Hello again everyone. Sorry for the long gaps between posts. It is really hard to balance life, my job, writing, and updating my social media/site, there is really not enough hours in the day. Hopefully when I finish this book it gets picked up and I can shift my focus to writing as my main source of income, that would definitely allow me to keep up with my social media and site updates. Good news is due to the lack of posts I have decided to give a full preview of the first chapter of my WIP. As always this might not be the final product that appears in my book once it is complete, hell I may scrap and rewrite the whole thing! I have already done that with chapters 2-4! But for now please enjoy chapter 1!
Chapter 1
The Drunk
Roaring laughter erupted from the entrance of the Drunken Mule as its heavy oaken door burst open, smacking against its wet stone façade. A squat robust man with a graying beard stumbled out of the pub and fell flat on his face, gruel dripping down his head.
“2nd time this week Frank you old drunk! It happens again and I’ll cut it off!” the hostess exclaimed as she pulled the door shut muting the raucous laughter within.
Frank pulled himself up against the cold stone of the building, the rain running down his face washing the gruel from his head. He looked down at his hand, he could still feel the warmth from the hostess’ supple bottom, silently he laughed to himself and gazed off into the darkness. It had been raining a lot lately, typical early spring weather, the stars in the night sky barely visible through the dark clouds that drifted through the night. Frank let out a sigh of disappointment as he raised his hand and wiped the remaining gruel from his graying dark black hair, he would not be able to see the stars tonight still he continued staring into the sky. He had always enjoyed stargazing he remembered sitting outside in the night as a young man lying in the cool grass admiring the beauty of it all. Blessings of the god’s he used to think lighting the way for weary travelers and men of the sea, watching over us all. “She” used to lay beside me he thought; he could still smell the lavender in her hair and the sweet aroma that always seemed to follow her wherever she went. A streak of wetness ran down his cheek, he wiped away the tear. In the distance he could hear the shuffling of heavily armored footsteps, the king’s sentries have been on high alert since the recent riots, but he would not see them here not in the slums. Nothing but thieves and criminals in the slums, the city guard kept away from the area, the drunken mule at the center of it all run by Jon Torrand. Jon’s family has run the mule for generations and it acted as a sort of neutral ground in the slums, two men ready to kill each other could share the space without incident, everyone respected the sanctity of the Mule or they risked the wrath of the Innkeeper and his “bouncers”. Jon was a tall mountain of a man with a balding head and arms the size of a bear, just like his father before him and his father before him, his size was invaluable in keeping the peace inside the Mule.
Frank lifted himself from the wall and began walking towards the square pulling his cloak hood over his head to protect himself as the rain got heavier. His leather boots made wet smacking sounds against the floor as he trotted down the paved streets, he was already late and had no doubt he would be hearing an earful when he got there. The night air was refreshing against his cool skin like the gentle caress of a good woman, Frank shook his head he couldn’t stop thinking of “her”. Lately it seemed “she” was all he could think about. He focused his mind and let the thoughts slip into an empty void, he did not have time for reminiscing. As he made his way to the square, he could feel eyes on him following him from the darkness. Frank ducked into an alley way where he would not risk being seen by the few people that still wandered the streets at this time of night.
“Oh, just come out already! I know you are there Nolan.” Frank grunted to the shadows. A tall figure emerged from the darkness; his slender muscular frame hidden by his black cloak. Nolan was clad in all black giving the illusion that the shadows he stepped out of were simply an extension of his body.
“My apologies sir, Elia sent me to find you…”
“I know why you’re here!” Frank interrupted “That woman always with her schedules, I am 50 not 5! I will do what I want and go where I please when I want! And enough with this sir business! I’ve told you a million times”
“Fine Dunca…” Nolan paused immediately realizing his mistake his eyes darted around to make sure he had not been overheard “Err…Frank. She just worries about you. You know how important you are to her…to us.” Nolan spoke with a flat tone, no emotion in his voice, Frank still couldn’t get use to that. Nolan was of the Black order, a group of mages trained to be assassins and users of shadow magic. Before he met Nolan, Frank had thought the Black order to be extinct, many people believed them to never have existed at all.
