Friday 7 January 2011

Twenty One Books Now Published

I have now published twenty-one books on Smashwords.com, five of which are free. These are the first book of each series, the hope being that once you've read the first one, you'll want to continue reading the story. I have also now published Demon Lord book three, Grey God, book four, Lord of Shadows, book five, God Realm, and book six, Son of Chaos, all on Smashwords.com.

I'm currently working on finishing book seven, as yet untitled, and I'll publish that one there too, once it's finished. For anyone with a website, I'm giving 40% to affiliates, and it's easy to sign up and become one.

Also, if you enjoyed Demon Lord and Dark God, I know you'll enjoy my other series, The Queen's Blade, The Cyber Chronicles, Slave Empire and The Broken World. I hope you'll read the free first books and decide for yourself, and please post a review and a grading for me if you have a moment!

I still have a few more books to publish, too, and I'll keep you up to date on the blog, so check back! Below is an excerpt from Grey God. I'll publish excerpts from the others soon, too.

******

Kayos' yell woke Bane at the same moment that the hut's door imploded with a terrific bang. He rolled off the couch, landing on his feet. A monstrous fire demon in man form charged in and sliced the couch in two with a curved scimitar, making Bane glad he had quit it. He directed a lash of power at it, and it exploded in a blaze of bright fire, then he spun, his hands raised. Kayos held two earth demons in true form at bay with a shield of blinding white fire, which made their fists crumble to dust when they struck it.

Mirra cowered in the furthest corner, her wide eyes filled with shock and terror. Mithran and Grem guarded her with drawn swords, their expressions grim and scared. The demons ignored the little group, intent on Bane and Kayos.
"Get out of here!" Bane shouted.

Grem turned to smash through the window behind them, taking Mirra's wrist to help her scramble through it. Bane swung around. The Naribis stood just outside the door, directing the demons, a goddess at his side. His eyes lingered on Kayos, sparing Bane an occasional hard-eyed look. The goddess had a cold, reptilian beauty, bright red hair piled atop her head, a slight smirk curling her thin lips. Bane glanced around at the empty corner to assure himself the trio was safe before turning to face the Narabis again.

Conjuring a sword, he destroyed the cabin wall with a blast of shadow and leapt at the Naribis, but two fire demons charged forward to protect their master. Bane destroyed one with a bolt of dark fire, then the other hit his shields with incandescent eyes. Two more earth demons shot up, and Bane dropped the sword to direct a lash of fire at them. They slumped to scattered soil, and he turned to the fire demon as three more stepped from the fire the Naribis had lighted outside the hut.

One of the earth demons that pounded on Kayos' shield crumbled, but two more rose behind him. He spun and smashed them back with his shield, chunks of soil crumbling from them. Bane drew power from the shadows and sent it at the fire demons with a sweep of his arms, extinguishing them, but more stepped from the flames to replace them. Bane knew that as long as the Naribis remained unchallenged he would continue to summon demons, of which he had a vast supply.

The dark power whispered names in Bane's mind, and he spoke the words of summoning. The demon that stepped from the Naribis' fire attacked the dark god at Bane's command, and the Naribis destroyed it as Bane summoned another. An earth demon quit the battle with Kayos to attack Bane, sending him staggering with a glancing blow as he leapt aside. He destroyed it, but more rose all around him. Diving between them, he scooped up his sword and charged the Naribis, who conjured a weapon and met Bane's blade with scything stroke that showered him with fat yellow sparks.

The goddess summoned demons in his place, and Bane unleashed a swathe of unfocused dark power to cut them down as his sword clashed with the Naribis' again. The hut burst into flames, as did several dead trees nearby, causing a twinge of concern to go through Bane as he wondered if Mirra, Grem and Mithran were far enough away, or behind cover.

The goddess' presence angered him. She was an added danger he did not need. One god was bad enough, two were overwhelming. He whipped around and sliced off one of her arms. She shrieked and staggered back, her face twisted with rage. Bane spun and struck at the Naribis again, forcing him to jump back as the sword slashed under his weapon and opened a deep gash in his droge body.

Bane spoke the words of summoning, and two earth demons rose to attack the goddess. She destroyed one, but the other sent her sprawling with a scream of fury. Bane summoned two more and sent them at the Naribis, who spun to destroy them. Bane thrust his sword into the Naribis' back, unleashing a swathe of fire as two demons rose behind him.

The Naribis howled and turned, causing the sword to slice through him, almost cutting him in two. He stabbed his weapon into Bane's side, and the Demon Lord grunted, doubling over before he jerked his weapon free and sliced off the Naribis' arms. The Naribis staggered back, his arms regenerating. The goddess had also replaced her arm, and continued to summon demons.

The Demon Lord glanced at Kayos, who held three earth demons at bay, and did not seem to be in too much trouble. The hut's rotten timbers burnt fiercely. Bane glanced down at the sword protruding from his flank, gripped it and pulled it out. Blood soaked his shirt as he leapt at the Naribis again, his sword scything towards his foe's throat. The dark god conjured another weapon to meet Bane's stroke, and he destroyed the three earth demons that attacked him from behind with a pulse of dark fire.

Again he spun and slashed at the goddess, almost cutting her in half. She fell with a shriek, crawling away as the Naribis attacked Bane from behind. He turned in time to deflect a blow aimed at his neck, speaking the words of summoning again. Fire demons stepped from the flames to attack the Naribis with burning eyes and fiery fists. He destroyed them, then leapt at Bane, who parried his strokes and countered with some of his own, forcing the Naribis to jump aside. Changing tactics, Bane summoned tons of lava from deep within the earth and dumped it on the Naribis and his goddess. They shouted the word of power as it engulfed them, and their momentary imprisonment gave Bane time to destroy the rest of their demons.

The Naribis emerged first, and Bane chopped off his head. He sprouted a new one, and his droge form protected him from the dull sunlight that probed through the forest roof. Bane burnt part the dark god's newly formed face away, and the Naribis howled. His goddess, who had freed herself, vanished.