Hey, I’m back with the actual first chapter from Catch the Scribe.
(This is Ran, Sarn’s son in case you forgot. Find us in the Curse Breaker series and in today’s preview, where I take on my toughest nemesis yet.)
I have no news on the Amazon situation. Melinda’s account is still terminated and no one is replying to emails. So we’re just focusing on the new books since that’s all we can do now. For more details about what happened, check out last week’s email,
Last week, I brought you a heartwarming bonus scene, which is included in Catch the Scribe. This week, I bring you chapter 1 of Catch the Scribe.
In case you missed it, the reading order for the stories based on our newsletter adventures goes as follows:
Story Arc #1: TALES OF A CURSE BREAKER IN NY TRILOGY
- Catch the Scribe ← You are still here if you were wondering.
- Book Battles
- Rogue Characters
Story Arc #2: CURSE BREAKER’S COMPANION SERIES
- Dragon Spells
- Rogue Spells
- Storm Spells
- Void Spells
And now, let’s go to that preview!
Catch the Scribe
by Melinda Kucsera
Chapter 1: The Shadow Monster
One Week Later
Shadows massed in the corners. They entered through a crack in the wall, which expanded as Ran stared at it. The wall had always been so sturdy. Why was it breaking now? It was too late to seal that crack up, even if he had something to stuff into it. It had spread to the ceiling, and cracks were running off in all directions and raining rocks down on him. How rude.
Ran dodged those projectiles as the shadow monster crept closer. It didn’t have to dodge anything though because those rocks went right through it, doing no harm to it, which was totally unfair. Ran felt around for Bear as he crabbed backward, but his fuzzy companion wasn’t there. “Bear? Where are you? Please, make the shadows go away.” But Bear didn’t do that.
Oh no, the shadows by the door merged and swelled up to a human-sized blobby creature. Ran stared at them in open-mouthed shock. The shadow monster grinned at him, betraying a mouthful of jagged black teeth as it flowed toward him on a tide of darkness.
Ran scooted away from it as he scanned the shadowy cave. Where was Papa? Where was Uncle Miren? Why weren’t they here?
They never leave me alone. Someone always watches me, but there was no one here except me and the shadow monsters. Why was that? Ran hit the wall and leaned against it. “Papa? Where are you?”
“He’s not here right now.” The shadow advanced slowly, enjoying his fear, and that was so unfair.
“Why isn’t he here? What have you done with him?” Ran raised his little fists. He might be small, but he was a tough tyke. Everyone said so. Although the ‘everyone’ was just two people, but that still counted. Other people would comment on his toughness one day when Papa stopped hiding all the time.
Since Ran was the son of a mage, he had a little extra, something that regular folks didn’t have. So he reached inside himself and grasped the shining cord connecting him to Papa. Of course, he pulled with all his might because that’s what one did with cords, even if they were magical. Promises created that cord and wove it out of love, so Ran yanked on them. They’ll bring Papa to me soon.
I just need to be brave and hold on until Papa gets here. I can do that. I just need a shield. Where could he find one? Ran scanned his cave home until his eyes landed on a book covered table. That would do nicely. So Ran rushed behind the table, putting it between him and the shadow monster, but it just laughed.
“You silly boy. I’m incorporeal. I can walk right through that table.” Indeed, the shadow monster phased through the stool as Ran backed away, searching for some other obstacle to put between them.
While he searched for cover, he gave the bond between him and Papa another tug, but he froze when he didn’t feel Papa at the other end. Did something cut that link?
Ran stared down at his hand, even though he couldn’t see the broken chain of promises fluttering in the breeze. But he felt them, and he shivered. Papa never broke a promise. “Where’s Papa?”
Could he be at work? Papa did work nights, but if he was at work, then where was Uncle Miren? His uncle always watched him while Papa was at work, but Uncle Miren wasn’t here, and that had never happened before. One of them was always with him.
“They’ve all gone away.” The shadow passed through the table and all the books piled on it, and it left inky stains behind.
Ran shook his head, rejecting that lie as he backed away, seeking some escape, but the door was melting. I didn’t know doors could do that. Ran stared at the black viscous substance coating it. I wonder what that black stuff is? He wondered for a little too long because that black stuff crept toward him when it hit the floor. Oops!
Ran was trapped now between the shadow monster and the black gunk. So he did what he always did when he didn’t know what else to do. He squared his little shoulders and hoped he could bluff his way out of this situation. “You’re lying. Papa would take me with him if he left this place. We’re a team.”
“You were a team until your scribe stopped writing about you. Now, you’re just a fragment of a story, twisting in the winds of cyberspace, forgotten and alone and soon, you’ll be erased too.” The shadow monster raised his gnarled hands above its horned head and pounced.
A pale glow appeared in Ran’s peripheral vision. It was the Queen’s mark. Papa drew it on the floor of their home to drive out the darkness a few weeks ago. But Papa hadn’t refreshed it, and its light had waned. But it was light, and any light was good when darkness closed in. So Ran hurried to it because dark things hated light of any kind, even weak light.
The shadow lunged again but missed Ran by a hair. His green cloak slipped through its fingers as Ran crossed the outer ring, igniting the symbol’s glow. Now a three-foot-wide glowing circle enclosed one-hundred and forty-three intertwined circles, and they surrounded him. Light shot ceiling-ward as each ring ignited in turn. Ran made sure to stand in the heart of that silver blaze because the middle was always the safest place to be in any magical thing. One hundred and forty-four columns of pure white light shined through the ceiling and united heaven and earth.
“Queen Tree! It’s Ran. You know my Papa, Sarn. I need your help,” Ran shouted over the screams of the shadow monsters.
That probably wasn’t the proper way to address Shayari’s mythic queen, but this was an emergency, so he hoped she wouldn’t mind. But maybe she did mind because something hard snaked through the light and wrapped around his waist as darkness ate the light. Maybe I should have called her by her full name, the Queen of All Trees. But that was a mouthful, and Queen Tree rolled off the tongue a lot more easily. But the world blackened before Ran could correct that mistake and call her by her full name.
***
Next week, I’ll bring you the first chapter of the sequel, Book Battles! Get ready for a lot of scheming. It’s my super power!
Melinda Kucsera - USA Today Bestselling Author of Epic Fantasy Adventures 