Dark Elves blanket the land with death while two brothers fleeing from demons are saved by a sorcerer and discover that their fates are more intertwined with the evil than they would have ever imagined. As unlikely heroes are born, enemies unite as one against the greatest threat the world has seen. And just when the war is swallowed by darkness, from the hands of an ancient magic light is shed.Fallen into darkness by their lust for power, a band of rogue Elves claim all magical talismans as their own, absorbing powers so strong that they cannot bear the strain, losing themselves completely and becoming banished, changed into Dark Elves. The Dark Elves create an evil life form that spawns dark minions of its own to sweep through the land and take all magic for itself. Its Takers run unchallenged, destroying all life forms that could threaten their master. Massed by the thousands, they descend across the land leaving death in their wake.As war between Elves and Men begins, sorcerers are called to intervene, only to discover the demon army closing in fast. Elves and Men must form an alliance as their only chance to survive. The Elves race to create talismans, as a band of Men discover that they may hold the one key to defeating the horde: an ancient sword with unlimited power.As a group of men search for the fabled sword, they realize that a demon posing as one of them is also searching. If it can get the sword before they do, then hopes for winning the war are over.Meanwhile, Tane and Qenn, two brothers fleeing from demons, are saved by a sorcerer and discover that their fates are more intertwined with the evil than they would have ever imagined.Tane and Qenn depart from each other and begin their own perilous quests, with the fate of the world resting in their hands.

Loyalty between a mercenary and his employer needs to be a reciprocal arrangement. When three men are betrayed one time too many, they decide that it's time to stop running and start fighting - elsewise there will be nowhere left for them to run to.‘The narrow stretch of grass separating the chapel from the cloister had saved it from the fire, but not from desecration…’Mick and Aidan are mercenaries on a simple errand - collect the third member of their crew and report back to the king. What they don't know about is the surprise that awaits them at the end of their journey. One that will force them to fight for their own sakes for the first time.

Lupita Espinoza was a forty year old, single mom who often wished of being anywhere in the world other than Corpus Christi. But when a geologist in Antarctica appears in her bathroom mirror, Lupita begins a journey that will take her to places never dreamt possible. Late For Tea is Part Three of the multi-part series "The Wonderland", a science fiction romance.Lupita Espinoza was a forty year old, single mom who often wished of being anywhere in the world other than Corpus Christi. But when a geologist in Antarctica appears in her bathroom mirror, Lupita begins a journey that will take her to places never dreamt possible. Late For Tea is Part Three of the multi-part series "The Wonderland", a science fiction romance where the girl gets the guy, the aliens, and her place in the universe. In the third part, Lupita learns that her time in Antarctica is coming to an end, and she makes a risky decision that could very well determine the fate of her life and any possibility for a chance to find the one thing she's always wanted ... love.

To the masses who go about life with their heads down, the lies are comfortable. For the few daring to look closer, the truth will be horrifying.Since its inception, the city inside the wall has prospered. With strict rules set in place, a system has evolved to ensure that every citizen maximizes their production. If anyone fails to meet quota, the punishment is simple and swift; they are released to the unknown world beyond the Wall. The city officials have just promoted Jordan Shepherd to the head of her department. It’s everything she has ever wished for… or so she thinks.

Often described as “Poems for people who don’t like poetry,” this observant, engaging, and heartfelt collection will pick you up and whisk you along the gamut of emotions from exuberant happiness, to deep loss, with frequent stops at the ecstatic, as well as the absurd. These poems wonderfully capture snippets of life in an original and clever manner.Warriors of Gaia tells the epic story of a future world and the girl bound by her sacred pledge to save it…Erin Taylor, a high school junior, never planned to be a savior, but a combination of outrageous circumstances casts her in that role. She and her friends must free their people from slavery in a cruel and dangerous future world. Opposing them is The Court, which will go to any lengths to stop them. In the tradition of Hunger Games, this is a tale of a small band of teens who dare to challenge the most powerful institution on earth.

