Gargoyle Knight: A Dark Urban Fantasy (21 page)

Meanwhile, Cael was closing in. Almost upon him…

Summoning his last bit of energy, Artan dove for the sword.
 

His fingers closed around the hilt and pulled.

“
This is for Samara!”

Artan brought up the sword in one smooth, powerful motion and drove the
Blade of Kings
into the fast-approaching monster.
 

Cael roared with agony as steel punched through his natural armor.
 

Artan withdrew the sword with a splash of black blood, a wild, crazed look on his face. This was the moment he had dreamt about for so long. He swung back the sword for the next blow.
 

“
This is for my son...”

Artan delivered a diagonal slash that ran the length of Cael’s face and shattered the
Eye of Balor.
History was repeating itself with a twist. The surface of the warrior-druid’s face had been nearly carved in two. Cracks ran through the jewel sitting inside Cael’s ruined eye-socket but Artan had tempered the blow, making sure the jewel did not shatter on impact. Before the jewel could break apart and Cael reverted to stone again, a final task remained.

“
And this is for Kirkfall!”

Artan’s flashing blade found Cael’s neck and physics took care of the rest. Steel slashed through hide, bone and sinew until the gargoyle’s head was separated from its body and flew through the air. A stunned expression was etched on Cael’s destroyed features.
 

In midflight, the
Eye of Balor
shattered inside the eye-socket. Cael’s head turned to stone, slammed into the altar and exploded into a thousand fragments.
 

At the same time, the gargoyles circling the park high above turned back into statues and rained down on Fort Tryon Park. Artan snatched Rhianna's hand, pushing her against the altar, and used his body to protect her as...

A hail of stone figures pelted the ground like bombs for what seemed like forever. Finally there was silence.

Artan peered up from the altar, the
Blade of Kings
still clenched in his hand, now slick with the blood of his slain enemy. A surreal and grotesquely beautiful graveyard of stone gargoyles awaited him.

It was over. Artan had won, regaining his humanity in the process. A new world awaited the medieval warrior.
 

The rain had eased and was now turning into a steady drizzle. Artan eyed Rhianna and smiled. For the first time in centuries, he was truly happy.

“Not bad for a woman who spends her days buried in books.”

They embraced.

C
HAPTER
T
WENTY

RHIANNA – NOW DR. Rhianna Sharpe, as she had completed her Ph.D. five months earlier – faced an auditorium full of students not much older than herself. The good news was that at least half of her students were awake. She was teaching Archeology 101 at Hunter College and this was her last lecture of the day. Christmas was just around the corner and everyone was dreading the upcoming finals while looking forward to a break from academic life. She knew she was.
 

As she addressed the room, her voice projected both confidence and passion for the subject. “There is a fine line between history and myth, fact and fiction. I want you to think about the question when you write your paper...”

She paused, having noticed a new arrival in the back row. It was none other than Artan. His hair was shorter and styled, adapted to his new world. But he still carried himself with a palpable edge. In other words, no one was going to start a bar fight with this guy.
 

The bell rang. Class was over. The students rose and filed out of the auditorium.

“Don’t forget. I’ll be expecting your papers in my drop-box by Friday.”
 

Rhianna wasn’t sure if anyone was listening. A three-hour lecture made even the biggest history buffs want to breathe some fresh air and stretch their legs.
 

Rhianna was still collecting her lecture materials when Artan appeared in front of her. She greeted him with a big smile and a passionate kiss. She nodded at her lecture materials.

“You know, you should be the one teaching this class.”

Artan shook his head.
 

“I lived it. That is enough for me.”

Rhianna nodded. In the 12 months since Balor’s resurrection in the park, nightmares had often woken her in the middle of the night. Artan’s strong hand was always there to calm her.
 

The first weeks had been the most difficult. Fortunately, her father had survived Cael’s attack and the doctors were able to save one of his eyes. He now wore an eye patch and once joked that he was now officially an acolyte of Balor. Rhianna didn’t laugh. They both carried scars from their traumatic clash with the ancient Celtic forces, but the worst was in the past where it belonged.

As Artan pulled her closer, she shot him a conspiratorial smile.
 

“I have a surprise for you.”

Rhianna rummaged through her handbag and extricated a box. Artan looked at it with curiosity.
 

“What is it?” he asked.

“I got this in the mail today.”

Rhianna held up a video game with a fearsome gargoyle depicted on the cover. The title was “GARGOYLE KNIGHT.” Lord Irish’s latest was blistering the charts and furthering the geek legend that had sprung up around the designer.

“Lord Irish is making millions off your life story. Think we should sue?”

Artan didn’t respond, still analyzing the game. The image of the winged beast on the cover seemed a tad too familiar.
 

