by W.O. Cassity
Adventures of Adam: Book Two Preview
The Cult of Draenar
As the city of Cindermoor below began to light up lanterns and torches for the night, Strahl’s eyes glowed beneath his lowered cowl. His hawkish features twisted with the shadows as they danced across his face and his skin appeared to be drawn taut over his elongated chin and thin pointed nose. He clutched the wrought iron railing of his balcony perch with long, skinny fingers. His tall, slender form, shrouded in black robes, gave the impression he was a bird of prey seeking a late meal. A sneer formed across his jagged expression as the door opened behind him.
“Master,” a timid voice said warily, “the king has summoned the Conclave.”
“I’ll be there shortly,” Strahl replied with a whisper which echoed across the tower’s vast upper chamber.
“Yes, Master Strahl,” the voice answered just before the door closed with a soft click.
Strahl looked to the sky to see the Blood Moon rising from the east. It trailed its path across the sky, midway to its apex. He felt the air around him come alive with anticipation as the deep-red glow of the moon’s light reflected in his piercing blue eyes, giving them an unearthly glow. Tonight, decades of planning were to come to fruition.
It was he who had chosen the location so Draenar, the Blood King, could perform his dark ritual to recharge the phylactery which extended the necromancer’s king unnatural life. The king would not suspect his plan, for Strahl had done nothing different from the last five times before. Every eleven years, the king needed to perform the ritual by the massacre of blood of the kingdom’s citizens and after sixty-six years of service, Strahl had become impatient as he waited for Draenar to share his dark secrets of longevity. The Blood King was not a lich, or any other undead thing, and Strahl wanted the living gift for himself.
Tonight, the Blood King would be at his weakest with his attention fully focused on the task at hand, Strahl thought to himself. A decade ago, he had begun his search for the heir. Five years ago strange anomalies began to surface in the kingdom, causing Draenar to lock himself away within the central laboratory deep beneath the keep’s surface to explore his magic. The king was blind to what was transpiring around him.
As he looked to the northern horizon, Strahl knew the Blood Guard was preparing their attack against the unaware village of Riverside. He suspected he had located the heir somewhere near to the village. The former adventurer, Stolice, resided there with his family. He was the only one who had not responded to Strahl’s requisition regarding the orphans of the village, heightening Strahl’s suspicions. If the heir was there in that black hole of nothing they call their home, he was confident his plan to usurp the king would be realized soon. Strahl, Master Inquisitor of the Conclave of Knowledge, second only to the Blood King himself, would become king.
The Order of the Fates Divined would be thrown into chaos, he reflected. The Order believes all peoples have a destiny, but Strahl knew only the most powerful, such as himself, were deemed worthy enough to be handed a fated path.
Strahl had spent countless hours over the last five years investigating the possibilities brought on by the anomalies and forming a plan of action. He didn’t need to find the heir at this time. He just needed to thin the herd to make the heir easier to discover. Strahl planned to locate the heir and take the power of his blood. The Conclave of Knowledge, or as the commoners refer to them, the Cult of Draenar, would be no more. The other ten members will fall into line behind him or be vanquished.
The door opened once again.
“I’m coming,” Strahl answered sternly as he walked away from his perch on the balcony toward the inner chamber door.
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Special Note from the Author
I would like to thank you for reading “Heir of the Blood King” and I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it. I am excited to announce “Adventures of Adam” will be an eight-part series. So if you were disappointed Donadeir was the heir, well just you wait. I don’t want to give away the story to come, but I will say this: No one can compare to what Adam will become.
As an independent writer, I am basically a “one man show”. I don’t have a big publisher backing me up, just my wife, kids and readers who enjoy my work. I do all of my own marketing and handle my own social media accounts. Copy editing and cover art are things I have to outsource to professionals.
I have dreamed about becoming a professional writer since I was 12-years-old and it took me almost thirty years to put this novel into the world. A part of me felt my writing wasn’t good enough, so the things I have written before have never seen the light of day. I wrote this story for my family and they encouraged me to take a chance, so I decided to self-publish my novel.
It is my hope you will take this journey with me all the way. The two things I need from you are your opinion and encouragement. If you enjoyed this story, please share your opinion by leaving a review so other readers can discover my work as well. You can encourage me by interacting with me. You can start by visiting my website and signing up for my monthly newsletter or social media. That’s all I need to keep going!
~Will
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About the Author
W.O. Cassity grew up in the Mississippi Delta Valley dreaming of new worlds fueled by his passions for writing and playing tabletop games with his friends. As an adult, he relocated to Nashville, Tennessee where he pursued a career in IT and Telecommunications, working for companies such as Dell Computer Corporation, Verizon Wireless and Asurion. Will returned to his childhood passions sharing those experiences with his children. He went on to release his debut novel, “Heir of the Blood King” which was well received. He was accepted as a member of The Ed Greenwood Group (TEGG) Sessorium of Creatives in September 2015, where he will write novels set in Mr. Greenwood's new campaign worlds. Will and his wife, Barbara, currently reside in Arkansas with their four children, three dogs and one very stinky cat.
To read his blog, please go to: www.wocassity.com
