“Hang on!” he yelled. Then he tore off the special scarab, tapped it twice, and tossed it into the air. He had just enough time to pull Virginia to him before the giant beetle snatched him off the parapet by the shoulders. The girl screamed as they were whisked into the sky.
Splitter wasn’t about to let her prize get away that easily. She sprinted to the edge of the parapet and dove at them. Wolf willed the beetle to fly them away from her, but he wasn’t fast enough. She caught him around the leg and held on tightly.
The beetle, already carrying more people than it was designed to, plunged out of the sky with the added weight. Virginia screamed again before the magical insect recovered itself and started climbing again. It was definitely struggling. They needed to do something about the new arrival.
Splitter realized the nature of the problem too. She grinned. Then she divided again. The new Splitter fell for half a second before grabbing hold of Wolf’s other leg.
Again the beetle plummeted and recovered. It was really straining now, though. If Splitter divided one or two more times, her weight would be enough to pull them to the ground, or, worse, pull the beetle’s legs off its body, causing them all to fall.
Wolf wriggled his legs trying to get them free, but the Phrygians’ grips were too tight. He couldn’t shake them.
. . . If you don’t drop the girl, you won’t be able to fight. . . .
Virginia drove her foot down into one of the Splitters. Her heel hit the woman in the jaw and took a large chunk of flesh off her face. Involuntarily, her hands went to the wound, and she fell away.
With one leg free, Wolf started swinging wildly at the remaining Phrygian. But, no matter how he kicked her, she held on tightly. He looked up and saw them approaching a building. An idea hit him.
“Hold on tight to me,” he ordered.
As soon as Virginia complied, he clapped his hands twice. The beetle transformed back into a scarab, and the three of them fell out of the sky. Virginia screamed again. Wolf was getting a little tired of that.
They landed on the roof of the building in a clump. Wolf rolled into a fighting position. Splitter was up in a second. He feinted to her right and then came back left, connecting with a solid blow to her face. Staggered, she stumbled back towards the edge of the building. Wolf kicked her hard in the chest, and over she went.
He watched her all the way down to make sure she was done for. She landed with a sickening thud. Wolf nodded grimly.
“How do you like that?” he said to the sadistic voice in his head. The Rift didn’t answer.
He went back to Virginia, scooping up the scarab from where it landed as he did so. The girl was shaking.
“It’s all right,” he soothed. “She’s gone.”
Virginia threw herself into his arms and held him tightly. He was a little surprised, but he supposed the poor girl had never experienced anything like this. He stroked her hair and told her it would be okay. At last, she pulled away from him.
“Why did you save me,” she asked.
“Because,” he said, “you didn’t really want to do this. And your life shouldn’t be over just because the Phrygians found out you had a secret.
“Now let’s get you home and get the rest of this mess sorted out.”
She nodded and wiped tears from her eyes. Wolf tapped the scarab twice and threw it up into the air. The two of them were whisked away into the preternatural night.
The end of “The Darkline Protocol.”
Wolf Dasher will return in State of Grace.
If you enjoyed “The Darkline Protocol,” please write a review!
Turn the page to read about Wolf’s next exciting adventure, State of Grace!
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Read Wolf Dasher’s next thrilling adventure!
When his friend and colleague, Sara Wensley-James, is murdered, Wolf is sent to Alfar to bring whoever did it to justice. But he soon learns that, in the magical land of elves, nothing is easy. The once-lush country is decaying, torn apart by a religious schism that spawned a civil war and daily acts of terrorism.
Wolf uncovers an intricate web of assassination, betrayal, and zealotry. He’ll need the help of his Shadow powers and the beautiful Captain of Alfar’s Elite Guard, May Honeyflower, to solve the murder and stop a coup. And he must act quickly; failure means a devastating act of terrorism that will kill thousands, topple Alfar’s government, and change the balance of power in the world forever.
State of Grace is a phenomenal beginning of a series.
–Darnell Dickerson, Amazon.com reviewer
Great plot,follow thru and characters. Keeps you up past your bed time.
