SIXED Up

by Lubowa M. Planet

  Nooka kept going past his tent and another came into view, larger than any I’d seen so far. It had a large fire pit, two logs in front of it, big enough for eight people, plus an additional four stumps. I saw a big rack for stretching skins on the near side and could see the edge of a second rack sticking out from the other side.

  He went over to the tent and lifted up the flap. “Welcome to your new home,” he said.

  Gem squeezed my hand as we both looked inside. The most obvious thing was the pelt from the ger I’d killed, its head resting against the far wall. The only other items were for eating and drinking; a stack of bowls in different sizes and a dozen or so small bowls and two jugs, for drinks.

  Gem and I both had tears in our eyes as we thanked everyone. There was some cheering but it was over soon.

  Nooka said, “Come, friends, it is time to go back and celebrate some more. It is time for our newest villagers to enjoy their new home.”

  Everyone left and a couple of minutes later we were all alone. I kissed my wife and we went into our new home to start our new life.

  ******************

  Other Novels by Lubowa.M.Planet

  Available on amazon.com or www.softerdreams.com

  IN TORN PAGES

  No Secret Will Stay Hidden Forever

  www.amazon.com/dp/B007QVJYYE

  An eminent historian dies under most intricate conditions in the remote parts of India. Thousands of miles away, a do-gooder contemporary author, Sirius Messeley, finds himself a new perspective into his obscure past. Tracing the threads woven by his visions, he reaches the crime scene that is stowed with inscrutable symbolism and mysterious personalities knocking down doors. Meanwhile, Sirius discovers the other end of his trace locked in dark abominable corners of his own mind.

  A student of the historian, John Davis, picks up the historians message and leads his own side of a treasure hunt, while Sirius is coerced to unveil the historians dying revelations at any cost. Ranging from the conniving slopes of the Western Indian Ghats to the streets of Washington, back to the ancient caves commemorating Indian philosophies, this book puts forth a rattling tale about how the two sides collide to decipher reality behind the myth of a lifetime.

  Join the hunt for power and knowledge led by the most deadly forces only to infer that, no secret ever stays hidden forever.

  *********

  The Days Before

  www.amazon.com/dp/B007K8DC32

  The days before is a novel of Fantasy and Mystery that will provide you with a good reading experience.

  In this novel, Ollie Connor is a man with many answers, but his very existence raises many more questions, just as Emylya is about to find out.

  When Emylya has an accident which brings her close to losing her life she ends up in Ollie’s world, a place between death and life. Back on Earth her body is in a deep coma which she may never wake from. Ollie can change that. He’s an Angel of Death and one with an offer to make.

  To get the offer means you’ve missed an opportunity, one that could have brought you untold happiness. Emylya can, if she chooses, go back to Earth for thirty days, and try to find her opportunity on the condition she forfeits her life entirely afterwards. Or she can lay back in her coma, and wait. It all comes down to how much she values her forever.

  Enter Sam Fisher; he’s smart, handsome and about to burst into Emylya’s life in a riot of colour, taking her on a journey that will change both of their lives forever.

  ******************

  The Scarlet Anniversary

  Why should two serial killers worry about their victim? After all she is tied up and helpless - however, they should be afraid, they should be very afraid.

  In an isolated cottage in the English countryside, two young women are tied up and helpless, prisoners of married serial killers who plan to use them to celebrate their wedding anniversary.

  David and Maddy Fisher have been married for a long time and want to spend a weekend celebrating their anniversary with some new friends. They have ropes, chains and a myriad of knives and tools waiting for them and they have two young women bound and gagged and ready to play.

  Katie Sullivan is an Australian actress who has been kidnapped from the streets and driven to the middle of nowhere by the married couple who subject her to increasingly elaborate bondage and psychological torture as they ready her for a slow and painful death. She is powerless but she is not alone.

  Portia Ross has been kidnapped along with her and she has no intention of letting her captors kill her.

  As the weekend progresses the lines between captor and captive begin to blur and a terrifying chain of events begins to unfold and it becomes clear that at the end there will only be one survivor.

  ‘So riveting a story, that you will want to read past midnight’

  ******************

  IF YOU ENJOYED THE NOVELS.

  If you enjoyed reading this novel and any other novels by Lubowa.M.Planet, you are requested to share with your friends. Simply direct them to Amazon.com to get themselves a copy.

  Also more descriptions and excerpts of other captivating novels from the same author can be found at his website. Visit

  www.softerdreams.com

  Sample Chapter Reading

  In Torn Pages

  PROLOGUE

  THE HUMAN EMPEROR

  260 years, before Christ.

  MAGADHA, INDIA

  It rushed back at him all over again. Millions of cries but all he could hear was a hushed silence. A trickle of his own essence ran down his cheek, as he stared pensively at his blood-shrouded sword. Whose blood was that? Was that of the last man he slew or was it of the thousands he severed today? It belonged to a human, a soul he answered himself. Much like himself. Just like all these men around.

