Welcome! I'm sharing an excerpt from this fantasy compilation
today. You can read that and enter the giveaway below...
The Temple of the Exploding Head Omnibus
(League of Elder)
By Ren Garcia
Science Fiction, Fantasy
Paperback & ebook, 1413 Pages
April 19, 2018 by Hydra Publishing
Summary
Three books in one:
The Dead Held Hands
The Machine
The Temple of the Exploding Head
Starfarers and explorers, the League settled on Kana thousands of years ago. They found it to be a paradise, a perfect, virtually uninhabited planet waiting just for them in the cradle of space.
Lovely Kana … it was too good to be true …
But, all was not as it seemed. Simmering beneath the ground was a demented god who had soaked Kana in blood for untold ages, luring in victims, lying to them, and rejoicing in their suffering as they died at the hands of his dark angels.
And there will be blood again … From his Temple in the ground, the Horned God stirs.
When Lord Kabyl of Blanchefort, a young man troubled by the weight of the world, dares give his heart to a girl from a mysterious ancient household, one that pre-dates the League itself, he comes to know the shadows of the past that hover over her.
He comes to know of the Horned God, and for love he is destined to face him. All roads lead to the Temple of the Exploding Head, a place of evil and death, rooted in the ancient past, but also tied to the distant future.
“We were evil once,” she said, “and the gods are still punishing us…”
Excerpt
Lost in the Fog, Part 2
“I say!” Kay called out. “Can you help me, please?”
“Are you lost?” came a sly voice heavy with an Anuie accent from behind.
Kay turned.
Standing behind him was a Monama male wearing a black suit and waistcoat with baggy white sleeves. Like Sam, he was skinny with a bursting head of black hair; however, he was thinner than Sam, much shorter and daintier. His eyes were much smaller than Sam’s, and he lacked the long feathery lashes that he’d come to associate Monamas with. He smiled. “We don’t see many Elders here in the fog.”
Kay held his glowing CARG up. “Well met, sir. Well met. I am Lord Kabyl of Blanchefort. I am on my way to Castle Astralon.”
The Monama man gave a short snicker. “That a fact? On foot? You understand it’s about ninety miles that way?” He pointed with his right hand, his fingernails long and black. “Did you hear that, Mitz? He said he’s going to Castle Astralon.”
The woman who had been pulling the transport appeared over Kay’s right shoulder. She was now wearing a slinky black dress showing off a generous portion of her pale legs and a pair of towering pumps. She smelled of Monama perfume, scented hair oils, and sweat. Like the man, she seemed smaller and less-full than Sam, a lesser version of her. “I wouldn’t expect a warm welcome if I were you. They don’t like unannounced visitors,” she said.
“No,” the man agreed. “Astralons don’t like anybody.”
The two Monamas stood very close to him, invading his personal space. Kay felt ill at ease. “Would you care to introduce yourselves, please?”
“Certainly. I am the Amazing Clatera, and this is my assistant Mitzilaran. Would you care to have your fortune told? As you are lost in the fog ninety miles from your rather prickly destination, you could probably use a Future-Telling.”
“Thank you, no. If I may, what tribe are you from?”
The man smiled. “Cardinal, actually. We like the Elders in Cardinal. You’re lucky. If we’d been Minzers or Zerbs, we probably wouldn’t have stopped.”
‘Mitz’ walked around and began toying with the fabric of his shirt in the region of his bellybutton. “Perhaps you would be interested in something more ... exotic, good sir? I can be anything you want me to be.”
Kay wanted away. He began a Waft. Slowly, the twisting column of air began swirling around him. “Thank you, no,” he said.
Clatera laughed and put his hand on Kay’s shoulder. His Waft sputtered and died. Kay knew a Monama’s touch had the odd effect of disrupting his Gifts, just like Snugs disrupted Sam’s ability to perform many of her skills. Whenever Sam touched him, his Gifts went chaotic and uncontrollable. She thought it was very funny.
Apparently this Clatera character knew that, too. “You wouldn’t be trying to disappear on us, would you? Come now, we mean you no harm. We’re simply two traveling merchants from Cardinal trying to get by.”
“And you with all that silver,” Mitz said. “Certainly there’s some service we could offer to earn a few pieces of it.”
Kay lifted his CARG and pushed Clatera’s hand away. He tried to go on the offensive. “Why were you pulling that transport?”
They both looked back at the hulking shape in the fog. “Because Mitz needs the exercise,” Clatera said.
Mitz’s feet appeared to be hurting in her high-heeled shoes. She lifted her leg and rotated her foot. “Our steam engine broke. Been like that for awhile.”
Kay had a thought. “Well then, sure, I’ll buy a service or two. Do you take Blanchefort haders?”
“Haders? I’ve never seen a hader before,” Clatera said. “I’m used to seeing solaris and rubicons and sesterces. Can we exchange them for solaris in the towns?”
“Haders are Vith currency.”
“Vith?” Clatera said with a bit of shock. “My, you’re far from home, that quaint freezing cold place you come from.”
“Yes, and I’ll have you know haders enjoy a very favorable rate of exchange.”
Clatera made a few fists and spoke to Mitz in rapid Anuie. “The gods are smiling, Mitz. I’ll speak his fortune, predict his death and then take his money. We were due a bit of good luck.” He switched back to common Elder. “Then, shall we step inside where we can sit?”
About the Author
Ren Garcia is a Science Fiction/Fantasy author and Texas native who grew up in western Ohio. He has been writing since before he could write, often scribbling alien lingo on any available wall or floor with assorted crayons. He attended The Ohio State University and majored in English Literature. Ren has been an avid lover of anything surreal since childhood, he also has a passion for caving, urban archeology and architecture.
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