuinely thrilled with how it turned out, and I can’t wait for readers to experience it one day.

Speaking of which, I’d love to introduce you to two key figures in the story: Roy Thatcher and Sarah Silversmith.

Once street orphans growing up in the Lower City of Avenglade, they are now a devoted couple raising an orphan boy named Mickey. Let’s take a closer look at who they are...

Introducing: ROY THATCHER – Main Protagonist

Quick Stats

Age: 21

Occupation: Debt Collector / Enforcer for The Collective

Morality: Neutral Good (wrapped in a razor-sharp shell)

Nickname: “The Golden Child”

The Deceptive Enforcer: At twenty-one, Roy doesn’t look like the most dangerous man in the room. Deceptively lean, his fluid grace and uncanny strength let him dismantle larger opponents with predator precision in the city’s illegal fighting rings.

Prodigy of the Bow: Beyond back-alley brawls, Roy shattered kingdom history by winning the archery championships at both the Blood Moon Festival and the New Year’s Festival in a single year… a legendary feat matched by only two others in history.

Impossible Luck: Surviving collapsing structures, bursting pipes, and street ambushes by the skin of his teeth earned him the nickname “The Golden Child.” While rivals think it’s random luck, his knack for dodging death at the brink has made him an urban legend.

Razor-Sharp Wit: Roy shields himself with biting sarcasm, keeping people at arm’s length. While his underworld boss, The Toad, finds his audacity amusing, few other leaders in the Collective tolerate his mouth.

Hidden Morality: Revealed to be adopted on his mother’s deathbed at age seven, Roy’s traumatic past drives a secret soft spot for society’s forgotten. Beneath the hard exterior, his true driving force is protecting his family.

Introducing: SARAH SILVERSMITH – Main Character

Quick Stats

Age: 20

Occupation: Part-time Seamstress / Problem Solver

Morality: Kind, fiercely independent, and protective

Vulnerability: Severe Acrophobia (fear of heights) and other phobias

Mind of a Puzzle Master: Raised on the unforgiving streets, her intellect comes from sharp observation. She notices the microscopic details others miss, using her analytical mind as her greatest survival weapon.

A Double-Edged Blessing: Widely regarded as exceptionally beautiful, she often considers her looks a hazard in the Lower City. She maintains a reserved demeanor to avoid unwanted attention, but knows how to leverage her charm when social navigation demands it.

Slow to Trust: Leaving an orphanage at age eight to escape an abusive caretaker, she learned complex adult dynamics early. While genuinely kind, her past trauma means she guards her inner circle fiercely.

Unshakeable Resolve: Once she sets her mind to a problem, her stubborn determination is unstoppable. She is boundlessly loyal to her loved ones, though her protective streak can make her resistant to outside help.

The Hidden Fracture: While Sarah is normally calm and calculating under pressure, a near-fatal fall from the high rooftops left her with severe vertigo and panic when facing heights… a stark vulnerability in an otherwise composed strategist.

Roy and Sarah have come a long way from the streets of Avenglade by Book 7, and I have no doubt they’ll quickly become fan favorites.

Thank you for reading, and stay tuned for more lore, region spotlights, and behind-the-scenes updates!

Best regards,

Justin Aarow

My name is Justin Aarow, and for the past three years I’ve been building a nine-book epic grimdark fantasy saga.

I tend to let my stories do most of the talking for me, so I will get straight to the point.

My nine-book epic grimdark fantasy saga is a story about desperate choices, ancient horrors, and the brutal costs of magic that mixes fantasy with horror and suspense centered on a found family.

Here is a brief glimpse into what I am building:

The Rejuvenation Series is a nine-book epic grimdark fantasy that begins with a desperate mission to save a magically afflicted child and gradually unfolds into a world-spanning mystery stretching back four thousand years. As kingdoms fall, ancient conspiracies emerge, forgotten civilizations are uncovered, and the truth behind magic itself is revealed, an unlikely band of heroes must unravel riddles left by legendary Mystics, survive impossible journeys, and confront an immortal enemy whose schemes have shaped history for millennia. Blending brutal warfare, layered mysteries, political intrigue, rich mythology, and emotionally driven character arcs, the series expands from an intimate tale of survival into an epic struggle for the fate of an entire world.

THE CURSE OF THE CATALYST – BOOK ONE OF THE REJUVENATION SERIES

For the wealthy, magic is a gift. For young Mickey, it’s a death sentence.

Roy is a street-fighting collector used to breaking bones to survive. But to save Mickey, the orphan boy he and his girl, Sarah, love, and whose raw magical abilities are slowly killing him… Roy will have to do the improbable: raise enough money to travel toward a cure that may not even exist.

When a rare act of mercy turns Roy’s own predatory gang against them, the need to escape becomes immediate. But their flight from the city triggers a domino effected collision course… first with Julian, a noble Captain of the Guards longing to flee his own golden shackles, and then with Tollomay, a secretive man who appears to have access to everything Roy needs, including a cure for the boy.

But answers come at a brutal price.

Forced into an uneasy alliance, this mismatched family must flee into the uncharted wilds ahead of ruthless trackers and bounty hunters. Tollomay promises salvation, but as they push deeper into the dark, the group encounters horrors that defy the laws of the continent, and Roy begins to question everything. Are they marching toward a cure, or straight into the jaws of ancient, monstrous horrors unseen on the continent for 4,000 years?

As they slowly realize a dark shadow is falling over the world, Roy’s desperate crew finds themselves walking right through ground zero. With hunters on their trail, monsters in the dark, and ancient relics that terrify even the bravest of souls, Roy faces a terrifying truth: Is the man leading them actually going to help Mickey... or is he the most dangerous monster of all?

Book One won’t be released until the entire series is complete and I’m currently writing Book Seven., but the foundation is laid. If you love stories with high emotional stakes, morally gray mentors, and a world on the brink of collapse, you are in the right place.

As I work hard wrapping up the last three books of the series before releasing book one, I will be using this blog to share behind-the-scenes world-building, look at the ancient monsters of this continent, and drop early character profiles. By the time book one is ready, by following this blog you will have a great idea of the world it takes place in.

Thank you for reading and stay tuned for exciting releases as the series moves toward completion.