Welcome to the Monday Morsel feature. The second draft of Stalking the Demon is finished, and by god it was a painful experience! Of the first 15,000 words in the second draft, 3500 came from the first draft, 7500 were deleted, and 10,500 new words were written. What a mess I made! Fortunately the last quarter was a pleasant surprise, and the climax of the sequel is just as, or more, action-packed than Confronting the Demon.
The second draft now clocks in at 27,000 words, and I’ll be doing a read-through and tidy up before sending it off to beta readers.
For now, enjoy another excerpt!
* * *
It wasn’t what he’d come for, and he swept it aside with his left arm and reached in for a wooden box resting against the rear wall. He flipped the hinged lid open, revealing a collection of more than twenty small bones of varying shapes and sizes.
It had taken some doing, but he’d found the hand in the wreckage of the square after he’d been released from the hospice. If Gisayne had lost hers, it stood to reason that Ladanyon might have as well, since the three of them had been knotted together by the tangle of enchantments.
I should destroy it.
These bones of Ladanyon’s might be affecting Gisayne’s malady. If the link between them did remain, and there was some kind of conduit into the hell, the presence of part of Ladanyon on this plane might be amplifying the effect of the link. If he destroyed the bones, Gisayne might get better.
A chance, but no certainty. And if Ladanyon was alive, and the ways into hell were not closed, these bones might be needed more than ever. A part of a wizard was a powerful weapon against him. Just look at all the trouble he’d had to go to last time.
He couldn’t do it.
Thanks for dropping by! Don't forget, this is the second draft, and as such won't be perfect. If you like what you read, and are so inclined, show your support by leaving a comment. Stalking the Demon is expected to be released in August. If you'd like to sample more of my writing, check out the free short stories available on this site.
If this is your first visit to Monday Morsels, find others in the series by clicking on the ‘Monday morsel’ tag, or go to the first installment for Stalking the Demon.
More about Stalking the Demon:
Alloran did everything within his power; he banished the demon and sealed the portal. But the world is still careening into hell.
Six months after Ladanyon's defeat, Gisayne is fading away from a baffling illness. Alloran is desperate for a cure, but he has a secret - the fabric of reality is collapsing, threatening to spill unrestrained demons into the world of Verusia. Is Ladanyon striking back at Alloran from the hell to which he was condemned, or is there a traitor among them?
The only people he can turn to for help deciphering the linked mysteries of Gisayne's affliction and the collapse of the world are the two research assistants set to spy on him for the council of wizards - but he knows he can't trust them.
Everything Alloran loves races toward destruction - and all the answers are locked away in hell.
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