In Emeryl Williams's Haven’s Sanctuary: Season of Reckoning, the threat of an approaching apocalypse is only one danger facing a community of people with magical abilities. Cerise and Derrick must contend with persecution, a portal that is about to close, and a hidden demonic threat as they attempt to lead their people toward safety. The first book in The Haven Series combines contemporary life with earth magic, spiritual conviction, and a desperate search for refuge, placing the fate of a vulnerable community at the center of its survival story.
A looming apocalypse.
A secret refuge.
A demon in the shadows determined to thwart their escape.
Haven’s Sanctuary: Season of Reckoning
The Haven Series Book 1
by Emeryl Williams
Genre: Contemporary Apocalyptic Survival Fantasy
Find Haven’s Sanctuary on Goodreads
A looming apocalypse.
A secret refuge.
A demon in the shadows.
When all signs point to an impending disaster no one can yet name, Cerise and Derrick discover the only thing more dangerous than persecution by their community is the truth: the Goddess has called their people to flee and seek safety in a hidden sanctuary. The clock is ticking as they race against a closing portal, a coming reckoning, enemies determined to burn them out before they can escape, and an unrecognized demonic threat to their entire plan.
Haven’s Sanctuary: Season of Reckoning is a fast-moving fantasy-suspense story of magic, sanctuary, love under pressure, faith under fire, and apocalyptic survival. The empowered must harness the kind of hope that refuses to die, for what begins as a simple escape becomes a battle for their very existence.
If you love reading Auburn Tempest or Martha Carr, then grab your copy now and step into the Haven before the portal closes.
The central danger in Haven’s Sanctuary: Season of Reckoning extends beyond the approaching catastrophe. Cerise and Derrick belong to a community whose magical abilities have made them targets of hostility, and the refuge they seek can only be reached through a portal that is closing. The presence of an unidentified demon adds another obstacle to their escape, creating a survival story in which the threat comes from both the outside world and forces the characters do not yet understand.
The supplied excerpt gives this larger conflict a particularly personal dimension. Cerise is a mother, a leader among the empowered, and a woman whose husband has condemned her abilities and threatened her community. Her midnight ritual explores the struggle between anger and restraint as she seeks guidance from the Goddess. Those details establish a connection between the book's apocalyptic stakes and its questions about belief, family, persecution, and the responsibility that comes with power.
Cerise poured a steady stream of salt from the cardboard Morton canister, the crystals sparkling in the candlelight, to trace out a large circle on the wooden floor of her study. It was midnight, the kids were in bed, and breakfast oats were in the Crock-Pot. She completed the circle that now surrounded and sealed her in the center. Her raven-black hair veiled forward as she bent to pick up a single lighted taper from the center of the circle, then walked to the northernmost point and lit a short, fat beeswax candle that rested in a silver bowl. She murmured,
“By waxing moon, a growing light,
Silver warm and heed my plight.”
She traversed the circle to the easternmost point and bent over to light the next candle fixed in the center of an octagonal copper trivet.
“Daybreak promised in the morn,
Reveal the light through copper warm.”
Next, she lit the taper on the southernmost candle affixed in a bronze candle holder she had found at a garage sale.
“Sun at zenith powerful sight,
Bronze warm and strengthen might.”
At the westernmost point, the last candle was set on a small golden charger—one of her most valued possessions, even if only gold plated. Her mother had gifted it to her years ago for just this purpose. She lit the final wick and invoked the last quarter.
“Setting sun at end of day,
Gold warm and battle for the Way.”
Cerise returned to the center of the circle, sat cross-legged on the floor, the taper in front of her, pulled her hair behind her head, and tied it back with one of her daughter’s scrunchies. She closed her eyes and took several deep cleansing breaths to settle her emotions. Clearing her mind, she focused on positive energy and intentions as she sifted through the memories of the fight with her husband, Brad, last week. She acknowledged the pain of his rejection, his ugly words, and his condemnation of her magical empowerment. He had threatened her and promised retribution from the entire town if she did not abandon her powers and the local magical community.
As if she could give up her empowerment.
The house creaked in rhythm to her boiling emotions.
Earth magic was an integral part of her soul, not a toy that could be discarded on a whim. She was a leader of the Haven, the local community of empowered believers, and helped to guide and perform the seasonal rituals. Brad had come to the celebrations with her for years, but only as a spectator. He had not an ounce of magic in him. He now spent more time at work and the corner bar than with her and the kids, and last week had come home drunk and shouting.