Frank let out a long-exasperated sigh. When did people begin relying on him so much? They started towards the square again where Elia and Roan were waiting for their arrival. Things use to be simpler once, there was a time Frank was just a mercenary who fought other men’s battles, they dropped gold in his hand and pointed him in a direction. He was good at what he did, too good, wasn’t long before the legend of the Twin Fang was being told in every tavern in the land. He was arrogant in his youth; he thought he was invincible and put little thought into the consequences of his actions. It wasn’t until….
A loud explosion snapped Frank back to reality. It only took a moment to realize the explosion came from the very direction they were headed, the square. He broke into a full sprint Nolan following quickly behind him started to chant.
“Spirits of wind hear my plea, give us haste” (Writers note: this is written in symbol font to give it a cool looking spell incantation look for the book but it doesn’t carry over into my site post when I copy paste.)
Another loud crack split the silence in the night, the buildings were a blur now, Nolan’s spell was complete, they moved with the speed of the wind down the stone paved streets, the square just around the next corner. They were too late, when they arrived it was already over. The square was home to a large stone fountain, a statue of Gaea goddess of nature and beauty stood at the center, water spilling from the large gourd slung on her back. Most days the square would be packed with people locals and foreigners alike all milling about admiring the fountain while emptying their coin purses at the various shops and stalls, vendors shouts would fill the air as they tried to unload their wares. Now there was nothing but scorched stone everywhere, the statue of Gaea was blown to pieces, the fountain now a large stone pyre remnant of a raging flame inhabited its basin; the water had all been expelled putting out some of the surrounding flames. Fire Mages Frank thought to himself, powerful ones to be able to create flames strong enough to cause this kind of damage in this rain. Frank’s eyes scanned the square, he noticed several armored sentries on the ground, black marks covered their armor and the smell of burning flesh filled the air. A banner bearing the sigil of a bear was barely recognizable, lay on the ground but no sign of their companions anywhere. Had they escaped? Maybe they were captured.
“Nolan, find them.” Frank said in a firm commanding tone.
“Sir what about…” Frank shot him a piercing look sending chills down his spine “I understand, I will report back as soon as I find something” with that he faded back into the shadows.
Frank looked to the sky only one lone star was visible, it shone a brilliant shade of red. The time is almost upon us Frank thought as he headed back to the Mule.
When he arrived, the inn had mostly cleared out, only a few of the regulars remained scattered throughout the common room. The long wooden tables were all surprisingly sturdy given their appearance, each table had scratches, grooves, and all other kinds of other markings on them, they had “character” Jon would say. The fire roared in the huge fireplace giving some much-needed warmth to those seeking shelter from the rain. The hostess Ann shot Frank a mean look, he put his hands up in defeat, she turned her nose up at him and disappeared into the kitchen. Frank sat down at the end of the bar and signaled the barkeep; within moments a mug of ale was set down in front of him. He lifted the mug to his lips and took a deep pull almost draining it in one swig, he set it down hard and let out a belch so loud one of the regulars that had fallen asleep in his chair almost fell over. He started turning over the events of tonight in his mind, what happened? Were they found out or was it a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time? Maybe Galcean was finally making good on his promise, no, the Dawnguard were in Valia far to the west It couldn’t have been him. The King’s Red guard were dispatched to the north to deal with the disorder at the border of Zhou, the fire mages that remained in the capital were not powerful enough for this. Then who? The followers of Fulgur? What reason would they have for attacking Elia and Roan? No there was another player here he thought, someone he is overlooking. Whoever it was he would have to find out fast, time was running out, the red star grows brighter and when it falls he will not have time for distractions.
Frank dropped a silver coin on the counter “Tell Jon I’ll be needing a room” he said to the bartender. The bartender eyed the coin and replied.
“Head up the stairs last door on the left is yours. Will you be needing breakfast? I can have Ann bring something up in the morning”
“No just the room, Ill be sleeping in tomorrow” Frank nodded his head in appreciation and headed up to his room. The room was not extravagant a bed lay against the wall below the only window with the perfect view of all approaches to the inn, a small leap from the window to the next rooftop made for an easy escape if needed. There was a small desk opposite the bed, a small hearth between the two already had a fire lit when he entered the room. He collapsed onto the straw mattress and stared up at the ceiling. He reached down and lifted his pendant up into the moonlight that was shining through a small gap in the clouds holding it between his thumb and forefinger. The symbol of the Fool gleamed in the light; a small smile crept across Frank’s face. He closed his eyes and said a silent prayer before drifting to sleep.
Very good, can’t wait for the book! 🙂