Devil's Night Dawning

This is The First Book of the Broken Stone Chronicle By Author Damien Black.

Here is the synopsis:
As a kingdom teeters on the brink of civil war, two witch hunters fight to stop a warlock before he unlocks an ancient evil…

For centuries only the sacred Argolian Order has stood between the dark forces of the Other Side and the mortal vale. Now the barrier between worlds is breaking down, and two of its monks must identify the demonologist responsible, before he has them killed…

When novice Adelko is assigned to adept Horskram, he rejoices at the chance to lead an adventurous life. An adventurous death isn’t what he had in mind – but it comes calling when they learn of a sorcerous theft. Whoever is behind it wants to silence them before they can warn the Grand Master of their order... 

As Horskram and Adelko flee from one danger to another, their homeland erupts into civil war – the rebellious southern barons have reunited and want to dethrone the King of Northalde. Their world is on the brink of a momentous struggle that will reshape it forever…

My opinion:
Epic, that would be my description if asked to put it in only one word. Damien’s Black book will go straight to my favorite list. The reader will find itself in a dark parallel world where evil is very real. This world is beautifully created, you could swear the author was there, the details make the scenes trapping.
The characters are incredibly well constructed, their flaws make them all more appealing and true. We have a priest, a novice, a knight, a princess, a squire… so much to chose from. The multiple points of view are flawless, each character has importance and depth. My favorite of all would be Adelko, a novice under the tutelage of Master Horskram, he’s the more relatable to me, smart and creative under pressure, also prone to question everything and see the best on people. 
The plot is beautifully made, creating mysteries to solve that just won't let you put the book down. Every story is connected and carries an important meaning, every scenario is so thoroughly described you can almost smell it. Despite having a hint sometimes as to what could happen next, most was a surprise, the unpredictability is refreshing. The action scenes look like something you would see in an epic fantasy movie, even better: fierce monsters, brave heroes, and powerful villains. 
The end is not really an end, but a new beginning, with just a few riddles unraveled and much more to solve. The danger to face will grow as I’m sure the adventure will too.

Here's the Amazon Page for this book. And Damien Black's Facebook page.

Comment Challenge July Sign Up.

So I’ve decided to enter July’s Comment Challenge. 

This wonderful initiative hosted by Lonna @  FLYLēF  and Alicia @ A Kernel of Nonsense promotes bonding between bloggers. Each month you would be paired up with someone who owns a blog similar to your own so you can comment on each others posts. You get to chose how many times you’d be willing to comment on your partner’s blog. Here are the rules.

*Sign-up: starting today through June 26th, you can sign-up to participate in this challenge for July. At the end of June, we will email participants and post the official July Comment Challenge partners list on our blogs

*Create a sign-up post: link-up each month with your own sign-up post. What we suggest you include:

*Announce your intention to participate in whichever month

*Link back to your hosts: Lonna @ FLYLēF and Alicia @ A Kernel of Nonsense

*Include the Comment Challenge graphic

*State how often you intend to comment on your partner’s blog and if you know who your partner is, introduce him/her

*Share any thoughts you have about the challenge and whether you’ve participated before

*Spread the word: for this summer challenge, we’re encouraging participants to tweet using the hashtag #Summer17CC to let your fellow bloggers know about this challenge

*Comment: starting July 1st be sure to comment on your partner’s blog and have fun!

If you think you loved the idea as much as I did all you have to do is fill this form and that’s it:  Comment Challenge sign-up form

Don’t forget to create your own sign up post to spread the word out there, and to link up to the promoters of the challenge.

