Thursday, December 29, 2011

Rogue Magician Chapter 1 Preview

Here is chapter 1 of Rogue Magician to whet your appetite. I wrote the first chapter in an attempt to grab readers right out of the gate as well as to give them a good idea of what to expect throughout the story. Going in, I knew this series was going to be violent and would not be for everyone. Basically, I think if you enjoy the first chapter, then you will enjoy the rest of Rogue Magician and if you don't enjoy it... Well, it's better to know that right away rather than a hundred or so pages in.

So without further ado...

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Chapter 1



 The ogre slammed its clenched fists into the front door of the Sleepy Crow causing the wood to groan and splinter with each consecutive blow. It was utter panic as people ran for cover amidst the loud, deep bellow of horns blowing from the walls deep within the city as they fled the beast. After a few minutes of withstanding the rampage the inn's door finally gave in to the pounding as it splintered and then burst littering the doorway with it broken and splintered remains.
One crafty barmaid scampered out of a window as the ogre tried to squeeze its way through the doorway. The ogre spotted her climbing out and before she was all the way through the monster had abandoned the door and snatched the barmaid off her feet. Lifting her up the ogre regarded his prize with some interest. Taking her in two hands, the ogre held her tightly so she could not wriggle free, and then it drew her in close. Its breath was hot on the woman's face and she could smell the rot and death coming from its grimaced maw.
She shook in fear, as the ogre smelled her. “Do not scream, Trisha, do not scream,” the barmaid whispered to herself over and over fearing what might happen if she upset the creature.
Then as if from nowhere her savior arrived in bright white armor that shined in the morning sun. Brandishing his war-hammer he strode toward the ogre like the great hero everyone knew he was.
“Face me, you overgrown gray cow!” Kellen yelled trying to goad the monster into releasing its breakfast and attacking him instead. The beast squeezed the life from Trisha and she screamed in agony as her ribs broke and she was tossed aside as if she was no more than an afterthought. The ogre charged the proud warrior and it was difficult to guess which of them was more enraged.
Even in full armor taking the brunt of the ogre's charge hurt the warrior knocking him off his feet and sending him sliding until he came to an abrupt stop against the Sleepy Crow's stable behind him. As much as Kellen was hurt the ogre felt the pain even more. The creature was either too angry or too dumb to notice that the knight-captain had lifted his war-hammer like a battering ram and braced himself just before the impact essentially using the ogre's own strength, weight, and speed to bury the hammer deep in its gut. Brought to its knees the ogre was on all fours gagging and heaving. If it had not just awoken from its hibernation with an empty belly it would have vomited there in the street.
Kellen got up and prepared to finish the ogre off with a bludgeon to the head, but he did not expect the beast to recover so quickly. Using its massive forearm the ogre blocked the knight's attack, but not without some cost as its arm made an audible snap and the beast snarled its outrage. Using its club in the other hand, the ogre hit Kellen in the side. He was caught completely off guard and sent flying into the wall of the nearby stable once more. Stunned and unable to fight back, Kellen received blow after blow denting and crushing the once glorious armor as blood dripped from between the plates in the chest piece.
Kellen managed to roll free of the ogre's assault if only just barely and delivered a kick to its broken forearm forcing the giant beast back. Somehow the brave warrior managed to struggle back to his feet through sheer will alone. His war-hammer was lost to him as the ogre now stood between the man and his weapon. Kellen knew he had to press what small advantage he had. Any hesitation would lead to his death at the hands of the mighty monster. Kellen threw his plated fists into the ogre's belly aggravating its earlier injury with a series of quick, but powerful jabs, which caused more aggravation to the beast rather than actual damage. More out of anger than a sense of self-preservation the ogre grabbed Kellen by the arms and attempted to pull them free from their sockets. The pain was excruciating, but Kellen learned long ago how to block out physical pain. He swung his right leg up catching the ogre in the crotch with his steel plated boot. The ogre howled and made a face that would have been almost comical if the situation was not so dire. It dropped its prey giving Kellen the chance he needed. This time it was Kellen who charged the ogre knocking it on its back and jumping on top of its chest. Having no weapon readily available Kellen dug his thumbs into the ogre's eyes. Its scream rattled the knight's eardrums and sent a shiver through his bones, but he forced himself to push even harder. The beast flailed like a fish trapped on a boat as it tried desperately to shake the knight loose. Kellen would not be bucked off and the ogre blindly grabbed at the knight-captain in an attempt to pull him off with no luck.
The battered knight punched the monster's face over and over again until his arms, still sore from nearly being ripped clean from his body minutes before, felt like wet noodles. No longer attempting to get up the ogre lied there. Its face was bloody and disfigured, but the beast still breathed. The once shining knight retrieved his hammer and marveled at how heavy it suddenly felt in his hands. Barely able to stand he stumbled back to the ogre after retrieving his weapon. Lifting the war-hammer for the last time in his life, Kellen delivered the killing blow.
Once Kellen was certain that the ogre would trouble his city no more he gave into his injuries. His trusted weapon fell useless at his side clattering on the stoned street. A second later his body collapsed as well. Kellen fell to his hands and knees before rolling over onto his back. The knight stared up at the sky realizing that he did not have long to live.
His vision was clouded with blood and every inch of his body throbbed in agony, but strangely the world seemed to be at peace. For thirty-seven years he served as a protector to Aurelia and now his time had passed. Perhaps it was time for a new generation, he mused.
Kellen smiled as he finally let go answering Kassani's song calling him to the underworld.

