by Billy Wong
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Gunner left the band four months later, wanting to try MMA full time while he was still young. Following his example, Sloth decided to pursue his dream of pro golf. Freya, Loki and Annabeth all agreed he'd be back within the year, but until then they would have to recruit new members if they wanted to continue with the band. They decided not to, as Annabeth too wanted some time off to take care of her sick grandma.
"So it looks like Helbound will be taking a hiatus," Freya told Lincoln on their last day at the studio. "Hope it helps our sales, but I guess you can go back to coaching now... we'll give you a call when we have our reunion and see what you want to do."
"But wait, what are doing to do now? Are you going to produce some singles? You're not the type to sit on your ass for a year."
"No, I'm not." She smiled. "But I'm taking a break from the music business for a while. You see, Loki has this idea..."
He interrupted. "We're going into film. We're going to have a documentary series, How To Survive Real Life Supernatural Encounters, where we go around, interview survivors of these phenomena, and educate people on what they really have to do."
Lincoln looked at Freya and chuckled. "So you really are going to become a vampire slayer."
"No, not exactly. Well, not unless I have to."
"Then hell, count me in! I'm thirty years old, prime of my life—time to have some adventures!"
"So the brave trio sets off on their bold journey," Loki said, holding up a tiny handheld camcorder. "Where will their quest take them first? To the cold wastes of Canada where the Wendigo roam, or deep into the jungles of Mexico where Aztec gods still seek sacrifices of virgin blood?"
"Fucking Canada, naw man! A brother can't stand that northern cold!"
Freya rolled her eyes. "I'm pretty sure there are 'brothers' who live in Canada. Look at how white I am! No sunscreen's going to save me from getting sunburned down south."
"More white makeup maybe?"
"Guys hold up, I don't think there's any battery power left. Wait, stop talking, I want to catch this on camera!" As they continued to argue, Loki looked into the lens of the camcorder and winked. "Until I get this sucker charged up... Loki, signing off."
Cover image copyright © Jenn Leblanc https://illustratedromance.com/
Cover design copyright © David Adams https://www.lacunaverse.com/ and Christine Savoie
Author Billy Wong is an avid fan of heroic fantasy, with a special love for strong female warriors. He draws inspiration from the epic legends of old, and is on a quest to bring over the top deeds and larger than life heroes back to prominence in today's literary world.
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Other Works
Sample of The Golden Dawn
Princess Julianna frowned, looking out over her city of Myrrhise from the balcony. The white-clad soldiers of the One Army fought through the streets, driving her troops before them as they sought her palace. Should she act? She knew that lives of her people were being lost and hated it, and it didn't seem like her army under General Duncan would be able to repel the enemies on their own. But if she used that power...
"Saint Princess," a deep voice said behind her. She spun to regard her dim-lit throne room. The invaders' leader, King Galen Kord, towered beside her throne. With his gigantic white armor, massive sword and long flowing hair, the man who called himself the Unifier appeared every bit a hero-conqueror of legend. Compared to his, her light plate and the short spear in her hand seemed rather inadequate. She found him to look a tad vain though, his armor molded to accentuate the contours of his huge yet lean and athletic figure.
"You're already here?" she asked. "Your troops aren't even halfway through the city."
"I have my ways. Anyway, it seems that the nation of Aerilea cannot stand for long. Why don't you surrender and save me the trouble of killing a few thousand more of your countrymen?"
"Why would I surrender? Do you think I have no pride, to lie down like a dog at your feet?"
He scowled, his face admittedly handsome despite being so large and thick-boned. "You are so stubbornly opposed to me. It is not as if I desire to slaughter your subjects, or weigh them down with the chains of slavery. This continent merely needs a single government, under which the endless strife between its inhabitants will stop. Do you not wish for peace, and for us to finally be strong together?"
Julianna sighed. "I appreciate the ideal of unity too. The royal family of Aerilea always has, which is why we brought the five nations together under our banner. But there is too much that separates our people and yours, hence why in the millennia of Aerilea's existence we never tried to force you to join us. We knew you wouldn't accept our rule. So why can't you accept the opposite?"
"Because that is why you are weak, and I am stronger. You content yourself with half the land, because some would not want for it to be united. But the greater good should outweigh dated loyalties. I gave you the chance to ride the wave of progress with me. If you refuse, it will destroy you."
She leveled her spear at him. "Let's see it try."
"I knew that would be your answer. If nothing else, you are known to be a valiant warrior. Then, let's see how strong the strongest princess really is." She charged back inside at him and he met her with equal zeal, sword and spear clashing so hard her cup jumped on the arm of her throne and curtains were blown back against the windows. For a moment they strained against one another, then he shoved harder and threw her back. "That's it? For someone called the strongest in the world, you don't feel that strong."
"You know it doesn't refer to sheer physical strength," she snapped. It wasn't as if she was some weakling though, but he proved to be immensely strong—even moreso than he appeared, the fabled martial training of his heritage supplementing his bulk.
"Then why don't you show what it does refer to? I would hate to defeat a worthy adversary thinking they never gave it their best."
She considered how to respond. "For you? I don't need it."
"Then die, if that is your wish." They engaged again, the chamber shaking with each collision of their weapons. Even though his blows tested her balance and grip a bit more than her blows did his, she was skilled and strong enough to hang. She had to do more than just hang, though. She found an opening to thrust at his belly, but he turned so the point glanced off his armor. He punched her staggering her a couple steps away, cut at her neck. She blocked, but was sent skidding across the floor. Galen rushed after her, drawing streaks of light in the air with his slashes while she evaded. A retaliatory jab at his face made him lean far back, giving her the chance to knock him down with a kick to the stomach. He sprang up with a sweeping cut which made her jump back, lunged after her. She caught his descending blade on her shaft, shaking it in her hands, but whipped the butt of her spear into his face and backed him up in turn. "You are impressive," he said.