Surviving the day

Surviving the day
Dreading the night
Hiding my thoughts while time passes by
Fearing tomorrow
Hating the past
Disappointment again when the day dies
Wanting to change
Not finding how
Sorrow that clouds a sore heart
Making new plans
Watching them crumble
Despair that grows stronger blinding my eyes
Fighting myself
Losing the battle
Defeat that summons dark thoughts one more time
Running from pain
Getting caught up
Fear that weakens a wounded will
Feeling the breaking
Seeing a path
Week hope that falters on insomnia nights
Accepting I’m broken
Living with that
Doubt that infects a polluted will
Owning my burden
Learning to carry it
Picking the pieces that make who I am
Patching the pieces
Starting again
A spark of bravery igniting at last
Cleaning the mess
Finding a way
Relief that impulses me through one more day
Embracing the night
Finding its beauty
Courage that grows with each won fight
Accepting my flaws
Learning from them
Knowing the war can be won and conquered
Fighting a battle
Vanquishing my fears
Finally earning the peace I long needed

Prey: Part Two

Read the first part here: https://selenekallanfantasywriter.blogspot.com/2017/05/prey-part-one.html

Prey

Part 2

I remained silent the whole time I spent in the tight trunk that stank of bleach. My hands were tied almost painfully with a rope behind my back, my bare feet were free. I heard the melody of one of Elvis's songs that I least liked, and Williams’ annoying voice singing along.

The car stopped, a white light blinded me for a moment.

“Get out slowly,” he ordered in a somber voice, I felt the cold metal against my neck.

I moved slowly out of the car, felt the damp, sticky earth under my toes, the sound of an owl in the distance, the unmistakable smell of the forest. He hung the flashlight on his shoulder.

“If you try to run, I'll slit your throat, you understand?”

I laughed, loud and strong without being able to avoid it, he looked at me confused. With a swift movement of my wrists, I broke the ropes as if they were made of paper. I could hardly bear to pretend that he had succeeded in knocking me out with his silly chloroform.

He was paralyzed for a moment and then he tried to stab me, I took the knife away with ridiculous ease. For my amusement I bent it in front of him with two fingers, he gasped.

“W-what the hell?” He stuttered. His eyes were no longer cold but panic-stricken. 

What an idiot. If he’d been a bit more observing he would have realized I had stood on broken glass and didn’t have a scratch. I let go completely of my human façade and looked at him with a wicked smile, he shouted at the sight of my glowing, silver eyes and tripped with his own feet when he tried to flee. I moved faster than the human eye and grabbed him by the neck lifting him off the floor, he could well weigh 1 kilo, it was nothing for me.

“Tell me, what does it feel like to be the prey?” I smiled, showing him my big white fangs. He howled, I laughed.

I liked to see him suffer, he deserved it, what I would do to him was nothing compared to what he had done. It had actually taken me by surprise that he'd attacked me on the first night of my arrival. He'd taken a bit more time with the others, but then again maybe they hadn’t provoked him as I did.

He tried to kick me, I threw him with half my strength making him fly more than 20 feet; cries echoed on the forest as he fell on the ground. Before he could get up, I twisted both arms behind him, breaking several bones, he howled in pain. Hmm, maybe I should thank him for taking us to a lonely place.

“What a crybaby!” I laughed.

“Damn bitch!” he screamed.

I lifted him by the neck again, the flashlight on the floor pointed towards me, that was good I wanted him to see what was going to happen, he looked at me terrified. I could imagine how funny I would look in my blue bolero pajamas, disheveled and without hiding the monster that lived inside me and I fought to keep locked up most of the time. At that moment I wasn't even trying to restrain myself, the adrenaline in my veins made me euphoric and the hunger merciless.

“Please,” he pleaded.

“The most cowardly of your kind are always the most wicked,” I observed, the bastard was trembling like a leaf.

“Let me go,” he shouted and whimpered. 

I couldn't help laughing again. “I don’t think so.” 

“Please, I’m begging you.”

“How many of the girls you have tortured and killed said that?” I hissed angrily as I remembered how I had tied the loose ends that the police overlooked. More than twelve young women missing, all single, all with the same signs of cruelty. Anger raged through me as I remembered the horrible wounds on the bodies of the defenseless girls.

I lost control and bit him hard on the carotid, his shout was deafening. I drained him dry in less than two minutes. I regretted not having been able to restrain myself enough to make him suffer a little more, but hey, what the hell?

