Update and New Writing

Hey everyone how are you all doing? I know i know I haven't been on in a long time but hey I'm back now and boy do i have alot to update you on...for starters

Eternal Light is completely finished and now I'm about to start on writing my quires for agents and what not (wish me luck). Eternal Earth is on my to do list next and I have been working on parts of that book.

Now for the new writing, remember how I said I was writing these untitled stories, well they are still untitled but I am going to give you a preview of one of them, this preview is from the story i am working on pertaining to the warrior captain and protector who loves his job more than most, it is in its early early stages so bare with me and any grammar mistakes that i have committed..so with that in mind please enjoy this preview...................

The tavern was filled with drunken bodies, the putrid smell of piss mixed in with the air and burned Alexios nose as he scanned the mass of male bodies around him. He and his men entered the tavern as if they owned the place. Not caring that half of the occupants were criminals that they had locked up before. There was no love for the army of the Faye in this place. Here Alexios and his men were the invaders. 

“Spread out. He’s in here somewhere.” Alexios ordered his men who quickly spread out to search different areas of the tavern. As for Alexios he made his way straight towards the bar, all eyes glued to his every movement. 

“What if he escaped us again?” Balis, his second in command and best friend said as he walked beside him. 

“He hasn’t.” At least Alexios hoped not, he was running out of time to find the princess.

Damn it. Alexios cursed himself for letting her get away. What kind of watcher was he that his one and only job slipped right through his fingers? He could kick himself in the ass. He should have known she was going to run. Shit he couldn’t blame her. He would run to if he was forced to marry someone like the Warlock. But still he should have watched her closer, not that he thought that was much more possible then what he had been doing. He followed her around everywhere she went, lurking in the shadows close by, watching her as she shopped, as she spoke with her friends and sisters, sometimes even as she slept. If he watched her any closer he would be damn near in bed with her. With that thought, came the image of them wrapped in bed together, her thick locks of golden hair covering his body as she slept quietly, tightly snuggled into his side.

He groaned, he was a man obsessed with his job and it needed to stop. There was no way the two of them could or would ever be together. She was royalty set to marry one of the lands most powerful warlocks and he was the low level solider, with no family and no majick ability of any kind, sworn to protect the kingdom not screw it. He would do well to remember that, it would make letting her go much easier.

But first he had to get her back home. He turned his attention back to the task at hand as he and Balis reached the back of the tavern where the bar was located.

The moment the overweight bartender laid eyes on them a flash of panic went across his face. Which made a smile played on the edge of Alexios lips. Getting information out of him was going to be easy enough. 

“Louis…” Alexios gave him a chilling smile. “It has been a long time.” He continued as Balis took up an empty stool to the right of him, the poorly made seat looked as if it wanted to crack under Balis’s massive weight.

“Not long enough.” Louis finished whipping off the glass in his hand and set it down in front of Alexios. Then he stared at Alexios with that one eye and jagged scare that ran completely across his face, making the man look horribly disfigured. “What are you doing here? You know you are not welcomed here.”

Alexios gave a side glance to Balis who chuckled slightly under his breath. Then he turned his attention back to Louis. He unbuckled his sword from around his waist and laid it on the counter in front of him, knocking the dirty glass off the table and shattering it to a million pieces on the floor. Alexios then took a seat on the stool in front of him. An irate Louis was smart enough not to comment about the broken glass. 

“The Faye Princess is missing and we heard that she was seen passing through this way with a group of men. I know you have seen her. Even with one eye you know who comes in and out of this disgusting place.” He paused his casual tone turning low and deadly. “Where is she?”

“If you lost your little fairy princess that’s not my problem and it’s not my business. So why don’t you and your…” he looked like he wanted to let an insult fly out his mouth, but one look as Balis and he changed his mind “men and get out of my place of business.”

Alexios smiled darkly, before Louis knew what was happening to him Alexios had the fat man by the collar of his shirt. With one forceful pull Louis flew over the counter top and crashed to the floor. As he landed every man in the tavern stood ready to draw their weapons. 

“I would sit down if I were you…” Balis said calmly as he rose from his stool. His massive body frame making the space feel twice as small as it really was “unless all of you have a death wish today.”