“Cerise . . . you gotta stop this blasphemy you call magic! It’s not real . . . you’re leading the children down a dangerous path.” He paused, his face twisted in fury. “You and your friends are nothing but fakes and charlatans. You are the reason our town is failing. Times are changing and the city council won’t put up with your hocus pocus any longer. I’ll see to that! If you don’t quit, we’ll run you out of town!” He had struck her across the face, the force sending her to the floor, before throwing his clothes in a suitcase and storming out.
She still bore the bruise of his abuse on her right cheek.
The walls began to vibrate, a portent of the suppressed violence that seethed within her soul. “So easy . . . so easy to take vengeance,” whispered that dark corner of her mind. “Destroy them first,” the sinister voice continued. “Make them pay for not believing in the powers you possess. Show them the might and righteousness you wield in your fingertips.” Small sparks blazed in her eyes, now filled with anger.
“Hold, child,” said another voice, gentle, filled with compassion. The words of the Goddess, always her North Star, echoed in her mind. “As a true follower of the Mother, you have never turned to the dark. Do not do so now. I command you to stand down. Your strength and power will be needed to combat the rising evil around you all too soon. Do not sink into the tempting siren song of darkness. Rise above the hate. Reject vengeance, for that is the burden of the Father. You are committed to the Light, my child. Follow the Mother’s path.”
With painful slowness Cerise battled to control the roiling darkness in the corner of her soul. Always there. Always tempting her to lose control, to lash out at those who meant her and her kind nothing but ill will. The walls stopped vibrating; the creaking of the house returned to the usual noises of an old farmhouse in the middle of the night. The sparks in Cerise’s eyes went out, the anger abated.
More deep breaths steadied her hand as she placed a bundle of dried sage and juniper tied with cotton string by the taper. Out of the bag at her side, she grabbed handfuls of fresh sage leaves, rosemary, and lavender sprigs she had harvested this morning from the garden and strewed them around her, the aroma of fresh herbs a reminder of the power of the Light. She took the dried herbal bundle and lit the end, waving it around her to spread the smoke, before she placed it on an old glass ashtray from her grandmother, sentimental but essentially useless since no one smoked cigarettes in this family anymore.
Once again, she carefully set her intentions. She eliminated her fear, cleansed her mind of negative thoughts, and clung to all the positive energy she could conjure: the love of her children, the support of her community, and most of all her deep belief in the unseen powers that ruled the sun and moon, the tides and seasons.
“Mother, Father, rulers of all,
Cleanse my soul of pain and hate,
Ease the grief of love lost and gone,
Renew my heart and heal this wound.
Release all vengeful thoughts from me,
Redeem my soul and leave pristine.”
Inhaling the fragrant herbal smoke, Cerise allowed her mind to float. She had no more tears and would face the trial of single motherhood with strength and grace. A smile flitted across her lips. Her children were empowered, a fact she had never confided to her husband. They had not yet come into their powers, but she could feel the spark of magic growing within them.
The center taper burned down to a nubbin and sputtered.
It was time to move forward, time to plan.
Haven’s Sanctuary: Season of Reckoning may appeal to readers who enjoy contemporary fantasy in which magical communities exist alongside recognizable everyday life. The threat of an apocalypse, the search for a hidden sanctuary, and the race to reach a closing portal offer the kind of high-stakes conflict that attracts survival-fantasy readers. Those interested in stories about spiritual faith, earth-based magic, and communities resisting persecution may also be drawn to Cerise's role as a leader and her determination to protect her children. Readers who appreciate supernatural suspense involving concealed enemies and morally difficult choices will find those elements in the book's premise as well.
A little bitta Texas... A little bitta medicine... A lotta bit of Fantasy!
Emeryl Williams is a longtime resident of the Panhandle and having worn out a pair of boots here considers herself a Texan. She has always been an avid reader of science fiction and fantasy. Her first work is The Chosen of Bryndir Series which introduces the Bryndir Universe, filled with magic, danger, and a powerful Talisman fated to save a Kingdom at war. Her latest work is Haven's Sanctuary: Season of Reckoning in which she branches out into apocalypse survival fantasy. Her books will always feature a little bit of Texas...a little bit of medicine...and a lotta bit of fantasy!
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At the heart of Haven’s Sanctuary: Season of Reckoning is a community trying to survive both an approaching disaster and the hostility of people who fear its magical abilities. Cerise's struggle to resist vengeance, protect her children, and remain faithful to the Goddess gives the wider escape story a personal foundation. With Derrick and the others facing a closing portal, hostile enemies, and an unseen demonic threat, the first Haven novel introduces a conflict in which reaching safety may be only the beginning. Readers interested in contemporary fantasy with spiritual themes and apocalyptic stakes can explore the synopsis and excerpt above to decide whether this is their next series.
