towards the right ear. Inside she spotted a tiny device like a hearing aid. She twisted the head around to look in the other ear, but instead saw what looked like a small monocle over the left eye. Together everything was too miniscule and well camouflaged to see except by close examination, and the system looked very sophisticated, even futuristic.
A flash of bright light caught her by surprise. She grimaced as she closed her eyes and lifted a hand, but then twin shadows fell over her. Squinting, she lowered her hand and saw two figures standing in front of her, backlit by a disc of brilliant scintillation, as a multitude of house cats gathered at their feet. From their black business suits she thought at first they were men, but then she saw the feminine figures and the youthful faces. One was a brunette, with dark red-brown hair gathered into a long ponytail, and purple locks that framed her darkly tanned face with its sardonic half-smile. The other was a blonde, with a huge mane of golden-mustard hair billowing around a glowing ivory face that sported a huge grin. They both wore pitch-black sunglasses; she wondered how they could see anything.
She raised the pistol, but cradled it against her chest. "Who are you?"
"Sorry," the brunette said, "we can't tell ya that."
"But never fear," the blonde added, "you'll find out soon enough!" She raised what looked like a silver fountain pen. Before Differel could react, a blinding light strobe filled her vision.
Differel blinked, and shook her head. Wasn't there...she thought something had happened. She had a feeling like deja vu, but she dismissed it with a sneer. She was cold, tired, and hungry; she probably just imagined it.
"Director Van Helsing; come in, Director. Over."
The voice came from the earpiece. She looked up at the hill and saw four armed men descending; most likely Cpl. Cummings and the other snipers. They must have rendezvoused with Aelfraed and the others.
"This is the Director. Get down here, fast. Mr. Holt is injured. Call for helicopter evac; one wounded, five ambulatory, and two bodies. Over."
"Yes, Director. Cummings out."
She glanced down at the Beast. She needed to think of some way to honour its sacrifice, but that could wait. She had more important things to attend to. She stood up and went to sit beside Holt until the others arrived.
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For more information on Sir Differel Van Helsing and the Caerleon Order, see the official site [https://www.sir-differel.com/].
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About the Author
Kevin L. O'Brien was born with a pen in his hand.
Well, not quite, but he has been writing for as long as he can remember, at least since First Grade. Writing has always been his first, true love, but it hasn't always been his career. He worked for 15 years as a biomedical researcher, then for 3 years as a web designer. However, after 30 years of trying to be published in print with little success, he has decided to try his hand at self-publishing. Most of his works will be sold as ebooks through various online retailers, but he also plans to make some available for free exclusively on Goodreads.
He writes primarily speculative fiction--fantasy, science fiction, horror, and their sub-genres--but he also likes to try his hand at thrillers, suspense, mystery, and even westerns. However, his stories tend to have a fantasy element, no matter how subtle.
Most of his stories involve the following three main characters:
Medb hErenn [https://www.medbherenn.com/]--One-time queen of Ireland, she is over 3500 years old. A warrior and a sorceress, she cannot be harmed by any weapon made by the hand of man.
Eile and Sunny, Team Girl [https://www.teamgirlforever.com/]--They are two adorable, vivacious, fun-loving young women whose motto is ONWARD TO ADVENTURE!!! Yet trouble follows them like a love-sick puppy wherever they go.
Sir Differel Van Helsing [https://www.sir-differel.com/]--The descendent of Abraham Van Helsing and King Arthur, she heads the Caerleon Order, the premier monster-hunting organization of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. She commands Dracula, the most powerful vampire extant, and the greatsword Caliburn, better known as Excalibur.
He also writes a series of sword & sorcery stories set in an alternative universe known as the Lands of the Dreams of Men.
Kevin lives in Denver with his family and 4 cats.
For more information, see the Songs of the Seanchai [https://www.seanchaisongs.com/].
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Discover other titles by Kevin L. O'Brien:
A fidus Aranea, Adventurer's Honeymoon, Barbarians R Us, The Christmas Vampires, Dark Vengeance, Disposable Commodities, Do Unto Others, Far-Sight, Feline Savior, Gourmand Hag, Gratuitous Crossover, Gruff Tolls, Immanuel, The Lions of Inganok, Man Friday, Masie's Mind, No Torrent Like Greed, Oak Do Hate, Post-Traumatic Redemption, Pride and Fall, Sacrificial Offering, Shenanigans, The Steel Gazelle
Enjoy these other titles at fine ebook retailers everywhere.