Eavesdropping and saying exactly what she’s thinking are just a couple of flaws that get Amelia into trouble.Who knew magic was real? That there is a whole world out there she’d never heard of, where magic is common?Amelia’s life is about to take a dramatic change—will she be able to survive all the twists and turns to come? Or will she end up pissing off the wrong man?Thomas discovers more to life with the help of Merlin and voices from a tall pine tree. He offers gratitude to the world and a little bit of magic.

Once home to the illustrious Order of the Crane -- guardians of the world's myths and legends -- Stauros Island, now in the hands of the Order of the Shrike, is an elite university whose students are guaranteed positions of power upon graduating. However, a dark curse hangs over the island: students are disappearing. What secrets does the island hold? And who is to blame?Welcome to Stauros Island, a fantasy world where mystery unfolds at every turn. Hugh Fogg, a young monk from the Order of the Crane who died in the 1615 massacre skillfully planned by the enemy known as the Order of the Shrike, has resided on the island for four hundred years as a phantom. He roams the island, which is now an elite university where students are guaranteed positions of power upon graduation.Despite societal changes and the ever pervasive power of the Order of the Shrike, Hugh vows to keep the prophetic myth of the Slayer of the Shadow of Fear alive. However, his plan starts to unravel when students begin to disappear from the island.

People have been pouring into the city for months. Now it's surrounded by invading armies. Cadiz is the last holdout of an inevitable invasion. As queen, Sarah suspects the end is near, but then as all hope seems lost she encounters someone. Someone whose survival is more important than her city. Who is this person and how could they possibly get out of Cadiz?This is a short story, roughly 10 pages. It was created as an assignment for a college level creative writing course. Tris Caldwell, mother of three and a full time nurse, works in the Emergency room of the local hospital. A city in which the crimes are normally petty, at least those that the citizens know about. When the unthinkable happens, a shooting at one of the local elementary schools, Tris and her co-workers prepare for the worst. As the death toll rises, only one child is brought in along with the man responsible for killing several children.

It is the far future and humanity has become stagnant. A device called the Interface enables all humans to link themselves to virtual realities and to download at whim any information that they might want. Nothing changes, everything stays the same. That is, until Laurena Tyall asks the Interface a question that no one else has thought of asking for over two hundred years: what is it to learn?It is the far future and humanity has become stagnant. A device called the Interface enables all humans to link themselves to virtual realities and to download at whim any information that they might want. It is an existence devoted purely to leisure. But no one now remembers how to think for themselves. There is no need to learn or to gain knowledge. There is no striving for a better world, no need to improve oneself. No need to travel or work. Nothing changes, everything stays the same. That is, until Laurena Tyall asks the Interface a question that no one else has thought of asking for over two hundred years: what is it to learn? That one question changes her world forever and nothing will ever be the same again, or so she believes.

Mia finds herself trapped between time when she overused a watch with manifesting powers. Now she is walking on a path she may never turn back as Mia is in the world of Amaria, a place that only exists between the gaps of time and space. Along with a new found friend, Martin, together they venture to a place not many come upon. Will they conquer each and every obstacle and return to their world?David Masterson is a talented music journalist working at a modest music magazine, hoping to go places. One day his Editor gives him the assignment he has been waiting for -to obtain an exclusive interview with the world's most famous,but reclusive, Rock Star - Jared Lucas!Not believing his good fortune, Masterson journeys to the remote estate of LAMENT HILL, Mount Hood, Oregon, home of the legendary Rock icon, to secure the interview that he believes will make his career. Yet, what appears at first to be a dream assignment turns out to be anything but as, in Masterson's attempt to get Lucas to reveal his soul, he is soon shocked to discover that he is, in fact, fighting to keep hold of his own...