–Carol Luecker, Amazon.com reviewer
Click here to buy State of Grace, available now from Amazon.com!
Also by John R. Phythyon, Jr.
Red Dragon Five
When the top-secret Red Dragon Project is sabotaged and one of its agents disappears, only Wolf Dasher realizes who is really behind it: the sinister terrorist organization, the Sons of Frey. But when the trail leads across the border of Alfar and into Jifan, Wolf must leave behind his new love, May Honeyflower, and go undercover on a dangerous and unofficial mission with no backup. Deep inside the terrorists’ operation, Wolf searches for the missing Red Dragon. And when he disappears, May abandons her post as Captain of Alfar’s Elite Guard and goes off on a desperate search for him. Can she find him before the Sons of Frey discover his true identity, and can either of them stop the terrorists from unleashing an apocalypse on Alfar?
Plots. Betrayal. International intrigue. Magical gadgets, and doom's day in the waiting. Red Dragon Five has all the elements of a spy thriller and fantasy world thrown together. . . . If you like action thrillers, you will enjoy this book.
–J. Marchant, Amazon.com reviewer
There is murder, love, intrigue, mystery, suspense, magic, and, embedded in this mix, are powerful emotions that kept me reading two evenings in a row, each time beyond midnight.
–Johann David Renner, Amazon.com reviewer
Click here to purchase Red Dragon Five from Amazon.com.
“Passion Play”
Juliette has no choice. Charles III plans to outlaw magic when he ascends the throne. She is not going to be put to death for practicing her art, especially since it aids in healing and fertility. She’ll enlist the aid of anyone who can help her persuade Charles to adopt a more reasonable stance, but, if that fails, she’ll just have to take matters into her own magical hands. At the new king’s coronation, politics and religion collide as one woman acts to prevent paranoid ideology from becoming law and wreaking harm in this page-turning short story from the author of the Wolf Dasher series.
This quick short story has intrigue, sex, politics, and action. I have to say, it's one of the best short stories I've read and well worth the price.
–Dwight Fidler, Amazon.com reviewer
Click here to purchase “Passion Pay” from Amazon.com
“Sleeping Beauty: A Modern Fairy Tale”
Beth Shipman has been in a coma for two years. Now sixteen, the only one of her friends who still comes around to visit is Carl, the young man who has been in love with her since the first day of Sixth Grade. Her mother is going insane, but she has a desperate plan to awaken her Pretty Princess. She’ll just need to convince Carl to believe in magic. She’ll also have to outwit Beth’s father. After all, he’s the one who put her to sleep, and he doesn’t want her waking up. Is True Love’s First Kiss enough to overcome madness, fear, and self-doubt? This short story is a creepy re-imagining of the classic fairytale that explores what happens when parents go too far to protect their children.
. . . a fast-paced and truly enjoyable short.
–Mark Abrams, Amazon.com reviewer
Well-timed, well-told, neither longer nor shorter than it need be, Sleeping Beauty is indeed a modern fairy-tale, with all the gruesome cruelties of the old s
et in the world of the new.
–Sheila Deeth, Amazon.com reviewer
Click here to purchase “Sleeping Beauty: A Modern Fairy Tale” from Amazon.com.
About the Author
John R. Phythyon, Jr. wishes he were a superhero or a magician, but, since he has not yet been bitten by a radioactive spider or gotten his letter from Hogwarts, he writes adventure stories instead. He is the author of the Wolf Dasher series of fantasy-thriller mash-up novels, as well as several short stories, a two-act comedy, and numerous game manuals. He won awards for the latter and hopes to make millions with the former.
In the meantime, he lives in Lawrence KS with his wife, their children, a dog, and a cat. His current projects include the next novel in the Wolf Dasher series, world peace, and desperately wishing for the Cincinnati Bengals to win a Super Bowl before he dies.
Connect with John online at his website, www.johnphythyon.com, where he blogs regularly about the Wolf Dasher series, his writing, and other matters related to his career. You can follow John on Twitter at @JohnRPhythyonJr, on Goodreads.com, and on Facebook at www.facebook.com/johnrphythyonjr, or email him at [email protected].
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