Cynthia A. Morgan's Blog, page 197

#FridayFantasy – #CharacterInteractions- When Fey and Eternals Collide – Part Three

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Part One

Part Two

“Purpose! I have no purpose, unless it is killing time in awaiting the end? Being alone?

            “You’ll always have me,” whimpered the man on the floor. “Always.” Jean silenced him with a kick.

            “Must you feel the need to demonstrate your superiority in such ways?” Gairynzvl had never once looked away, his stare continuing to break down any barriers between the two.

            Jean sighed, as the Fey shook his imposing wings and cracked his neck.

            “All I wish for is peace and quiet. Unfortunately, violence is often the only way to secure it. Especially where Sir Walter Merryweather is concerned,” Jean added.

            Gairynzvl glanced at the comatose form on the rooftop, then back to Jean. He appraised the brooding form before him and struck upon a revelation. “You do not desire death; you feel it imposed upon you.”

            “Perhaps.”

            “And you brood in the darkness because you cannot smile in the light. I do not know your kind completely, not yet, but I sense this true.”

            “You see much, winged one.”

            “I prefer Gairynzvl.”

            “We all prefer something.”

            Gairynzvl took a long, deep breath, eyes narrowing, and sniffed. “If light is all you wish for, then it is a gift I may bestow.”

            “What?”           

            “I am Fey, and as such may open portals to worlds other than your own, as you have borne witness to. I can give you light, Jean. And I will if you wish it.”

            “I could not stand before it.”

            “Not all light is the same.”

            The raven of a man staggered backwards. If he had sought to impose himself upon the Fey in a brash display of strength, his actions dismissed that persona. Gairynzvl had offered him the one thing that nobody else ever had or could. Yet Jean remained Eternal, descended of the vampires of old, and the promise of that which he imagined a lie tore at him. The Eternal grew troubled, the red mists falling, clouding his vision, his judgment, his sanity.

            Gairynzvl readied himself.

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~A Collaboration by Morgan and Richard M. Ankers. Richard’s contributions are highlighted for you in italics to set his writing apart from my own.  We hope you will enjoy this collaboration and debut of Character Interactions.  Be sure to stop back for the finale tomorrow

#FridayFantasy – #CharacterInteractions- When Fey and Eternals Collide – Part Two

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Part One

Gairynzvl did not need to be empathic to understand the man facing him was dangerous and he did not need to delve telepathically to know that one wrong word or movement on his part and he could be facing oblivion.  It was not a prospect he fancied, so when his lavender-ice stare met the brooding black glare of the stranger’s he lowered his expansive wings in an instinctual indication of deference.  The man bore no weapon, but upon closer examination, he realized the dark raven needed none.  Glinting from his sardonic grin, twin fangs as foreboding as any wolves warned the Fey of his lethal capacity; thus he stood silently to choose his words wisely before speaking.

“It was not my purpose to cross to wherever this is,” he offered as diplomatically as he might contrive to sound, glancing round him with undeniable curiosity; “any more than it is my intention to interrupt you.”

            “It would only have been an interruption if he’d got away.”

            Gairynzvl grinned at that, a swift gesture that drew a matching response. “My name is Gairynzvl,” said the Fey offering his hand. “Might I ask where I am?”

            “Jean,” replied the man in black, dropping his victim to the graveled rooftop. “And I often ask myself that very same thing.”

            The brooding fellow stalked forward, threw his coattails to one side and took the Fey’s hand. Their handshake was swift, but genuine.

            The place was not unpleasant, but neither did it overly appeal. Gairynzvl’s eyes swept the night allowing Jean the freedom to appraise him. Though his wings were distinctly peculiar, his powerful physique suggested, if put to it, he would be a formidable opponent.

            “Why does the water run red?” the Fey inquired, his feathers rustling in the breeze.

            “Because it’s blood.”

            “Blood, you say. Hm, this is indeed a strange and wonderful place.”

            “If by strange and wonderful, you mean bordering on dead, then yes.”

            “First impressions would suggest this a world not bordering on death but of death, albeit a luxurious one.”

            “You should never read too much into first impressions, otherwise I’d be offering you bird seed.”

            Gairynzvl did not rise to the bait; Jean’s smirk suggested he was impressed.

            The two stood together in silent contemplation, gazing out across the Rhineland as though friends for centuries. But Jean could no more hide his bitterness towards life from Gairynzvl than he could the moon from the sky; such were the Fey’s gifts. Hence, the advantage lay with the newcomer.

Twisting round to gaze at the man who lay unconscious where Jean had dropped him, the Fey could not silence the query that escaped him in a markedly sarcastic tone.