“No one is scared of you.” A worn down man with bald patches and bad teeth said from in the corner of the room. 

“Of course not, they are too busy being scared of your disgusting face and missing hair.” Fearean said as he pushed the man from behind. “With that and your bad breath you are much more dangerous than us.” He pushed the man again, this time causing him to stumble and fall on his face. Fearean laughed as he looked at the male glaring up at him from the floor. “What’s the matter little man…you want to fight?”

“Knock it off Fear.” Kale’s dark rumble of a voice echoed in the air around them just before he appeared beside Balis. The last of Alexios’s warriors to appear was Bryan, who stood beside Fearean looking as if he wanted to any place but in the tavern. Alexios felt the same way as his gaze went over every man in the place. He watched as they wisely backed down and took their seats again, pretending to ignore the men that now circled their host so that he had no place to run.  

“Look who we got here, it’s our good friend Louis.” Fear bent down so that Louis could look directly into his black eyes. “Louis you know how this goes tells us where she is and we promise not to take out your other eye…maybe.” He smiled showing off his perfect teeth.

“Knock it off Fear.” Alexios said. 

Fearean laughed darkly as he rose to his feet.

Alexios had grown tired of the games, kneeling down beside Louis he spoke directly to him. “Where is she, Louis? I don’t have time for your games. Either tell me where she has been taken or I’ll have…” He motioned his head towards his men. “I’ll have them carve the information out of you.” He rose to his feet, all hint of amusement leaving his features. “It’s your choice.”

Alexios stood as he watched Louis eye look around him, he figured the man understood the danger he was in when he brought his gaze back to Alexios’s.

“She was with a bunch of out of town men. They came in about a day or so ago...” His voice trembled as he spoke “they sat in the corner in the far end of the room, so they wouldn’t draw any attention to themselves..."

“How long did they stay here? What were they wearing? Was she chained or looked enslaved? Come on Louis we need details.” Alexios told the aging male.

“They stayed for a few hours, laughing and buying drinks. They almost drunk the entire bar-“

“Did you hear what they were talking about?”

Louis started to shake his head no but thought better of it once he felt the sharp end of a sword pressed against the nape of his neck. “I…I couldn’t really hear…but the lad who served them he…he could hear everything they said.”

“Where is the boy?” 

“He is outside in the stables…he sleeps there during his off hours.” 

Alexios nodded to Bryan, who was the closest to the back door, and he quickly went off to find the boy.

Alexios turned his attention back to Louis “Continue…what did they look like? Wearing?” As Alexios waited for Louis’s response he saw that the man had gone completely silent and his eyes were fixed on the door of the tavern. Alexios and his men gazes, except for Fearean whose attention remained solely on Louis, went toward the front door and took in the several men that had appeared suddenly then looked back at Louis. 

“Who are they?” Fearean asked while his sword still remained pressed to Louis’s neck.

“Collectors.” Balis responded his gaze narrowing on Louis.

 “What are they doing here?” Kale asked with a hint of annoyance in his voice as his hand went for his sword that was fastened to his side. 

Not responding to Kale’s question Alexios yanked Louis off the floor and pulled the man close to him. “You’re coming with me…Balis?”

“Yeah.” 

“Keep an eye on them while I’m gone. When Bryan comes back tell him I am upstairs in Louis’s…entertainment room. The rest of you try not to do any damage while I’m gone” 

Basil nodded. With his orders issued he and Louis vanished from sight. 

“Ok boys, you heard the man lets blend in.” 

Kale and Fearean nodded as all three of them changed out of their battle armor and into common clothes a moment before the collectors noticed them.

Louis cursed as he landed on the floor. His sore back screamed in pain as it hit the hard wood. 

