Under the Bed? Or Within an Accursed Soul? Here Be Monsters Bundle Featuring @LibraryofErana #fantas
top of page
  • N. N. Light
    • Aug 8, 2018
    • 6 min read

Under the Bed? Or Within an Accursed Soul? Here Be Monsters Bundle Featuring @LibraryofErana #fantas


Box Set Title Here Be Monsters

Story Titles and Authors

  1. Monster Town" by Steven Savile

  2. "The Magic of Fabulous" by Michele Lang

  3. "A Murder of Crows" by DeAnna Knippling

  4. "Minotaur" by DJ Chamberlain

  5. "Tales of Erana: The Warrior's Curse" by A. L. Butcher

  6. "Blackbeard's Aliens" by Robert Jeschonek

  7. "Caught Between Monsters" by Stefon Mears

  8. "Night Terrors" by J.A. Pitts

  9. "Beasts of Tabat" by Cat Rambo

  10. "Demon Daze" by Deb Logan

  11. "A Knot of Trolls" by J.M. Ney-Grimm

  12. "The Stolen Tower" by A. L. Butcher

  13. "The Maker, the Teacher, and the Monster" by Leah Cutter

  14. "One Red Shoe" by Russ Crossley

  15. "Dawn of the Chupacabra" by Kyle Bergersen

  16. "To Be a Monster" by Jamie Ferguson

  17. "The Beast of Talesend" by Kyle Robert Shultz

  18. "Children of the Monster" by Russ Crossley

  19. "The Genie's Secret" by Robert Jeschonek

Genre Fantasy

Publisher Kydala Publishing

The Stolen Tower by A. L. Butcher Blurb

What stalks the land cannot be, but is.

Where magic is outlawed a troll Shaman calls from her deathbed to her heiress, Mirandra Var, daughter of the storm. Mirandra vows to find her missing kin, sort friend from foe, and claim the dangerous secrets guarded by unthinkable creatures. If she succeeds, she will become the leader of her tribe. If she fails there will be no tribe to lead.

Please note 18+ rated. This contains scenes of violence and sexual situations.

The Stolen Tower Excerpt

© A. L. Butcher

“So, you are the Heart of the Mountain. What can you show me, I wonder?” Kherak muttered, pulling her thoughts back to the task in hand. She settled back in her armchair with the crimson embroidered and beaded Shamanic Shawl across her shoulders. The item was old, far older than the Shaman herself, and imbued with magic, for it had passed down from Shaman to Shaman, and each woman had added to it. To all appearances it was simply the shawl of an old woman, but there was nothing simple about the garment. It was a symbol of status, an heirloom with much Power and, of course, it kept her warm.

A pearlescent glow rose in the Opal, which hovered above the Circle adorning the table. Colours shifted and, as she placed the Heart of the Mountain over the large stone, the red and black pattern began to move, swirling like a whirlpool. “I am Kherak Var, Shaman, as my kin have been before me. Show me your secrets; guide me in seeking my kin.”

This was strong and wild magic, flowing in a torrent which was close to sweeping the ailing woman away with its force. Suddenly a voice rumbled around, timbre low like thunder, drawing her in and making the old Shaman tingle in ways she had not experienced for many years. The language was strange, ancient and arcane, the very language of the earth. Such words Kherak had seldom heard; the sound held Power, the very essence of magic and rose like a song. She had not expected this, even with all her foretelling. Peering into the depths of the Opal, the images swirled like mist on the mountain and the shifting vision would not yield further. “You will reveal, my eyesight fades but my Sight is clear. You will reveal to me, as is my right and my Power.”

