Beyond the Book

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.