Elrich E-Readers January 2026
Highlighting Etania Selali, the main character of my first series
Dear Reader,
If you’re new around here, welcome! This is the Elrich E-Readers, a group of Christians who read high fantasy with romance subplots. You have joined this group by entering a giveaway or grabbing my free e-book, Beginnings. You can opt out any time by unsubscribing at the bottom, but I hope you will stick around for news about my book series, Daughters of Tamnarae, and other opportunities to read free clean and/or Christian Fantastical Fiction.
For everyone else, you asked and I’m answering! Here’s why I love Etania and where she is now in my current work-in-progress, Lavanna’s Journey.
When I first wrote Etania’s Worth, she was the only character in the book.
You read that right. She was the only narrator, the main character, and the only one with character growth.
I gave my first completed version to my husband, squeezed my eyes shut, and asked him to give me a critique.
He said the book was good, but it was like a house with walls and nothing else. It needed more.
I agreed, rewriting the novel so that it included more characters and more development, eventually becoming the version we know today.
So, of all my characters, Etania is the most developed.
She’s caring, compassionate, kind, and more a reluctant heroine than a kick-butt female character. Yet, she’s strong in her own way.
She can be impulsive, stubborn, and even easily deceived.
By the time she appears in Etania’s Destiny, I hope you see how much she has matured. She’s embraced her role as the Vexli, a woman with powers which can essentially make monsters powerless. She’s learned how to deal with different crisis in her life.
Most of all, she has come to trust in Melchizedek, my God figure, throughout all the trials.
SPOILERS AHEAD, SCROLL PAST THE NEXT IMAGE TO SKIP
Etania also married Keyel, her loyal bodyguard. When you read her ending, it is a few years into their marriage and she gives birth to a girl.
The girl’s name?
Lavanna.
You can probably see the connection now.
Lavanna’s Journey is told approximately twenty-five years after the end of Etania’s Destiny and centers around the journey of Lavanna and her companions.
At the beginning of the book, Lavanna (who is the inheritor of the Vexli powers), longs for adventure, but is contained to the capital city. There, she is permitted to use her powers only to help her mother, as portrayed in the scene below, one of the few scenes featuring my beloved first main character.
Enjoy!
“No, you mustn’t!” an unearthly screech greeted Lavanna’s ears as she approached her home.
Lavanna rushed inside, where a scaly woman was wrestling Zaden and her mother, trying to get free. Based on the state of the living room, the Soacronis had been at it for a while.
“We will not force you,” Etania’s voice rang out. “But you expressed earlier that you wanted to change. So which is it?”
“I–I can’t decidesss,” the woman’s voice slurred.
Lavanna waited with her hand on her hilt. Should she draw? Right now, Zaden had the woman pinned to the ground with his knee. Etania gazed at the woman, arms crossed over her chest. They seemed like they had it handled, but then Lavanna heard thumping from…was that their closet?
“Ah, Lavanna, you’re home,” Zaden said with a monotone that made this another ordinary day. “Deal with the one in the closet will you? They’re twins, and we didn’t have enough hands.”
“Be careful!” Etania cried out.
Lavanna rolled her eyes and yanked open the closet door.
“I’m always—oof!”
The male Socaroni’s body slammed Lavanna before she could draw her sword. With his superior strength, he knocked her to the side before rushing to his companion.
“Don’t do it, Layla,” the Soacronis said. “They’ll change you back to human! Did we really give up our dragons for that again?”
Lavanna yanked him back by his collar, slamming him to the ground and pinning him in a similar way to his sister. Dazed, the Socroni could do little but blink rapidly. Lavanna hoped she hadn’t hurt him too badly.
“Shush, it’s her decision,” Lavanna said. “Maybe she wants a normal life again, ever thought about that?”
The man grumbled but said nothing.
The female Soacronis, or Layla, looked between the man and Etania, whose expression was full of compassion. Lavanna wondered if she would ever be able to convince Skazic to give up their wickedness like her mother.
“I…” Layla swallowed, and tears came to her eyes. “I want a normal life again, Linus.”
With that permission, Zaden eased his knee off her back so that she could stand. He turned around and approached Lavanna.
“Let me handle him.” Zaden jerked his head in her mother’s direction. “Help her by getting a dress out of the trunk.”
Lavanna nodded and they switched places. Because their Neuma removed the powers of the Skazic, it sometimes resulted in a person’s nakedness. This was especially the case with the Soacronis and Toothbreaker types, which were covered in fur or scales in their monster form.
Etania’s hands glowed and Zaden turned both Linus and himself around as her mother began the process. Bright light filled the living room, even brighter than the sunlight streaming through the windows. Layla screamed and groaned, flailing as the white flames ran up and down her body.
“What’s happening? I thought you were going to help her!” Linus cried out.
“Transformation isn’t easy,” Zaden said.
A cry of relief echoed in the room as the transformation was completed. Lavanna opened a trunk in the corner of the living room to find a dress and undergarments for Layla. This one was a dress that Amalia had made. She could tell because of the neat, ornate stitches. Whenever Lavanna attempted to make clothing, her sewing was jagged.
Lavanna handed Layla the dress, which she took with tears in her eyes. Quickly, Layla changed into her new outfit. Although the tall herbs and plants from their garden covered the windows, Lavanna knew it was better to be careful than embarrassed.
“Thank you,” Layla told her mother. “You saved me.”
Etania shook her head. “I didn’t save you. Melchizedek did. Turn to him fully, and you will find joy in a new life.”
Layla nodded, dabbing her eyes with one of the handkerchiefs in the dress’s pocket. She turned to face her twin. Zaden eased a bit off of him so he could stand and look at his sister. He shivered, looking too and fro, his snake-like tongue flickering in and out of his mouth.
“Linus,” Layla said gently. “It’s your turn now.”
He clutched his arms and looked away from her more human gaze.
“But your cries…it seemed like it hurt…”
“Yes, it does,” she said softly. “But sometimes, pain is just a different type of healing.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
Layla smiled and offered him her hand. “Come and see.”
Trembling, Linus took it.
Book of the Month
First daughter. First enemy. First escape.
When Araby slavers seize stronghold first daughter Kyrin Cieri from the coast of Britannia, she finds a mystery, martial skill, and friendship closer than blood.
A falcon pursues her through tiger-haunted dreams, love, and war in the Araby sands. With a strange dagger from her murdered mother’s hand, an exiled warrior from the East, and a peasant girl, Kyrin faces the sword that took her mother. Caught in the caliph’s court intrigue, she must outwit deadly treachery to save those she loves and overcome more than a blade. Kyrin will spend her blood to protect her friends and her stronghold from those who would destroy them: Love against hate, dagger against sword.
In February, I will be highlighting Zaden’s appearance in Lavanna’s Journey and how far he has come. Also, the audiobook version of Etania’s Destiny should be launched then! Wohoo.
I would love to hear from you: if you were to become a paid subscriber to my Substack for $1/mo, what would you be willing to pay for? Serial fiction? Short Stories? Let me know by replying to this email (even if it is to tell me you wouldn’t become a paid subscriber!).
Until Next Time,
M.H. Elrich