Above, visible through the glass set in the dome, the sky lit with sudden purple thunder. Could a sound be purple? And yet the entire sky flashed a deep violet as a soundless impact rocked the citadel. The floor tilted beneath their feet, spilling the councillors to the floor in a smattering of indignant shouts and yells.
Alloran grabbed at the council table for support. Another jolt of the earth beneath his feet instead smacked his head hard against the carved timber. Dazed and clutching at his forehead, another huge shaking of the ground sent him staggering across the floor towards a row of seats. He crashed into them and collapsed, clinging to the timber with his one hand. As his fingers closed around the polished length, parts of it simply ceased to exist, and his momentum carried him backwards into the marble tier. His head cracked against stone.
The room swam before his eyes, dividing into two sets of images in which sword wizards and sorceresses whirled and danced in a desperate attempt to stay on their feet. Harlden screamed somewhere in the background, the words incomprehensible through the ringing in Alloran’s ears. The constant shaking of the citadel vibrated him across the floor, and Harlden crawled on all fours.
Behind the lord wizard, a lean black shape sprang from the hell-gate. A sword wizard knelt nearby, his hands braced with flat palms against the marble floor. Before he even had time to reach for a weapon, the demon tore his throat out. Blood sprayed across the white marble.
Thanks for dropping by! Don't forget, this draft is pre-edits 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 late 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 lost his hand to thwart his renegade friend–but the world is still going to 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 seven circles of hell are unstable. His worst fear is that the terrible mirror spell cast upon Gisayne has wrought some connection between her and the demon dimensions.
As everything Alloran loves races toward destruction, he does the unthinkable and refuses to obey the council of wizards. The only people who can help him are the two research assistants assigned by the council–but he knows he can't trust them.
All the answers are locked away in the last place anyone wants to go: hell.
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