The other change is that I now see myself as an author, not just a writer. I've spent the last couple of days setting up author pages on Goodreads and Facebook now that I see myself in that new light. There's also a new confidence when I talk to others about writing. Before, I used to hesitate when folks asked me what I did. If I said I was a writer, the inevitable question was always, "Have you published anything?" Now I can answer that without a bunch of excuses. Having gone through the whole process of final edits, cover design, and formatting, I feel a little better qualified to talk to other aspiring authors about what to expect and how to get through the process.
Sales of my book have dropped off significantly the last couple of days, but that doesn't surprise me since I've done nothing to promote it. What's interesting though is that the pages read chart continues to hold steady. I'm not the kind of person to fill up everyone's feed with constant reminders of my book, so next on the learning curve will be several small attempts at promotion.
For this week I wanted to share the Prologue for my upcoming epic fantasy which will be the next book published.
Thanks for reading!
Prologue
End of an Age
Now was the time
to finish this. Only Demitrios, the last surviving Deluti High Lord, had the
power to locate and if possible, destroy the Dark Lord. He rode at the forefront of the Army of the North,
an alliance he had forged between Northern Ogre, Mountain Wolves, the
light-shifters of the Elintria and Humans. That alliance proved to be the
turning point in a war that had lasted for decades. The Dark Lord of the South
refused to acknowledge the intelligence and fighting abilities of the
non-humans. For that reason, his entire army was comprised of humans, whom he
treated little better than slaves.
The Army advanced
steadily across the Plain of Sarglon and approached the Stagwood Forest. Ahead
of them stretched an ancient, densely packed wood where the Dark Lord had
established his final defensive line to protect his fortress at Bryhom. At the
High Lord’s signal, the army positioned itself for attack with archers and
mages to the front, followed by ogres, wolves and human swordsmen. The horsemen
were positioned as rear guard due to their disadvantage in the thick forest.
As the first
volley of arrows darkened the sky and fireballs launched by the human mages
sped towards the forest, lightning strikes sent by the Dark Lord’s sorcerers
began falling among the archers. Holding position, the mages and archers
continued to provide covering fire until the wolves, ogres and Elintria assassins
reached the edge of the forest. The swordsmen then followed to sweep through
the forest in the wake of the non-humans. Riding among them, Demitrios provided
as much protection as he dared but every death added to the burden of sorrow
weighing on his heart.
His personal
shield protected him from attack but did not block out the pungent odor of
ozone and the sickly sweet stench of burning flesh. They had left behind a
plain littered with the bodies of human and animal, but in the forest,
Demitrios knew they would have the advantage. The wolves and ogre were
formidable forest predators and the Elintria would quickly eliminate anyone attempting
to hide in the trees.
A sudden immense gathering of power alerted
him to the presence of his enemy and the shocked realization of the terrible
mistake he had made. The forest was a trap. With the last of his energy he sent
out a powerful mental command to the entire army to abandon the forest
immediately. Face buried in the mane of
his horse to keep from being swept off, they careened through the forest with
the roar of an inferno pursuing them. Tendrils of smoke trailed from the burnt
ends of the horse’s tail as they escaped through the western edge of the forest
and ascended to a rock strewn meadow. The horse, lathered and trembling,
stopped a few paces away from the body of a man slumped against the side of a
large boulder. Demitrios fell from his saddle and stumbled over to his brother.
The face of his twin was beyond recognition.
Compassion
overwhelmed all other emotions as he gazed at the burnt and blackened body
before him.
“Why have you done
this to us Scorpios?” he cried. “Your lust for power has destroyed the last
members of our race. The Council of Five gave up their lives by forging their
spirits into the five Amulets of Focus that are now scattered throughout both
continents. The Deluti are no more. You have placed the future of this world in
the hands of the humans.”
The body of his
brother convulsed, one eye cracked open and a hiss escaped through burnt and
blistered lips.
“Kill me.”
“I can not.
Regardless of what you have become, you are still my brother.”
Anger invoked by
the senseless destruction and death his brother was responsible for rekindled
the power of a Deluti High Lord in him. He rose to his feet and stood straight
and tall.
“However, since you
attempted to kill us all and took in more power than your body was able to
control, I sentence you to live and suffer from those injuries and the
knowledge of what you have done to our people.”
Demitrios walked
over to stand next to his horse and stared at the smoking ruin that had once
been the Stagwood
Forest
“Many generations from now, the
blood of the Deluti will return through the line of humans even stronger than
before and our time on this world will come to an end. I have foreseen it.”
Back in the
saddle, he turned his horse away from the broken body on the ground and
whispered, “Goodbye my brother.” He
never looked back.
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