I have just published the first chapter of the next story in the series at the free site Wattpad. I plan on publishing one chapter a week over the next eight weeks until the story is published in total. I like three of these characters a great deal and the Empires Falling tale could not be told without the courage and abilities of at least one of these characters.
Here is a picture of the cover for the story. I imagine that it looks similar to the lead female character in the story. I would change it a bit if I could, but no cover is ever perfect.
Below is the first chapter of the story I will publish it here as I do there. Plus notes about the characters from time to time.
Whispers From A Speaking Demon
By.
Rodney Cannon
Chapter One.
The lands west of the wilderness were not the most lucrative place for a those who practiced the magical arts. The east was steeped in its ancient traditions like the Wilderness and magic of all types were practiced as a way of everyday life while the Great Western empire had built its power upon the force of steel only now they were learning that steel alone could not protect what it had won in battle. They need people like Aldo and his followers.
Amelina, Brando, Burkhard and Lanzo stood at the railing of the boat that they had purchased passage on. The cargo of donkeys and saber foxes could be smelled, even on the open sea, for miles in every direction. A five-day passage with these stinking animals had not got to waste. There were a great many minor acts of magic that required saber fox dung and blood from any low animal. Brando and Burkhard knew most of it without being taught, while the much younger Lanzo had to be taught the spells and mixes of potions again and again.
Amelina knew the magic well enough, but did not apply herself. She was young and pretty and gifted with second sight so Aldo did not press her. The war hungry men that they would be dealing with would probably be more interested in her breast than her considerable gifts. Aldo knew how gifted she was and still it took even him a few weeks to overlook the temptations of young and firm flesh.
“A storm will be waiting for us when we arrive.”Amelina said with her back to him.
Aldo stepped forward and joined them at the forward railing.
He looked off to the distant sky and tried to see beyond it. Rain and icy hail and something man made beyond that. A storm of arrows?
“Our safety?”Aldo asked Amelina.
“We will be fine.”She smiled, then turned her eyes on the other three.
“One of them will fall and one will leave our company for a time. I cannot
see which one.”
“What?”Brando asked.
“One of us is going to trip over something and fall?”Lanzo asked.
“If it is anything, but that you could have said something before we boarded.”
“You cannot run away from your fate Lanzo.”Burkhard said.
“I disagree. Destiny is written in stone only for the world changers, for the common folk like me destiny does not care if I die while eating a bowl of soup or at the hands of a blood thirsty army or between the legs of a beautiful woman.”Lanzo said. “Hell an average woman, depending upon how much wine is involved.”
Amelina stared at Lanzo for an uncomfortable moment then frowned. “Your path seems fixed. It was not fix yesterday or last week, but now it is. Now and forward.”She said.
“How is that possible?”Aldo heard himself asking. He did not want to let them know that there was something that he did not understand so he quickly added. “Please tell them.”
“There are moments when our paths narrow to one. Imagine that all paths that he has walked has lead him to a river. To go forward he must take the river and once he does then the river is in charge.”Alemina told them.
“Does this path lead to you and me together?”Lanzo smiled.
“I cannot see my own future. That said, I can promise you that it does not. Except I can see you carrying my bag in about ten minutes.”She smiled back.
It turned out that both Lanzo and Brando carried their own bundles and those belonging to Alemina and their master. This allowed both Aldo and Alemina to stroll along the dock ahead of them fully cloaked. Aldo walked with his hands tucked inside his sleeves while Alemina allowed her long lovely hands to swing at her sides.
There were few perfect pleasures in life and Aldo wished that he could have accompanied his followers to the local bath house, but he needed to find a broker of their talents that he had been told about. He glanced back only once to Amelina and wished that he could send someone else to take care of this business.
***
Lanzo had never been a fan of public bathing or scented water. The room filled with steaming tubs were not public, but since he would be sharing it with Brando and Burkhard it felt public. If only he could find out where Amelina was taking her bath and share a tub with her then his life would be complete.
“Those easterns made me scrub down with soap before I came in here.”Lanzo said as he peeled off his towel and quickly climbed into the steaming hot tub. The thoughts of being naked in front of others was washed away by what felt like boiling hot water. “Awwhhh . . . ”Lanzo cried out as he danced around in the tub before sinking into it with the laughter of his two comrades echoing off the walls.
Lanzo was waving away the scented steam that was stinging his nostrils and eyes when someone walked into the room. He was at eye level to the most magnificent ass that he had even seen before he realized that it had been Amelina who had entered the room.
She dropped to one knee to place a small sack down beside a tub that would be lucky enough to envelope her amazing body. Then she was up and turning sideways to get into the tub and to give Lanzo a frontal view. The reaction that he had was not burning lust as he would have expected. There were moments that made a man feel inadequate and this was one of them. Lanzo felt as if no one, least of all he should have been allow to gaze on something some amazingly beautiful. Her curves and proportions along with that beautiful face was something that should have only been able to exist in dreams.
Amelina caught his eyes, saw something other than what she had expected and quickly, almost shyly retreated into the steaming water.
“You are lucky that Aldo is elsewhere. Not a pretty sight brother.”Burkhard said.
“How about the last sight.”Brando grinned.
“Magical.”Lanzo said.
That is the first chapter of this fantasy short story. I hope that those of you that have read the stories in the Empires Falling series have enjoyed them. I look forward to getting feedback from you guys about the short story series.
Thank you for visiting and please take a moment to share this post and to stumble us on stumble upon.