Augmented by cloning, augmented by virtuality, and changed by embedded electronics. What started as an innocent search for one man ended up in a life and death race to save his clones lives, as his understanding of his own identify blurred and he was forced to rethink his core beliefs about his own consciousness, his own identity.Another leg on her life journey brings Lolita closer to discovering her true self. Wiley shows what confidence looks like and how to get it and L'ii Kayana demonstrates how to stay present in the moment. These two truckers teach Lolita some of life's lessons not taught by the family members who lived in the bizarre household she called home. Add in bottle rockets, cats and the "Happy Hiker", and this trip is one for the record books.

A humorous look at the daily life of Camille Bette, a spunky nine-year old girl trying to fit in at a new school.To Whom Ever This May Concern;I wish I could tell you the contents of this book were purely fictional. That I, Adela Arthur, was just a normal sixteen year old from Portland and that dragons, giants, elves and mermaids were just myths. I wish these were legends shared from crazy old grandparents to crazy old grandparents around campfires. After all, that is what I used to believe.I never would have thought they lived on the other side of our mirrors in a world called Cielieu. But they do…I never would have thought there were humans, better known as Volsin that lived among them with the ability to create light from a single thought. But there are…I never would have thought I was one of them… But I am…I am the last Arthur and I was brought to the human world after a Volsin, filled with greed, began to strip the light from our kind.The human world was supposed to be a safe haven… but he’s found us and the only way to stop him is to go back to Cielieu and begin training as a student in the Elpida Castle of Light.Like I said I wish the contents of this book were purely fictional and not my life…ADELA ARTHURInspired by J.K Rowling's Harry Potter

Since her son’s murder, Kerry Williams has been unwilling to connect with other people. Her anger rages behind a veneer of superficial pleasantries that she invokes in order to endure her daily existence with some grace. She has come to see her life as an earthly purgatory, and when she goes to an old acquaintance’s fiftieth birthday party, she feels she may be about to descend into hell.Over five hundred years since the start of the Space Age and humanity has still not yet broken out of the prison of the solar system. Generation ships have been sent to nearby star systems, but the sublight speeds involved means that nobody has returned yet. Warp drives and worm holes have been around for centuries, although only in science fiction. Running short on resources in the solar system–even Saturn's rings have been strip-mined–humanity needs some divine intervention. Instead, they get Boris S. Vladnitz, a down on his luck captain of a battered spaceship. Follow along with Captain Vladnitz and his crew of wildcatters on board the Arkhangel as they eke out a living among the snowballs and rocks of the Kuiper Belt and finally get the chance of humanity's lifetime, if they survive the trip–and each other.Saint Vladnitz is the first story in the Borgia Trajectory, a series set in the same universe as the Eichi Testaments, back when the Galactic Empire wasn't even a glimmer in the eyes of the corporations that ruled Earth.

A collection of three previously published short stories about Alcandhor, one of the main characters of the novel Sword's Edge: Alternate Path / Bitter Storm / PetitionA collection of three previously published short stories about Alcandhor, one of the main characters of the novel Sword's Edge: "Alternate Path" originally published in Deep Magic, July 2005"Bitter Storm" originally published in Deep Magic, January 2004Deep Magic's December 2003 cover, "Bitter Chivalry," by Todd Lockwood , provided the inspiration for this writing-challenge winner."Petition" originally published in Residential Aliens, November 2010

In this short story we meet Marta who is living a fairly isolated life with her son with autism. We share some of her experiences and thoughts about how she came to this place in life and we also consider what it means to live in an authentic way.In this short story we meet Marta who is living a fairly isolated life with her son with autism. We share some of her experiences and thoughts about how she came to this place in life and we also consider what it means to live in an authentic way. Through Marta's experience, we see that relationships and friendships can take us on journeys in so many directions. We also become aware of the complexity entailed in beginning and ending relationships and consider the costs and benefits involved. We may also be forced to think about how we treat others and the reasons behind our actions.

