Autumn Rising
Page 20
“It has to be me,” she said, partly to herself. “If they’ll have me, I’ll be honored to be the one who leads them.”
Autumn pushed past Chogan and crossed the highway. Lakota, Chogan, and the others all followed her. She half expected them to call her back, and tell her she was crazy, but no one did. With her heart thumping, she climbed up onto the roof of Lakota’s truck. She wobbled for a moment, the height seeming so much greater from up here than it did from the ground, and then got her balance. She looked out across the seemingly never ending convoy of vehicles, all badly beaten up. They were no match for the government, except by their sheer number. Most of the people had climbed from their cars and stood beside them. Those on bikes had removed their helmets—if they wore them at all—and stood, waiting for her to speak.
They’re never all going to hear me, she worried. But she didn’t need her concern. As she spoke, her words were taken in, and then repeated, passed back through the crowds.
Autumn addressed them directly. She didn’t need anyone else to speak for her.
“Most of you won’t know who I am. My name is Doctor Autumn Anderson, and I was the one taken by the government to try to create shifters for their own use.” She spoke as loudly as she could without feeling as though she was shouting at them. “I’m told that I’m a descendant of the people who originally created spirit shifters, and within my blood is the ability to create more shifters.”
She glanced over the crowd to see how her claim had been taken. Most had already heard about who was at the heart of the sudden change in their lives, so they listened intently.
Autumn continued, “I’ve been given a great gift, a privilege, to be able to create spirit shifters. It’s a gift the government wants to exploit and control. They want to control you, too, to segregate shifters from regular people, to tear your children from your arms, to force your elderly parents from their homes, to snatch your siblings from by your side. They don’t care who gets hurt just as long as they can control us for their own gains. Instead of the government creating its army of shifters, we can, and we can use it to fight back.”
“There are too many of them!” a voice shouted from the crowd.
Autumn cast her eyes over the hundreds of heads until she spotted the person who had spoken—a Native American man in his forties.
“I can help,” she replied. “The government wasn’t able to achieve what they wanted because they were missing one vital ingredient, and this time it wasn’t a physical ingredient. They were missing the spiritual side of what it means to be a spirit shifter, the symbiosis of two spiritual beings inhabiting one body. They forced the shift and created a creature who fought for control of its own body—each soul believing it had the right to their true form. But we can change that.” She gestured to the older man now standing beside his automobile. “Lakota Wolfcollar knows the ritual that is so important in creating a spirit shifter. With his help, and the use of my blood, we can create enough shifters to outnumber the army. It will be a war. It won’t be easy, and it will take time, but we are more powerful than them.”
“So who gets to turn?” another voice called out.
“Whoever wants to. I can’t promise what your spirit guide will be, but I can promise that you will be stronger than ever before. I’ve lost people in this fight—people I love—and I refuse to let the government use me again. I am behind you all, I am for you all, but I need for you to be behind me too. They want to repress shifters, to punish anyone associated with us, but I say enough is enough. We are the strong ones. We won’t let them oppress us any longer!”
A roar of ‘yeah’ filled the air. A chant slowly began to rise from the crowd, dim at first, but growing louder with every second. And slowly Autumn’s ears began to pick up on what was being said.
Fists were raised to punch the air in rhythm to the mantra, and she looked out over a sea of people—men and women alike.
All of them chanting her name.
Like what you’ve read? Book four in The Spirit Shifters Series, Autumn’s War, will be released late 2014. Make sure you sign up to Marissa Farrar’s new release list to stay updated about new releases, exclusives, and special offers! www.marissa-farrar.blogspot.com
Acknowledgments
In every book, I always talk about how the creation of a novel is for the most part a solitary process, but that the actual publication of a book takes many people. Autumn Rising has been no different!
First of all, I would like to welcome some new members to my team. AJ Wilcox and Kim Hayes were both kind enough to offer to proofread for me, and so joined my regular proofreader, Glynis Elliott, in that job! You all did a wonderful job in catching any slip-ups. Thank you to you all!
The need for a change up in proofreaders was created because the proofreader of numerous of my novels was promoted to editor. Lori Whitwam has been editing for some time and her skills were wasted as only a proofreader. Lori, as always, you were thorough, on time, and affordable. What more could an indie author ask for!
I also had some help this time in creating one of my character’s names. I ran this competition on my facebook page and had lots of fun doing so! I ended up putting together a couple of your ideas and so there were two winners for a copy each of this book, and to get a mention right here! So, Deana Potter and Tracie Carver, thank you for the combined name of Vivian Winters. You ladies have some great naming skills!
And as always, I want to thank you, the reader, for allowing me to live my dream. I have the best job in the world all because you love to read my words.
If you want to stay updated about my new releases, please sign up to my new release list on my blog. You will receive notification of when a new book comes out, together with exclusive previews and sales!
www.marissa-farrar.blogspot.com
Thank you once again.
Marissa.
About the Author
Marissa Farrar is a multi-published fantasy and horror author. She was born in Devon, England, has travelled all over the world, and has lived in both Australia and Spain. She now resides in the countryside with her husband, three young children, a crazy Spanish dog, and two rescue cats. Despite returning to England, she daydreams of one day being able to split her time between her home country and the balmy, white sandy beaches of Spain.
Even though she’s been writing stories since she was small and held dreams of being a writer, her initial life plan went a different way.
In her youth, inspired by James Herriot, she decided to become a vet, and would regularly bring home new pets to her weary parents. Upon discovering her exams were never going to get her into a veterinary degree, she ended up studying Zoology. Once she completed her degree and realised she’d spent the majority trying to find time to write, she decided to follow her dream of being an author. Seven years later, she was published and two years after that she was able to say goodbye to the day job.
However, she’s continued to collect animals!
Marissa is the author of twelve novels, including the dark vampire ‘Serenity’ series. Her short stories have been accepted for a number of anthologies including, Their Dark Masters, Red Skies Press, Masters of Horror: Damned If You Don’t, Triskaideka Books; and 2013: The Aftermath, Pill Hill Press.
If you want to know more about Marissa, then please visit her website at www.marissa-farrar.blogspot.com. You can also find her at her facebook page, www.facebook.com/marissa.farrar.author or follow her on twitter @marissafarrar.
She loves to hear from readers and can be emailed at marissafarrar@hotmail.co.uk.
Also by Marissa Farrar
The Serenity Series:
The Vengeful Vampire (free short story)
Alone (free first novel of the series!)
Buried
Captured
Dominion
Endless
UNDERLIFE
(Please note, the prequel to Underlife, Go Back, is now free to download from Amazon)
THE DARK RO
AD
WHERE THE DEAD LIVE
IN THE COMPANY OF THE DEAD
THE BODY FARM
THE SOUND OF CRICKETS (Women’s Fiction Novel)
AUTUMN RISING
The Spirit Shifters: Book Three
Copyright © 2014 Marissa Farrar
ISBN: 978-0-9928504-2-5
Warwick House Press
Edited by Lori Whitwam
Cover art by Marissa Farrar
License Notes
This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of these authors.
Publisher’s Note
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.