“What were they wearing?” He heard the commander of the guard ask again. Louis looked up to see those hard eyes narrowed on him. The man, Faye, or whatever he was made an opposing sight in his chain mail, metal boots, and golden sword that marked his status within the army. Only generals and commanders were given the golden swords of the Faye or so he’d been told. To be given those swords one had to show exceptional majick ability and strength and loyalty to the royal family. Not only did the swords show power and status they also gave the holder the power to call forth the most powerful majick in the land…too bad none of the Faye actually knew how to channel that ancient power, if they did they would be unstoppable. Louis had only known of one being who had successfully channeled that power and survived. But if you asked him it wasn’t worth it, to be unstoppable yet to lose your soul to that power and everything else you love…no he was glad he wasn’t a Faye.

But to be honest with himself he held great respect for the warrior in front of him. Many myths and stories that he heard as a young boy made the Faye’s out to be weak creatures but once he had gotten sucked into this world he quickly realized the stories he had heard were nowhere near the truth. Or if it was they were they didn’t count the Faye’s the ruled in this land. These Faye’s were some of the most power creatures in the land, coming second only to their enemies the Warlocks. Alexios and his men were a far cry from the fragile creatures that played in children’s stories. They were ruthless and cut throat. He remembered when he first heard Alexios name, it had been right after The First Great War where the warlock leader Salvenious de’ KuVane had tried to over throw the Faye King, King Ontligus. Louis remembered hearing how it was Alexios who had saved the king and his daughters’ life by ripping the warlocks head off with his bare hands, after he had went after the second born princess. Never in the history of the Faye, had a solider been possessed with that much rage and physically ripped one of the most powerful warlocks head off with his bare hands. Ever since then Alexios’s name was feared throughout the land. Him and his army exploits were the stories parents told their children when they misbehave, ‘be good of Alexios and his men will come to take you away, they will lock you in the castle dungeon and hang you upside down by your toes. So behave if you want to stay with mommy’. 

“Louis, do you hear me or have you gone completely deaf.” Alexios impatient reputation preceded him.

“They were dressed in…” He paused, thinking back to the group of men that had came into his tavern yesterday acting like a pack of wild dogs. Well that he was used to, half his best customers acted like animals but these men were strange…different. “They wore long black and hooded robes when they first walked in. There was a leader that wore the same black robe except his had gold trim going from one arm to the other and expensively made shoes…they walked in quietly. They didn’t look at any one or anything. They simply took a table in the back.” He paused, took a deep breath. “Their hoods covered their faces, it wasn’t until another man, taller than the rest with a royal looking blue robe came in with a woman and sat at their table did they remove their hoods.” he slowly rose to his swollen feet. He made his way to his makeshift bed as Alexios absorbed what he just told him.

“The woman…pale blue eyes and long golden hair...tall, with lean legs?” Alexios voice was barely above a whisper and Louis had to strain to hear him.

“Yes, we were allowed a peak at her eyes and hair but other than that her face was covered by a mask…”

“The men, what did they look like?” By now Alexios was pacing the tiny space and Louis was getting dizzy trying to keep up with him. 

“They all looked exactly the same, pale silver hair and grey eyes, they resembled boys in the middle of transitioning into men…but their hands, their hands looked like the hands of 90 year old men. And their nails, long and yellow looking, curved several times.”

“Saplings…” Louis heard Alexios whisper just as another warrior appeared in the room with him. Louis looked at the warrior and felt the urge to run and hide in his small closest. Menace and rage filled the space between them as he held on to the boy at his side. 

“Here’s the boy.” His voice so deep that Louis wasn’t sure he heard him. “I’m going down stairs with the others.” With that he tossed the child in front of Alexios and left the room. 

Louis felt bad for the poor boy as his little and frail body trembled from head to toe.

Alexios cold eyes stared the child down, and then he bent down so that he and the boy were face to face. As he looked at the boy his features softened slightly. 

“What is your name?” 

“Taylor.” The soft voice barely reached his ears.

“Taylor, I am Alexios.” 

The boy’s face lit up at the sound of Alexios’s name. “I know who you are.” His voice raised a notch with his excitement. “You are the one that killed Salvenious de’ KuVane…my mother loves you…well loved before she died.”

“I am very sorry for your lose. How long have you been here?”

“Three years.” As if some courage had been slapped into him, his back straightened and he finally looked Alexios in the eye. “I do very good work and I work very hard…I hope one day to be a warrior like you.”

