Exploring
new worlds can be fraught with dangers. I am the Princess Morgane, daughter of
King Maccus, wife of Prince Alan who is heir to his father King Bowden. In
Madame Cantrell’s Astraea Press release
The Enchanted, a red dragon killed my husband’s grandfather and isolated his
mother on a strange planet where she caught the eye of a ruthless king who
forced her to marry him.
A few years
later my Prince Alan was transported by enchantment to a strange, new world
inhabited by blackish-green cannibals. The cannibals were all once regular
people, but a magic spell gone wrong transformed them into slobbering, deadly, agile
creatures who can’t die until the enchantment is broken. They are covered with
green slime that will spread the enchantment to you if it comes in contact with
your blood.
These
cannibals sound like zombies, but they aren’t zombies. Zombies are reanimated
bodies that have no soul. They are usually created by something like Voodoo. These
cannibals will return to being regular people once the enchantment is broken.
That might be a problem for some of them, though, because the enchantment began
five hundred years ago.
In this
excerpt, my Prince Alan is fighting the cannibals. After hiding safely all
night in an old garbage bin, the cannibals find him.
He froze when he heard the sound
of stealthy footsteps at the top of the alley. Had he been discovered? The
footsteps sounded hesitant. Perhaps the creature feared some enemy lurked in
the alley.
After a moment, the thing
apparently relaxed as its footsteps became less guarded. A foul stench
accompanied it as it approached the metal box. Alan held his breath when the
cannibal leaned against the box. He wiped his hand and took a firmer grip on
his sword.
Without any warning, the creature
sprang into the box and landed on Alan's feet. It screamed as if all the demons
of this world pursued it. Alan kicked at it and knocked it into the side of the
box. The metal bowed with a dull boom that made Alan's heart race.
The sun had begun to peep over
the horizon, but the cacophony drew three other cannibals, who raced into the
alley. Their arrival distracted the first creature. Perhaps he feared they
meant to take his meal away. Taking advantage of the creature's inattention,
Alan thrust his sword into the cannibal's heart. It gurgled one final cry and
dropped to the floor.
The new arrivals made a circle
around the box, hissing and snarling. One of them, perhaps bolder than the
rest, eased forward. Alan allowed it to come within a few feet of him before he
struck. It screamed as his sword pierced its chest.
The other cannibals seemed wary
now and refused to attack him. Just when his nerves had stretched to the
breaking point, the larger man lunged at Alan, but he did not come within
striking distance. A howl came from behind Alan. When he turned, the first
cannibal attacked.
It grabbed the blade of his
sword, which slid through its hands and undoubtedly cut to the bone. Alan tried
to free his weapon, but the cannibal held on tight. It did not seem to feel any
pain.
The second
cannibal now moved in, almost gibbering with glee. Slobber ran from its mouth
as it bared rotted, blackened teeth. Alan finally succeeded in dislodging his
sword, but just as he did so, the second cannibal jumped on his back.
Madame Cantrell's book is available at Amazon, B&N, and most online retail outlets.
Good Morning Elaine! I am going to have to read some of your books soon. The Enchanted sounds great but Blue 52 would probably be my first choice! Soon!
ReplyDeleteYou'll love Blue 52. If I do say so.
ReplyDelete