Sweet Saturday Sample: Chlorine gas oozed from its blood

My Sweet Saturday Sample is a morsel from my latest release, an epic fantasy romance, Seeking a Scribe: Enchanted Bookstore Legend One. This is the first of a 5-part series.

 

Available at Amazon for only 99 cents.



In this sample, Lyra and her small group of guides reach the division between good and evil lands. There, one of the guides, Glisla, turns traitor. Cullen, the Imperial Sorcerer and Lyra's lover, along with the Imperial Dragon (golden dragon/Head Guardian), come to Lyra's aid when she is being attacked.

In the distant edge of the dense woods, Lyra barely made out the form of a green dragon. A breeze carried the foul odor of evil from that direction, making her nose wrinkle in disgust.

When their band reached the Geminus tree, the discordance of powers caused the air to crackle with electricity. The treetop swayed wildly in a gust. Lyra looked up. A magnificent golden dragon sailed toward her, larger than any dragon she had seen. His translucent wings connected all along his body to the tip of his tail, like huge sails. It could only be the Imperial Dragon.

She stood entranced by his vast golden aura trailing far behind him. His power reached inside her soul and connected to her new internal fire. In that instant, she gained insight into her purpose. Suddenly, she was one with the good of Dragonspeir, as strong as the bond with her family and belief she could find happiness with Cullen. The three were inseparable in her spirit.

While lost in this revelation, something pushed her hard past the Geminus tree. She landed on her side in the bleak shadow world and stared back at Glisla, whose body and arms leaned forward from shoving her.

“Lyra! Get up! Come to me!” Cullen shouted, holding his hand to her just inside the boundary.

The Head Guardian let out a piercing screech.

Something whoshed above her. “You’re my prize now, Scribe,” a huge green dragon snarled while his talons latched onto her waist.

She screamed and writhed.

Before it could even lift off, the Imperial Dragon came at full speed, tackling the beast half his size.

Tossed free, she landed eighty feet farther within the dark land.

The dragons wrestled between her and the Geminus tree. Fire and magma drakes circled her like vultures. In one swift bite, the Head Guardian bit cleanly through the neck of his opponent. The huge green head landed with a thud in front of Lyra, its spinal hornlets lodging in the soil. A stench of chlorine gas oozed from its blood.

        Her legs trembled and buckled as she attempted to stand. She could feel the heat of the drakes’ breath from above. She needed to get back over the boundary.

Seeking a Scribe: Enchanted Bookstore Legend One

Lyra McCauley is a writer and loves fantasy novels, but until she opens a selection from bookstore owner Cullen Drake, she has no idea he’s a wizard character who lives a double life inside that volume…or the story’s magic will compel her from the edge of depression to adventure, danger, and love.

His gift to Lyra, the Book of Dragonspeir, was actually her copy, misplaced years ago. Lost in her pain following divorce and death, she fails to recognize him as her childhood playmate from the fantasyland. Friendship builds anew. Attraction sparks. But Lyra doubts whether a wizard is capable of love. She’s torn—should she protect her fragile heart or risk new love? 

Opening the book’s cover, she confronts a quest: save Dragonspeir from destruction by the Black Dragon before he utilizes power of August’s red moon to expand his strength and overthrow the opposing Imperial Dragon. Lyra accepts the challenge, fearing Cullen will perish if evil wins. Along with magical animal guides, Cullen helps her through many perils, but ultimately Lyra must use her own power…and time is running out.

If you enjoyed this sample, you might like to read more about the different types of dragons in my world of the Enchanted Bookstore Legends, featured today in my guest post at the blog of VickieTaylor. 

I'm looking forward to seeing what sweets some of my fellow authors on this hop will serve. Be sure to check them out on the main blog page for Sweet Saturday Samples.