As Louis watched the exchange between the two of them he saw something flash in Alexios’s eyes at the boy’s words but as quick as the emotion had come it was gone.

“That is a fine goal to have Taylor. But I have a question to ask you.”

“Sure Alexios you can ask me anything.” The boy said excitedly, which earned a slight smile from Alexios.

 “Do you remember the men who came in here yesterday?” When the boy just looked at him with confused eyes, Alexios probed more. “They came in here with a woman, wearing a mask.”

Alexios watched as all color fled from the boy’s face and his eyes began to dart back and forth around the room. “Taylor…do you know who the men I am talking about?”

He shook his head up and down slowly. His small hands were balled into fist, in the hopes to stop them from shaking as he remembered the monstrous faces of the five men. “They were not men…they had yellow and wrinkled skin, with pale silver hair and cold grey eyes. Their teeth…their teeth, some looked like they were chewing on rocks. Others were sharp and covered with dry blood stains.” His voice cracked as he continued. “The smelled Alexios, I mean really, really bad. They smelled like rotten flesh.”

Both Louis and Alexios stared at the boy. Louis because he didn’t know the boy was such a great liar and Alexios because the boy had seen through the Saplings disguise and down into their true appearance. It took an incredibly strong warlock to be able to look past the Saplings disguise, hell he still had a hard time seeing them but this boy, this child who could be no older than 11 saw through them with perfect ease.

“What of the woman?” Alexios asked once his shock wore off.

“She was beautiful, pure innocence even though those men tried to take it. I could see in her spirit Alexios that she would not give into them. She called out for help but I was the only one who could hear her…she called out for her warrior…her savior.”

Alexios heart stopped beating at the boys last words. She had called out for him and he had failed her. Coldness the likes of which he had never known swept across his body. He made a promise to himself and to her that everyone of those monsters would die by his hands.

 “I tried to help her Alexios, I tried but they were too strong, they kept me back, they kept me from their minds.” He started to sob. “I couldn’t help…I failed you. I swear I didn’t know she was the princess…I would have tried harder…I swear I would have Alexios.”

“It’s ok Taylor, you did more than most warriors would have done after seeing those monsters.” Alexios reassured the small boy but he still couldn’t believe what he was hearing. This boy was something special…different and Alexios had to get him back for the king to see. “Do you hear where they were taking her?” 

He nodded his head yes “Something about an auction.”

Alexios felt all color drain from his face. An auction…no. He couldn’t let that happen. He had seen what went on at those auctions and he didn’t want his – the – princess anywhere near it. He had to get to her and quick. Good thing there was only one auction arena in this area and it was less than a half a day’s travel. Alexios rose to his feet and turned his attention to Louis. “The boy is coming with us.”

Before Louis could say a word Alexios and the boy vanished from his sight.

Alexios reappeared downstairs expecting to see his men gathered and waiting for him, instead what he found was a brawl. Bodies were being thrown everywhere, twice since he had appeared in the room he had to move the boy out the way of a flying body. 

“This motherfucker just cut me.” Fearean’s voice rang out over the fighting. Alexios turned just in time to see Fear drive his sword into the man’s stomach and twist. 

  “Pathetic.” Distaste rung in Fear’s voice as he kicked the dead man of his sword.

Alexios shook his head, he should have known better than to leave them alone for more than a few seconds. He looked next to Fearean to see Kale -with Bryan covering his back- decapitating a man. Blood sprayed him all in the face as the head landed at Alexios’s feet.

“I swear they act like little children.” 

Alexios turned to his side to see Balis sitting in the same spot he had been in before he left with Louis. “I said to watch them.”

“They are grown men, if they can’t watch themselves by now then shame on them.” With that Balis downed whatever alcoholic substance he was drinking then punched the man in the face that was charging with his sword drawn towards him. 

“Will you get them, I know where the princess is and I need Fearean to take the boy to the castle. I’ll be waiting outside, as you can see the boy doesn’t need to see this mess right now.”

Basil looked at the boy then back at Alexios, he raised a brow.

“I will explain later just get them, time is running out.” Alexios vanished with the boy just as someone’s body part would have hit him in the back of his head.