In this scene from
Bringer of Chaos: Forged in Fire, the
immortal king, Pietas, is surveying the alien world where he's been exiled.
Sempervia is a beautiful planet, but it's not fully terraformed and it harbors
dark secrets of its own.
Sempervia, year 1 in exile
The summit lay a good distance ahead, but they had left the
forest. Scant grasses and scrubby bushes dotted the landscape. He pushed
further up the mountain, where hand over hand, he climbed up among black
boulders. Their pockmarked texture stung his palms but did no harm to his feet.
He'd hiked half the planet barefoot. Panting from the quick exertion, he turned
to take in the view.
Across plains to the east, low-scudding clouds skimmed a
fringe of mountains, no more than blue smudges on the horizon. Their white tips
implied great height. North, the lazy river he and the human had followed from
its source snaked its way across the savannah, a necklace of shimmering gold.
The path took seconds to trace with his gaze but had taken them weeks to walk.
As it wended its way further south, the confluence of its mighty waters with
another river turned its gold to muddy brown.
What worried him were the sheets of gray in the northwest. A
storm marched straight toward them. The heavy, pelting rain on Sempervia so
saturated the air one could drown on land. They did not dare let it catch them in the open. They needed
to cross the summit and reach shelter.
He braced both hands on his knees. How galling to need a
break. He'd hiked less than five hours. Was he no better than a mortal?
Before his exile, Pietas would have run--not walked--up this
mountain without a single pause. When mortals and traitors among his kind
imprisoned him in an unpowered life pod and left him to rot for over a year, it
broke his health and shattered his stamina.
Had it not been for his friend, Six, what sanity Pietas
possessed would have been as beaten and battered as dirt clods trampled in a
horse paddock. Though unable to free Pietas, Six had stayed with him day and
night, talking, whistling, singing songs, sharing life and light through his
tales.
Long after Pietas could no longer respond.
Broken in body as he was, his will, determination, and drive
survived intact, as had his undying thirst for revenge.
No doubt his enemies thought to teach him a lesson. Having
endured the worst they could muster, he'd learned there was no pain he could
not bear, no matter how horrific. One day, he'd return the favor and teach them.
Forged in Fire...
When the immortal Pietas is marooned on a barren world with
no food and few survival tools, he knows it could be worse. He could be alone.
But that's the problem. He's not.
Half a million of his people sleep in cryostasis, trapped inside
their pods and it's up to Pietas to save them. He can't release one at a time.
It's all or nothing. He's facing over five hundred thousand hungry, thirsty,
homeless, immortals all looking to him for answers.
It's not all bad. The beautiful telepathic warrior he's loved
for lifetimes is at his side. He's bonded with a sentient panther. He hates
humans but the one dumped on this planet with him has become a trusted friend.
But before Pietas can build shelter, figure out how to grow
food, or set up a government, he must take back command from a ruthless enemy he's
fought for centuries. His brutal, merciless father.
Immortals may heal, but a wound of the heart lasts forever...
Bringer of Chaos: Forged in Fire has no profanity or
explicit content, but lots of angst, a little humor, some sweet romance, and a
ton of betrayal with plenty of vengeance. Oh, and let's not forget--one
ginormous black "kitty".
Available for preorder on Amazon Nov 11-Dec 28. Purchase on
Dec 29, 2017
Free on Kindle Unlimited
http://amzn.to/2ABIcCI
Kayelle Allen
writes Sci Fi with misbehaving robots, mythic heroes, role playing immortal
gamers, and warriors who purr. She's a US Navy veteran and has been married so
long she's tenured.
https://kayelleallen.com
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