How to sway them (novel)

[booksabaking]

Summary:
There are demons in the woods. Well, at least according to the Imperial Military. Soldiers are sent there every year and only a handful come back, most of them suffering an unknown disease that takes away their will to live. They just sit and stare and starve. A rare few wake up before death claims them, but they're all quickly taken away, either to the laboratories or to Outer Camps. Due to that there's none outside the Emperor's closest allies who can claim to have seen a wild demon. The only proof of their existence are the tame bodyguards of the Emperor and his Adviser; obedient like well trained hunting dogs and far deadlier.

Dylis, soldier that she is, is inclined to believe the official claims. All the hellish training and the failed surgery that took her hearing would've been pointless otherwise. Her younger brother Glaw is different; by no means as good a fighter as she, but his surgery didn't cost him his ears. And unless Dylis can think of a way to switch their places, he's leaving for the woods in the morning. Alone.

Tags & Tropes: Magic, loyalty and betrayal, mind control, realizing you might just be working for the bad guys and doing something about that, battle magic in all possible over-the-top forms, accidental spying, medical experiments on a supernatural scale.

CHAPTERS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13

Big thanks to...
…my sister Ellen, who not only drew the beautiful cover, but also listened through the entire first draft of this book without complaining.
…my friend Crescenda, who introduced me to NaNoWriMo (the catalyst to this story ever being written) and whose knowledge of the English language saved this story from being a typo-filled mess.
...my parents and other friends who kept asking "shouldn't you be writing?" and who were very enthusiastic about the project.

If you prefer to read novels as physical books or ebooks, I actually have this book up on Amazon due to publishing a book being part of a NaNoWriMo reward way back when. However, that is the unrevised version. I'm working on getting a second edition up, just for fun, but currently the online version here is the only updated one.

I've also added this book to Goodreads, because why not :)