They traded hundreds more blows, grunting and panting as they grew fatigued. His defense and offense were damn solid, enough to make his physical advantages count. Eventually he gashed her chest open with a horizontal stroke, and she stumbled away grimacing. He followed and hammered his sword down into her shoulder, breaching the armor again so blood sprayed. Legs buckling, she grabbed her throne for support, and he grinned. "It is over."
She shook her head. "As long as I draw breath, it's never over."
"Heh... good. Predictable, but good." He
swung the blade down, making her gasp as she desperately parried and her pole was almost pushed into her skull. Another blow threatened to rip it from her grasp, and her arm hung down as if depleted of strength. But when he aimed a big chop at her head, she dodged out to the side and speared him through the sword arm.
He punched her away using his other fist, snapping her head back hard, but she flipped in midair and landed on her feet. "Was that predictable?" she asked, wiping blood from her mouth. He had dropped his sword and now bent to retrieve it, but she said, "Wait. I hear you take pride in your ancestors' hand arts. So why don't we settle it with our hands?"
Galen looked up. "Are you serious?"
She replaced her spear on her back and put up her fists. It hurt to move her left arm with its injured shoulder, but he had a bad arm too. "Why wouldn't I be? You are arrogant, thinking this world is yours to do with as you please and the desires of other people matter naught. If I beat you in the realm of your pride, maybe that'll be enough for you to learn otherwise."
"There is no one here to see."
"Well, it's not as if I don't have any pride myself."
He picked up his sword—then slid it back into its sheath. He raised his hands into a boxer's stance, displaying no visible pain from the spear wound. "Fine. These fists have not been stained by the blood of women, but I'll make an exception for you."
They closed. He flicked out a jab she leaned aside from, followed with a cross she dodged too. The punches were fast, though. She ducked under a hook, landed a hook of her own to the body but remembered the armor as it hurt her knuckles. Darn, he probably hadn't felt that much. A heavy shot crashed into her temple, spinning her around while her vision went white for a moment. She stumbled to one knee, quickly stood and ducked what would have been an immense strike to the back of her head. Kicking backwards while his fist passed over her, she smashed her heel into his knee. Hobbling momentarily, he said, "I thought you would only use your hands."
Julianna shrugged. "I don't see a need to restrict myself that much."
He drove her back with a flurry of punches, several getting through to numb her cheek and shred her lips. An uppercut landed directly to her chin, making her knees wobble, and he aimed a kick of his own at her face. She swayed aside, kicked the single leg he stood on for the moment. He lost his balance and his raised foot came down hard as he just saved himself from falling. She threw double leaping kicks which he blocked, sent a lightning straight punch through a gap in his guard. Teeth broke over her knuckles, cutting them too, and his hands dipped. She blasted him with a twisting hook, clenched her jaw as his own heavy hook crashed into it. More blistering exchanges. Eventually he blocked a high kick, almost took her head off with a punch while she was too off balance to roll with it. Her vision wavered. Dizzy... Leaning clumsily sideways, she barely avoided his next haymaker. Yet her return punch made his eyes roll back a bit, and the hope that gave her helped clear her head slightly. She could outlast him. She jumped at him, gave him a good shot to the eye. But instead of punching her back, this time he grabbed her by the neck. And he complained about her not sticking with punches?
Galen lifted her high, ignoring a glancing knee to his head on the way up. He slammed her down hard, cracking the stone with the back of her skull. She tried to seize his arm between her legs, but in her dazed state another huge fist to her jaw was enough to weaken her so he could shrug off her attempted hold and impose his will. He mounted her to pound away, punching her head this way and that with an occasional elbow mixed in.
"Now do you regret your hubris?" he taunted, turning her features to pulp with sledgehammer blows that would each have killed an ordinary man while she whimpered.
She hit back. Though strikes from such a position wouldn't carry much force, a perfectly aimed punch to the nose was just enough to push his head and chin up a little. Her other hand shot up—open, her rigid fingers piercing into his exposed throat. "I told you," she said while he choked, "I'll beat you any way you want."
He fell sideways off her hand, leaving her fingertips bloody, to lie gagging and wheezing on his back. She stood wincing from the pain of her battered face. Medium difficulty fight, but for the supposed rightful emperor of the floating continent, Galen disappointed her a tad. His troops though, unless they would retire with his defeat, were still a problem.
Keith, her tall lean love with a narrow chin and one of the kingdom's five High Knights, stepped out from behind a pillar. "You were watching? Thank you for not interfering."
"I know how my monarch is. If you used your magic, you could have obliterated him in an instant."
"That would be a waste. Besides," she added with a smile, "I prefer to fight at least somewhat fair."
"What will we do about that army? Have you decided?"
"I'll show them their king's corpse." Julianna hung her head. "If that doesn't stop them, however... Myrrhise can't fall. I suppose I'll have to."
Galen's voice surprised her as, clutching his neck, he managed to get words out through the blood that clogged his throat. "Don't think today... is your victory. If I can't have this world, neither will anyone else. I've set an awakening spell to activate... with my death. Soon the Father of All Monsters will rise... once..." His words trailed off, and his eyes closed for good.