Series: Lake of Dragons Series #1
By: E. Michael Mettille
Publication Date: May 15, 2021
(originally released as Lake of Dragons May 26, 2005)
Publisher: TMR Books
Cover Design: Mayhem Cover Creations
Genre: Epic Fantasy
With no one left to guide him, the young warrior embarks alone on his journey to find truth. Along the way, he learns of a prophecy in which he is the savior who slays the last dragon and frees Ouloos from the terror that great power represents. Not all he encounters believe in the prophecy. There are those who would see him ride the dragon against the god he has worshipped his entire life. Blasphemy.
Before reaching the goal of his quest, the terrifying dragon who wields the greatest power on Ouloos, he will come to question everything he has ever believed. What is truth? He must find the answer to that question in his own heart and decide which path is his.
Uneasiness swept over him as he neared the main gate of the small village. It was too quiet. There should have been something, a child playing or a man coming home late for the feast. Something. Anything. There was nothing. The entire town appeared asleep. Warily, he continued.
As he approached the first hut within the main gate, he noticed the door had been smashed in. He slowly strode inside. The stench of rotting flesh hung in the air. It seized him immediately when he entered and tugged at his attention while he quickly surveyed the room. One body, the body of a man of relatively large stature, lay sprawled out across a table occupying the center of the room. A large chunk was missing out of the poor bloke’s neck. The wound was rather dry and the corpse’s skin quite pale as if the body had been drained of all its blood. ‘Amatilazo’, he thought. A woman’s body lay curled around that of a small child in the corner. Her head lay a few feet from the rest of her. Her face grabbed his attention. It was frozen in a look of terror like none he’d ever seen in his short life. He looked back to her body still clinging to her baby’s lifeless carcass. He considered their embrace for a moment, frozen in death. She died trying to protect her own. Perhaps she could have escaped as her husband was being drained of his life’s blood, but she didn’t. Instead, she gave of herself in a desperate attempt to save her child. It was a completely selfless action. How strong must be the love of a mother.
His thoughts drifted to his conversation with Ymitoth about his own mother. He learned early on she died shortly after he was born. He didn’t have any details about her demise, but he knew he spent no time with her. He wondered if she had ever held him the way the courageous woman lying in front of him clung to her child. Did she ever cradle him in her arms, brush his hair back and sing to him? Ymitoth said she had a song sweeter than a chorus of songbirds. Had he ever heard that song? If he had he would never be able to recollect, as he would have been but a babe. A strange emptiness began in his belly as if there were a hole right through his mid-section. His head swam as dizziness swept through it and he thought he might lose his feet. He stumbled out of the hut and fell to the ground in a heap. If only there were someone to embrace him, someone to tell him everything was all right. His eyes burned as they filled up, but he fought back the tears. He struggled back to his feet. ‘Feeling sorry for yourself won’t do any good,’ he thought. He pushed back against the hopeless, empty feeling threatening to consume him and forced himself to move on.
Amazon UK - bit.ly/KDFKindleUK
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Barnes & Noble - bit.ly/KFBNSoft
Amazon UK - bit.ly/KTGKindleUK
Amazon CA - bit.ly/KGKindleCA
Barnes & Noble - bit.ly/KTGBandN
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E. Michael Mettille is the author of Kill the Dragon (Lake of Dragons Book 1), Kallum's Fury (Lake of Dragons Book 2), Kill the Gods (Lake of Dragons Book 3), and Hell and the Hunger (as Mike Reynolds). Mike has also written numerous screenplays, short stories, and poems. He has spent the last twenty years in direct marketing, print, and communication. Mike is fascinated by history, belief systems, the human condition and how all of those things work together to define who we are as a people. The world is a wonder and, based on the history of us, it is a wonder we have a world left to wonder about. Mike lives in Milwaukee, WI with his wife, Shelia and their dog, Ziggy Stardust.
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