***

Sane woke with a start. Sweat covered his face and chest. It dripped on the soft linen sheets in tiny pools. His body shook in a mixture of fear and rage at the impending tragedy he just saw.
Several minutes passed before his wits returned enough for him to move. He walked to the window to feel the cool morning breeze. It was cold against his wet skin sending a shiver down his spine. The sun was just breaking past dawn and Sane became keenly aware that he had little time to act before his old friend would die, but there was more. Something else eluded him. After Kellen died Sane saw a young man though it appeared to be some time later. He grasped at the image, but could not bring it fully to the front of his mind. It was a maddening feeling and Sane was sure this boy was the key, but whether for good or for ill he could not say.
In his mind's eye he could see the city of Colum even though he was more than fifty miles away. The castle of Warlord Gustian Firebrand and the guardsman watchtower sat to the east atop a hill with the city built around it at its base. There was a wall erected around the area near the castle and watchtower, but most of the city sat outside the protection of the walls as the warlord deemed building a second larger ring an unnecessary expense. To the north was the market district filled with artisans of all manner of trades and goods. The majority of living quarters was located at the south side of the city which was further split into smaller groups by class with the wealthier citizens living closer to the center and extending outward to the poorest denizens on the outer edges of the city. The western region of the city was the center of trade with many inns for the traveling merchants. In the center was located the temple of Ashura, the goddess of nature and life. Her priests with their healing powers were the only ones in all of Aurelia that were permitted to openly use magic unattended, thought they called it the goddess’ blessing rather than run the risk of being labeled as magicians, fore they knew nothing of violence and had taken a vow to never harm another person.
The sun cast an orange glow on the capital below as Sane stood at his window in Farreach castle overlooking Mollifas. The city had not yet fully awakened. Some would no doubt be about their business already. The bakers prepared their morning bread and the smiths were lighting their forges already. There were surely some rogues about who were just now getting to bed after a long night of debauchery. However for the most part the city seemed quiet. He imagined that Colum must look much the same, as its citizens were blissfully unaware of the trouble heading their way.
Sane stepped away from the window. There was little time to spend lost in thought and the dream was already fading from his memory. Sane dressed himself in a finely made hooded green robe with a slightly darker green tree on the back. Its roots spreading across the rest of the fabric in deliberate swirls covering the rest of the material. It was similar to the robes worn by Ashura's priests as the sorcerer found it much easier to get around undetected dressed in the garb of a healer. He cinched a bark colored leather belt around the robe keeping it in place.
He grabbed his staff that looked to be made of intertwining wooden branches culminating into two large loops at the top. Normally he preferred another staff to the right of the one he chose with a steel blade on the bottom, but it had an enchantment placed on it that would make the staff appear as an intricately carved spear to any who could not see through the magic. However, the idea of a priest carrying around a spear tended to cause more questions than a magician in disguise would like asked.
The door slammed behind Sane as he hurried down the hallway connecting to the main castle.          A few minutes later the sorcerer was standing outside of King Kale's lavish bedchamber. He hoped that his lord would be awake already. Kale was considered to be a tough, but fair ruler. However, having been an adviser to the king for the better part of a decade Sane knew that waking him in the early morning tended to make him a little more tough than fair.
Two guards were stationed outside the king's bedchamber door. When they saw Sane approaching they immediately stiffened. “Greetings, Sir Sane,” said one of the guards.
Sane thought the guard's name was Dernen, but was not sure. “And to you, guardsman,” he said avoiding addressing the man by name, “Tell me is his Highness up and about? I need to speak with him urgently.”