Available on Goodreads - https://www.goodreads.com/story/list/20075368
A Deliberation of Morality, Desperate Acts, The Denver Walker, The Golden Mushroom, Jigsaw Dragon, One-Percenter Vendetta, The Peril Gem, The Price of Folly, Rhapsody in Orange, The Temple of Ubasti, A Typical Friday Night, Youthful Indiscretion
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Connect with Kevin L. O'Brien Online:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KLOB_writer
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/kevin.l.obrien.1
Website: https://www.seanchaisongs.com/
DeviantArt: https://teamgirl-differel.deviantart.com/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/Kevin_L_OBrien
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Sample Excerpts
From "Gruff Tolls"
The three women paused as they topped the crest of the ridge. The other side of the pass ran down-slope to a narrow but deep cleft between the two mountain ranges. The sides of the ravine were sheer vertical rock walls some thirty feet apart, and even from where they stood they could hear the muted roar of the cataract deep inside the fissure.
Medb hErenn watched as Morgiana crouched and examined the vista with her experienced thief's eye.
"You were right," she remarked in a casual tone. She was addressing the Zoog Conaed, called Runt, who sat on one of the three pack yaks behind her. He was only about half the size of his race, but his verdigris-tinged bronze fur was darker and the tarnished silver facial stripes were bolder.
He declined to answer, but the former queen replied, "You should know by now he is very seldom wrong."
Morgiana gave the massive woman a look that mixed amusement and exasperation on her lovely Arabic face, then turned her attention back to the ravine while Medb followed her gaze. As Conaed had predicted, the gulf was spanned by a footbridge suspended from two pairs of rough-hewn stone spires, one on either side. The planks of the deck appeared to be made from ordinary wood, but the ropes that supported them did not look like hemp or metal wire or any other recognizable material. They almost seemed to resemble cobwebs.
Mephitis walked up to stand between them. Medb spared the apothecary a sidelong glance and saw her eye the bridge in a dubious manner. "Are you sure this is the only way through?"
"The Quarry of the Giants should be just a few miles west of here," Medb said. "From there the trail to Urg is clearly marked, with Inganok a day's march beyond."
Morgiana stood and gave her arms a languid stretch over her head. "We certainly cannot go back the way we came. The valleys are literally crawling with spiders. I wasn't aware they had penetrated this far."
"The spiders of Leng migrate out of their valleys every quarter-century," Conaed said. "The last such was a mere lustrum ago. In time they will starve as they consume all the available food, including each other, but for now they are a grave danger."
Mephitis threw him a sarcastic glance. "You have a talent for understatement, Master Zoog."
"We wouldn't be in this mess if you hadn't started this expedition,
" Morgiana said, though in a facetious manner rather than with reproach.
Mephitis made no reply, but she flashed an expression of remorse.
"It matters little." Medb had a slight smile on her lips. "We are both of us big girls--"
Morgiana laughed. "Speak for yourself, you voluptuary."
Medb raised on eyebrow at the thief's taunt, but made no remonstration. "My point is we made our own decision to accompany her."
Which was true. Mephitis had come to them a fortnight before, while they sat drinking in the Inn of the Quixotic Muse, and asked them to accompany her on a trip into the Northern Lands. She needed to collect several natural products from which she obtained the ingredients for a number of the medicines, potions, poisons, and other drugs she created, that could only be found in the mountains that formed the western border of the Plateau of Leng. Medb she needed as a bodyguard, pure and simple, but several of the plants, mosses, lichens, and fungi she sought grew on cliff faces and steep mountain sides inaccessible to all but a master thief. She offered each a handsome remuneration, as well as the opportunity to plunder the ruins that dotted the plateau and its barrier mountain chains, but she did tax Morgiana's talents and ingenuity to the utmost. Still, thanks largely to her expertise, they were able to collect large amounts of everything Mephitis
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