~ ~ ~ Marsha A. Moore is a writer of fantasy romance. The magic of art and nature spark life into her writing. The first of her epic fantasy romance series, ENCHANTED BOOKSTORE LEGENDS, is now available--SEEKING A SCRIBE. She has also authored the Ciel's Legacy series, fantasy romance with fast action mermaid/pirate storylines: TEARS ON A TRANQUIL LAKE and TORTUGA TREASURE.  For a FREE ebook download, read her historic fantasy, LE CIRQUE DE MAGIE, available at Amazon and Smashwords.

Six Sentence Sunday - November 21st

Here's another snippet from my novelette, Celestial Trigon, a free read on my website. http://www.marshaamoore.com

In this scene, Martin, a grand wizard, forces his dragon, Balteazar, to land on the grounds of the double moon celebration. He cannot find his lady. Suspecting she has been apprehended, he's in hot pursuit of her possible captors.

****

Balteazar responded to the urgent command and whipped his massive frame around to descend into the central garden clearing. Fire blazed twenty feet from his gaping mouth, scattering those below screaming into the woods. His green scales irridesced a vivid royal blue in the lunar brilliance. He mirrored his master’s anger, a fearsome sight. His eyes glowed red, nostrils flared, and razor sharp scales lifted along his spine to the tip of his powerful tail. Spewing fire, his enormous muscular legs extended down for a quick landing.

****

Be sure to check out the other awesome entries at: http://sixsunday.blogspot.com/

The bewitching music of Nox Arcana

For today’s Magical Monday, I’d like to share some wonderfully eerie and magical music. The group is Nox Arcana. They create haunting, atmospheric soundscapes with gothic themes which often follow references to classic horror literature. I find their recordings make excellent inspirational music for writing anything bewitching, dark, or fantastical. Pursuing deeper, their albums contain captivating storylines, with hidden riddles and puzzles.

 The group is a duet of Joseph Vargo and William Piotrowski, formed in 2003. The group’s name, Nox Arcana, is from Latin, meaning “mysteries of the night.”

Their credits include several film scores. Their debut, "Darklore Manor," was part of a televised special of the 1922 silent film classic Nosferatu. Their gothic tracks have also been used in theatrical productions of Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, and Lewis Carrol’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. During Halloween season their recordings provide the eerie backdrops for many haunted theme parks: Universal Studios; Busch Gardens; Six Flags; Knott’s Berry Farm.

I truly enjoy the group’s literary tributes. Their album "Transylvania" is based upon Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Their sinister "Necronomicon" recording pays homage to H.P. Lovecraft, while their unsettling Blackthorn Asylum takes a chilling look into a 19th century sanitarium, a storyline from Lovecraft’s “From Beyond.” The melancholy themes of their work "Shadow of the Raven," calls upon influences of Edgar Allan Poe. One of my favorite recordings, "Grimm Tales," enlivens the nightmares of the Brothers Grimm’s fairy tale world. Inspired by classic fiction, these in turn, inspire my own writing.

This Friday, October 1st, marks the date for a new Nox Arcana release, "Welcome to the House of Nightmares," a horror soundscape just in time for the Halloween season. This promotion of this recording promises:

“Dark things dwell in the old house by the cemetery, lying in wait for anyone who dares to enter. Unearthly sounds echo from the shadows of the abandoned mansion as sinister incantations unleash ancient horrors to haunt the realm of the living. The CD delivers 19 tracks of spine-tingling sound effects and dark cinematic music to create an eerie atmosphere of lurking terror.”

To give a taste of their music, I’m sharing two videos. The first is from their most recent CD, entitled “Theater of Illusion.” In a dreamlike state, strange and mystifying acts can be heard, as they are performed by phantom magicians. Their melodies are rich with orchestrations, piano, harpsichord, pipe organ, and gothic choirs. Additional songs of Theater of Illusion may be sampled and/or you may purchase their CD at this site. http://noxarcana.com/illusion.html 

The second video is the song "Night of the Wolf" from their CD "Transylvania" and the video is from the Russian movie, Evil, directed by Oleg Fesenko.

