Ebudae (48 page)

“Right. Obviously we’re not going to do
business the normal way. Obviously you’re not going to say
anything. Obviously this is a ridiculous, miserable place to be and
I should have just gone to a guild.” Blavoci sighed angrily.

The figure remained completely still.

“A statue would be envious of your ability
to act like stone,” Blavoci said in exasperation. “But so be it.
Full payment up front. Shall I tell you the target first?”

Another nod.

“Statues don’t nod you know.”

The figure remained still.

“The target is Lady Ebudae Pallon.”

The man shifted as though surprised.

“Oh, you know of her?”

There was a pause and then a slower nod.

“Well good. That’ll make your task easier.
The stupid bitch destroyed all of my holdings in Dralin by leading
the City Guard in an attack on my estate. I want an example made of
her!” Blavoci’s voice had risen to a yell by the last sentence and
his fists were balled. He was incredibly angry about the events
from the summer before.

The details were confusing, but Master
Blavoci had learned that City Guards, working from Lady Pallon’s
estate, had attacked his home in Dralin and then taken down every
person he had working for him. They had confiscated all his
property there, destroying a vital hub of business and costing him
countless amounts of money. He was staying with his son and working
on building things back up. They couldn’t do so legitimately yet,
but they had the underground workings begun already with the help
of a faction of Rojuun.

He came back to his senses. It wouldn’t do
to stay in his anger while dealing with the assassin. However, the
assassin was gone. “Hey where’d you . . .” He jerked forward.

Blavoci looked down at the liquid-silver
blade sticking out of his chest. Its dim glow swirled beautifully
in the dark room. Every part of his body felt cold and he could see
his breath. The blade pulled out and he fell to his knees as though
it had been the only thing holding him up.

“Master Blavoci?” Tooby’s voice came from
the doorway. “Is everything alright, Master Bla . . .” The words
ended with a grunt.

As Master Blavoci fell to the ground, he
realized that the assassin had killed them both. He wondered why as
he watched his last breath puff out in an icy mist.

###

***

About the
Author

John H. Carroll was the youngest of seven
children and was born in Atlanta, Georgia in 1970 where he was kept
in a dresser drawer with the clean socks. Luckily, he wasn’t kept
with the dirty socks or else he might have grown up to become
slightly warped.

As a child, John spent most of his time
wandering through the Mojave Desert in an attempt to avoid people.
He would stare at the sky, imagining what it would be like to
explore different worlds. One of his favorite memories is watching
his dad build the fuselage of Evel Kneivel’s skycycle in their
garage. One of his least favorite moments was watching that
skycycle fall into the Snake River. (Not his dad’s fault and he has
documentation to prove it, so nyah)

As a teenager, John spent most of his time
driving wherever he could in an attempt to avoid people. He would
stare at the road, imagining what it would be like to explore
different worlds. He was the captain of the chess team, lettered in
golf and band while in high school, and wasn’t beaten up anywhere
near as much as one might imagine.

As an adult, John spends most of his time
staring at a computer screen in an attempt to avoid people. He
stares at the monitor for hours, imagining what it would be like to
explore different worlds. He has been married to his wonderful wife
for sixteen years and they have three obnoxio . . . wonderful
children who always behave . . . when they’re asleep.

Emo bunny minions surround John at most
times. He is their imaginary friend and they look to him for
guidance. At one point, they took over the world. No one noticed
because they left everything exactly as it was. They gave the world
back after a week because it was depressing.

The Willden Trilogy is his first endeavor
into the field of writing. Other series and standalone works will
be forthcoming. In addition, John has written a number of short
stories that can be found at most eBook sites. He writes in the
evenings and weekends whenever possible. Regrettably, the family
mentioned in a previous paragraph desires food and shelter,
requiring the author to possess a full time job until his writing
makes him rich.

If you would like to be alerted of new
releases, you may sign up for his newsletter. Your email will never
be shared with anyone else. You may unsubscribe at any time.
http://mad.ly/signups/76337/join

You can follow his blog where he discusses
writing, emo bunnies, family and various other topics of
insanity.

http://www.ryallon.blogspot.com/

Follow him on twitter if you like insane
ramblings and random comments.

http://twitter.com/kookoo88

Find him on Facebook where he discusses
current projects and writing in general:
http://www.facebook.com/John.H.Carroll.Author

His Goodreads Page:

http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/4479427.John_H_Carroll

Odd tales of anti-heroes doing their best to
survive odd circumstances.

The Emo Bunny that Should (Illustrated)

Zachary Zombie and the Lost Boy

Drippy the Peg Legged Rainbow

Unholy Cow

Attack of the Sugar Plum Fairies

Naughty Nanoworms

Zachary Zombie and the Wicked Worm

My full-length novels are set in the world
of Ryallon. They are high fantasy with rogues, knights, dragons and
flower children. You can get them at the store where you found this
one.

Willden Trilogy
(Written first)

Rojuun

Anilyia

Kethril

Dralin Trilogy
(Set in time before
the Willden trilogy)

Dralin

Ebudae

Pelya

The Wyvern Trilogy
(Parallel to the
Willden Trilogy, set in time after the Dralin Trilogy)

Wyvern

To Be Announced (Coming 2014)

Cloudswept (Coming 2014)

Stand-alone Novella

Rain Glade

Coming soon:

The Crazed Trilogy
(Set in time after
the Willden Trilogy)

The Morhain Trilogy
(Set in time
after the Willden Trilogy)