Blessed
Her twenty-first birthday was supposed to be the beginning of a new chapter. She had been preparing herself for the moment she would be a real adult for months.
There was no way she could have prepared herself for what happened instead.
As her nightmares became more real with each night and her behavior became less like her own, Ardra fought to stay on the path she had so painstakingly planned for herself with very little success.
When she becomes the owner of a creepily-human dog named Kaiser, she finds herself oddly at peace with the unexpected addition to her household and clings tightly to him when tragedy strikes and shatters her world.
As she fights to put the pieces back together without losing herself in the Darkness that is building inside of her with each terrible step off of her path, a rag-tag band of supporters rally behind her. Each one of them prepared to go to the ends of the earth and back.
She must find a way to defeat the Chaos that has consumed her life or risk losing everyone and everything that she has left. Including her soul.
There was no way she could have prepared herself for what happened instead.
As her nightmares became more real with each night and her behavior became less like her own, Ardra fought to stay on the path she had so painstakingly planned for herself with very little success.
When she becomes the owner of a creepily-human dog named Kaiser, she finds herself oddly at peace with the unexpected addition to her household and clings tightly to him when tragedy strikes and shatters her world.
As she fights to put the pieces back together without losing herself in the Darkness that is building inside of her with each terrible step off of her path, a rag-tag band of supporters rally behind her. Each one of them prepared to go to the ends of the earth and back.
She must find a way to defeat the Chaos that has consumed her life or risk losing everyone and everything that she has left. Including her soul.
Excerpt
The face that swam out of the darkness was only vaguely familiar at first. Shadows swam across it, keeping her from getting a good look. She could only catch a glimpse of an eyeball here, and a jawline there. As her vision cleared, she could see that the shadows weren’t shadows at all. They were tentacles, just like the ones she kept locked inside of her.
The weren’t swimming either. They were writhing. And restraining. Just like she always did, she ran forward to tear the tentacles off of the man, and just like always, they fought back. Pulling her into them and sticking to her skin everywhere they touched.
She tried to scream and a tentacle slithered into her mouth and down her throat. Probing and groping for something inside of her. As she choked and gagged on the slimy black mass wriggling inside of her, she could only ask herself how she could have let it out. Because of her, this poor man was trapped inside of her personal hell with her. If only she could have contained it.
As her vision dimmed from the lack of oxygen being carried to her brain, something new happened. She felt the tingle in her chest. It spread through her body until she was sure her chattering teeth would gut through the black slime that was slowly choking her to death in its search for whatever it was looking for.
Then her chest appeared to open up and a green spotlight came tearing out of her. From the palms of her hands and the pads of her feet, beacons of bright green light cut through the darkness. Light even flowed from her mouth and eyes. It was like someone had wrapped her skin around a case of green road flares and lit them all at once.
Whenever the light came in contact with one of the tentacles, it shrieked and hissed before evaporating into smoke and drifting away. The intensity of the light never let up. It grew brighter and stronger the further away the black mass was pushed from her body.
Finally, no trace of the darkness was left. The light dimmed out of her and she softly landed on an invisible floor. As she looked around the eerie green haze, she saw the man she had been trying to save for weeks lying on the floor. Eyes closed, sunken in, almost mummified. It was as if the black mass had sucked every ounce of light right out of him.
She took a few steps towards him and her heart shattered when she realized why she recognized the face. The stubble, bright blue eyes, and golden blonde hair had haunted her every waking moment.
The weren’t swimming either. They were writhing. And restraining. Just like she always did, she ran forward to tear the tentacles off of the man, and just like always, they fought back. Pulling her into them and sticking to her skin everywhere they touched.
She tried to scream and a tentacle slithered into her mouth and down her throat. Probing and groping for something inside of her. As she choked and gagged on the slimy black mass wriggling inside of her, she could only ask herself how she could have let it out. Because of her, this poor man was trapped inside of her personal hell with her. If only she could have contained it.
As her vision dimmed from the lack of oxygen being carried to her brain, something new happened. She felt the tingle in her chest. It spread through her body until she was sure her chattering teeth would gut through the black slime that was slowly choking her to death in its search for whatever it was looking for.
Then her chest appeared to open up and a green spotlight came tearing out of her. From the palms of her hands and the pads of her feet, beacons of bright green light cut through the darkness. Light even flowed from her mouth and eyes. It was like someone had wrapped her skin around a case of green road flares and lit them all at once.
Whenever the light came in contact with one of the tentacles, it shrieked and hissed before evaporating into smoke and drifting away. The intensity of the light never let up. It grew brighter and stronger the further away the black mass was pushed from her body.
Finally, no trace of the darkness was left. The light dimmed out of her and she softly landed on an invisible floor. As she looked around the eerie green haze, she saw the man she had been trying to save for weeks lying on the floor. Eyes closed, sunken in, almost mummified. It was as if the black mass had sucked every ounce of light right out of him.
She took a few steps towards him and her heart shattered when she realized why she recognized the face. The stubble, bright blue eyes, and golden blonde hair had haunted her every waking moment.
Excerpt 2
He recalled the first time that he had encountered energy like this with a slight cringe. He had been so caught off guard by the sensation of being burned alive from the inside out that he had flickered in and out of his physical form for a good half an hour. The Druid that had delivered the blow had left him there to die, thinking that the flickering that his body was demonstrating was his energies being dispersed back into the Universe and that he would just fade away completely.
He had been wrong. Chaos not only pulled himself together enough to hold a solid form, but he hunted the Druid down and destroyed his entire circle. He caught all twelve of them off guard as the Druid responsible for the memory was regaling his companions with the details of the fight. Chaos had made sure to know that they knew what hit them. He wanted each and every one of them to experience the agony that he had been left in.
Simultaneously, twelve tendrils shot forth and plunged themselves into the tops of their heads, pumping the Chaos that existed inside of him right into their own energies. They all dropped to the ground writhing in agony, their screams being swallowed by the surrounding trees.
Their skin began to flake and peel off in large black chunks and their screams ceased shortly after. A well timed breeze blew through the grove and carried what remained of them away.
He had been wrong. Chaos not only pulled himself together enough to hold a solid form, but he hunted the Druid down and destroyed his entire circle. He caught all twelve of them off guard as the Druid responsible for the memory was regaling his companions with the details of the fight. Chaos had made sure to know that they knew what hit them. He wanted each and every one of them to experience the agony that he had been left in.
Simultaneously, twelve tendrils shot forth and plunged themselves into the tops of their heads, pumping the Chaos that existed inside of him right into their own energies. They all dropped to the ground writhing in agony, their screams being swallowed by the surrounding trees.
Their skin began to flake and peel off in large black chunks and their screams ceased shortly after. A well timed breeze blew through the grove and carried what remained of them away.