The Fur and Frost Dragon Winter Games

Here is a little holiday tale Farloft passed on to me yesterday, 

which I thought you all would enjoy.

The Fur and Frost Dragon Winter Games

Norla shook and pulled at the furs Farloft was curled up on. “Time to get up sleepy head! The competition starts in two hours and you haven’t even had breakfast.” The youngling female furry dragon had been his constant companion since he arrived at the Fur and Frost clan’s stronghold in the far north.

“I’m up…” Farloft replied with a yawn.

Captain Yakov Hightower - Space Pirate - Interlude

I am afraid I am here to apologize, yet again, this week. 

Real life seems to be getting in the way of my imaginary life.

Yakov, unlike Remy, is raring to tell his story, but I just don't have time to listen at the moment. I hope all you loyal readers will bare with me and hang in there. 

I hope to post more of the captain's adventure over the next two months, but it will be random and not consistently on Saturdays until the beginning of the New Year. 

In 2019, I hope to fall back into the habit of sitting down with Yakov, Remy and my other good friends in order to pass on their stories to you.

Until then, keep checking back here for updates as I can manage to get them up.

You can also download my Free books here. FREE BOOK!

Fall is upon us, and I wish you all a very festive and joyful Holiday Season.

Your author friend,
Theresa

Captain Yakov Hightower - Space Pirate - Chapter 3

I apologize for leaving you all hanging the past two Saturdays. I am afraid life got a bit in the way of writing. My 92 year old dad, who lives with me, was in the ER last Saturday. I am happy to report he is home and doing well, though wearing a heart monitor. I accused him of horning in on my AI story. He looks as though he is wired for the part.

So, let us continue with Yakov's adventure. I look forward to giving you another episode next week to reveal is mission for the Valarians. 

~*~

I must admit I was excited as the shuttle approached my ship at the docks on Refitting Station Dynasty. The Zephyr looked brilliant in her newly fitted solar sails. She also had a shiny new paint job, black as the vast universe with a sprinkling of stars across her bow and down her sides.

My crew was waiting when I boarded.

Od, my first mate, stood upright and saluted with a new appendage of his own. Where once there were mechanical hands with three fingers, there were now five fingers on the two sets of his top arms. “It is good to have you home, Captain.”

“Good to be back, Od. I like the new digits.” I wiggled my own at him.

“Handsome,” he complimented.

Captain Yakov Hightower - Space Pirate - Chapter 2

“Okay, Captain, show me what you’ve got,” my rehab tech challenged me.

I was on my last day of physical therapy with my new arm and hand made of programmable matter. I flexed the very realistic looking appendage via the implanted nano-bots in my bloodstream. In all appearances it looked and operated exactly like my real arm and hand, with one huge exception, with concentration I could change the shape. After all, programmable matter was very malleable. The Valarians were masterful in their tech, way beyond the rest of the verse, and they had invented it.

“What are you waiting for, Yakov?” Mialki asked.

When Worlds Collide - The Book of Remy - Stalled

Dear Readers,

I am going to do something I have never done on this blog in the past twenty-plus years, I am going to stop a story before it is finished. Remy has found this recounting of his past very painful and is currently refusing to enumerate any further his earlier misdeeds.

His pact with Morrigan in order to be with Nithbeth, in his estimation, was the worst choice he ever made. It led to a series of events which bought vampires into existence and into our folklore. Even I do not know the details.

So, until our taciturn Willow Gate Keeper deems to talk to me, I am without recourse in the matter of listing his past achievements, good or bad.

I hope you will forgive Remy and me.

Until then, I give you a short story previously published in 2015, which some of you might have missed. And next week we will go off on another adventure with Yakov Hightower. The captain is always willing to chat with me about his exploits. Much like a dragon, he has a bit of an ego.

So on to, “Yakov Hightower and the Glitter of a Pirates Booty”.

When Worlds Collide - The Book of Remy - Chapter Seven

Cleitus lived in the magical OtherWorld for decades. Time progressed differently in those days. The OtherWorld and the mundane were on separate clocks. While the Romans worked on conquering Britain, and ridding the island of the Druids, Cleitus investigated his new home.

He found ‘gates’ that took him to places he could never have dreamed existed. The part of the OtherWorld which he had been led into was a hub to a hundred other worlds, maybe more, and each contained magical beings of unbelievable power.

