End of Legend: In Search of the Warrior Queen

by Damon Willis

Overview

As a southern creole boy Nathan never took many things for granted. He knew the value of one's dog and a beloved girlfriend so when unworldly puppets kidnap them both he chases them through a twisted portal to get them back! Diving head first into the unknown transforms his body and unravels a new and dangerous world destined for change.

With his new body honing the mysteries of the dead gods, Nathan stays true and searches endlessly for his love. His adventurous 'I don't give a damn' attitude paired with pure artistic ingenuity gains our bayou boy a variety of wholesome friends and vile to the core enemies. With beasts, kings, rivals, and his own shadow against him he'll need every ounce of wit and strength to match pace with the changing world of Legend. There is but one saving grace, one that can grant his desire or bring about the end to everything...the Warrior Queen. Somehow he must manage to save his girl. Somehow he must get them back home to Earth.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781468505252
Publisher:	AuthorHouse
Publication date:	12/02/2011
Pages:	256
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.58(d)

Read an Excerpt

End of Legend

IN SEARCH OF THE WARRIOR QUEEN

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By DAMON WILLIS

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2011 Damon Willis
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4685-0525-2

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Chapter One

BEYOND BELIEF

SOMETHING WAS FEELING OFF. PREMATURELY awakened, Nathan tried to clear the nauseating haze clouding his consciousness. He could hear the spattering spray of water and feel its cool dank wetness across his legs. In addition, there was another kind of viscous fluid felt across his cheek. Its stickiness and iron-ish tart had clear indications of not being water but blood. Swelling with worry, Nathan tried harder to pry open his eyes and dispel his light-headedness. He could see his room finally coming into focus. A place that he had called home all throughout his school years. Who knew that four ugly, outdated wood paneling walls, a textured ceiling and a drab carpeted floor could contain the life and essence of those living within. The familiar site should have been comforting and calming, but something was not right. He felt the wall at his back and his feet wedged against the lower rail of his bed. The blankets and pillows above were in total disarray. That in itself was nothing new. The silk sheets and pillows that I fancied were notoriously slippery and more often than not, ended up hanging from the bed like some prisoner's escape route. More than once I almost busted my arse stepping on silk sheets floating on the carpeted floor. This thought was a weak answer as to why was I sleeping on the floor instead of in the bed. The last bit of inkiness drained from his vision. Nathan used his feet to prop his body up against the wall. This vantage was more favorable for his inspection. The bedside dresser was to his left, to the right were his boxing gloves hanging on the wall, and a few paces away, a lump of smoldering plastic resembling something he distinctly remembered paying a lot of money for ... his new flat screen TV. It lay twisted into a fragmented spiral of glass and plastic. His confusion finally manifested itself as words. "WHAT THE HELL!" Nathan spurted. More alarmed than ever, Nathan forced his eyes to take in more of his incidental setting. Where there once was a wall, now stood a gaping hole. The stone, wood, and art that use to hang there were now fused together and just as twisted as his TV. The destruction excavated the earth leading to the front yard, exposing underground water lines that sprayed and gurgled their wasted gallons into the night sky. The wind was abnormally active, almost hostile in the way it blew the tattered curtains and water spray in an odd circular pattern. Nathan became frantic trying to remember what prior events caused this current situation. His fingernails rhythmically scratched the side of his temple. It was his way of trying to coax his memories to surface. The evening had started with him fixing dinner for Ashley; a quick meal of chicken and sausage jambalaya. Smoked deer sausage, which was never in short supply, chopped onions, bell pepper, chicken breast, and of course rice, with a little sprinkling of Tony Chachere seasoning, was one of the first Cajun recipes i learned at knee high. Ashley didn't seem to mind when I felt "domestic". She was studying for an accounting test. It must have been quiet boring as he remembered her tapping out ballet steps under the table instead of focusing on the mound of notes in front of her. Secondly, the dog had eaten yet another sock. Sigh, it was becoming increasingly more challenging to find a matching pair now days. After wrestling my last pair of good socks from Bishop, I took him outside for his nightly routine of peeing on everything that stood upright. According to wolf rules, Bishop owned everything within forty feet of his marked spot. This included my truck, the magnolia tree, tool shed, pigeon coop, compost pile, and the house, all of which he watered religiously ... with pee. I placed Bishop in his kennel and gave him a bowl of Captain Crunch cereal for a treat and bid him goodnight. After returning to the house there was the random attack involving shaving cream. It sparked a frightfully delightful tussle in the shower followed by a bed bound adventure that left Ashley and Nathan exhausted and seeking the lure of sleep. Nathan growled in frustration. Ashley would remember, he'd ask her. "Ashley!" ... no answer. His heart began to race. "ASHLEY!" The yelling caused a wave of pain and blood to revisit his jaw. Overwhelmed with final clarity, Nathan shut his eyes against the horror of reality. Yes, he remembered now. They took her!

