To kick-off the upcoming launch of Book #3 of the Palâdnith Chronicles, here's an excerpt from Book #1 in the series: JOURNEY OF SHADOWS. There will also be both a Goodreads Giveaway, and an Amazon promotion coming up for Book #1 - so keep an eye out on this blog for updates.
The following scene is from Chapter Four of JOURNEY OF SHADOWS when Seth Falkyn realises that his life is about to change...
***
They were still two
hours from Weatherbay when the light faded completely.
Garth lit the
lanterns and hung two on the carriage while Darin, who led the group, carried
one aloft. It was the first clear night in weeks and the air was crisp and rich
with the scent of wet earth and leaves. The stars sparkled overhead and a
crescent moon rose into the inky sky. The temperature dropped sharply and the
breaths of man and beast alike steamed in the chilled air.
At the rear of the
group, Seth’s stomach rumbled. His back ached from the cold and he longed for a
plate of hot food and a steaming bath. Home was another couple of hours away
and they would all be exhausted by the time they reached Weatherbay.
They had reached the
top of the last rise before the long incline towards the Wuthering River
Valley. The shadows of trees rose up either side of the highway. A few feet
from the lanterns’ glow, darkness swallowed the world.
It was at that moment
that Seth felt a chill feather across the back of his neck. He twisted in the
saddle and peered back into the dark. Had he heard something? The blackness was
unfathomable, and Seth could see nothing beyond the glow of the carriage’s
lanterns. He strained his ears, listening, but only silence greeted him.
It’s just the darkness, he told himself, there’s
no one out there.
Still, the sensation
caused Seth to quit ruminating about his empty stomach and aching back. The
marshal had hired the three of them to protect him, and if there were outlaws
or undesirables lurking in the darkness, Seth’s job was to keep his master
safe.
They rode on a little
further and Seth scanned the roadside carefully, his eyes straining to make out
his surroundings. He was just beginning to relax, and to think that fatigue had
caused his mind to play tricks on him when the sensation – a cold whisper –
breathed down his nape and once more caused the hair on the back of his neck to
prickle. This time, Seth did not dismiss it. His heart quickened and his skin
broke out in a cold sweat. Seth’s instincts were now razor-sharp.
Something was wrong.
Seth cursed the
marshal’s decision to leave Dunethport so late in the day. There could be half
a dozen men out there in the trees, watching them, and he, Darin and Kal would
have no idea. Osforth’s stubbornness had put them all in danger.
Seth’s body tensed
and his horse sidestepped in response. Within him, from a place he had never
before known existed, a warning screamed.
Run now!
That was all it took.
As a soldier, he knew that if he did not heed instinct, he was a fool. Seth
drew his sword and dug his heels into his horse’s flanks. Then he shouted.
“Bandits!”
It was the one word
sure to elicit the same response from the others. The forests in the Realm of
Omagen were rife with outlaws. It was for this reason the marshal took his
tower guards with him when he left home, for no rich man travelled alone in
these parts. Seth heard his master’s shout from inside the carriage.
“Ride!” the marshal
screamed, “ride!”
Garth shouted, lashed
his whip, and the two horses pulling the carriage bolted into the darkness. Kal
and Darin took off ahead of him with Seth bringing up the rear.
A scream split the
night behind them. Fear clamped down on Seth’s ribcage at the chilling sound.
He had never heard a man scream like that – the sound was enraged, feral.
***
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