As the light disappeared Doctor Ulysses took a deep breath and then said, “Juliet, activate the self-destruct sequence if you please. Set countdown for 1 minute. Allow voice override.”
“Acknowledged, Doctor Ulysses. Self-destruct sequence initiated.”
The war had taken everything from him; his home, his family, nearly his life on more than one occasion. He could only hope that the actions he had taken would bear fruit - that hope for the human race yet remained in the matter he had sent across time and space.
Doctor Ulysses cast one last glance towards the quasar before closing his eyes and awaiting the end....
###
About the author:
Dayne first began writing fantasy at the age of fifteen when he discovered the worlds which fantasy novels could transport him to. Since then, he’s read countless fantasy and science fiction novels from the likes of Robert Jordan, Elizabeth Haydon, Peter F. Hamilton, George R.R. Martin and many others. He has earned a bachelor of business administration from CTU, written a fantasy novel, obtained his customs broker license and started a publishing business.
Dayne lives in southeastern Michigan with his wife and daughter. When he is not working on his Saga of the Seven Stars series and his next novel, you can find him reading, watching television with his wife, biking, walking and playing on the computer or with his daughter.
Connect with Me Online:
Twitter: http://twitter.com/dayne87
Facebook: http://facebook.com/SagaOfTheSevenStars
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My blog: http://www.bloodandshadows.net
My website: http://www.dayneedmondson.com
Please enjoy this excerpt from book two of the Saga of the Seven Stars, titled "Time of Shadows." Available NOW on Amazon, Barnes & Noble and fine eBook retailers everywhere:
The hidden panel silently slid aside and Jason stepped into a chamber. Once inside, he glanced around. His eyes, already adjusted to the darkness from the journey through the tunnel, tried to make out his surroundings in the faint light. Tapestries hung along much of the four walls. One such tapestry appeared to depict a great battle; which battle, he didn't know. The others were too far distant to make out in such poor light. Across the room, the sole source of light resided, two candles held within sconces fastened to the wall on either side of a set of double doors. Mirrors sat behind the candles, reflecting the light so it was amplified slightly. He also noticed a single door along the left wall. Other sconces lined the room, and Jason guessed they would provide quite a bit of illumination to the large room if they were all lit.
The night had been cloudy as storms had passed throughout the day, so little light escaped into the room through the tall window along the right wall that appeared to lead out onto a balcony. Directly in front of him was a high-backed chair with its back to him, preceding two couches which sat facing each other, a table in the center, with another high-backed chair beyond, its back to the illuminated doors. Jason was in some sort of sitting room, an antechamber that would lie outside of a bedroom. Back home he would have called it a living room, but he was slowly becoming accustomed to the terms of this new world.
Jason began to walk towards the source of the light, walking to the right around the chair, when suddenly he felt a hand on his back and he was shoved forward. He had been standing in front of the left arm of the rightmost couch and he found himself tripping over that and landing face first in its cushions. A hand jerked his shoulder so that he spun onto his back, the other hand, gloved, clamped over his mouth to prevent him from shouting out in surprise. Jason looked into the face of a masked figure, a piece of dark cloth covering his mouth and nose so that only blue eyes peeked out. Panic set in and he tried to struggle away, tried to make sense of it all, but the figure was straddling him and prevented him from escaping. He tried to call upon his magic, to send them flying back with a fist of air, or burn them with a ball of fire, but the inhibitor of the palace on his magic was in place, like a heavy shroud. He felt the cold of steel pressed against the skin of his neck. A female voice warned, "Stop struggling if you want to live." Jason became still, his eyes wide.
The woman studied him for a moment and then leaned her head in to breathe in his left ear, "Will you promise not to scream or shout if I remove my hand from your mouth?" At Jason's hurried nod, followed by a wince of pain, for he had nicked the knife when he nodded, the woman leaned back and removed her hand from his mouth, letting it fall to her side.
A hundred questions flashed through Jason's mind, but what came out in a whisper was, "Please don't hurt me, I was just looking around, and I wasn't going to steal anything." She had spoken in a whisper and so Jason did as well, not wanting to cause more trouble by waking any people sleeping in the adjoining chambers.
"Why were you following me?" she asked.
"I...well...I saw you come in through one of the grates in the city sewers. I was curious as to what you were doing so I followed you. I didn't mean you any harm." The words came out of his mouth in a rush.
The woman snorted. "As if you could hurt me,” she said contemptuously.
"What are you doing here?" Jason asked. He was afraid he knew the answer to that question, considering the knife in her hand and the familiarity with which she used it.
"Why, I'm going to assassinate the king," she confided matter-of-factly. "But first, I must decide what to do with you," she trailed off, malice in her voice.
The king! What had he gotten himself into? Oh God, this assassin was going to kill him and then murder the king. His voice quavering, he asked, "The king? Why would you want to do a thing like that?"
The assassin hesitated, as if wondering whether she should tell this man who she intended to kill, for Jason had little doubt she would kill him, her reasons. At last it seemed she decided it would do no harm to tell him, he wouldn't live to reveal any of it. "It is my job. I was ordered to kill the king by my master. It's nothing personal."
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Blood and Shadows (The Saga of the Seven Stars) Page 18
