I almost went mad. Certainly I was out my mind, and into the minds of others, a cacophony of wretched misery and anguish punctuated with dull aches, stabbing pains and brutal lashes of sharp agony. Of my own body I was barely aware, shackled to the cold stone floor of the dungeon cell where I had been thrown. "Never before," the Queen had said, "has a Serva...
Ch.1: Sarabian's Awakening Shila was a world much like any other. It had vast oceans, flowing rivers, dark forests, mountain ranges, hot deserts and green valleys. Also like many other worlds, Shila was inhabited by many different species and life-forms, ranging from the tiniest bacteria invisible to the mortal eye, to the biggest of mammals that dwarf the...
Driving through the countryside, Sierra had little time to marvel at the magnificent scenery, that Scotland had to offer. Sierra being born an American had come to Scotland on vacation and had never left. She had fallen in love with the majestic rolling hills, fields of heather, purple and fresh. After being there almost 2 years she had met Adam and had fall...
Transylvania. 1861. Humanity's mettle is tested again at the brink of an irrevocable new technological age, with the warring dichotomy of what is right and what is easy. Far and removed from these secular conflicts stands an ugly and ominous monument to the wretchedness of human nature. The castle beckons to the heavens like the many, shapeless appendages...
We had flown to Romania, to the Carpathian Mountains, the very seat of legend and horror. Every year, a Halloween party was held there, in the restored remains of Dracula's Castle. While no one had lived here for centuries, not since the death of Vlad Tepes, the Impaler, the very Dracula of legend, folklore and ghost stories himself, the castle was frequentl...
Westminster, England, 14 April AD 1067. Six Months After The Battle of Hastings. "You get Droit de Seigneur with the estate, D'Austeyn. You are Lord of the High Justice and the Low, with Furca and Fossa. You can hang a man from gallows or drown a witch. Sort out any trouble immediately and kill anyone who puts a toe out of line. But most of all..." Her...
Author's note: I am taking creative license with nobility titles in this story, even though these titles are not allowed to be used in Austria since before 1918. Enjoy! ***** "Thanks for meeting with me today, Mr. Wagner. Please come in. We have a lot to go over today." the middle-aged lawyer said to the young business man as they shook hands. "Please,...
"To summon a prince," Quinn read the instructions to herself one last time and chanted the incantation inscribed in the old leather book. She placed her finger on the page to mark her place, closed the book and then followed the last step. "Turn in place three times and he shall appear. One." Quinn carefully spun on one satin-slippered foot. "Two." Her eyes...
FOREWORD: This is not something I do often, so forgive my brutish and heavy-handed style. Someone told me I should write - and so I did. If this story gains enough traction, then I might be persuaded to write a sequel. Anyway, enjoy: * The hooded man dashed through the snow. His heavy boots leave heavy footprints in the forest as he hurries forward. The...
A very dear friend of mine, Kate, once told me, "never be sorry for making the reader cry." I don't know if she took the other side of human tears into account. I always try to draw emotion out of the readers, but in one chapter, I made someone remember lost loves, for that, I am truly sorry. My stories are meant to inspire others to be more than they can be...