Excerpt: A Whisper of Death by Paul Barrett
Enjoy reading an excerpt from "A Whisper of Death" by Paul Barrett.
Erick Darvaul sat in an uncomfortable iron chair on his manor’s second floor balcony, stared at the cliff, and watched his parents fall to their deaths. Their bodies splashed into the raging ocean, never to surface. He relived the event in his mind and did nothing to stop them, as helpless now as the night it happened.
A creature perched on the balustrade, clawed feet wrapped in between the spiked posts for support, barbed tail extended behind for balance. He did not look at the cliff. He stared at Erick, his creator, a pale, frightened man-child with a thin chest and skinny arms, dressed in the same dark shirt and pants he had worn since that fateful night a month ago. Erick’s brown, curly hair flared around his soft face in a tangled mass. Blue eyes stared, seeing nothing but pain.
Created from Erick’s blood, body, and soul, the homunculus knew his master’s agony as if it were his own. At seventeen, Erick might be a man in years, but still a child in many ways; Blink feared for his master now more than ever.
“I know what you’re thinking, Blink,” Erick said, his voice soft.
“Perhaps you do. It’s the same thing I’ve thought all these nights.” Though they could share minds, Blink had not offered his concern to his master’s scrutiny.
“You’re afraid I’m going to follow them.”
“I’m afraid they left you ill prepared.”
“For what?”
“For life without them.”
Erick blanched. For a moment, his eyes locked with Blink’s, then returned to staring at the cliff’s edge. It would be barely visible to his master, even in this night’s full moon. On past nights, Erick had viewed the bluff through Blink’s eyes, using the familiar’s heightened senses to better see where his parents had jumped. Tonight he seemed content with his limited vision.
“I’ll survive,” Erick said, but the words came out choked. “I’m glad you give a damn, because they obviously didn’t.” A breeze blew, bringing the smell of salt from the ocean, eight hundred feet below. The ocean that swallowed Erick’s parents.
Erick turned from the cliff and toward the town that nestled downhill of the manor. He frowned. “What’s that?”
Blink shifted on the railing, his wings half spread in case the loose fencing gave way. Erick’s father Darric had often talked of fixing it, but it would likely remain forever undone.
Pinpoints of light appeared from behind the town’s outer buildings. Torches, Blink realized. Lots of torches.
“It’s the villagers,” Blink said. “What are they doing?”
Erick sat up and pushed away the hair that fell in front of his eyes. “They must know my parents are dead. They think the manor’s empty, and they’re going to destroy it and burn out the ‘evil.’ They’ve always hated us, and now they have their chance.”
BOOK INFO
A Whisper of Death
By Paul Barrett
Fiery Seas Publishing
December 22, 2015
Young Adult/Dark Fantasy
Born with the power of ultimate evil, he is the world's only chance at survival.
Erick Darvaul is a Necromancer, a descendant of the original sorcerers who turned against their dark masters and exiled them. Now these beings have returned, it falls upon Erick and a cadre of newfound allies to rally against these powerful entities and defeat them again.
Through fire, ambush, and betrayal, Erick and his companions claw their way to Broken Mountain to reunite with others who share his ability. There, Erick battles the mortal foe of his ancestors pushing the limits of his Necromantic magic, a force that seeks to corrupt him every time he summons it.
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Paul has lived a varied life full of excitement and adventure. Not really, but it sounds good as an opening line.
Paul’s multiple careers have included: rock and roll roadie, children’s theater stage manager, television camera operator, mortgage banker, and support specialist for Microsoft Excel.
This eclectic mix prepared him to go into his true love: motion picture production. He has produced two motion pictures and two documentaries: His film Night Feeders released on DVD in 2007, and Cold Storage was released by Lionsgate in 2010
Amidst all this, Paul has worked on his writing, starting with his first short story, about Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars, at age 8. Paul has written and produced numerous commercial and industrial video scripts in his tenure with his forcreative agency, Indievision. He has two published short stories (As You Sow and Double Cross) and one self-published novel (Godchild). He lives with his filmmaker/graphic artist partner and their three cats.
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