  As if awakened from a trance, he stared mutely at the poignant sight and his eyes throbbed. The crimson flood. The ageing sun. The agonized cries. The slain bodies. Was this what the people around him deserved? Such inhumanity…such viciousness just because they were ready to shed every ounce of their body to protect their land? He had wreaked havoc on the warriors…and what justified his action more -the fact that he had more power or that he was the piyadasi, the beloved of the Gods?

  He looked up at the sinking sun. An effort to conquer the part of the subcontinent that was rich in ores and agrarian value, a secure sea route to the Krishna valley, where major goldfields and veins of semiprecious stones were located, had consumed eight long years of his life as a king. And now, the stars had smiled upon him….the battle of Kalinga had been won finally! But Emperor Asoka lost himself. He was Asoka, only Asoka. The same Asoka who was taught by the holy sages that money and power could lure even the mightiest to the doors of darkness. Was this the door of darkness? The massacre of warriors for quenching his own lust for power? Piercing his blade through their hearts no longer seemed courageous to him. It was an act of atrocity; he had turned barbaric! He could no longer look upon himself as human. Not until he had that stench of war, those stains of blood removed. He needed a bath, but he was dubious any water could help him get rid of those stains of blood. He needed something more; he needed penance for his deeds. He knew he must seek for salvation or his own life would kill him. And then……

  A flash of several lights blinded him for a brief moment. Then he saw them. Nine bright spheres revolving around a cold blue circle. He could see nothing but the lights. His sight was consumed by the incandescence for what seemed like an eternity.

  *********

  He woke up gasping out loudly. A breeze softly walked in through the velvet-red curtains; but it did no good to the sweating Emperor Asoka. It was not the first time the Emperor woke up gasping from a disruptive dream; in fact he was almost used to the vision now …but today he was going to put an end to it once and for all.

  The cozy chamber flaunted all its nobility in the best way it could. The huge round velvet bed on which the Emperor slept was centralized while three huge wi
ndows stared directly at him as he sat up. An aroma of fresh roses ran through the room from the several vases that occupied every corner of the hexagon. Various artifacts embellished the wooden tables that lay by every window. Along the huge window magnificently carved out of the wall, a sundial rested on the ply that hung out in the young sunlight. Asoka glanced at it to realize that he was late. He had a court to address before any other procession began.

  He lunged out for the ring that he kept at the table beside his bed. His day never began without the ring. Shaking off the lull, he stood up and stormed out of the chamber. At his every step a soldier erected himself brandishing the armor of devotion that outshined their weapons. As he found his way through the corridors, two maids hurried to the chamber ahead of him. Ten seconds later when he entered they had his bath ready with hot water and sandal and turmeric soap bars near the tub.

  As he washed out his sleep, he got caught in introspection. Emperor Asoka was now the most appeasing person one could find in the continent. The bloodshed of Kalinga unto his own hands had changed him drastically and consequently the whole empire. There could not be a greater example of light after darkness, peace after war. Like the sound of sweet music, like the fragrance of myrrh, like the serenity of a dove, as he would recall it in his later days.

  He was a different flesh and soul after the war of Kalinga. He sought penance and got what he wanted in the lap of the great Buddha. Non-violence and truth. The indicators of a peaceful empire. With all sincerity he embraced these philosophies and waged no more wars but friendly treaties; no more winning territories but winning hearts. His alteration naturally raised voices and invited speculation. An heir of lions cannot follow the lambs. But he proved that he was right. The implementation of his ideas helped the empire flourish and progress by leaps and bounds in merely few years. He was the chakravartin, the righteous ruler in whose reign the wheel of law rolled across the kingdom ensuring the welfare of all. He was now truly the Emperor Asoka, the piyadasi.

  He finished his bath and soaked himself. Then he dressed himself in the silk robes and tied across his forehead a white ribbon. Then he set off towards his courtiers who were summoned in the grand courtroom.

  The courtroom was flooded with light pouring in from overhead. The chandeliers sparkled in glory of the emperor as he stepped in and the whole room jumped to their feet. It was too early a session than any before; but then it was a session that was going to be more than extra-ordinary. One thing that the courtiers knew for sure was that the emperor was upto something big. But what they were clueless about was that the sovereign ruler was not only about to create history but also the guardians of history.

  “My sincere accomplices, you may have your seats.” Asoka ordered. Everyone except the maids fanning him obeyed. “Let me tell you for what I have called upon all of you this early.” He paused to look at all the beaming faces, men who were ready to stop even the will of time unconditionally for their beloved emperor. “Our empire is as glorious as it should be. Every poor is getting his food. Every rich is paying his taxes. The mahamairas are as dutiful as they ought to be. The officers of faith are spreading our happiness to others and efficiently so.”

  “Why is it then you have summoned us all at such short notice in your presence, your highness? There is a palpable anxiety in every soul standing before you.” commented an impatient courtier.

