I’m pleased (and relieved) to announce that Magical Mayhem, the conclusion to my Moonstone Chronicles trilogy, is now live and available for download!
Believe it or not, I wrote the first half of this book for my 2013 NaNoWriMo! However, one of the big issues I had with it at the time was that I was still working on Lucky Dog, the second book in the series. Of course it was released in 2016, so I may have been dragging my heels a bit. But hopefully it’s worth the wait.
In this conclusion to my epic adventure, Howard is given an amulet imbued with elven magic, meant to aid him in is magical studies. Instead, he uses it to visit the magical realm himself. Here’s what happens when he wakes up:
Howard woke with a groan. It took a few seconds for his memory to catch up and when it did he sat up too quickly.
“Ow, ow, ow!” He held his head as it threatened to explode with pain. “Jesus! Why didn’t anyone warn me about side effects?”
The pain receded slightly and the spots that had been dancing in front of his eyes lessened. It was at that point he realized he wasn’t alone. He was surrounded by a ring of heavily armed elves, all dressed in some kind of dark grey uniform, all with drawn swords pointed at him.
“On your feet, human,” the one with extra decorations on his tunic ordered.
“Okay, okay. Just give me a minute to catch my breath.” The pain in his head seemed to recede a bit as he took several deep breaths.
This was not how he pictured arriving in the magical realm, although he was grateful that it appeared to be where his transferal spell had landed him. A quick glance around showed that he landed in someone’s formal garden. In fact, he was fortunate that he landed on the path and not in one of the flower beds with their ornate statuary or worse, in the fountain.
The soldiers, he couldn’t think of them as anything else, showed signs of impatience so with a supreme effort he got to his feet. Another quick glance around had him expelling a quiet sigh of relief. There was no sign of Ellen, thank God she hadn’t been close enough to get caught up in his spell - he’d have never heard the end of it. Of course, he was also going to be in for it from her for leaving her behind, but he’d cross that bridge when he returned. If he was able to return.
“I don’t suppose one of you kind gentlemen could tell me exactly where I am?” he asked, a puzzled frown on his face. While he hadn’t expected to land at Jessica’s feet, he had hoped to be in her general vicinity. When he last spoke with her, she and Dominic had been well off of Ghren lands, taking a boat on a river or something. This looked to be a town or city of some kind.
“Silence. You will come with us.”
As much as Howard would have liked to protest, he had a feeling it wouldn’t do him any good. The pain in his head receded to bad hangover strength and he was feeling slightly dizzy, so at first he focused entirely on staying on his feet. Gradually the dizziness passed and he began to look at the passing scenery with interest.
The path through the garden was made from something like flagstone, only this was no dull grey slate but a white, marble like stone. On either side of the path were flowering shrubs and exotic blossoms, slender trees that bore unfamiliar fruit. They came to a finely wrought gate that appeared to be carved from the same stone as the shimmering white walls surrounding the garden.
There were two elves guarding the gate who stared at them impassively as the company passed through. With an ominous clang the gate shut behind them. Howard couldn’t help gawking a bit as they walked. This had to be an elven city, or at the very least a town, something he’d always dreamed of but never imagined could be real.
The street was a smooth cobblestone, not quite as fine as the path through the garden, but still not ordinary stone. The buildings looked like they’d be right at home along the shores of the Mediterranean - no more than two or three stories, made of white stone with low walled gardens separating them from the road. He caught glimpses of carvings and embellishments on the walls and wished he could stop to examine them more closely.
There was a profusion of flowers everywhere, clinging to the walls and climbing up the staircases that led to upper stories. Though he couldn’t see them, Howard could hear a medley of bird song, hauntingly beautiful sounds. The sun was shining high overhead, from which he deduced it was close to noon, but there were no other people – elves – around.
The reflection of the sunlight on all that white was making his headache worse. Howard stumbled along with his guards, only vaguely aware of numerous twists and turns in their path. After what seemed like forever, they halted in front of a squat, unadorned building and he was led inside.
The elven equivalent of a jail, he deduced. It reminded him of the jails from old western movies. The room was large and scrupulously clean, the walls and floor made of the same stone as the other buildings he’d seen. There was a desk made of pale wood, polished to a shine, to one side of the door with a mirror hanging on the wall behind it. A row of carved wooden chairs of the same wood as the desk were lined up along the opposite wall, and the back had been divided into two cells with sturdy looking bars.
“In here,” he was told, the elf in charge indicating the cell closest to them.
“Hang on a minute. I’ve been nothing but co-operative, so I’d like—”
“In here,” the elf repeated, hand on the hilt of his sword.
Howard huffed out a breath but did as he was told. The elf locked the cell door behind him. “Someone will be in to question you shortly.”
The cell was actually very genteel when compared to an old west hoosegow. There was a cot along the outside wall, neatly made up. A washstand was placed against the wall between the bed and the bars dividing the two cells, with a pitcher and wash basin on it and a folded towel beside them. On a whim he checked under the cot. Sure enough, there was a covered chamber pot. The elves may be low tech, but they were nothing if not civilized.
He sat down on the narrow cot and sighed. This was definitely not the way he’d anticipated making an entrance into the magical realm. But as bad as things looked, he couldn’t help the grin that spread over his face. He’d done it; he’d actually teleported himself to the magical realm. Now all he had to do was find Jessica.
To find out what happens to Howard next, BUY MY BOOK! :-D
On Amazon, find it HERE
No comments:
Post a Comment