Divine Assistance
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The Gunslinger and the Train to Hell
The Lizzy Stanton Series Part Two
Lizzy is a bounty hunter, and hunting down demons for the Church is something she knows like the back of her hand. So when her brother, Matt, asks her to come with him on a hunt, she’s more than ready for some trouble. Matt is one of the best, and anything bad enough to need the two of them is going to mean one heck of a fight.
They’re tracking a train that’s been going round. People get on, but they don’t get off. Nobody knows where it goes. Lizzy and Matt reckon there’s a demon behind it all, and they’re right. Before they know it, they’re stuck on a train with dozens of passengers that’s going straight to Hell.
Getting out of this in one piece isn’t going to be easy. There are imps, Hell Hounds, and things too terrible to have names. And, of course, there’s the demon behind it all too, a demon that’s gotten hold of a train, a demon who can turn every piece of metal, every scrap of wood, every shard of glass into a weapon.
Lizzy and Matt have a fight on their hands. But if there’s one thing they know how to handle, it’s a fight. That demon better watch out.
The Burning Mountains
The Burning Mountains have belonged to dragons since the Old Days when gods still walked the earth. They are a place of fire and ruin where no man dares walk and no elf dares linger long. Only the strong can survive there and only the ruthless can prosper.
Amidst the smoke, the ash, and the flame, an exiled elven princess will meet an outcast dragon. Alone, they have little hope of survival. But together, they might do more than survive – they might conquer. For the dragon has a realm to claim and the princess has a kingdom to take back.
There are some lessons that only fire can teach and some wisdom that only a dragon can impart.
The Wood of Endless Night
Far to the west, beyond the Burning Mountains where only dragons live, there is a place where the sun is always warm and the winds are always kind. It is called the Pleasant Wood, and it was there that Tareon, a blacksmith’s son, and Valeia, a nobleman’s daughter, met for the first time.
Despite their differences, they become friends and eventually fall in love. But the days of peace in the west are ending. War has come, and the carnage and ruin of the battlefield have summoned a winged titan from the south. Black Death is a dragon unlike any the west has seen. His scales are adamant, his wings blot out the sun, and his cold fire burns as black as the dead of night.
Nothing mortal can kill such a dragon. Instead, the people of the west must turn to a place beyond even the Pleasant Wood, a place whose name echoes darkly in the hearts of all who look upon it: the Wood of Endless Night. It is a place of evil and despair that was created countless years ago when the gods slew one of their own that had turned traitor and cast his broken body from the heavens.
And it is said that the weapon the gods used still remains there, lost in the Endless Night.
The king of the west has offered honours and riches beyond counting to anyone who can bring back the weapon and slay Black Death. It is Tareon’s only chance to prove himself worthy of Valeia’s hand in marriage. Yet no one has ever returned from the Wood of Endless Night, and if something should befall him, Valeia will surely go after him.
The Wood of Endless Night and the shadow of a traitorous god await them both.
Durendal
Twelve-year-old Billy Winchester’s got a feeling that the war made Duren a monster, but maybe he and his sister can make him a man again.
Billy’s always dreamed of leaving Sahara VII, a backwater mining planet, for some adventure. But with the galaxy still reeling from decades of war, and an older sister desperate to hang onto the only family she’s got left, he’s not having much luck.
Then he meets Duren, and suddenly adventure’s right on his doorstep.
The rugged stranger from another planet is everything Billy wishes he could be. When his sister hires Duren to help at their diner, Billy does his best to make him a part of their family. Trouble is, Duren’s got a past, and it’s the worst sort of bloody. To Billy though, he’s just a man, and a good one at that.
But danger’s never far on a planet like Sahara VII.
A cruel mining magnate, Stratton sets his eyes on Billy’s sister, and he won’t take no for an answer. When Stratton kidnaps her, Billy’s going to need the man Duren used to be, the man he hoped Billy would never have to see.
But Stratton isn’t stupid, and he isn’t alone. He knows Duren is coming for him, and there are people who’ve been waiting a long time for Duren to show himself. Duren won’t have to beat just Stratton and his men – he’ll have to stand toe-to-toe with the vengeful ghosts of his past while keeping Billy clear of the crossfire. Billy’s finally got his adventure, but it might cost him the only family he’s ever known.
Copyright and Disclaimer
Divine Assistance
Copyright © May 2017 L. G. Estrella
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the author except for the use of brief quotations in a book review (contact lgestrella@outlook.com).
Cover image from drawkman/Bigstock.com. Alterations by L. G. Estrella.
This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and settings are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, names, locales, organizations, or persons living or dead, is entirely coincidental.