The humming Opal whined with a painful shrill, and tired Kherak fought the errant vision to do her bidding. The Shaman’s Focus shifted— partly in the Realm of Dreams and partly remaining in the mundane world. In Astral Sight the Opal loomed large and bright, a globe of dancing images woven in mist; before her rose a peak of reddish stone, run through with black veins arising from a lake of greenish water, and high in the peak an arch looked out across the lake, weathered but dark and foreboding. As she watched, the lake filled with blood, and screams echoed in her head. As quickly as it had appeared Kherak saw the half-dream flicker away to be replaced by a high-roofed chamber of rock, lit with crystal, and in the centre a red and black stone statue, circled by molten rock, runes glowing like fire about it. The strange words roared as the rolling of waves against stone, echoing in the Realm of Dreams as it did in her parlour, rattling the shelves from which items tumbled. Then the vision was gone.

The Warrior’s Curse by A. L. Butcher Blurb

He who bargains with monsters beware! A hero forges an unholy bargain with a witch and learns magic never forgets.

In a land of forbidden magic a mysterious cave holds both riches and danger for three adventurers who discover a mighty treasure and a terrible secret.

A short fantasy tale set in the world of Erana - the world of The Light Beyond the Storm Chronicles.

The Warrior’s Curse Excerpt

© A. L. Butcher

On the nights when the moon rose to its fullest, its light a silver sheen upon the roof of the Great Hall, a terrible monster came. His voice was like the rasping of flesh on a blade, his countenance blighted and ugly, twisted like melted flesh with great weeping sores and a putrid smell. Many warriors had tried to vanquish this foul creature, and now their bones lay with the prince’s in the barrow to the east of Eadsham, the settlement that had been forged by blood and toil by the first king, Aedwin. Widows were aplenty and many children made fatherless from this awful beast. Doors were bolted and barred, and not even the lord himself dared to face it. Such was his shame.

The king grew ever older and wishing to marry a man of bravery and honour to his daughter messengers once more rode out north, south, east and west in search of a hero, one with the fortitude to face this cursed beast, as they had done so many times before. On a night when clouds covered the moon’s light and rain fell in drops the size of marbles, the sky was rent with lightning as a great human warrior rode to the gates of the village. “I am Saelth and I have come to slay your monster,” he announced. His words were bold and his demeanour bolder. Behind him rode the fiercest of his band, axe men and archers, trackers and swordsmen. A mean crew indeed and feared about the land; fur-clad and blooded, they were blades for hire.

“We have slain creatures from nightmare and beasts that made grown men piss their drawers. Your curse will be lifted, if the price is right!” His band nodded, for their rates were high indeed, so that only lords and kings could afford their blades.

“No weapon forged by man can vanquish it! You’ll simply earn your place in the Hall of the Dead,” someone called.

Saelth looked around for the one who had spoken. “Then I shall go to the Halls of the Dead a hero, not one who cowers behind the table, or beneath the bed. I am no coward, nor simpering woman. Nothing is all powerful, or unable to be vanquished, save the gods.”

Giveaway:

I’m one of the authors participating in the Dog Days of Summer Reading Giveaway and you can win an e-copy of The Kitchen Imps and Other Dark Stories.

Runs August 1 -31 and is open internationally.

Winner will be drawn September 3, 2018.

Good luck!

Buy Links

Barnes and Noble http://bit.ly/2JBwvUY

Author Biography

British-born Alexandra Butcher (a/k/a A. L. Butcher) is an avid reader and creator of worlds, a poet, and a dreamer, a lover of science, natural history, history, and monkeys. Her prose has been described as ‘dark and gritty’ and her poetry as evocative. She writes with a sure and sometimes erotic sensibility of things that might have been, never were, but could be.

Alex is the author of the Light Beyond the Storm Chronicles and the Tales of Erana lyrical fantasy series. She also has several short stories in the fantasy, fantasy romance genres with occasional forays into gothic style horror and historical fiction. With a background in politics, classical studies, ancient history and myth, her affinities bring an eclectic and unique flavour in her work, mixing reality and dream in alchemical proportions that bring her characters and worlds to life.

Her short novella Outside the Walls, co-written with Diana L. Wicker received a Chill with a Book Reader’s Award in 2017.

Social Media Links

Amazon Author Page http://amzn.to/2hK33OM

Library of Erana Blog http://bit.ly/Blog2iAWL3o

Books2Read newsletter sign up

Tags:

bottom of page