“Leave me alone,” she said weakly. “I want to be left alone.”
“But you are alone. You’ve been alone from the moment you drew your first breath. Twenty years of suffering and neglect have made you into the hollow shell you are today. Unloved. Unwanted by her own father. What are you but a mockery of life? The gods should have seen fit to let you die with your mother.”
Maleela changed suddenly. Weakness left her, replaced by intense rage. She hadn’t asked for the hardships in her life. Nor did she wish to grow up without a mother. It wasn’t her fault her mother died during childbirth. Wasn’t her fault but she shouldered the blame from the beginning. She felt hate. She hated her father. Her dead brother. She hated Aurec for not being there when she needed him the most. Hated Bahr for abandoning all bonds of family out of cowardice. And she hated Ionascu for the intensity of despair he inspired deep within.
“Speak no more, worm! I killed you once and I’m glad of it. Speak again and I will plunge my knife into the memory of your very soul!”
The laughter faded, leaving her alone in the nightmarish darkness once again. Maleela collapsed into unconsciousness and knew nothing else.
“All too easy,” Amar Kit’han hissed. “Her mind is more pliable than I anticipated.”
Kodan Bak, ever lurking at his side with murderous intent, wasn’t convinced. “The purity of her soul will be difficult to break. She will not be so easy to turn.”
“I don’t need to break her, just bend her enough so she breaks herself. Chaos taints this family, Kodan Bak. Father and daughter aren’t so different. She will break and take his place at our side. The time is nearly upon us.”
Badron had been a useful puppet, as was Harnin, but they were never intended for anything other than mass confusion and the spread of chaos. Tasks which they performed admirably. Badron’s ill-directed war against neighboring Rogscroft plunged both kingdoms into inescapable war. Harnin’s subversion had been a pleasant side effect that further stole attention from the Dae’shan’s true efforts. Arlevon Gale needed to be prepared to receive the dark gods. No one thought to look to the abandoned ruins south of Chadra as both kingdoms tore themselves apart.
Each new death and act of torment released psychic energy filled with anguish that was drawn into the Olagath Stone. Once levels reached the appropriate amount the Dae’shan would be ready to unleash that raw power and open the nexus between dimensions. Amar Kit’han could feel the end of his centuries-long quest drawing ever closer. Lifetimes of failure, near misses, and regret were coming to a close. The time of darkness was fast approaching and he would be crowned a king once the dark gods returned to lay claim to the world. It was all so very near.
END
Begin Book 5, The Madness of Gods and Kings by following this link:
The Madness of Gods and Kings
EXCLUSIVE OFFER!
By reading this novel you qualify to receive FREE and Reduced price ebook offers from Writer’s Edge Publishing directly to your inbox! If that weren’t enough, every month a winner is chosen at random from our mailing list to win a $200.00 Amazon gift card. To sign up for these exclusive offers, simply follow the link below and enter your name and email address. In less than 15 seconds you are entered to receive exclusive offers and the chance to win our drawing each and every month! Any information received will never be shared with a third party, and emails are periodic and as such will not overcrowd your inbox.
Sign up now
Other Books by Christian Warren Freed
The Northern Crusade Series
Hammers in the Wind
Tides of Blood and Steel
A Whisper After Midnight
Empire of Bones
The Madness of Gods and Kings
Even Gods Must Fall
A History of Malweir Series
Armies of the Silver Mage
The Dragon Hunters
Beyond the Edge of Dawn
If you liked this title, perhaps you should try one of these.
The Dark Ranger(price FREE)
(Book One of the Many Kingdoms series)
Dark Ranger is the first book in the Many Kingdoms trilogy, a familiar fairytale world of monsters and wizards, evil and magic.
Garrett is a Ranger of the Light, a sworn guardian of the natural world and its inhabitants. His duty is to root out evil and destroy it before it can destroy the land he cherishes, but he finds it difficult to identify that evil in himself. His heart is broken by the brutal murder of his beloved, and his thirst for revenge leaves him vulnerable to the manipulation of the blood-wizard, Scythe.