“Friend of yours?”

“On occasion.”  Jean’s terse reply warned him to go no further down that path.  Scoffing with a grin, Gairynzvl returned the banter of the raven glaring at him speculatively.

“Then, although I may not be here long, I shall endeavor to not make you my friend.”

“That would be wise.” The blunt honesty of his deprecating remark mirrored the flood of anger and resentment that rushed from Jean so forcefully the insightful Fey could scarce defend himself from it.  The sensation was one the former Legionnaire was all too familiar with and he frowned upon recognizing the other’s pain, but knew better than to remark on it unless he wished to learn, first hand, just what function his fangs performed.

“Where are you going?”

“The Uunglarda.”  Jean shook his head.

“Never heard of it. Beyond the borders of New Europa, is it?”  Gairynzvl shook his head, gesturing at the darkness from which he had stepped and Jean noticed, for the first time, how in that spot the shadows wavered and warped like the despoiled waters of the Danube below.

“Beyond this realm, although it, too, is a place of darkness and death, unlike my own realm of Light, life and purpose.”  Jean sneered.

“Something some of us will never know.”  Gairynzvl’s lavender-ice stare captured Jean’s, piercing him to his core.

“Your lifeforce is certainly unusual, but it is as potent as my own and I suspect your purpose is no different.”

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~A Collaboration by Morgan and Richard M. Ankers. Richard’s contributions are highlighted for you in italics to set his writing apart from my own.  We hope you will enjoy this collaboration and debut of Character Interactions.  Be sure to stop back / watch for upcoming installments.

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Filed under: Dark Fey, Friday FeyDay / Fantasy Tagged: BnV, BooknVolume, Character Spotlight, Darkness and Light, Fantasy, Fantasy Characters, Fey Folk, Immortals, Supporting Indie Authors, Vampires, ~Morgan~

#FridayFantasy – When Fey & Eternals Collide – Part One – #CharacterSketch

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Welcome to the debut of Character Interactions!  In this first installment, you will find a unique interaction between Richard M. Anker’s lead character, the Eternal Lord, Jean and the lead character of my own Dark Fey Trilogy, Prevailed Fey of the Light, Gairynzvl.  Richard’s contributions are highlighted for you in italics to set his writing apart from my own.  We hope you will enjoy this collaboration and debut of Character Interactions.  Be sure to stop back / watch for upcoming installments.

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Opening portals into other realms was just one of Gairynzvl’s many gifts.  As a Fey of the Light he was born telepathic as well as partially empathic, which allowed him to read the thoughts of another without difficulty. He could also sense the stronger emotions of others, though he had been taught from a young age not to delve without permission. During the years he spent among the Reviled, he had also been taught the unique skill of opening portals; which the Dlalth exploited to their own dark purposes; yet it was a gift he was thankful for, nevertheless.

Standing before the mirror he intended to utilize to pass into that dark realm, he stretched out his hands and spoke the incantation to prepare the glass for crossing; the guttural Dlalth words he spoke causing the reflective pane to ripple like the waters of a disturbed pond.  His deep voice pressed into its surface, penetrating the darkly silver abyss, opening it into the beyond, and the shadows that swirled and heavy darkness that reached through the void pulled at him, compelling him inward.  Grasping the sword he wore sheathed at his side and folding his expansive wings tightly, he stepped forward into the slurking emptiness, pushing his way through the murky nothingness of the portal outward into the waiting domain on the other side, but it was a domain he could never have anticipated.

The darkness, tinged with the silver of an unrecognized moon, illuminated a rooftop, one Gairynzvl teetered on, in full view of a river awash in dark crimson. This was not the world the Fey intended, a different night, a different place, but, still, it intrigued. He flexed his wings, their beating stirring up an overbearing pomade of some strange flower, both unknown and unwanted. There appeared to be music playing from down below and a casual glance over a steep drop revealed the flickering light of myriad candles, an overly bright accompaniment to the internal merriment. All very strange. All very new.  

Gairyznvl prepared to make the leap to a broad balcony below, when distracted by a grunt and the crunching as of gravel to his back, he paused. With a curse of frustration at having been the observed and not the observer, the Fey spun about-face. There before him locked in a one-sided struggle were two men. One, a dark raven of a man, appeared to be throttling the life out of a rather gaudily attired other, who hung from the first’s grip, his shock of messy blond hair waggling back and forth across his face. The throttled man, seeing Gairyznvl, attempted a cheery wave before an involuntary last shake silenced him, possibly for good, and the man in black turned to face his witness. The fire in his eyes suggested he was not best pleased. He was not best pleased at all.