  “I understand your impatience but I don’t approve of it, Senapati. It’s essential that you know the need for what I am about to begin. All of you present here are the most loyal and closest of my courtiers. You have been the witnesses of my transformation in the grace of the holy dhamma. You all are aware of the unfortunate, unpleasant circumstances, the remorse of which led me to reject all violence and adopt the right path. So I ask you this…. What do you think yields this violence in men on earth?” asked Asoka calmly.

  The courtroom buzzed with discussions; arguments and counter-arguments soon ran down the hall. After a considerable time, the Vizier stood up to utter everyone’s opinion. He bowed low before addressing the Emperor, “Your majesty, I guess there are more than one opinions on the issue, but the most prominent is that….men commit such ..eh… callous deeds due to the alluring menace of power and money.”

  “Well put, Vizier. But I sense your hesitation was because I myself was in the clutches of this menace once. I escaped; I was blessed by the Buddha; but what about those who are stuck deep in the quicksand of lust. I am dubious that even our officers of faith can guide them to enlightenment. Now imagine what will happen if these addled brains get their hands on the holy creations and ideas of our ingenious ancestors? What if they misuse the holy manuscripts of the treasure of scientific wisdom… the Rig Vedas?”

  The courtroom reverberated with gasping and shocked exchanges. Not that they were new to the dilemma but the mere notion that Emperor Asoka, the great was anxious of its gravity seemed to shake them up. The Brahmins had always dissented with the idea of making the Vedas accessible to the nobles; it was their right since generations. Although their intentions were for keeping their authority, the thinkers soon realized that the Vedas were much more powerful than they were anticipated to be. And something so powerful is also very unstable.

  The Vizier said anxiously, “Your majesty, I hate to imagine such annihilative deeds in the era of The Piyadasi. The holy Vedas are safe with the nobles. No true noble blood can dare to abuse the gift of the Sages.”

  “Let me remind you, Vizier that I was too a noble when I wreaked the massacre in Kalinga. It was also a misuse of the power I had, the technology I had.”

  The hall went lifeless. No one dared remind the Emperor of the Kalinga war except the Emperor himself; and when he did so no one dared comment. He continued.

  “I have been having troubling visions of the day. Visions of obliteration. The feeling of devastation that man alone can bring to others. I feel the pain that a powerful and acquainted criminal can give to his own kin. The gift of the Sages……it has another side to it….a dark side of itself which can doom our race if left in tyrannous hands. Imagine the holy inventions of our ancestors exploited to build war machines and weapons. Our ancestors gave us the power of science to guard it; but who will guard the guardians? Who will protect us from ourselves?”

  The courtroom went lifeless for a considerable moment. Slowly, hushed discussions filled the hall until all of them looked hopefully at the Emperor for a hint of solution. Registering their expectation, Asoka cleared his throat and spoke with an aura of decisiveness.

  “I have decided to try to resolve the matter…..to ensure that all the knowledge in those samhitas is in safe hands and put to the right kind of use. But I expect something from you all. I need you to confide into no one out of these walls. My efforts shall be fruitless unless they are supported by you. I need complete secrecy. Forever.”

  He paused until all heads nodded together solemnly. Then he continued.

  “I aspire to create the supreme guardians who will possess the right to scrutinize every authority but address to none. The guardians of the holy manuscripts. A society which will speculate and possess undisputed rights over the Vedas.

  “Maharishi, call over the men I asked you select from the best of every field.”

  On cue, an old bearded man stood from his chair and walked to the huge door to the right of the throne. Seconds later, he returned with the men and resumed his chair. The mysterious men stood erect in front of the Emperor.

  The Emperor spoke directly to the men, “I presume you all know that you are all selected from among the best of your field by a rigorous survey conducted over months.”

  The men nodded although none of them had any clue what they were doing facing the Emperor. The Emperor looked down at the star and the swastika engraved on his ring and looked straight at them and said,

  “Gentlemen, from this moment you all cease to exist in this world.”

  About the authors

  At the age of 12, Lubowa.M
.Planet had started writing. His passion to express himself in the written words led him to writing of several types of works focusing on science fiction and fantasy but also short drama and romance stories. He has written several books and co-authored novels. He has even thought out ideas from within other people.

  He is a family man who likes to describe himself as a simple guy with a simple purpose in Life: To Help others on their way Up. His books and novels have sold thousands of copies and have received many rave reviews.

  The happiest moment was when the leading National daily decided to have a Mutual agreement with him to sell his first book. It received a lot of attention and since then he has taken up a full interest in writing.

  Pete Hofrath

  Pete has been writing since 2004, primarily what he calls stories for grownups, most of it romantic with a little sex thrown in but some of it purely stroke. He has also done a children’s book, some science fiction and several shorts demonstrating his unique view on life. He has over 1.4 million words of his own work posted in several places on the internet.

  He has been a volunteer editor for other amateurs for most of his writing career. He prefers to tell stories and is excellent at both description and dialog.