The Wizard Killer - Season One: A Post-Apocalyptic Fantasy Serial (13 page)

Suddenly everything stops. With a single, bloody eye barely able to open, I gaze at the leecher. She’s sitting beside me, being held up by a blood-soaked oner. Her face is pale; her breathing is shallow. The front of her dress is drenched in blood. She’s clutching her chest with one hand, and my short sword in the other. The woman oner is standing behind her, a statue.

“Why did you ruin everything?” the leecher yells, the roar from the floating city now starting to shake the ground.

“You were going to kill me at the first chance you got… or make me your battery again. And if you think you can outrun that?” I point with my chin at the yig outside, “You’re a fool.” Everything inside and out goes red. We must be at the outer edge of the mana-drain. I can’t even imagine the scale of what’s being done. There’s not much time.

I look the leecher in the eyes and growl. “I’m not dying today!” I force myself up and make a sloppy move for her. She stabs me right in the stomach with my short sword and pushes me over. The pain is horrible. My hands shake in front of me as I fight to stay conscious. Got t touch the hilt…

The leecher spits on me and screams, “Is that what you wanted? Is—” She’s cut-off as two serrated blades come through her chest.

Kicking the leecher aside, the woman oner looks down at me. Her expression should have tears with it, but it doesn’t.
 

I want to say something, but I can’t. The front of the barn vanishes as the roaring flame starts taking everything around us apart. Every breath is agony, and harder than the one before it. I feel like I’m drowning.

The woman oner grabs one of the strange, shiny tarps.

I look about with my one good eye. “Randmon, are you there? I’m sorry… Forgive me… I… no other way… I’m sorry…” I mouth. Coughing up blood, I try one more time to get my hands to the hilt, to no avail.

Glancing about desperately, I catch my reflection in the blade of the short sword, and my heart skips a beat. That face… it’s not mine. Old Man, is that you?

The woman throws the tarp over me and part of the levi-car and climbs underneath. She pushes me right under the body of the levi, right under the array of charging crystals, and pulls the tarp down tightly. That done, she reaches for my short sword. I use everything I’ve got to groan and shake my head. She nods, her eyes sorrowful.

There’s no air.
 

I can’t keep my eye open anymore. There’s a soothing touch on my hands, closing them. For a moment red shines through my eye lids and I feel tremendous heat, and then… nothing. The world’s gone.

The End
 

of
 

Season One

THANK YOU
 

FOR READING THIS BOOK

Reviews are powerful and are more than just you sharing your important voice and opinion, they are also about telling the world that people are reading the book.

Many don’t realize that without enough reviews, indie authors are excluded from important newsletters and other opportunities that could otherwise help them get the word out. So, if you have the opportunity, I would greatly appreciate your review.
 

Don’t know how to write a review? Check out
AdamDreece.com/WriteAReview
. Where could you post it? Here on
Amazon.com
and
GoodReads.com
are a great start!

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Thank you,

Adam

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

With a best-selling young adult series, The Yellow Hoods, well underway, and a successful episodic series, The Wizard Killer, I decided it was time to share my deep love of science fiction with The Man of Cloud 9. It allowed me to pull from my over 20 years of experience in software, from leading teams at a Silicon Valley startup and working on huge projects at companies like Microsoft.

Like many people, I wrote and wrote but did practically nothing with it. Maybe I would be an author
someday.
Then two medical events, one after the other, made me change my priorities. With the amazing support of my wife and kids, I kicked off a serious indie author career, and the response has been amazing.

I live in Calgary, Alberta, Canada with my awesome wife, amazing kids, and lots and lots of sticky notes and notebooks.

I blog about writing, life and more at
AdamDreece.com
. Join me on Twitter
@adamdreece
, on Facebook at
AdamDreeceAuthor
or send me an email
[email protected]

PLAYLIST

Every now and then I get asked what albums I listened to when writing a book. Here’s what I primarily listened to when writing The Wizard Killer - Season One:

Game of Thrones
season 3
soundtrack
 

Game of Thrones
season 5
soundtrack
 

by Ramin Djawadi

Metallica
by Metallica

Razor’s Edge
by AC/DC
 

The Best of Southern California Punk Rock

This is War
by Thirty Seconds to Mars
 

Enjoy,
 

Adam

An amazing steampunk meets fairy tale adventure series for those 9-15 years old and adults alike.

Pick up book 1

Book 5 is coming in Fall 2016

(Where can you get a sneak peek?
Adam’s newsletter
)

COMING AUTUMN 2016

In the near future, a brilliant mind stands up with a revolutionary thought. Will it cost him everything?

Adam Dreece’s first high-tech, science fiction thriller.

Recommended for ages 14 and up