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Author J.M. Poole
Paperback edition
Category:
Fantasy
Publisher: Hungry Griffin Publishing
ISBN-10: 147740063X
Type: Fiction
Pages: 396
Copyright: Jan 31, 2011
ISBN-13: 9781477400630
Price: FREE! (eBook)
Griffins, dragons, and BNPs (Bugs of Nightmarish Proportions).
Never in their wildest dreams could a husband and wife have guessed what was in store for them. It seemed fairly harmless. A reclusive set of grandparents passes away and bequeath their estate to their only grandson. Naturally, an investigative trip to explore their newly inherited mansion was in order. However, their quick trip rapidly turned into an extended stay as they discover a mysterious portal which sends them both on a one-way journey to a land of wonder!
Shocked to learn that the strange land is home to creatures that aren't supposed to exist, they must now enlist the aid of the king and queen to try and figure out how to return home. Compounding their problems, an ancient prophecy has named them protectors of the crown prince.
Some days it didn't pay to get out of bed.
Dragons, griffins, and BNPs (Bugs of Nightmarish Proportions). Never in their wildest dreams could they have imagined what was in store for them.
After learning he had inherited an enormous mansion and a huge tract of land from a reclusive set of relatives, Steve Miller, along with his wife Sarah, decide to take a few days off to investigate their new-found fortune in the quiet resort town of northern Idaho, Coeur d’Alene.
While taking inventory of the vast manor, they discover a unique set of doors on the top floor. Mistaking them to be an ornate decoration, the doors are accidentally activated, presenting the two new homeowners with a tantalizing decision: step through or ignore? No harm could possibly befall them by simply walking through an open door, right? Curiosity getting the better of them, they step through, and both husband and wife are sent on a one-way journey to a land of unimagined wonder!
Realizing they were now stranded on a world populated with creatures that should exist only in one’s imagination, they enlist the aid of the local king and queen. Their troubles continue to escalate, however, as it is revealed their arrival had been long foretold by an ancient local prophecy, bestowing upon them the status of Royal Bodyguards to the young crown prince.
Stuck on a foreign world where mythical creatures abound, trying to avoid being attacked by griffins, and hoping to impress a living, breathing dragon, the newly appointed babysitters must find a way to return home soon before harm could befall the young prince.
Some days it didn't pay to get out of bed.
Excerpt
From Chapter 5...
Sarah’s head jerked up, along with Steve’s. She saw their former captor before he did, saw the imminent danger, and screamed. Long and loud.
The thief, startled, swung his aim over to her, and without realizing it, released the arrow.
Time slowed to a crawl. Steve watched in horror as the arrow was released. He knew that Sarah was too far away for him to try and block it, but what could he do? He bunched his legs and leapt in Sarah’s direction, hoping his futile, last ditch effort might somehow protect Sarah from the imminent death that had begun to streak towards her.
The concussion knocked both Steve and Sarah well into the lake. The flash of searing fire and heat instantly vaporized the arrow in mid-flight, reducing it to ash where it floated away in the breeze. Their former captor, now wearing nothing but a light dusting of ash in front, while the clothing covering his now retreating backside still remained intact, turned tail and ran for all he was worth. With nothing to keep the clothes in place, they caught on little bits of shrubbery, or flapped away in the breeze, and generally fell off. The bare-assed thief disappeared into the woods, stringing curses behind him as he ran. No prize was worth this.
Coughing and spluttering, Steve and Sarah surfaced.
“What the hell was that?” Steve coughed up water. Being thrown into the water unexpectedly was akin to getting a healthy dose of water up your nose and in your mouth. “Sweetie, are you okay?”
Sarah coughed. “He blew us up? How’d he do that? What happened to the arrow? I saw him shoot an arrow at us!”
“Yeah, me, too. Better question is, what happened to him? I don’t see him anywhere.”
They stumbled out of the water and collapsed onto the shore. Steve rolled onto his back, continuing to cough up water while Sarah, also struggling to remove all the fluid from her lungs, scanned the shore, looking for some signs of their pursuer. Her gaze fell onto their pack and her purse, still sitting where she dropped it by the brook. Then she noticed that the trees and plant life in the “blast zone” (as she called it in her head) had all been deeply singed. The trees all bore black scorches, but only on their eastern sides. Nothing on the west, from the direction of their assailant. If the pack, which was on the ground, was still there, that could only mean that whatever detonated did so in the air, not on the ground. But to have the vegetation burned on their side, the east? But that could only mean…
“Sweetie, the blast came from our direction, and it happened in mid-air.”
Steve looked behind him. “From the water? Why did it blow us into it then?”
Sarah’s mouth closed with an audible snap. “Good one. Well, if it came from this direction, yet didn’t come from behind us, then that would suggest that it came from us!”
“You mean you did something to protect yourself from that guy?” Steve was both proud and jealous at the same time. “Babe, that’s awesome!!”
“Hon, I don’t think it’s me. I think it’s you!”
“Me? I didn’t do anything! Why do you say that?”
“Well, the only thing I did was scream. Nothing remarkable there. Can you remember if you did anything?”
Steve thought a moment. “It all happened so fast. I had actually stopped worrying about that guy. I let my guard down. I’m so sorry, babe.” Steve held his wife’s hand. “I heard a snapping noise; I looked up to see what it was. I heard you scream, and I saw that guy point his bow at you instead of me. My heart stopped dead. I just knew I had to get in front of you to somehow block the arrow, but deep down I knew it just wasn’t possible. You were too far away. I think I threw up my hands and the next thing I knew I was inhaling water.”
“You gestured with your hands?”
“I wouldn’t call it gesturing. More like helplessly flailing my arms.”
“No you didn’t. I remember now. You put up both arms as if to brace for some type of impact. Remember?”
Steve thought a moment. He did, in fact, remember putting his arms up in a defensive position, as if he’d be able to prevent the arrow from reaching its intended target.
“Well, maybe…”
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