The Book Read online

  We will help you if you will help us.

  The voice was now stronger inside his head. Kurt could feel its presence wrapping itself around his mind, claiming control of his body. Fear was now replaced by terror and what was left of Kurt’s mind wanted to shut itself away, to protect what was left from the invader. Whatever these voices were, they were way beyond his ken. Except that running was not an option, not now, not here. Kurt willed himself to fight.

  Drake was still staring at him, his lips moving as if speaking, but Kurt could hear none of whatever it was he was saying. The presence in his head now had control of all of his senses.

  Abruptly those golden eyes flashed. The Magister leapt away from him, his runestaff flaring to life bathing his small room in a blinding blue light. At the same moment, Kurt felt his body pushed hard against the wood of the door, making it hammer against the jamb and its hinges. The Whisperers were now in control and they lashed out, ripping apart the invisible force that held him and he felt himself drop to the floor in a crouch, his eyes fixed on the Magister across the room.

  An ache started deep in his chest as he watched Drake swing his staff, making its blue light blur into a solid wall. He then slammed the heel of the staff onto the floor and the blue wall spanned across the room separating the two and sliced clean through the ramshackle pallet that Kurt was using as a bed, but the others in his head did not feel worried about it.

  Kurt felt his body rise to its feet, his eyes never leaving those of Drake. Drake straightened himself, his staff still blue bright with runes, staring right back at him.

  “I see you’ve bought an unexpected friend home with you tonight.” Drake leaned forward onto his staff, his golden eyes reflecting the blue light from his wall.

  “We had not expected to meet one of your kind here, but your power will sate our hunger just as readily as the life source in this meat shell.” Kurt heard himself reply. It was his voice, but with a strange accent.

  “Meat shell? Strange term for a human life,” Drake said.

  “Every living thing is a shell to us, housing the energy within that we need to survive and thrive.”

  “What of the poor sod that you have there? Is his soul still alive?”

  The Others crowding his mind did not answer, but Kurt got the gist of what was being said. He was a dead man.

  “I take it you were the one that overpowered Aber in the alley.”

  “The form before this?” Kurt felt his hand pluck at his threadbare shirt. “He fought well, but he trapped us. We will not be trapped again.”

  “Trapped you? In one of those objects?”

  Kurt heard himself hiss and a surge of unbridled anger rushed through him. “Enough of this banter. You either join us willingly or not.”

  Drake shrugged. “I like my life force to stay just where it is, thank you very much.” He then moved into a better defensive stance, twirling his staff with a flick of the wrist as he did so.

  “So be it.”

  Kurt felt his body moving. The Others in his head had quickly sunk their ephemeral feelers everywhere and the one that worried him most was the thick feeler that leads straight to his core, his essence. Pain exploded in his chest as his feet pounded across the wooden floorboards. Kurt could see his life quickly being sucked away by this thing as it used his body to rush against the Magister’s barrier.

  He hunched back in his corner, barely aware that his life was being leached away by the Others to be used as magic against its prey. If he was a dead man already, why should he care what happened to a Magister? Why should he care what other victims this thing might make after he is gone?

  He should care because, in this pig cutting stint of a world of his, his mind was his only haven, the only refuge he had. And now even that small thing had been taken from him. That hurt more than the thought of him dying. His survival instinct kicked in. He was not going to just lay on his back and die like a mangy cur in the gutter. He wanted to make this creature bleed for invading his sanctuary and killing him.

  His body had made its way through Drake’s wall and was now involved in a duel of magic with the Magister. It was good that he was dead because none of his acquaintances would ever believe this. But what can he do to make these things suffer?

  They had a large feeler running deep into that bright spot in his chest. And Kurt noticed that he had one himself leading to it. It was probably what was keeping this part of him alive. As he watched, the bright spot was growing weaker and weaker as it’s essence was sucked up into The Other’s feeler. He tested and found that he could draw it up just as well. If he soaked it all up into himself and denied it to them, maybe he could stop them.

  But how?

  Suddenly, Kurt felt his body blown back as a magical blast from Drake hit him square in the chest. The blue light of the discharge blinded him–and The Others- and Kurt took this moment of distraction to act.

  He called to his light core, and it surged up his feeler willingly to him, not the sluggish pulsing he had seen on The Others feelers. He quickly drew up all the energy there until only a grain of it remained. Kurt locked away what was left of the power of his core in the protected corner of his mind with him. The invaders seemed lost and disorientated without their connection to it. And during this brief confusion, he had control again of himself.

  “Drake, they are stunned, the book, they came from the book.” He pointed weakly at it from his crumpled position against the wall.

  The Magister moved to the crate and looked down at the open pages. “Ah, there is Aber’s staff. It looks like he used its power to trap them for a time, along with his staff.” Drake placed a hand on the page and after a flash of blue light, he removed it. In it, he now held a large runestaff. He turned to look at Kurt. “Let’s see if this time we can trap you permanently within these pages.” As Drake spoke, he funneled power into the second staff and the runes along its length lit up brighter than a deep summer sky.

  “Can you save me?” Kurt asked though he knew deep in his heart what the answer would be.

  “No thief, I can’t. At least not as you are.” Drake then twirled the two staves in each hand with dexterous fingers and laid the head of one on the book and the other on Kurt’s forehead.

  “Hurry, they are coming!” Kurt called, fear making his voice break.

  And then Kurt felt nothing. One minute he was on the floor and then the next he was staring up at Drake–from the pages of a book. Next to him, he saw the open page with the squiggles and the blank spot where the staff used to be. With him, he heard the whining and crying of the Others. They were still within him, and he and they were trapped forever within the pages of a book.

