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Category:
Fantasy
Publisher: Brendan Carroll
ISBN-10: 1449562248
Type: Fiction
Pages: 352
Copyright: 01/22/2009
ISBN-13: 9781449562243
Price: $3.99 (eBook)
The venerable Chevalier du Morte must travel to the Underworld to rescue his beloved Meredith after she and the Order's Mystic Healer are imprisoned by an ancient sorcerer with mysterious ties to Mark Ramsay. While he is battling evil forces on the astral plane, his son becomes a member of the Immortal Council of Twelve. One foe is vanquished and another awakened.
Excerpt
Mark Andrew thought that Simon was probably correct in his assumption concerning his latest plan. He had lost his mind, but then it wouldn’t be the first time he had done so. In fact, Mark Andrew thought that he had left part of his mind in the hills of central Texas, part of it at the Golden Fountain and the rest of it in Rome somewhere during the ‘holiday’ he had taken there. He waited at the mouth of the cave overlooking the ledge and the horribly dark pit that yawned between him and the sleeping serpent. The elves were retreating down the passage and he watched them go in growing dread. Merry had not been happy with the idea and even Lucio had protested his plan though it might prove to be suicidal and would put the Italian in a better position to regain his lost love once it was over. Simon had been silent after his initial summation wherein he had dutifully absolved him of his sins and then pronounced him dead, insisting that he receive the final rites. De Lyons had argued that he should be the one to carry out the deed since this was his campaign, but Mark Andrew had insisted that de Lyons would need to be there afterwards to lead the army in whatever direction they might take. Merry had been the one most difficult to convince and the Knights had allowed him to talk to her in relative privacy for a bit before retreating and taking her with them. Her final words had not been encouraging. In fact, she was now very angry with him and his ears still rang with her colorful admonitions concerning his abilities and his plan. He smiled. Maidens in distress had changed considerably since the ‘old days’. They were much less grateful now and more self-sufficient. She had wanted to stay with him. He appreciated the offer, but had to decline. It had taken both Simon and de Lyons to pull her away which was morbidly satisfactory to him somehow. Lucio, on the other hand, did not want another bruise to add to his growing collection and had done little to help them.
Her reaction was not too bad. At least, her attitude had proven her love for him, but he would have preferred a nice kiss goodbye rather than a slap in the face and a curse. He rubbed his cheek where the imprint of her hand still burned. It was all one and the same with her. The blue light faded to nothing behind him and only the faint red glow from the Dybbukym remained now to light the cavern. No need to put it off. Time was running on now and they needed to get out of this place one way or another.
He got up slowly, took up the bow and arrows Sam had provided for him and stepped out onto the ledge in front of the cave. At first, nothing happened. He felt lost without his sword, but he had given it over to Simon to keep… just in case. Even the Golden Sword of the Cherubim might not be able to withstand dragon fire. He walked down the ledge away from the mouth of the cave a few meters and stopped to nock an arrow in the bow. The Dybukkym attacked him immediately, swooping in at him with their claws and talons, screeching and howling, in the empty recesses of the great hall. Their shrill, warbling voices echoed down into the pit and the rumbling from below seemed to increase a bit. He could feel the rock vibrating under his bare feet. Without the golden sword, the evil spirits were no longer afraid of him. He had a difficult time avoiding their claws and teeth as he positioned himself against the wall and drew back the string to loose the arrow. He was not a good archer. It had never been his choice of weapons though he had played about with it from time to time. De Lyons was the expert.
He heard the dragon’s breathing change and she snorted. He let the arrow fly and it went wide of the mark… of course. The arrow hit the stone wall behind her and clattered to the ledge. He pulled another from the quiver and then had to swat two of the flitting spirits away with the bow. The things were trying to take the bow from him. The dragon reared its head and he could almost feel it looking at him from across the pit. He managed to nock a second arrow and then let it fly. This one struck her near one of her great horns, but was deflected harmlessly by the tough scales there. She raised her head higher and more of the Dybbukym attacked him. Two of them grabbed the bow and a third went after his head, clawing at his face, trying to bite his neck. He let go of the bow and took hold of the shadowy orange creature with both hands to dislodge it from his head. The thing fought and struggled frightfully with him until he finally snapped what seemed to be its neck and flung it into the pit. Three more swooped on him and he swung at them with arrows in each hand while edging his way back toward the mouth of the cave. The dragon raised up to its full height, swaying back and forth, turning its head from side to side looking at him with first one glowing eye and then the other. He could hear the wheezing, raspy breath and smell the odor of sulfur and brimstone and the other, more deadly, gas emanating from the pit. Methane. The combination made him nauseous. His eyes watered and his nose began to run. He needed to run. The dragon sucked in a great breath in preparation of blasting him with her fire. It was time to run. He turned and felt one of the creatures land on his back between his shoulders. It wrapped its arms around his chest as its teeth sank into his neck . He stabbed at it with the arrow and heard it screech, but it did not let go. He had to make it back to the mouth of the cave or die with them. He glanced at the serpent once more and saw her lean back slightly, raise her head and open her mouth. There was a blinding flash and he was knocked forward into the mouth of the cave by a tremendous blast and then it was dark again.
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