****

I rang the bell of the blue house with a smile, in my hands the clean glass plate. Having to throw away the pie was sinful, but my stomach could not tolerate most human foods. I'd tasted just a bit of the filling with the tip of my finger. I'd suffered many a stomach ache decades before as I experimented with what foods my stomach could tolerate.

Madeleine opened the door for me, her hands trembled. She had a thin coating of sweat on her forehead, though she was impeccably dressed.

“Do you feel fine?” I asked with all the innocence I could fake.

 “My ... My husband is gone,” she said in a choked voice. “He left me, said he would never come back,” she looked at the coffee table where the cruel note I hated to write was, but it had been necessary. I placed the dish in the nearest chair.

“I'm sorry,” I said, taking her hands.

“And now what will I do? The children, the house ... I can’t ... I can’t... I have no one...”

I caught her before she dropped to her knees, then took her to the spotless white couch and helped her to sit down. Damn bastard, he'd destroyed her self-esteem. It hadn't been enough to destroy all those poor defenseless women.

“You'll be fine,” I said, squeezing her thin shoulders carefully, she hiccuped.

“Look at me,” I ordered, he glazed and teary eyes pierced through me. “It will be all right.”

Her face went blank with the force of my hypnosis. 

“You will take care of your children, you do not need him, you never did,” I pushed. Her mind held no resistance.

“He was not worth it, you're a beautiful and capable woman,” I continued with more strength, she stopped hiccuping, I let her go.

“It will be all right,” I said, she was blinking in confusion.

“What will I do to get money?” she asked calmly, I offered her a handkerchief.

“Well, you make some incredible pies,” she looked at me in surprise. “Who doesn't love a good pie?” I asked with a grin, she corresponded with an authentic smile.

“Everybody loves pies,” she agreed in a strong voice.

Even vampires, I wanted to say.

****

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Prey: Part One

Prey

Part 1

I got out of the car with a big smile on my face. The bright yellow sunlight made everything sparkle: the windows, the roof and even the leaves of the trees of my beautiful new house. Several children were nearby, laughing happily, I smiled once more.

The men who carried all the boxes inside looked at me sideways, I sat on the lovely porch pretending not to notice the way their eyes were on me when they thought I didn’t notice, and that was despite the big hat that covered most of my face.

“She’s beautiful,” one murmured.

“And still unmarried, it seems rude,” his companion replied, giving me a rather audacious look.

I looked at myself surreptitiously, the light blue dress was slightly loose, my shoes were not high because I am 6-foot tall. I sighed, it wasn't the first time I had to deal with comments like those, and apparently, it would not be the last.

Once they left I changed my outfit to something more comfortable, an overall spotted with beige paint and low shoes. I had painted the house myself a couple of nights before; the solvent tang was still an assault to my senses. I organized almost the whole house by the end of the afternoon. It was a beautiful bungalow with a white fence, the American dream, well except for the husband that I would most likely never have and the children I could not birth.

After a long shower I put on a nice yellow dress with a bow on my back; my hair fell to my waist, tied in a fluttering ponytail. Deciding that staying indoors with such beautiful weather was sinful, I went to the porch and sat on the swing to enjoy the sunset and its rich colors and aromas.

After a few minutes a couple came up my way, I leaned my head to a side with a smile. The man in his forties with black hair and cold blue eyes looked at me too, his wife in her late thirties, blonde and beautiful stared at the house.

“Good evening,” said the man. “My name is William, this is my wife Madeleine, and you are?”

“Jane Glass,” I said.

“Welcome to the community,” he said, reaching for my hand.

I got up and took his hand suppressing a wince.

“Thank you,” I said.

Madeleine handed me a provocative blackberry pie, my mouth watered, I inhaled deeply.

“Oh, it smells delicious,” I complimented her. She smiled, it did not reach her eyes.

“Thank you,” she said in a shy voice.