“Gargoyle Knight? Since when is a king a knight?”

“You’ll always be my knight.”
 

Rhianna gave Artan a peck on the cheek and took his hand.

They walked out of the auditorium and left the University campus. New York City traffic was waiting for them, the city blanketed in snow. Rhianna felt happier than she had ever been.
 

As they waited for a cab, Rhianna looked up for a moment and froze. A stone gargoyle lurked on a nearby cathedral. This fearsome creature peered down at the surface world below but remained frozen in stone.
 

Before Rhianna could dwell on the image, she felt Artan’s strong presence beside her and he pulled her toward an arriving cab.
 

The taxi’s heater was going full blast and with Artan at her side, she felt warm, safe and ready to face whatever the future held in store for her. The cab pulled away from the college.
 

High above the city streets the gargoyle crouched on its ledge, snow slithering over its demonic features. The monster seemed to be waiting for the day it could take flight once more…
 

THE END

GARGOYLE KNIGHT WILL RETURN IN
 

GARGOYLE QUEST

FEAR THE LIGHT: WHO MURDERED DRACULA?

Over the centuries, many had tried to kill the Count. All had failed. Until now... 

Eight vampires gather at Dracula's castle to solve his murder. But as the sun rises outside the chateau, a voice cries out and another creature of the night is slain. Trapped, the sun burning bright outside, the vampires realize they have met their match — a killer who plans on picking them off one by one!
As the daylight reigns and their numbers dwindle, a dark suspicion grows — could Dracula's murderer be hiding in plain sight?

A THRILLER WHERE THE MONSTERS ARE THE VICTIMS!

"All in all this was an easy read that flew by. The pacing was tight and kept the story interesting up until the last page. A satisfying ending made this a worthy read.
" - Nikki Howard, Ravenous Reads
"...it is fun to see vampires switch from being predator to prey. The story is essentially ten little Indians"
- Taliesin meets the Vampires
"...If you loved and read Agatha Christie's - And Then There Were None/Ten Little Indians then you will love this novel..." -
Gadget Girl Reviews
"It is nothing like the other vampire books I have read..." -
Jenny, Fabulous and Fun Blog

OUT NOW AT A SPECIAL $0.99 LAUNCH PRICE

CROSSING THE DARKNESS: A SCIENCE FICTION HORROR THRILLER

A SHIP OF HORRORS. A JOURNEY INTO DARKNESS.
 

Faith Cadena hopes to make a new life for herself on a new world far from Earth. After doing hard time for a crime committed in her youth, all she wants now is a chance at a fresh start. 

Booking passage on an interstellar colony barge, Faith expects an uneventful three-year voyage spent in cryogenic stasis. But her dream of a better life becomes a nightmare when she is prematurely awakened halfway through her journey and finds herself trapped aboard a ship of horrors. The vessel is adrift in the far reaches of space, its crew brutally murdered and a ruthless killer in command. 

With the nearest outpost millions of miles away, it’s up to Faith to face an inhuman adversary with terrifying plans for the ship’s 4000 sleeping passengers…

C
HAPTER
O
NE

FAITH CADENA CRIED out in agony, her voice echoing inside the antiseptic hospital room. She clenched her teeth, tasting sweat as it poured down her face. Her legs were open wide and raised, her bulging belly obscuring her direct line of sight. Lights flashed above her in a blinding blur. She caught whirling glimpses of computer monitors to her left, mysterious devices of medical science designed to measure her life signs. Phosphorescent green lines spiked erratically. A doctor wearing a surgical mask sat hunched between her legs, anticipating the arrival of new life.
 

The searing, building pain wasn’t like anything Faith had ever experienced before in her eighteen years, and that was saying something — she had already faced a lifetime’s worth of adversity and suffering. She twisted her lips into a manic grin. This was a good pain, she told herself. This wasn’t the pain of an abusive stepfather stubbing out a burning hot cigarette butt into your arm, or the numbing throb of a broken heart after catching another loser boyfriend cheating. The pain tearing her insides out was different because it filled her with hope. After all the screw-ups and wrong moves and bad mistakes, she finally had done something good with her life, something she could be proud of.

She grimaced and her jaws tightened with the final effort. She exhaled a sharp gasp of unbridled anguish and the wails of a newborn filled the room. Everyone relaxed. Faith could see the tension easing from the medical staff. She sensed that they were smiling under those surgical masks. Her baby was alive and well.
 

The doctor wrapped the screaming infant in a blanket and handed it to one of the nurses. The physical contact seemed to calm the baby down a little. Faith weakly turned her head, straining to catch a closer look at her child. Her eyes found the newborn, and the steel inside her grew brittle.