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~A Collaboration by Morgan and Richard M. Ankers.

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Filed under: Dark Fey, Friday FeyDay / Fantasy Tagged: BnV, BooknVolume, Character Spotlight, Darkness and Light, Dystopian, Epic Fantasy, Fantasy, Fantasy Characters, Fantasy Preview, Fey Folk, Immortals, Vampires, ~Morgan~

Symphony – #DailyHaikuChallenge

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Music from the sky

Singing in the Lush Silence

Symphony of Sighs

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To take part in the Daily Haiku Challenge see The Original Post from Day One

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Day 208 / 365

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~Morgan~

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Beautiful Photograph found on Pinterest.  Credit Gratefully Acknowledged to the original photographer.

Filed under: Daily Haiku Challenge Tagged: Beauty, BnV, BooknVolume, Haiku Challenge, Harmony, Music, Nature, Peace, Poem, poetry, Poetry Blog, Silence, spirituality, ~Morgan~

Serenade of Solitude – #Poetry of #Spirituality

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Dim the Candle, Burning Bright,

Into the Hush of Twilit Night,

Surrender to the Sweetest Sound,

Tumbling from the Silence,

Maligned and Drowned,

Whispers from Epochs of Time,

Calamity Spinning in Dexterous Rhyme,

In Shadows,

In Moonbeams,

Drift upon Heaven’s Breast,

Serenade of Sweet Solitude

Singing me To Rest.

 

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~Morgan~

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Beautiful Photography by: Timothy Poulton on Fivehundredpx

Filed under: Poetry Tagged: Beautiful Photographs, Beauty, BnV, Harmony, Inspiration, Nature, Night, Peace, Poem, poetry, Poetry Blog, spirituality, ~Morgan~

Charmer – #DailyHaikuChallenge

 

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Singer in bright dress

Caroling to greet the day

Delightful Charmer

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To take part in the Daily Haiku Challenge see The Original Post from Day One

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Day 207 / 365

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~Morgan~

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Beautiful Photograph found on Pinterest.  Credit Gratefully Acknowledged to the original photographer.  Thank You

Filed under: Daily Haiku Challenge Tagged: Beautiful Photographs, Birds, BnV, BooknVolume, Haiku Challenge, Nature, Poem, poetry, Poetry Blog, Poetry Challenge, ~Morgan~

#WordlessWednesday – Waves of Light

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~Morgan~

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Beautiful Photographs found on Pinterest. Credit acknowledged to the Original Photographers and David Pu’u. Thank You!

Filed under: Wordless Wednesday Tagged: Beautiful Earth, Beautiful Photographs, Beauty, BnV, BooknVolume, Earth Photos, Light, Nature, Ocean, photography, waves, ~Morgan~

#WordlessWednesday – The Ocean Shore

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~Morgan~

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Beautiful Photographs found on Pinterest. Credit acknowledged to the Original Photographers. Thank You!

Filed under: Wordless Wednesday Tagged: Beautiful Earth, Beautiful Photographs, Beauty, BnV, BooknVolume, Earth Photos, Light, Nature, Ocean, Ocean Shore, photography, Seashore, ~Morgan~

Wall of Memory – #DailyHaikuChallenge

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Wall of Memory

Leading Beyond the borders

Into what May Be

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To take part in the Daily Haiku Challenge see The Original Post from Day One

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Day 206 / 365

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~Morgan~

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Beautiful Photograph found on Pinterest.  Credit Gratefully Acknowledged to the original photographer.  Thank You

Filed under: Daily Haiku Challenge Tagged: Beautiful Photographs, BnV, BooknVolume, Change, life, Memory, Nature, Poem, poetry, Poetry Blog, spirituality, Writing Challenge, ~Morgan~

In The Garden of My Dreams – #RomanticTuesday #Love #Poetry

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In the Garden of my Dreams

Where Time and Memory Collide,

I Wait in the Hush of What used to Be,

Beyond the vanity of Pride.

Where once upon a vanished Time

We Shared and Hoped in Unity;

We Danced in Blissful, Romantic Rhyme;

We Sighed in Sweet Serenity.

In the Garden of my Dreams

I Stand in Reverence, Never Debating;

For You, Beloved, to Return to me,

Where I Linger, Breathlessly Waiting.

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~Morgan~

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Beautiful photograph found on Pinterest. Credit Acknowledged to the Original Photographer. Thank you!

Filed under: Poetry Tagged: Beloved, BnV, BooknVolume, Dreams, Longing, Love, Memory, Poem, poetry, relationships, Romance, Soul Mates, time, ~Morgan~ [image error]