As if in response the door swung open. A man in his early fifties stood in front of Sane dressed in a purple silk nightshirt. “Sane, what brings you to my bedchamber this morning?” asked King Kale. His voice sounded rough as usual, but not particularly angry and Sane felt a little lucky that the king was already up for the day.
“It is a matter of grave importance. Some information has come into my possession that we must discuss,” said Sane.
“Of course. Attend me,” the king said casually as he strode past Sane who could not help noticing that even dressed in his night clothes the king still moved with the grace and confidence befitting his stature. To the guards he added, “Keep a good distance so we can talk openly,” not bothering to look back.
Sane hurried to catch up to his liege as they put distance between themselves and the king's personal guard causing his green robe to swoosh back and forth as if the root design was alive burrowing through the earth.
“I take it you had another of your visions,” King Kale said as Sane caught up with him.
“Yes, your highness, although I must admit that my motives are personal in this case. I had a vision of my old friend Kellen, the knight-captain in Colum. He will be dead before midday if I do not intervene on his behalf...” The image of Kellen's broken body still fresh in his mind drove the seer to silence.
“I know Kellen is a very brave and skilled warrior, Sane,” the king put his hand on the sorcerer's shoulder sympathetically, “It is hard to imagine him being defeated. Is the foe magical in nature?”
“He will perish in single combat with an ogre,” answered Sane, “but there is a chance that magic is involved. Ogres do not usually attack cities without some sort of provocation. After Kellen has been saved I intend to investigate the matter further.
“By your leave of course, your majesty.”
“I suppose I can deal with the bickering in the high court on my own for one day without executing the lot of them,” joked the king hoping to lift his trusted adviser's spirits. Sane flashed a weak smile and King Kale added, “You have my leave. Go and aid the knight-captain.”
“Of course, my king... and thank you.” Sane bowed and left the king's side.
The sorcerer hurried to his study where he opened a small black trunk filled with dozens of round cuts of wood about an inch thick each and small enough to fit snuggly in the palm of a man's hand. On the front of each one was a unique symbol carved into it and on the back was carved the name of a city or place. Sane searched through piles of the wooden pieces flipping them over and reading the name of each one until he found one that said Baj. He squeezed it firmly in his fist.       
Reaching Kellen would be a simple task for the sorcerer. Colum was a day's travel by horseback, but Sane was not confined to such mundane means of travel. However, he feared that casting the spell could disrupt the vision. His visions were not always clear to begin with and like most dreams the details tended to fade in time, but using magic hastened the process and could make him forget the vision completely. Coming only in dream form they were often laden with symbolism and subconscious messages that would have to be sorted through for meaning. It was possible that Sane's vision of his dead friend had a non-literal interpretation, but he was certain that it was real. He could still see Kellen's body lying beaten and bloody staining his once bright and shining armor.
Enough. There was no other choice. The only way Sane could make it to Colum in time was through magical means. It would do him no good to know that Kellen faced death if he could do nothing to prevent it. Forgetting the vision was a risk that he would have to take. 
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To read more of Rogue Magician, download the ebook at:

Monday, December 26, 2011

Rogue Magician

My new novel, Rogue Magician, was released on Kindle over the holiday break. Be sure to check it out and if you don't have a kindle, you can still read it on your PC, iPad, or other device with a free Kindle application. For Nook users, it is being reformatted for proper viewing on the Nook and should be available later this week.

For those of you interested in reading more stories of Aurelia, new content prior to and during the events in Rogue Magician will be released once per month. You can follow me on Twitter @CurtisCornett for updates and my odd musings.

Thursday, December 22, 2011

Coming Soon

Soon my novel, Rogue Magician, will be published. More info to come very, very soon...

...And yes, future blog posts will be significantly longer than this one.