At first, he was guided by the siren who coaxed him into her world. She was a seductive companion and soon he lost track of where he was. He would have had no idea of the direction in which to turn to escape her, if he had wanted to. But in time, the decision was not his. She grew tired of her new plaything and left him behind.

When Worlds Collide - The Book of Remy - Chapter Six

In 168 B.C. The Romans defeated Perseus of Macedonia and abolished the Macedonian monarchy. In 146 B.C. the Romans destroyed the Achaean League in Greece. Cleitus no longer had any countrymen or country to go home to. He joined the Roman army as they adopted the training methods used in gladiator schools.

Cleitus witnessed the death of Spartacus who led 40,000 fugitive Roman slaves in an uprising. He stood and listened as General Marcus Licinius Crassus issued the order.

Over the decades, Cleitus had become an unstoppable warrior. He had learned every fighting technique imaginable. But, his soul now silently began to yearn for peace. For the days of the vineyard as Zeuxis. He longed to get away. He saw the opportunity in 55 B.C. to escape at least his current environment. He joined Caesar’s army as it invaded Britain. It was during this invasion that Cleitus first came in contact with the OtherWorld.

When Worlds Collide - The Book of Remy - Chapter Five

Cleitus’ spirit sat weeping on the berm above the ditch where his body had been dumped and covered with sand. He didn’t have to dig it out to know it was there. He could still feel the connection. The tug on his soul that kept him bound to the earth rather than flying to a life in the heavens with the Gods. How could Alexander be so cruel? How could he have failed to honor him as was called for in their culture, and as befit the man who saved his life and fought at his side for years?

He wiped his tears from hollow eyes and spat to the side in anger. His head was filled with vengeful thoughts. Revenge gripped the soul of this now troubled spirit. Cleitus would haunt his king until the day he died. Alexander could not have known that no matter what he did, what god he sacrificed to, he could never amend this fatal error in judgement.

When Worlds Collide - The Book of Remy - Chapter Four

After the fall of Persepolis in 330 B.C., Alexander the Great saw his chance to have a unified army loyal only to him. The crisis in Greece was over and he need not worry about the home front. Now Persia was within his grasp too.

He demobilized his troops paying them handsomely with the spoils of war. He hoped to rid himself of the old guard he inherited from his father, King Philip. He wanted an army he could control. Alexander had the spoils from Persepolis. He offered a bonus to any cavalryman or infantry soldier who wanted to reenlist. What he offered was hard for any sane man to refuse. Including some members of the old guard, like Cleitus the Black.

When Worlds Collide - The Book of Remy - Chapter Three

Remy perched on the boulder beneath the tree that gave his post its name, 'The Willow Gate' into The Realms. It was the quiet hours between midnight and four a.m. The humans were all safely tucked away in their homes. The creatures of the night were roaming, searching for food, but they were not passing his way. He was alone with his thoughts.

Many in The Realms, a parallel world to the mundane, filled with creatures humans thought were mythical or fanciful, thought him slow or at least challenged. How very wrong they all were.

When Worlds Collide - The Book of Remy - Chapter Two

Cleitus the Black was not a Macedonian nobleman like so many others of Alexander’s Companions. Cleitus was the brother to Alexander’s nurse. He had been handpicked to serve King Philip, Alexander’s father, as one of his personal body guards. He was one of the king’s selected Companions.

After Philip’s death, Alexander relied on the knowledge and experience of his father’s Companions to raise an army and bring his dream of conquering Persian to life.

When Worlds Collide - The Book of Remy - Chapter One

As promised, here is the beginning of a new tale set in The Realms. For those of you who have read the Shifting Books in the Twin Cities series, you will find some backstory here on one of my favorite characters. For those of you who have not read the published books, you might want to pick them up. The first, Shifting in The Realms, is FREE on my site.

Now on with the story!

The Book of Remy

Cleitus the Black, seasoned Greek warrior and Alexander the Great’s honored Companion, hacked at the Persian soldiers trying to pull him from his horse. His sword coming down in an arch which took off hands, arms, and cleaved heads in a single blow. It was the Battle of the Granicus, May, 334 B.C. Centuries before Cleitus the Black would be known as Remy, the Vampire Gatekeeper.

Books on Sale!

Hi everyone,

While you are waiting for the next Serial Story to start on August 4th, I thought you might like something to read. Pick up any of my books for either FREE or 50% OFF this month on Smashwords. The lazy days of summer are fast approaching. There is nothing I like better on a hot August day then laying in my lawn chair reading a good book in the shade.