[Track 1] Like something creeping out of the gates of hell, four steel- plated fiends orchestrated this destruction. His bed was snug and warm with the body of his beloved. With near sleep eyes, Nathan remembered seeing a convergence of light seeping through the mortar of his brick wall. With ill-born violence, stone, metal, and spindling light twisted and tore the wall free from the rest of the house! Only dust had permission to nip at their cloaks as the falling debris oddly contoured and worked its way around the hulking figures. They came striding through the portal of rubble! Their weighty footsteps strode with purpose. They grabbed at her kicking, loosely dressed body. Their clawed gauntlets were scraping her skin, leaving strands of bright blood down her long legs. Fueled by her screams and his desperation, Nathan grabbed for the nearest piece of armament! The first thing Nathan laid his hands on was a contorted piece of sculpted metal in limbo between his creative processes and the lack of funds. For now, it will serve as a jagged club for chewing through those threatening Ashley! He arched the club overhead and brought it down heavily against the outstretched arm of the nearest fi end. It sounded as you would expect, a cracking of bone, but the sound of tearing ligaments was absent. The arm bent awkwardly at its joint, exposing the shredding of what looked like black taffy oozing a very visible red heat! It was unnerving, the dark being did not scream nor did it cower from the crushing blow! The circumstance caused Nathan to look closer. Shockingly, there was no face within its steel cowl to display such human emotion. There was no skin or teeth, or hair, just a harboring of living flame! Nathan shouldered his misgivings and kept up the attack! Jumping from the bed Nathan launched a sidelong swing at the kidnapper's knee. The dark armor made a horrible screech as it bent and scraped against itself. The creature sank to the ground, its one good arm still trying to reach for Ashley, as if I'd let that happen. It to, was battered to the ground until it hung limp and useless. Ashley's screams drove Nathan frantic! He would not allow them to take her! She was trying her best not to be the helpless victim. Her wails were full of rage and action! Her strong legs were firing off like pistons! Her training as a dancer had left her naturally talented for most physical activities. She had taken extremely well to the brief Tai boxing lessons he had shown her. Her kicks were sharp and accurate. Ashley had found her rhythm. She was methodically rocking backwards and then exploding forward with all her weight focused through her thick legs and into the heels of her feet. Nathan could not help but notice how beautiful she was. The ballet had ingrained a structure of elegant lines within her every motion. Even her long chestnut color hair seemed to fall and sweep gracefully in accordance. These thoughts needed to be stowed for later though; Ashley's bucking had caused an opportunity! A kick caught one of the armored fiends squarely in the head causing it to stumble backwards. Nathan swept his upper body low and exploded the jagged rod of metal upward! The creature's legs were at the mercy of the twisted steel in Nathan's hands. The blow swept the feet from underneath the creature. The fall had its neck vulnerable! With the quickness of instinct, Nathan jumped back onto the bed using it as a springboard to bounce higher. He held the makeshift sword high then swiftly and without hesitation Nathan brought the flashing steel cracking down into the armored monster's throat! The momentum drove the creature hard into the ground. It spasmed and screamed as its fiery life ebbed through the newly torn hole in its neck! The remaining three kidnappers turned and faced him directly. They finally acknowledged the danger his two hands could muster. Their gazes searched him, perhaps in disbelief of him slaying on of their kindred. It's all fair game. Nathan thought. They should not be here trying to take away the joys of his world.... heh, such a poetic thing to be thinking at a time like this. He mused. This nonchalant quirk of his was the only thing that kept his senses nearby when things around him went mad. What kind of chance do I stand now that it's 3 on 1? Nathan thought. Hardly anyone wins in such a situation. Wait a minute! One of those helmed faces was not burning ash but one of flesh and shared shock! His hands were holding chains of fire, each one anchored to one of the black steeled fire demons. The chain attached to the one he slew had extinguished and turned an ash white. So this is the puppeteer! Deal with him and the rest will fall! Nathan concluded. The puppeteer's lip rose in a sneer. He jerked on the fiery chains. The steel suited constructs flopped aside their dark cloaks and prepared for battle! Nathan rushed forward, his feet splitting small bays of water as he ran across the wet carpet. He thrust hard from the shoulder aiming at the puppeteer's helmed skull. His construct intervened. Its hardened gauntlet found a place between the bludgeoning steel and its master's face. The thrust was like a racket ball meeting a concrete wall! It should have bounced back after making contact with the immovable force but the laws of physics were denied reign. Instead of rebounding, the blunt tip became rigidly stuck to the gauntlet! Planting his foot on the creature's chest for added leverage, Nathan tried to pull his weapon free. An angered brightness rumbled inside the construct's helmet! The menacing rumblings traveled down into its arm where a molten heat, that hissed and bubbled, kindled! Cherry red and full of dangerous torridity, the gauntlet began to melt the metal at the point of contact! The heated metal began to sag and drip like outstretched corn syrup. The leaking metal formed jagged points on the surface giving it the appearance of some sort of devilish hatchet. Nathan yanked hard, tearing the weapon free at the weakened hot spot. Heart pounding and scared as hell, Nathan pressed on. Masking the blade's movement with his body Nathan spun to his left. Gaining momentum, he whirled the metal at the fiend's blind spot! Magnificently unimpressed, the damnable living armor snatched the blade out of the air with its molten hand. With a twist of the wrist and a waft of ash, the reddened blade snapped in two! With another flick of the wrist, the construct's palm faced forward. The construct drove his hand into the makeshift weapon; the seething gauntlet nearly consumed the remaining length. Nathan dropped the now useless weapon before his hand was burnt like a piece of fried catfish left in the skillet three batches too long. For a split second Nathan pondered what that would smell like. The sultry metal released screaming wafts of steam as it hit the soggy carpet. "Put me down you!" Ashley yelled! She was flung over the shoulder of one of the iron clad kidnappers. Her hands and feet were bound tightly, leaving her defenseless. Her flawless skin was now full of welts, bruises, and lacerations. Flushed with anger Nathan charged after his beloved! Flying at the kidnapper in a tackle, his weight staggered the armored construct but it was not enough to topple it. Before Nathan was able to plant his feet and uproot the damn thing, a steeled boot caught him across the face! The jaw shattering force loosened Nathan's hold. Its armored hand placed a cold grip on the back of his head and ripped him away. Nathan was thrown backwards, shattering a large framed picture that was unfortunate enough to be between him and the unyielding wall. Solid knuckles rained from above, keeping him from standing. Between spatters of blood and the taste of iron, Nathan could hear barking and see flashes of white. Somehow, driven to his master's side Bishop had broken loose of his kennel and joined the fray. His all white body was well over a hip's height. Bishop bared his dangerous fangs with all the ferocity of his half wolf breed. Through spurts of consciousness and pain, Nathan remembered trying to speak, "Bishop get Ashley ... help Ashley ..."