Slaying our own dragons

"Fairy Tales are more than true; not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because
they tell us that dragons can be beaten." - G.K. Chesteron



Fairy tales and fantasies abound with dragons, witches, wizards, fairies, druids, griffins – a host of magical beings and their spells, incantations, and hexes. The lands they inhabit are colorful and unusual, a delight to every perceptual sense. For lovers of fantasy, including myself, those details carry us away to visit and experience a new land. The journey of discovery is usually the end rather than the means.


Yet, the underlying themes of fairy tales and fantasies are often straight forward and simple. After elaborate world-building, so rich with detail the reader works hard to remember exotic names, places, and creatures, it would overwhelm to create a complex set of problems which must be solved.


Whether good will triumph over evil is the most typical question, as referred to in the quote by Chesteron. The moral lesson is simple; we can each triumph over our demons. In one of my works in progress, The Enchanted Bookstore: Seeking a Scribe, I have that basic theme along with one other – whether a love can grow between a pair of unlikely individuals and be enough to ease their personal suffering. In this book, the fact I have two themes largely follows from writing a cross genre of fantasy combined with romance/erotica. To me, having two main questions to answer is plenty, and I am careful to keep subplots from growing with their own confusing themes which would definitely encumber the reader.


Have you ever read a fantasy where this contrast did not exist, the theme was just as complex as the magical world? Few exist, but perhaps you found one. How did it read? Was it difficult to follow? Did you enjoy it?


Art: Steve Roberts

Spine-shiveringly-creepy-magical creatures OR how to turn on your heroine in a fantasy story

I love magical creatures . . . centaurs, unicorns, sylphs, nymphs, trolls, sprites, elves. All inspire my imagination. They invade my mind and my writing. From an early age fairy tales spellbound me and in grade school I set out to know every Greek myth. I still spend hours researching to find the creepiest for my stories. The more fabulously weird their attributes or abilities, the better: trickery of Japanese kitsunes; the grendel's swamp killings in Beowulf; Irish banshees' death cries; mischief of British brownies; magic powers in Russian firebird's golden feathers; wisdom of the elephant-like, Hindu ganesh.

One well known, but especially interesting example I enjoy is the hippogriff, trained by Hagrid as part of his Care of Magical Creatures instruction to young wizards in J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series. How spectacular to know the Italian poet Ariosto first designed them as offspring of the union of a griffin and a horse. The beast transported the wizard, Atlantis, upon its wings in his poem Orlando Furioso. That feature, along with claws and beak of the half-eagle, half-lion griffin, attached to a horse's body. This caused confusion back in Medieval times, when some people declared that hybrid an impossibility, since everyone knew griffins savor a meal of horse meat. Maybe, like the black widow spider, a female griffin mates and then dines on her lover. An interesting thought.

I'm fascinated by a reference book I discovered lately, The Element Encyclopedia of Magical Creatures by John and Caitlin Matthews. I'm eager to play with many of their wild beings in my written adventures. Just their selection of dragons alone gives me a thrill.

A cockatrice (Medieval Europe) possesses a yellow body and wings of a dragon, neck, legs and head of a cockerel bird with face of a human, and the tail of a snake -- outstandingly strange!

The goryshche is a twelve-headed she-dragon from Russian folklore. I'm sold already knowing there are all those heads to antagonize my heroes/heroines. Together they pack enough fire power to hold hundreds hostage.

While everyone on “True Blood” clamors to get high on "V" (vampire blood), that from a Fafnir seems to deliver a greater rush. Explained by Norse/Teutonic mythology, if you're brave enough to slay the hideous, wingless, worm-version of a dragon, the reward is to taste its blood. It allows you to understand all languages, including those of animals -- something any fantasy protagonist would find useful.

I write fantasy romance/erotica. I'm just a bit worried if I can find space to fit in the sexy stuff I also enjoy with all these great magical creatures I've been mentally capturing. But wouldn't any heroine be turned on by a man able to slay a twelve-headed dragon! So much fun awaits!

What is your favorite magical creature?