Gauntlet Rite of Ascension (43 page)

“What are you going to do?” He asked.

I looked over at my sister and Eavan; they were deep in a conversation, both already settling into an easy friendship. I saw Max sitting nearby with Katrina at his side, I’d have to ask him how the hell that happened, and I grinned lazily.

“I think I might just start my own Pack.” I said as I walked away from him.

I sat down with my friends and watched as the sun began to slowly rise, brightening the sky. A new day had begun and hopefully, with the help of my new Pack, a new life.

End.

Also by Marcus Abshire

Redemption

Volume One

The Alliance Series

              John Adams is a Special Forces combat wizard, trained to kill the things that go bump in the night by the very country that has betrayed him. Desperate for answers he seeks the one man he trusts the most. Hunted by Otherworld assassins and the U.S. military, John sets out on a journey that will lead him on a path for the truth. Only in the end, he may yet discover his REDEMPTION.

John Adams has been trained since childhood to kill monsters. He’s good at what he does. Believing his life’s work has been spent making the world a better place, he feels betrayed when he discovers that his country may be kidnapping soldiers to create unthinking killing machines. With the help of his partner, Nathan Blackcrow, an engineer wizard, Peotr Stragnoff, a 500-year-old werebear, and Cynthia, an immortal Gryphon, John begins a journey that will give his life a new purpose. With the help of his friends, John learns that killing first, asking questions later may not be the best policy.

Available at Amazon.com

https://www.createspace.com/3955364

Check out Redemption on Facebook

Coming Soon!

Retaliation

Volume Two

The Alliance Series

Available at Amazon.com

And

https://www.createspace.com/3955364

                            Check out Redemption on Facebook.

Read more for an exciting preview of the

first novel in the Alliance series.

Redemption

By Marcus Abshire

Available from Amazon.com

https://www.createspace.com/3955364

Redemption

Chapter 1

You’d be surprised how quiet a centaur can be. Especially when they’re as big as this one was.

              The six-foot broadsword that was being drawn from the scabbard on his back was not as scary as the curling ram horns coming from his head.

              He was jet black with a long beard and massive muscles. The arrow launched from his crossbow was sticking out of the back of the Neon at precisely the spot my head was a second ago. Sensing something was wrong and seeing his reflection in the back window of the car I was loading allowed me to dive to the ground, dodging his first attack.

              Centaurs are creatures of the Otherworld. They live in large herds, roaming the unending plains that occupy the areas of the Otherworld they inhabit. Their society is set up in a warrior caste structure. Centaurs are rewarded for being fierce fighters and have a strict system of laws that center on honor and physical prowess.              

              There were no words exchanged, no witty dialogue. This centaur was a professional; there was no need for him to tell me his intentions after looking into his eyes.

              They were dead.

              Not rotting dead, but dead of emotion, void of empathy or remorse, he meant to kill me, no recall today, just death.

              In the time it took the centaur to unclasp his enormous sword, I readied some of my own magic in the form of lightning.

              I liked lightning, electricity always held a certain spot in my heart. It was the fires of creation so I have been told. Its effects are instant and seem to work well with creatures that have bodies. Most earth bound creatures have to have vessels to live in, these vessels have muscles and a nervous system, electricity seems to do a lot of damage to that system when you have 20,000 volts of it.

              I raised my outstretched hand and unleashed the energy I had gathered. An amber bolt of lightning raced from the palm of my hand and went straight for the centaur’s chest.

              The centaur just barely got the broadsword out and in front of him before the bolt hit. The broadsword must have been enchanted because most of my blast was absorbed by the sword and deflected harmlessly into the air. The amount of electricity that did get through staggered the beast and had him, I guessed it was a him, down on three legs.

              The smell of burnt hair reached my nose while I began to get my feet under me. I was hurrying to get to the driver’s door when I heard the centaur bellow, shattering the rest of the Neon’s windows. It wasn't a whinny like I thought would be appropriate from a centaur, being half horse, but it sounded more like a mix between a lion and a mama grizzly, only much louder.

              I managed to get the driver’s door opened and looked back to see the centaur had recovered and was barreling down on me with the full intent on skewering me with his blade.

              I made a sound that was manlier than it came out and began to scramble past the steering wheel to the passenger side door when I heard a loud and deep bong. Like the sound you used to hear from the game show with the gong.

              There was a flash of light and I realized that Nathan was standing outside at the front of the Neon with both hands pressed together in a palm-to-palm pushing motion. His forehead was already breaking out in sweat and a look of pure determination was on his face.

              "I can’t hold him off much longer; it would be nice if we got the hell outta Dodge!" Nathan said between clenched teeth.

              I looked back and saw the centaur attempting to push his way through an invisible wall. The centaur stood holding his sword with the tip pointed towards the invisible shield. Where it interacted with the containment field, there was a blue glow at the point of contact
.

              I looked at Nathan and gave him the one, two, three with my fingers and he nodded, releasing the centaur. He scrambled towards the passenger side door.              

At the same time he let go of the charging centaur from his prison I used a bout of energy to rip up the pavement the centaur was on, angling it up and away from our car, making it about four feet wide. I created a ramp and the centaur used it along with his own momentum to launch himself about twenty-five feet in the air and over our car.

              How he took the fall, I can’t say since I used the distraction to get the trusty Neon up and moving. As I turned onto the main road that would take us to the interstate, I heard a god-awful noise that sounded like a centaur crashing into a diner. It was music to my ears. 

              I got the car up to speed then quickly got on the highway leaving a raging centaur and a shocked morning breakfast crowd behind.

              It wasn't even 8 am.