  “I’m truly sorry thief, but the vampires within you cannot be allowed to roam the city.” Kurt thought the mage did look sorry. “This book will be locked away and kept safe to ensure that this creature does not see the light of day again.” And with that Drake closed the book, and Kurt was thrown into darkness.

  THE END

  Dagan Drake is a character featured in the Blackwatch Chronicles. If you would like to read the first book –Proven – just click the link below.

  PROVEN

  Thank you so much for reading and I hope to see you again. If you enjoyed the adventure, please consider leaving a review. It’s extremely helpful to authors, since readers will sometimes skip right over books without many reviews.

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  THE KALARTHRI

  The Way to Freedom, Book One

  “This Hatar Kalar has more natural Talent than any Second Born found in the Empire.”

  Every ten years the Imperium Provosts travel the provinces of the Great Suene Empire and take every second born child as the property of the Emperor. His Due for their continued protection.

  Kalena, taken from her family and friends finds herself alone and scared in the imperial Stronghold of Darkon. And when she cries out to the darkness for hel
p, Kalena is shocked when it answers her back.

  If you found out that you were different from everyone else, what would you do?

  Proven

  The Blackwatch Chronicles

  Something is rotten in the city of Brookhaven. And it is up to the Blackwatch to root it out.

  ALL RYN WEAVER EVER wanted was to be a warrior. To protect others unable to protect themselves. But on her Proving to join the prestigious Blackwatch Order she finds herself accidentally Paired with Dagan Drake, a Tribunal Mage. Theirs is a reluctant partnership. Given no choice in the matter, Ryn must now work with Dagan to complete his mission to capture a traitor to the realm.

  With rogue mages and brutish blades coming at her from every turn, will Ryn be able to gain the respect of her new partner and prove herself worthy of her blade? Or will Ryn and her Order fall to the machinations of the evil set against them?

  Proven is the first installment in a new epic fantasy romance series. If you like electrifying action, rich characters, and magical battles, then you'll love H.M. Clarke's series starter. Click to read Proven now.

  HOWLING VENGEANCE

  John McCall Mysteries, Book One

  John McCall just wanted to get a surprise for his men. Instead he got a disemboweled body.

  A man is arrested for the murder but McCall is sure that they have the wrong person.

  And when McCall starts digging around for the truth, he unearths a whole lot more than he bargained for.

  Howling Vengeance. A supernatural mystery in the Old West.

  Available now at your favorite Online Bookseller

  THE ENCLAVE

  The Verge, Book One

  Katherine Kirk lived only for vengeance.

  Vengeance against the man who destroyed her home, her family and her life.

  Sent on a babysitting mission to Junter 3, RAN officer Katherine Kirk, finds herself quickly embroiled in the politics between the New Holland Government and the Val Myran refugees claiming asylum.

  After an Alliance attack Kirk and her team hunt the enemy down and discover that they have finally found the lair of the man they have been searching for...

  And the captive who has been waiting patiently for rescue.

  “What would you do to the man who destroyed every important person in your life?”

  Winter’s Magic

  Book One of The Order

  Kaitlyn Winter is biting at the bit to become an active agent for the Restricted Practitioners Unit. And on her first day in the job she is thrown into a virtual s**t storm (to put it nicely).

  First, she gets targeted for Assassination by The Sharda’s top assassin

  Second, her Werewolf best friend decides that her being ‘Straight’ means she can’t protect herself and places her in protective custody

  Third, the love of her life still won’t notice her existence and the Tempus Mage who’s set to keep an eye on her is infuriatingly attractive....

  You can find out more information and sign up for Hayley’s monthly newsletter on her website

  http://www.hmclarkeauthor.com/

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  IN A FORMER LIFE, H M Clarke has been a Console Operator, an ICT Project Manager, Public Servant, Paper Shuffler and an Accountant (the last being the most exciting.)

  She attended Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia, where she studied for a Bachelor of Science (Chem), and also picked up a Diploma in Project Management while working for the South Australian Department of Justice.

  In her spare time, she likes to lay on the couch and watch TV, garden, draw, read, and tell ALL her family what wonderful human beings they are.

  She keeps threatening to go out and get a real job (Cheesecake Test Taster sounds good) and intends to retire somewhere warm and dry – like the middle of the Simpson Desert. For the time being however, she lives in Ohio and dreams about being warm...

  You can find out more information and sign up for Hayley’s monthly newsletter on her website – http://hmclarkeauthor.com

  http://eepurl.com/SPy61

  Also by H.M. Clarke

  John McCall Mysteries

  Howling Vengeance

  The Blackwatch Chronicles

  Proven

  The Book

  The Order

  Winter's Magic

  Marion - An 'Order' Short Story

  The Verge

  The Enclave

  The Way to Freedom

  The Way to Freedom: The Complete Season One (Books 1-5)

  The Kalarthri

  The Dream Thief

  The Cavern of Sethi

  Watch for more at H.M. Clarke’s site.

  About the Author

  In a former life, H M Clarke has been a Console Operator, an ICT Project Manager, Public Servant, Paper Shuffler and an Accountant (the last being the most exciting.)

  She attended Flinders University in Adelaide, South Australia, where she studied for a Bachelor of Science (Chem), and also picked up a Diploma in Project Management while working for the South Australian Department of Justice.

  In her spare time, she likes to lay on the couch and watch TV, garden, draw, read, and tell ALL her family what wonderful human beings they are.

  She keeps threatening to go out and get a real job (Cheesecake Test Taster sounds good) and intends to retire somewhere warm and dry – like the middle of the Simpson Desert. For the time being however, she lives in Ohio and dreams about being warm…

  Read more at H.M. Clarke’s site.