The Festival of Bones: Mythworld Book One (24 page)

Walking down the tree-lined street, the beginnings of a light snow drifting softly in the pooled streetlight, Jude pondered the issue of what to do with Galen, who was by this time almost certainly either in a jail cell or in a room with mattresses nailed to the walls. It didn’t matter which—the most important hurdle was crossed, and all it would really take for things to sort themselves out was a little patience, and Jude knew he had that.

The sudden explosion of the Swede’s car rocked the other vehicles along the street a sent a radiant fireball thirty feet into the air. Mingled sparks and snow falling around his feet, Jude didn’t turn around, but instead kept walking purposefully into the night, through fire and ice, into the new world.

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EPILOGUE
The New World

(AP) Associated Press Newswire - August 27

BAYREUTH - A brutal murder ended the annual Wagner Festival at Bayreuth last night, after two men usurped the stage of the Festspielhaus during the performance of the fourth opera in the Ring Cycle, Gotterdammerung, and shortly thereafter turned the renowned performance into a spectacle of violence. In a scene straight out of Siegfried’s own legend, Mikaal Gunnar-Galen leapt onto the stage and began performing an improvised version of what witnesses claimed to be an unorthodox variation on the opera, when he suddenly pulled a sword and impaled the victim, who had leapt to the stage and was also reciting scenes from the opera. The victim, who was later identified as Michael Langbein, was an associate Professor of Literature at the University of Vienna, where on investigation it was discovered that he had just received notice of his termination. Langbein was a colleague of Gunnar-Galen, who not only taught at the University, but was recently appointed Rector, which investigators suspect may have been the catalyst for a conflict between the two. No reason has been discovered as to why they were at the Festspielhaus, or what role an alternate version of Wagner’s opera may have played in the incident. According to eyewitnesses, Langbein appeared to be performing the role of Siegfried, and Gunnar-Galen the role of Hagen, which added a layer of suspicion to the incident, as the segment of the opera they had commandeered involved the slaying of Siegfried by Hagen. A medical team arrived just minutes after Langbein was injured, but efforts to revive him were unsuccessful, and he was declared dead at the scene. Gunnar-Galen was detained by authorities for questioning, but was behaving and speaking irrationally. It was determined that he had suffered some sort of psychotic break, and was remanded to the custody of doctors at a private psychiatric facility for further evaluation. The remaining two days of the Festival were cancelled, and all related activities have been suspended pending the outcome of the investigation.

* * *

(AP) Associated Press Newswire - August 27

MUNICH - More than five dozen residents of Munich awoke this morning to discover their automobiles had been stolen, some from locked garages. Victims of what was apparently a well-orchestrated crime spree, the thefts occurred sometime during the night, and the first report of criminal activity was filed shortly before 6 A.M., followed by a succession of other reports from all districts of the city. Police are baffled by the thefts, as the flawless execution is belied by the apparent breadth of vehicles stolen, which ranged from a week-old Mercedes to a twelve-year-old Citroen which the owner swore had not been in running condition for several years. At this time, there are few leads. The mention in several reports of massive and violent damage to garages is being investigated, although the rumor that said damage originated inside, rather than from without the garages, is unconfirmed.

* * *

(AP) Associated Press Newswire - August 28

STUTTGART - As the transportation hub to southwest Germany, Stuttgart has direct trains to most major German cities, but sometime in the last twelve hours, every train on the schedule was inadvertently re-routed to Paris. The massive scheduling error occurred because of some breakdown in communications between engineers and the central switching station, and as of this writing has not yet been resolved. Claims that the trains have not yet been located are unconfirmed, although satellite surveillance from a GPS system revealed eighteen of the trains to be in the region of Paris shortly before 3 A.M. Families of passengers who have disappeared with the trains are demanding that Stuttgart transit authorities expand their search, and a public announcement is expected shortly.

* * *

(AP) Associated Press Newswire - August 28

BERLIN - A massive disruption of global communications is wreaking havoc on the s&^%kjht of every region of the planet, leading the President of the United St76hHK to declare a nationwide state of emergency, and call for an immediate summit of the G8 nations leaders to search for a cause and a resolution. The stock
markets have been suspended, as has all air travel except for those flights deemed essen%$& to basic services. Power grids in the Pacific Nothwesr˙∆˙koK∆, the Sonoran Desert, The Philippines, and all of Australi∆˙∆ut have failed, leading to a shortage of e
mergency ˆ¨®†ƒ©©ƒdcc∆
˙©
ƒ. Leading scientists are speculating that a massive solar eruption or possibly an in%&75ƒ∂© cosmic rays is responsibility for communications is failing they::: an electromagnetic dress, ˚∫√∆ Nuclear ^%$%©∆
˙˙©˙©˙ UYfhgfcchn Ukraine,
which governmental officials :L

ØooO vehemently denied. Developing.

End Book One

The story continues in
MYTHWORLD
Book Two: Invisible Moon
Available Soon!

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About the Author

James A. Owen is the founder and executive director of Coppervale International, an art and design studio that also published the periodicals
International
Studio
and
Argosy
, develops television and film projects, and is redesigning an entire town, among other ventures. James has written and illustrated two dozen
StarChild
comics, the
MythWorld
series of novels, the bestselling
Chronicles of the Imaginarium Geographica
and more. He lives in Arizona with his family.

About James A. Owen and the Coppervale Studio:
www.coppervaleinternational.com

www.jamesaowen.com

James’s online journal & sketchbook:
http://coppervale.livejournal.com/

and
At Facebook under “James A. Owen”

If you are interested in arranging for James to speak at your school, library, or business event, please contact:

Heidi Berthiaume
Freelance Author Appearance Coordinator
Coppervale International

[email protected]

Magic is real. And worth looking for.

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