Jenny and Bobbie are trapped in a massage parlor and hunted by a howling, growling, salivating werewolf hungry for their flesh.Jenny and Bobbie, two of the hottest women you could ever meet, are working the night shift at the Blue Tail massage parlor on the outskirts of town. But after the full moon arises a creepy stranger arrives and they suddenly find their themselves hunted by a terrifying creature who is hungry for their hot flesh.

Weihnachten: meist verbringen wir das Fest mit der Familie unter dem Tannenbaum, mit Kirchgang, Kerzen, zuviel Essen, und Gemuetlichkeit. ist das langweilig? Es geht auch anders: Ethel arbeitet in der Notaufnahme. Dies ist eine Kurzgeschichte ueber ein anderes, trotzdem weihnachtliches Fest.Das Fest der Liebe verbringt Ethel, die junge Krankenschwester, in diesem Jahr in der Notaufnahme. Sie unterhaelt sich mit Kollegen und hat eigentlich keine Lust zum Arbeiten- wer haette das auch? Dann aber, trotz Verletzungen, piepsenden Monitoren und Aufregung, kommt sie drei besonderen Patienten naeher: dem aelteren Herrn Ricken, der zu schwach ist, um sich selbst zu versorgen, Kerstin, die oft Schwierigkeiten hat, angemessen auf Probleme zu reagieren, und die huebsche Nina. Und alle von ihnen werden getroestet und gut behandelt: so gut es eben geht, mit gebrochenen Knochen und fern von zu Hause. Dies ist eine Kurzgeschichte ueber Ethel: wer mehr ueber sie lesen moechte, ueber Liebe im Krankenhaus, erste Arbeitstage, die Suche nach dem eigenen Platz und darueber, wie es eigentlich ist, in der Notaufnahme zu arbeiten: der kann sich "Neu in der Notaufnahme" herunterladen. Viel Spass beim Lesen!

A high school loser gets caught up in the latest craze known as FACE PUNCH, where a person can change someone’s life by punching them in the face! Now he’s determined to get the girl of his dreams and change his reputation, one knuckle sandwich at a time!Hodge Podge is a mix of poems and writings on various spiritual topics and movements in our time. There is a section on Fundies and poems about homelessness. There is a section on God's wise path of creation and on why we live in a messed up world. Deep insights echo throughout this Hodge Podge of thought.

The Campbells and Lamonts were enemies sworn... For the sake of his twin, Shaw Campbell would storm the gates of Hell. Yet his brother was not in the hands of the devil, but of Merritt Lamont, a female firebrand who would defend her family's honor to the death...and readily take Shaw with her! In these vengeful times of clan warfare, Merritt knew there were few men she could trust. Yet there was something in the eyes of Shaw Campbell that spoke of a man of peace. A man who could all too easily capture her troubled heart!

In the seductive first installment of an eBook original serial from the New York Times bestselling author of Ruined and Addicted, a woman running from her past has finally found a bit of control . . . until her powerful new boss makes her go wild. My name is Aria Winston. I’ve fought desperately to escape the seedy underbelly of Las Vegas. Now I’m on my own, in control of my own life and my own destiny . . . just the way I like it. Until Sebastian Caine changes everything. Working as a cocktail waitress at one of Vegas’s hottest five-star casinos means putting up with a ton of bad behavior from the big spenders. But it pays the bills—and that’s all that matters to Aria, who needs every last dollar to escape from her father’s destructive grasp and the brutal man he expects her to marry. But when she lashes out against a billionaire who won’t take no for an answer, she nearly loses everything—until Sebastian steps in. The owner’s son and handpicked successor, Sebastian is dark, sexy, and kinder than any rich man should be. And when he apologizes and offers to keep her job safe, Aria can’t help the way her body reacts to his. Suddenly her job, and the security it brings her, isn’t the only thing Aria wants. Play Me is an erotic serial intended for mature audiences. Aria and Sebastian’s story continues in *Play Me: Hot.*