Fellow rangers Wren and Nolan are determined to reclaim their friend's soul and bring him back to the Light. They are aided by a wandering dwarf and a wild fairy who longs for humanity. But as the companions discover, even magic can't save someone who doesn't want to be saved.
The Choosing (price FREE)
(Book One of the Blood and Brotherhood Saga)
Seth is a young man torn by fear and indecision. His life no longer in his hands, he fears an uncertain future where the only certainty is a life of servitude to the kingdom. Fortunately for Seth, he is not alone. His brother Garret too attends the choosing ceremony where their fates will be decided. Together the twins make their way to the castle city of Valdadore for the choosing ceremony but along the way Seth notices a strange new trend in his life. Time after time strange circumstances befall him in what others might call a coincidence, but Seth knows something else is amiss and begins mentally cataloging each new and strange event. Learning his past is all a lie, Seth begins to fear more for his future as a dark goddess vies for his service to her cause. Seth’s loyalties and responsibilities begin to stack up as he makes friends and allies and even falls in love, but with the choosing ceremony growing ever nearer will he be forced to flee the kingdom into a life of exile, or choose to serve the goddess who swears that only through her will he find peace.
Look Homeward, Clockwork Angel
Stanford Parker has a choke-hold on the legalized slave industry. Breeding his brand of clones for whatever horror his clients may have in mind—from hard labor to spare organs—there’s no questioning his product’s quality. But his days may be numbered when someone hires the crew of the airship Masamune to put him out of business. Violet: the gun-slinging airship captain, Moriarty: a disgraced former Inspector, and Tibbs: a genius inventor struggling with a ‘pheta addiction, have a tall order in front of them in bringing down Parker’s heavily defended ranch. They have a plan, but a secret from one of their pasts will endanger the mission; tensions between Violet and Tibbs over differing moral ideals will heighten; and Moriarty’s inquisitive nature will draw him to ask: why haven’t they met their client? Look Homeward, Clockwork Angel is the first in a series of Steam Punk novellas and stories chronicling the harrowing post-apocalyptic adventures of the crew of the airship Masamune and the lives they touch along the way.
About the Author
Christian W. Freed was born in Buffalo, N.Y. He recently retired from a twenty year career in the U.S. Army. Armies of the Silver Mage is his first book for sale and was written during his tour of duty in Afghanistan. Much of the experiences and battle sequences in his novels come from his three tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan and a keenly developed understanding of military tactics. He graduated from Campbell University with a degree in history and is pursuing a Masters of Arts degree in Military History from Norwich University. He currently lives outside of Raleigh, N.C. and devotes his time to writing and to his family and their two Bernese Mountain Dogs.
Table of Contents
ONE A Cold Winter Night
TWO The Betrayed
THREE The Voyage South
FOUR A Long Night
FIVE Ambush
SIX Revengeance
SEVEN Badron’s Madness
EIGHT Storms
NINE Shipwrecked
TEN Hunted
ELEVEN Choices
TWELVE Revenge<
br />
THIRTEEN The March
FOURTEEN The Jungles of Brodein
FIFTEEN Teng
SIXTEEN Bad Memories
SEVENTEEN Partings
EIGHTEEN What Remains
NINETEEN Ruins
TWENTY Shadow Games
TWENTY-ONE Attack in the Night
TWENTY-TWO Stolen
TWENTY-THREE Repercussions
TWENTY-FOUR Trennaron
TWENTY-FIVE Ingrid’s War
TWENTY-SIX Beleaguered
TWENTY-SEVEN A Kingdom’s Future
TWENTY-EIGHT An Unlikely Ally
TWENTY-NINE A Dark Past Revealed
THIRTY Blud Hamr
THIRTY-ONE The War Goes West“Report, Sergeant.”
THIRTY-TWO Ingrid
THIRTY-THREE The Trap is Set
THIRTY-FOUR Heroes Chosen
THIRTY-FIVE Unexpected Guests
EXCLUSIVE OFFER!
Other Books by Christian Warren Freed
About the Author
Empire of Bones Page 32