credit to: ~dman, deviantART |
Foreword
Scribes and songsters alike immortalize many a hero as they
traverse through time— terraforming the past with their footprints. Daring
knights pulling out sabers drenched in draconian blood… Mages toppling barbaric
dynasties and repelling raiders with sheer force of mind… Peerless Elven
marksmen summoning a hawk’s eyes to snipe out evil via treetop… The cunning stratagems
of Shaadric thieves turned princes… Resourceful
Dwarven warriors crafting fate upon a hot myrthralean anvil … All such figures
are commonplace epics in the annals of time, told through their various
channels. Alas, the handsome champions of yore are propped up by the jewels
reaped from their spoils, overshadowing the true saviors— too humble or foolish
for fame.
Aye, this tale I shall tell is one you can now only hear in
passing at a pub— uttered drunkenly by a godforsaken creature with the
longevity to have the memory but without the airs to deny its existence. This
is an unsung hero, ignored even in the wake of his greatest of triumphs. Not forgotten but blacklisted from glory. Though
fully deserving of the praise, fate played out in the hero’s favor anyway as anonymity
was his only desire in life. Ugliness hath spared the soul in question from the
limelight, and though he left this harsh realm without a tombstone and barren treasury
his blood still courses through the veins of his closest companion… and his
impact on the world remains. When the master scribe’s scrolls unravel, this tale
shall be omitted… but I am writing it nonetheless. There shall be nothing to
substantiate my claims. for a request for this story even mutes the boldest
bards.
The hero’s life, though tragic, drips with so many important
defining moments that I am forced to tell it in its entirety, beginning at its
very start so as not to rob you of the full effect. Rest assured that I am a
man of numbers and logic, devoid of the fancy regularly associated with practitioners
of my craft. There shall be no falsehood, bias or embellishment— just the
absolute truth, magically transcribed from time itself. I have no motive, no
lesson to teach. I make no request of you beyond your ear for a day or two. You shall be better for listening anyway, at the
very least for amusement’s sake. For it is a tale without equal, filled to the
brim with heart, intrigue… and bloodshed.
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This is the foreword to my upcoming fantasy series, Orcblood. To supplement my writing, I will be releasing high quality and well fleshed out fantasy novels-- to be published in e-book form. I will provide these books cheaply, at about 2.99- 3.99 a pop on Amazon in the future. Until then, I shall be posting the first few chapters free of charge here on my blog, similar to how I posted the first two chapters to my Steampunk novella. This will be done on a weekly basis, and it will be written as flash fiction. One draft only. (though proofread of course) Look forward to release, as well as the three books to the Vermilion Years Trilogy which will also be in e-book format.
Hopefully, this will generate enough money to allow me to quit my job and let me focus on being a full-time writer! Thanks for your support and interest.
- B.
Oh, and here's a short look at Chapter 1 of Orcblood!
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“Dear cousin, you have been ‘sick’ for six seasons pass. The
inane chatter has trickled to lesser society. You are looked down upon by bought nobility, Mayaline.”
The ill maiden pulled her magi-silver infused Narivean sheets
above her jade encrusted tiara, attempting to shelter her ears from the acid
spewing out of the gaping hole above her cousin’s chin.
“PRINCESS MAYALINE, do not bury your head like a startled
riding ostrich,” the young Duke ordered as he angrily stomped up to the
princess’s bedside. “What shall you do if your Aunt’s fears come to fruition
and this disgrace leaks even further? Pray tell, how long do you presume you
will be able to maintain this ridiculousness?”
“Torren, tell Lady Jaceanda to put her horrid mouth to her
loins,” Mayaline retorted into her shimmering silk pillow, frivolously woven
from the same magical material that made her sheets. “After all, no man seeks
refuge between her deceptively child-rearing thighs.”
“Still your pronged tongue,” Torren said shrilly. “Your coarse
indifference to those who share your blood is appalling. The woman you scorn is
still second in line for the crown. She exudes beauty, more so than you or your
mother could ever hope to match even on your best of days. Do not mistake an
intimidating presence for ugliness… or
power for undesirability. She commands a force of will that men cannot
handle. You of all people should understand Jaceanda’s predicament.”
“Men clearly desire me,
thus MY predicament,” the princess muttered. “Carnal needs govern the minds
of the fouler sex. Men are aware of your disgraceful mother’s… persuasion.”
“In your current state, I’d say you’d best steer from the hypocrisy
of judging with whom my mother chooses to invite to her chambers,” replied
Torren.
“It’s by a miracle you even came to be,” Mayaline continued to
taunt. “Did I say miracle? Sorry… I meant to say sorcery. If the rumors are true, she—”
“YOU DARE SPEAK OF RUMORS!?” Torren snapped, set off by his
cousin’s jibes at his birth. His middle and index fingers glowed as he pressed
them together. He swiped his two fingers through the air and the magic blanket
flew off the princess. Torren conjured a mirror in front of Mayaline’s haggard
face, forcing her to look upon herself.
“The physical form finally matches the beast within,” he
snarled. “Look at your grotesque body, Mayaline. LOOK AT IT. Observe the extent
to which your abdomen has been inflated, distorted and mutilated. Yours is a scandal
that cannot be hid, as clear as the putrid green hue that now paints the
horridly stretched skin around your stomach. Your ignominy exceeds your royalty
and extends to your very species.”
“You act as though I MEANT for this to happen,” the princess
cried, brought to tears by her own horrible appearance. “How am I to blame for
this, Torren? Should you chastise me for personally taking arms against a siege?
I personally lead the charge as you flicked your dainty fingers in the foes’
direction. As they laughed off your futile flame, my axe cleaved their wretched
arses in twain. If not for my cunning, my capture would have been prolonged— and
our disgrace the greater if the ransom paid.”
Torren stared into the teary yet fierce eyes of
his cousin. He could feel the abuse harbored in her trembling purple irises.
The loneliness quivering in her chapped lips. The grudge stored in the scar
sliced across her broken face.
....
[More to come!]
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