Last note, my offer of a free text copy of any of the first three short stories for those of you who like the facebook page is still in effect. So please take a moment to visit the facebook page. The link is on the side of this page.
Here is a picture of the cover for the story. I imagine that it looks similar to the lead female character in the story. I would change it a bit if I could, but no cover is ever perfect.
Below is the first chapter of the story I will publish it here as I do there. Plus notes about the characters from time to time.
Whispers From A Speaking Demon
By.
Rodney Cannon
Chapter One.
The lands west of the wilderness were not the most lucrative place for a those who practiced the magical arts. The east was steeped in its ancient traditions like the Wilderness and magic of all types were practiced as a way of everyday life while the Great Western empire had built its power upon the force of steel only now they were learning that steel alone could not protect what it had won in battle. They need people like Aldo and his followers.
Amelina, Brando, Burkhard and Lanzo stood at the railing of the boat that they had purchased passage on. The cargo of donkeys and saber foxes could be smelled, even on the open sea, for miles in every direction. A five-day passage with these stinking animals had not got to waste. There were a great many minor acts of magic that required saber fox dung and blood from any low animal. Brando and Burkhard knew most of it without being taught, while the much younger Lanzo had to be taught the spells and mixes of potions again and again.
Amelina knew the magic well enough, but did not apply herself. She was young and pretty and gifted with second sight so Aldo did not press her. The war hungry men that they would be dealing with would probably be more interested in her breast than her considerable gifts. Aldo knew how gifted she was and still it took even him a few weeks to overlook the temptations of young and firm flesh.
“A storm will be waiting for us when we arrive.”Amelina said with her back to him.
Aldo stepped forward and joined them at the forward railing.
He looked off to the distant sky and tried to see beyond it. Rain and icy hail and something man made beyond that. A storm of arrows?
“Our safety?”Aldo asked Amelina.
“We will be fine.”She smiled, then turned her eyes on the other three.
“One of them will fall and one will leave our company for a time. I cannot
see which one.”
“What?”Brando asked.
“One of us is going to trip over something and fall?”Lanzo asked.
“If it is anything, but that you could have said something before we boarded.”
“You cannot run away from your fate Lanzo.”Burkhard said.
“I disagree. Destiny is written in stone only for the world changers, for the common folk like me destiny does not care if I die while eating a bowl of soup or at the hands of a blood thirsty army or between the legs of a beautiful woman.”Lanzo said. “Hell an average woman, depending upon how much wine is involved.”
Amelina stared at Lanzo for an uncomfortable moment then frowned. “Your path seems fixed. It was not fix yesterday or last week, but now it is. Now and forward.”She said.
“How is that possible?”Aldo heard himself asking. He did not want to let them know that there was something that he did not understand so he quickly added. “Please tell them.”
“There are moments when our paths narrow to one. Imagine that all paths that he has walked has lead him to a river. To go forward he must take the river and once he does then the river is in charge.”Alemina told them.
“Does this path lead to you and me together?”Lanzo smiled.
“I cannot see my own future. That said, I can promise you that it does not. Except I can see you carrying my bag in about ten minutes.”She smiled back.
It turned out that both Lanzo and Brando carried their own bundles and those belonging to Alemina and their master. This allowed both Aldo and Alemina to stroll along the dock ahead of them fully cloaked. Aldo walked with his hands tucked inside his sleeves while Alemina allowed her long lovely hands to swing at her sides.
There were few perfect pleasures in life and Aldo wished that he could have accompanied his followers to the local bath house, but he needed to find a broker of their talents that he had been told about. He glanced back only once to Amelina and wished that he could send someone else to take care of this business.
***
Lanzo had never been a fan of public bathing or scented water. The room filled with steaming tubs were not public, but since he would be sharing it with Brando and Burkhard it felt public. If only he could find out where Amelina was taking her bath and share a tub with her then his life would be complete.
“Those easterns made me scrub down with soap before I came in here.”Lanzo said as he peeled off his towel and quickly climbed into the steaming hot tub. The thoughts of being naked in front of others was washed away by what felt like boiling hot water. “Awwhhh . . . ”Lanzo cried out as he danced around in the tub before sinking into it with the laughter of his two comrades echoing off the walls.
Lanzo was waving away the scented steam that was stinging his nostrils and eyes when someone walked into the room. He was at eye level to the most magnificent ass that he had even seen before he realized that it had been Amelina who had entered the room.
She dropped to one knee to place a small sack down beside a tub that would be lucky enough to envelope her amazing body. Then she was up and turning sideways to get into the tub and to give Lanzo a frontal view. The reaction that he had was not burning lust as he would have expected. There were moments that made a man feel inadequate and this was one of them. Lanzo felt as if no one, least of all he should have been allow to gaze on something some amazingly beautiful. Her curves and proportions along with that beautiful face was something that should have only been able to exist in dreams.
Amelina caught his eyes, saw something other than what she had expected and quickly, almost shyly retreated into the steaming water.
“You are lucky that Aldo is elsewhere. Not a pretty sight brother.”Burkhard said.
“How about the last sight.”Brando grinned.
“Magical.”Lanzo said.
That is the first chapter of this fantasy short story. I hope that those of you that have read the stories in the Empires Falling series have enjoyed them. I look forward to getting feedback from you guys about the short story series.
Thank you for visiting and please take a moment to share this post and to stumble us on stumble upon.
Last note, my offer of a free text copy of any of the first three short stories for those of you who like the facebook page is still in effect. So please take a moment to visit the facebook page. The link is on the side of this page.
No comments:
Post a Comment