Monday Morsel: Inexplicable Illness - An Excerpt from Stalking the Demon

Welcome to the Monday Morsel feature. To date I've been sharing short excerpts from the first draft of my adult epic fantasy/fantasy romance, In the Company of the Dead. Today, I am sharing an excerpt from my upcoming novella, Stalking the Demon. This sequel to Confronting the Demon will be the second installment in the Seven Circles of Hell Series. 

* * *

Alloran rushed through the citadel halls, heedless of the thick carpets trampled beneath his feet. In his arms, Gisayne hung limp with her black hair trailing over his elbow. A few people in the halls watched him pass; none offered to help.

Help me! But the words didn’t leave his lips. Six months of collapses blunted the urgency and the panic, and the faces turning to follow him bore only mild curiosity, oblivious that this time was different.

Gisayne’s chest barely rose and fell with each shallow breath, and blue tinged the edges of her bee stung lips. Alloran’s breath rasped loudly in his ears as he raced through the halls, his one hand pressing against the cold skin of her arm as he clutched her to his chest.

He shouldered open the door to the citadel’s hospice and backed into a long room lined with severely made beds. The few occupied by sick or injured had curtains drawn for privacy. Breidmar, one of the citadel’s doctors, bustled over at their entrance. His heavy black brows pinched with concern. 


‘Again?’

Alloran nodded, the lump in his throat choking him. ‘She’s….’ He swallowed hard. ‘She’s hardly breathing.’

'This way.’ Breidmar waved Alloran to an empty bed as he strode to a door at the far end and called out. Before the doctor was even halfway back to the allocated bed, an unfamiliar nurse appeared in the doorway.

Alloran placed Gisayne on the bed with gentle care. She rolled from his arms, her body limp and her skin pale. Her eyelids fluttered as he released her, but did not open. Nausea knotted his gut.

Breidmar waved Alloran off as he and the nurse began checking Gisayne’s vitals, but he hesitated. What would he do but wait, patient and idle, while Breidmar tried again to determine what illness affected her? Tried and failed, most likely.

‘Are you sure it is not the falling sickness? It’s supposed to get worse with each successive bout.’

‘She’s not got the right symptoms; no seizures.’ Breidmar responded in precise, clipped tones.

Alloran frowned. He was no idiot. ‘Then what? Seven hells take you, tell me. Whatever it is, it can’t be too complicated for me to understand.’

Breidmar looked up and sniffed, his severe lips curving down. ‘No amount of genius can assist you to understand a malady I cannot explain, and while you’ve made any number of miraculous discoveries, you have no particular expertise in medical matters. Leave this to me.’

At a nod from Breidmar, the nurse whipped the curtain around the bed in a rattle of rings. 

* * *

Thanks for dropping by! Don't forget, this is a first 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.

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.

If you enjoyed this post, please feel free to check out my previous posts if you haven't already. If you're finding yourself here often, you might like to join as a member, sign up to the blog through RSS or email, or sign-up to my newsletter. Check out my May Newsletter if you missed it.

Don't forget to share the love and spread the word on Twitter, Facebook or StumbleUpon (or other social networking site of your choice) if you know other people who might also enjoy this. 

Thanks for stopping by and visiting!

The Roman Tale of Narcissus and Echo: The Mythology Series

Narcissus comes to us today courtesy of Dionne Lister. He was a hunter known for his beauty, and as the son of the river god, Cephissus, and a nymph, it's no wonder he was so beautiful!

You might not be surprised to know that Narcissus is the origin of our word ‘narcissism’, which means a fixation with oneself. This originates from the tale that Narcissus was lured to a pool where, upon seeing his own reflection, he became so obsessed with it that he was unable to leave. He came to realise his love was hopeless, and committed suicide.

Narcissus was actually lured to the pool by Nemesis, the goddess of revenge. She did so as an act of, you guessed it, revenge. This was because the mountain nymph, Echo, had seen him and fallen deeply in love with him. She would follow him, and when Narcissus asked ‘Who’s there?’, she would repeat his words (get it? She was Echo!).

When Echo finally revealed herself to Narcissus, he rejected her, telling her to leave him alone, and heartbroken she wandered the woods until she had faded away into an ‘echo’.

So the tale brings us not only the word ‘narcissist’, but ‘echo’ and ‘nemesis’. 

Echo and Narcissus (1903), a Pre-Raphaelite interpretation by John William Waterhouse

This story was recorded by Ovid, but other variations also exist. The version by Conon involves neither Nemesis not Echo, with Narcissus instead spurning a male suitor, who then prays to the gods to teach Narcissus a lesson and promptly commits suicide on Narcissus’s doorstep. Narcissus then dies when he sees his reflection after stopping at a pool to drink, as he can never have the object of his desire.
An even later version involves Narcissus falling in love with his twin sister rather than his own reflection. 

What piece of mythology would you to know more about? Let me know in the comments! 

If you enjoyed this post, please feel free to check out my previous posts if you haven't already. If you're finding yourself here often, you might like to join as a member, sign up to the blog through RSS or email, or sign-up to my newsletter. Check out my May Newsletter if you missed it.

Don't forget to share the love and spread the word on Twitter, Facebook or StumbleUpon (or other social networking site of your choice) if you know other people who might also enjoy this.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting!

Monday Morsel: Secrets and Lies - An Excerpt from 'In the Company of the Dead '

Welcome to the Monday Morsel feature, where I share short excerpts from the first draft of my adult epic fantasy/fantasy romance, In the Company of the Dead.  

* * *

Ellaeva stared down at the corpse. A knife had sliced open both the windpipe and the carotid. Blood smeared everything.

There was no sign of Lyram.

She bit her lip. What to do? The stubborn man gave the signal before he ran off on whatever errand he had in mind, and the men would already be making their way through the enemy camp towards the wagons. Securing food was vitally important, and he must be counting on that to keep her from interfering.

Ordinarily, such a ploy would be a waste of his time and her patience.
 
Except that circumstances weren't quite as she'd led him to believe. 

* * *

Thanks for dropping by! Don't forget, this is a first 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, and In the Company of the Dead will be available in the future. I've temporarily had to shelve it while I work on Stalking the Demon, the sequel to Confronting the Demon. 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.

More about In the Company of the Dead:

Lyram already crossed a prince, and now he finds himself on the brink of crossing a god.

Son of a duke and second in line for the throne, Lyram is exiled to a lonely castle after assaulting the crown prince. When a hostile army arrives to besiege the castle, he believes the prince wants him removed – permanently.

As though answering their prayers, Ellaeva, the Battle Priestess of the death goddess, arrives unexpectedly. But she has not come to break the siege. Instead, she is in pursuit of a necromancer of the evil god of decay. When misfortune after misfortune befalls the beleaguered defenders, Lyram realises the necromancer is hidden within the walls, sabotaging the very defence.

Against the backdrop of clashing gods, Lyram must fight to save himself from the political machinations of his prince, and the dread plans of a necromancer. But as the siege lengthens, he realises the greatest threat may come from another quarter — a woman sworn body and soul to a god tempts him to pay a terrible price.

If you enjoyed this post, please feel free to check out my previous posts if you haven't already. If you're finding yourself here often, you might like to join as a member, sign up to the blog through RSS or email, or sign-up to my newsletter. Check out my May Newsletter if you missed it.

Don't forget to share the love and spread the word on Twitter, Facebook or StumbleUpon (or other social networking site of your choice) if you know other people who might also enjoy this.

Thanks for stopping by and visiting!