I am releasing the fifth installment of the
Wothlondia Rising series tomorrow, this one entitled Strength of Faith. One sample will be here and the other will be on
SKULLDUST CIRCLE.
They are two very different passages, so I hope you check them both out!
Strength of Faith is a tale that
paces a young acolyte of The Shimmering One, Garius Forge, on a path that tests
his spirituality and also places him face to face with a demonic presence that
has the power to alter the face of Wothlondia forever. Will his reverence and
devotion to his deity be enough to overcome this horrible demon?
Garius focused
on the door when he heard the footsteps approach, light though they were. He
was awake, but hardly refreshed. He had already refitted his armor
meticulously, prayed and meditated in the cramped confines of the room and had
done so quietly enough not to wake the others.
The expected
knock sounded on the door, echoing in the room as his companions began to stir.
Garius opened the door and beheld a hunched gnome. He looked impatiently into
the room, and then stared up at Garius and began mumbling something to him. The
warpriest bent to one knee before the bald gnome and placed a hand to his ear.
“I said,
Larwinckle be ready for ye,” the unnamed gnome repeated more clearly and then waddled
away along a scarcely perceptible path that was worn into the grassy meadow. It
was barely visible now and had gone undetected all of last evening, especially after
the sun had fallen into the clouds.
“I will
accompany this one. You will seek me out once you are dressed and ready,”
Garius called back to the others, but Divah was already up and out of her
bedroll wearing a long gown made of a thin, yet durable fabric that Garius
assumed was meant to be slept in. The halfling was so excited to get moving
that it seemed she did not care about the state of her undress.
“I am coming
with you,” she told Garius eagerly, her green eyes filled with wonder and joy
at her obvious expectations of finally exploring the gnome village. With that, she
snatched up her shoes and began moving hastily out of the burrow. The Paladins
began to move about in the shadows of the room, donning their clothing and then
their armor. Garius shook his head and a smile cracked his face as he watched
the halfling, hopping forward on one foot and then the other, trying to put on
her shoes while hurrying after him.
She is quite impulsive, he thought,
allowing the smile to remain until it left of its own accord a few moments
later.
The gnome led
Garius and the female halfling to a smallish door that appeared to be anchored to
the ground. It was partially hidden by brush and foliage, Garius observed, as
the gnome knocked loudly on its hard, wooden surface. Garius also noted that
there was no knob to be seen or any other obvious way to pull the door open
from the outside.
With that
thought in mind, he saw the door open outward slowly as a gnome pushed it ajar
and then waved them all in. Garius watched as the gnome and halfling strode
easily through the opening, then he stooped, having to bend low in order to navigate
the space. It was well lit inside by a combination of lanterns and a brilliant,
magical light coming in from above them that appeared to hover and move about
on its own. The warpriest wondered if the wisp of light was something sentient.
Larwinckle sat
at a large table by himself and waved Garius and Divah over to join him.
I hope you enjoyed the excerpts.
Join me over at
Skulldust Circle
where we have formed a new Writer's Circle that must be seen--a
collection of brilliant, up & coming independently published fantasy
authors with much to give both now and in the future! It'd be foolish
not to at least check it out...
All of my work can be found on
AMAZON -- Kindle versions here!
See you in Wothlondia! Cheers!
Please visit
MY HOME PAGE
to enjoy an extended reading experience, see direct links to purchase
my full length novel, Covenant of the Faceless Knights, the short
stories: Wothlondia Rising, and to see what else Ashenclaw Studios, LLC
has in store in the future!
Cover art provided by
William Kenney!
All maps, names and content copyright Ashenclaw Studios 2012 unless otherwise noted.