“It tastes even better, my dear wife is an excellent cook,” he said, putting his arm around her thin shoulders on a possessive gesture, she shook a little.

The man looked at me from head to toe, made a half disapproving gesture to see my casual hairstyle, lack of makeup and comfortable shoes. I could tell he wasn't particularly happy to have to crane his neck to look at my eyes. 

“It's a big house for a single woman,” he said, his cold eyes scanning my face. Caveman, I almost said.

“I have many books,” I replied with a smile as cold as his expression. “You can borrow as many as you want,” I said to Madeleine. Her eyes widened with both fear and longing.

“I'm sure a beautiful woman like you will soon find a husband,” he said ignoring my offer to her. His pathetic flattering making me nauseated. 

Madeleine lowered her shoulders but remained silent. She seemed to have given up on arguing with him.

“I think I prefer a Golden Retriever,” I said with a snort. William’s expression changed for an instant, something dark and twisted in his eyes. Madeleine looked at me frightened, a warning in her expression. Quickly, he controlled himself again.

“Well, let's hope you fit in well in the neighborhood,” he said, retrieving his false smile. 

“Later,” I said, taking a step toward the door. “Thanks for the pie, Madeleine”.

“You are welcome,” she said in the same submissive voice.

Once they left, I entered my house. 1972 and there are still idiots who believe women are just cleaning machines and child breeders. I breathed deeply suffocating my anger.

I put on my pajamas and went to bed a few hours later, but could not fall asleep. I got up to get something to drink not bothering to turn on the lights. The humming of my new refrigerator welcomed me as I took a glass and filled it with almost freezing water. Leaning on the counter I drank big gulps, the thirst burning my empty stomach barely receded.

Someone grabbed my neck roughly and put a cloth over my face, the glass shattered on the floor near my feet. I felt the horrible smell that burned my nose, my stomach twisted. I half shouted and struggled without much strength, fading away in a matter of seconds.

****

Read Part 2 here: https://selenekallanfantasywriter.blogspot.com/2017/05/prey-part-two.html

Hunting Party

HUNTING PARTY

A rush of wind filled my nostrils with the scent of liquor and sewage, clenching my teeth I repressed a gag. I stopped for a moment while considering going to a better part of town. Don't be a prude, I reprimanded myself, forcing my feet to keep moving.

The ambiance was clouded with the sound of drunk and klutzy laughs from the men, and women in the nearby illegal taverns. It was definitely no place for a woman to wander alone. I could feel the danger creeping under my skin, there shouldn't have been a respectable man in at least a mile round, not that I was looking forward to finding one. No, the evil would have to do.

I wandered with no rush the filthy stone streets, my steps echoing on the emptier parts of that wretched place. The only people around me —women selling their bodies, their clients, and the homeless—, didn’t even notice me at all. My empty stomach twisted, starved to its limit. I couldn’t help a weak pant when the pounding in my head grew stronger. I kept moving struggling to ignore the sensation of illness. 

A stream of the cold autumn wind stroke me, lifting my long black coat and ruffling my loose hair; a slight scent of blood drew my attention. I expanded my senses around me, exploring; a suffocated moan reached my ears, completely different to the sounds of fake pleasure coming from the alleys. It was a sound of fear, of frustration. I used it as a guide.

It didn’t take me long to find the alley in which the terrible scene took place: a young woman with a broken nose covered in blood and tears, and a man — not that I thought he was one —, forcing his way under the girl’s dress. With no hesitation, I threw a punch right to his face, he fell to the ground immediately. 
She cried without sound paralyzed by fear. Her scent and garb indicated me she worked as a bartender, something completely inappropriate; she looked so young, probably 15 years old. Her hair was a complete mess, she was a complete mess. I got closer to her.

“Hey, look at me,” I ordered. 
Her brown eyes focused on mine at once, pleading; tears falling down her chin. She was so small. She tried to talk but couldn’t.

“Go home, forget everything that happened tonight.”

