Released today: Daisy Banks latest release - "Serving the Serpents"
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Below is a teaser, just for you.
Excerpt 2
From Chapter 2
Frowning in his displeasure, Herensuge stared at the youth who sat at
the edge of the cave. “I’m not in the mood for music, boy,” he snapped. “Olaf,
he knew what he was doing. I wouldn’t be feeling like this if Olaf were still
Derskijoar here.”
“Look, it’s no good going on about it. My uncle Olaf’s been gone these
three years. I’m sick of you talking about it. Olaf left, it was his time to do
so, and he’d probably had enough of you. Listen to the music. It’s meant to
soothe and calm you down.” Leif pressed the button on his black machine, and
the music with its rhythmic beat pounded in the cave.
Herensuge flopped down so hard the sandy floor juddered. He curled his
upper lip above his longest tooth and sucked in a deep breath. Dissatisfaction
poured through every one of his ruffled scales. “I wish you could read faster,
boy.”
“Do you know how hard it is reading Old Norse? There are no helpful
little translations in here. I don’t know which bit of the manuscript deals
with this particular problem.” The lad sat cross-legged some way off, the huge
leather-bound book across his knees, well out of reach of the splashes of the
water cascading down over the circular hole in the limestone roof of the cave.
“I’m sorry, Heren,” Leif said. “I’m doing my best. I swear to you. I don’t want
you to get ill. Here, have a cloudberry.” He flipped one over.
Mollified more by the use of his close name than the small berry he
snapped up, Heren eyed the lad. “I apologize too. I know you’re working hard to
find the answer. If only I could recall the cure. But it’s all so long ago.
Centuries of dreaming, and the world is a far different place.”
Leif nodded. “I know. Now, you relax, listen to the music, and I’ll
keep reading. Try to stay calm. The last thing we need is a big burn-up.”
Resigned to the music and his continued suffering, Herensuge lounged.
He tapped a claw in time to the drums and watched his diamond and gold claw
ring send brilliant sparkles of light dancing on the cave walls. All very well,
but the tingling itch remained. The uncomfortable itching got worse every day
and forced him to roll and writhe against the thick rock pillars or lie with
his belly submerged in the cool of the turquoise water, and yet even the icy
chill of the pool didn’t soothe the heat. A fresh rumbling growl rose from his
stomach.
Leif glanced up from the book. “Not again.”
“Sorry.” A cloud of smoke wafted from Heren’s open mouth, followed by a
flash of red fire that licked toward the youth. The lad yanked the book away
and grabbed the fire extinguisher he’d insisted on bringing into the cave for
the last month.
“Loki’s balls! Please, Heren, I
want to keep mine. Breathe the other way if you must flame.”
Check in again next week when I will post another excerpt.
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