A Second Excerpt from Today’s Edit—August 23, 2018—Shadow Trap

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The Shadow Trap edit continues, but here is the second passage to have caught my eye.

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A Goddess Prepares to Defend or Die


“I must go, brother,” Sariel said, as Criella’s shriek reached her ears.
“You cannot,” Larias replied, knowing what she’d heard. “The Old One lies in wait for you. He will not let you take her unscathed.”
“You do not understand, Larias,” the goddess replied. “It is not I who is important. It is the Old One’s defeat that is important. Even my death cannot change that.”
“But dead you cannot aid us any further,” Larias protested. “We need you alive, helping us defend this world and all that rely on it for life. What importance could a mere girl have in comparison to that?”
Sariel took his face in her hands and laid her forehead against his own.
“Dear Larias,” she said, “don’t you understand? If the Old One takes that mere girl’s life, he is only one, at the most two, steps away from freeing himself. I cannot let him take her soul. This is one battle I must fight but, fear not, that which gave me my power has already chosen another to succeed me. It is she you should be protecting, for she could be a wife to you where I am only a sister.”
“Sweet sister,” Larias replied, taking her hands in his own and drawing them from his face, “I would be a bachelor for eternity, and have you alive and safe, than take any wife your death must provide. Go if you must. I will help you where I can.”
Sariel stepped away from him and, reluctantly, he had to let her hands go.
“I will watch over you,” he whispered, as she vanished from before him. “I must.”
There was a rustle of feathers at his back, and he glanced around, drawn from the picture that was forming in the air at his request. A winged messenger stood at his side.
“You cannot watch over her,” it told him. “Your calling lies elsewhere and I have come to take you there.”
“But I must watch her,” Larias protested.
“And see her die?” the creature demanded, its voice harsh. “You will do her no good here. Your part for the future is vital. You must come with me now!”
For the second time, reluctance slowed the god’s reactions, and he noticed the Messenger had clawed feet and skin hued with every shade of metal he could imagine.
“Who are you?” he asked, stepping towards it.

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Would you like to read more? 

The currently unmodified version of this book, Shadow Trap, and the third book of the Shadow series, Shadow’s Fall, are currently available for individual purchase. The updated version of the first book in the series, Shadow’s Rise, is also available. 


Location: Canberra ACT 2601, Australia

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