Her eyes lost focus with the force of my hypnosis. It worked perfectly, she started walking away stumbling slightly, but disappearing from my sight.

“Argh,” growled the bastard struggling to stand up. I waited for him to face me.

He looked at me, his brow furrowing with confusion. Unaware that it was me the one who’d hit him. His brown eyes wandered my frame; from my long brown hair, through my blouse and pants, and finally to my leather boots. A mix of lust and confusion filled his expression, slowly — so he could now see me— , I hit him, open hand on his chest. He flew several feet away from me landing on his ass; seething with anger, he fought to stand up again, I waited.

I wanted him to fight and see how useless it was. I wanted his fear when he realized his life was over.

“You bitch!” He shouted throwing his fist at my face. 
I grabbed his hand too fast for him to see and shattered his bones, he howled in pain. His white skin turned pale, the stinking sweat made his hair stick to his forehead.

He threw another punch with the good hand, I dodged him and kicked him away sending him to the end of the alley. His scent was a mix of cheap liquor, silk, sweat, and lavender; a wealthy man that enjoyed hurting defenseless women, one of my favorite preys. 
My fangs descended at once; it was slightly painful, but I barely felt it thanks to the hunger, and burning rage. My empty stomach clenched, a shiver of anticipation running down my spine. One week was quite a stretch for my feeble self-control.

“Get up,” I growled getting close to him. My voice sounded completely inhuman, similar to a feline roar. 

“You don’t like fair fights, do you?”

Actually, it wasn’t fair at all. I was at least a dozen times stronger than him, could be much more if the hunger hadn’t weakened me already. He was barely able to stand up, gasping for air and crawling like the insect he was. Finally, he lifted his eyes and saw me, we were near a streetlight so he could see my cat-like silver eyes, and long fangs. I smiled wickedly at the pure horror on his face, the scent of his fear tainted the air with a repulsive scent.

“You are a monster,” he murmured.

“Funny, that was my line,” I replied.

He tried to run, in the blink of an eye, I stood in front of him. I pushed him to the furthest wall back on the alley drawing us away from the possibility of being seen, then lifted him with one hand to face me. He was a couple inches lower than me, I was tall for a female. His heart raced under my touch as cold as night. 

“Please,” he begged, “God!”

I laughed while I got closer to his neck, my mouth watered with the scent of his blood.

“I think he listened to the girl’s prayer tonight,” I murmured in his ear.

I bit his neck cutting through the damp skin like a knife on butter. The warm, bittersweet blood flooded my mouth, I could taste the alcohol and evil in it. He fought uselessly under my hands, hitting me with all the strength he could muster, but I barely even felt it. I was covering his mouth with one hand to silence his choked screams.

His heart lost the battle to my unleashed hunger that knew no bounds that night. His death came faster than I wanted, I tossed his dry and useless body to the ground, and cleaned the corners of my mouth with a handkerchief, disgusted. Not even the slightest trace of regret clouded my mind. Yes, I was a murderer, but I only took the lives of the vile, of creatures far worse than me.

I  took out the bottle of bourbon of my coat and drank a bit to cleanse the taste of his corrupted blood. Then, covered the body with the rest of the liquor, and took a few steps back before tossing a lighter. The flames would cover the traces of what I had done in a short time, cleaning after myself was something I would always do.

I walked away slowly from the scene of fire and death I had created. One more dead pervert and an eternity to take down as many of them as I could.

An Introduction

Non-humans. Thousands of myths speak of them. Deified, envied, and most of all feared. Once a grounded fact, know a demonstration of ignorance or insanity from the few humans who claim to have met one. A prey for a select few, and by far not a human invention.

Non-humans exist, they are as real as the air we breath. Their existence remains a secret to most of the human kind since the dark ages, when being remotely different became dangerous and decens of species were brutally slaughtered.

They live amongst us today, hiding in plain sight, some feared, some afraid, some with the urge to rule over the humans, some desiring to be more humane... And all hoping to remain a myth, for if they live only in our imagination, they are safe… For now.