Fantasy

We took a portal to watch it

Hey,

It’s been a wild month so far with a 4.8 magnitude earthquake in nearby NJ that rocked our poor Scribe’s apartment, and I mean that literally, to Easter celebrations and then a partial eclipse!

This is Ran, Sarn’s son from the Curse Breaker books and the scientists at NASA’s newest penpal. More on that next week, I promise.

Since Melinda, our scribe lives in the USA specifically in the Northeast, your favorite characters left their fantasy world to visit your world. And that was a mini adventure too since that portal lives in Inari’s linen closet now.

And no, I don’t know why it likes to float around in there. Maybe it likes freshly washed sheets and towels?

I found the portal nuzzling them and after some begging and a bribe or two, it connected to my Scribe’s apartment. It used to stay connected and just wait around until someone needed it. But that changed when we moved in with Inari and Nolo and their family.

Thankfully, the portal moved with us and when we walk through it, we arrive in our Scribe’s apartment as usual, not somewhere weird. (I was worried about that so I brought Papa with me since he’s supposed to be resting. He can rest while we stare at the sun, right? My thoughts exactly!)

So on April 8th 2024, we ran through that portal like our lives depended on it and as soon as we reached our scribe’s apartment, we flung open the door and rushed out of her apartment and up the stairs. Then we repeated the dramatic door flinging open thing because we must do everything with drama and flare!

Once we reached the outside world, we scouted around for a good view of the celestial action, so we could take part in this eclipse thing. Don’t worry. We came prepared with special glasses so we could look at the sun without hurting our eyes.

Even my dragon bestie (Saveen) had solar glasses. I don’t know where Melinda found those, but I’m glad he had a pair so he could stare at the sun with us!

The part of NY State where Melinda lives got to 90% of totality and that was cool to watch. A total eclipse would have been cooler but Melinda had to drive to work that day because somebody else took April 8th off before she could. So she was stuck covering for them. And we had no car to take us to totality. Oh well.

Don’t worry. Her office mates ran out to check out the eclipse too, so she got to see the little orange sliver of the sun just like we did.

Did you see the eclipse?

Were you in the path of totality? Did you watch the NASA Livestream from their telescopes and witness totality in the eight different places?

(We did because one totality isn’t enough when you can watch it happen again and again as it slides across the country.)

So that’s what we did until it ended.

And now, Guerren would like to stare into your soul again, so here’s a picture of some art from Summon The Gods because that book was feeling left out. Since we don’t have a proof copy, this is a screenshot of the pdf we sent to the printer.

Are you sure there’s no army in your soul? Guerren is doing a lot of gazing into it, and I’m concerned.

Rogue Gods #1: Gateway To Hell

Fallen But Not Forgotten (Chapter 1, scene 3)

Guerren squinted as he stepped inside. The only sign he wasn’t outside anymore was the change in terrain. Here the floor was smooth, and his boots made only a soft thud on impact.

He closed his tearing eyes as the screams echoed through his mind. His nostrils flared as the acrid scent of sulfur filled the air and heat burned his skin, leaving a trail of sweat that dripped down his chest, spine, and legs as he backed toward the door. “I think I made a mistake. I’ll just leave the way I came, and you do whatever you’re doing without me.”

“Please stay. The fires can’t burn you since they don’t really exist here,” said a woman he couldn’t see.

“Then why do I feel their heat?” Before he fell, fire couldn’t hurt him. It obeyed him instead, but that was when everyone feared and revered him as a god of war. Now he was weak and trapped in this infernal realm. His ears rang with the screams of the damned, and they were a constant reminder of his fall from grace.

“I can’t help it if your memories burn.”

Scorched earth surrounded him. Leafless trees smoked in the distance like extinguished torches. In the middle of that destruction, a woman in white robes stood. She looked out of place amidst the seared landscape, but she didn’t rectify that either. Her slanted glowing violet eyes fixed on him and tried to pin him in place with her implacable stare. But he’d long ago become immune to that thanks to a pantheon of eternally squabbling gods.

“Who are you?” Guerren stepped toward her, then stopped. What am I doing? This is probably a trap. But he didn’t turn away. There was nowhere to run anyway, so he might as well stay here and find out what she wanted.

“Like you, I have many names. Some are even accurate.” She grimaced and her hair cascaded like a waterfall of rippling darkness behind her. Good God, she was beautiful, but so were all the angels.

“Give me one of your names.” Uncertainty filled Guerren as he approached her. She had the violet eyes of an angel. Was she an ascendant angel visiting from Heaven, a demon pretending to be an angel or a fallen angel? Either way, she was trouble.

“Some call me the Sleeping Angel. Will that suffice?” She watched him, but her solemn expression didn’t change.

“Yes, that will do for now, but I hope to earn another name soon.” Guerren wanted to smack himself. Where was this coming from? Probably from the hard length in his pants. He covered it with his hands. Although it was probably already too late. She must know the effect she had on him.

“Perhaps you will one day but not today.”

“Why did you want to talk to me?” Because if it was to banter, then this was a waste of time. I should put as much space between us as possible before morning.

“You fought on the wrong side, Guerren,” she said. Her voice was a seductive melody that sent shivers down his spine. “The Fallen took your power, and they used it to take over this realm and turn it into Hell.” She spread her arms, and bones surrounded them.

“Whose bones are these?” Guerren tried not to step on any. The dead deserved better than this, but he couldn’t gather up thousands of bones and bury them with the proper rites.

“They also enslaved the natives of this realm, and these are their bones.”

“Why are you showing me this? It all happened a long time ago, and it wasn’t my doing.” There wasn’t anyone to save, just bones crunching under his feet no matter how carefully he stepped. His heart pounded in his chest. She offered him a chance at redemption, but she hadn’t delivered on it yet. Maybe she never would. This might be a setup to trap him so the Fallen could bleed more of his power.

“There’s a rebellion, and I want you to help them overthrow the Adversary and return this realm to its rightful ruler, me.” She rested a long, bony hand on her chest. “Help them and redeem yourself in the process.”

She waved her hand, and an image materialized before them of a motley crew of gods, demons, and mortals, united in their quest for freedom. For the first time since he fell, hope blossomed in his chest. Not for redemption, but for a chance to strike the Adversary and pay him back for all his deceptions and lies.

“How can I help them?” He backed away from the images.

“Go to the Library of Forbidden Knowledge and find the Book of Names. It holds the true names of everyone in Hell.”

“And names have power.” He nodded as he considered it. Getting inside would be a challenge and finding that book would be an even bigger one. But he was sorely in need of a challenge.

“Yes, they do.”

“Is your name in there?”

“Perhaps it is.” She glanced away and bit her lower lip.

“Are the names of the Fallen in there too?” Guerren circled her until he could look her in the eyes again.

“Yes, we can use their names to bind them and ultimately defeat them, but we need your help to get it.”

Could he do this? If I still had my powers, then yes, it would be easy. But without them, he didn’t know if he could get into the library and out again without getting caught and sent back to the spire. I still have my fighting skills, but I lost a lot of my strength.

“What do I get if I do this? Do you have a one-way ticket to Heaven in your pocket?” Guerren pointed at her white robe.

***

We’ll return next week with more of Rogue Gods!

Don’t forget to follow the Kickstarter, so you know when it launches. It’s coming soon. Guerren is on the right. You’ll meet the other two leads in an upcoming newsletter!

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