That is all he could remember. Nathan hands ran through his matted hair. It was sticky with blood. The finger combing was oddly obstructed by what felt like two pointed tufts of flesh and fur. Not wanting to move just yet, he used his toes to crimp and drag a piece of the broken mirror to his waiting hand. The strange scruffy tufts felt and looked like ears, not human but beastly! "Bah! What the hell." Now is not the time. He concluded. His vision was blurry and his mind shaken, no telling if what he was seeing was fact or fabrication. With this new development forgotten, Nathan sought to continue his prior conflict. He will pry his beloved back from their sinister mitts!

When thought finally turned rational, Nathan realized he was outside. Against the dark starlit sky there was a peculiar stream in the air; one he could smell and almost see. It felt and smelled like Ashley. Instinctively he followed it. The translucent stream wafted densely in the breeze leading him into the asphalt street and down its moon soaked lengths. Nathan could hear noises from the stream as well. It cooed sounds of stepping, barking and struggling, as if trying to tell him the story of what passed through here. Speckled blood kept his eyes at his feet. He dared not raise them for fear he might see the worst of things.

(Continues...)

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Excerpted from End of Legend by DAMON WILLIS Copyright © 2011 by Damon Willis. Excerpted by permission of AuthorHouse. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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Table of Contents

Contents

CHAPTER 1 Beyond Belief....................1
CHAPTER 2 Three Years Later....................13
CHAPTER 3 Revenge!....................23
CHAPTER 4 Who am I?....................33
CHAPTER 5 Who are you!?....................37
CHAPTER 6 Again....................43
CHAPTER 7 Zid....................47
CHAPTER 8 The Civilized....................51
CHAPTER 9 The Civilized Part 2!....................55
CHAPTER 10 Woah, That's too Cool....................87
CHAPTER 11 Don't be Mean....................97
CHAPTER 12 Port Dorgo....................111
CHAPTER 13 Fated....................127
CHAPTER 14 WTF....................145
CHAPTER 15 The Real Port Dorgo....................149
CHAPTER 16 Guidance We Must Seek....................157
CHAPTER 17 You got the Juice?....................163
CHAPTER 18 Risky Business....................177
CHAPTER 19 Inevitability....................183
CHAPTER 20 Game Change....................211
CHAPTER 21 Nathan's Sketchbook....................217