Devrie Spaulding's Blog, page 11

A Pawn of the Devil Part 2

Sarah tried to think of how to escape. Would there even be another opening to go through? The sound of whatever was with her inside the cavern came again. It was farther way this time, so she took a moment to breathe. The smell had her taking shallow breaths. Too much, and it muddied her mind.

 

She untied the rope from around her waist. It wasn’t going to do her any good now. She needed a way out, and being anchored to a closed tunnel wasn’t going to help. Her lifeline to the outside world fell to the ground with a loud thump. All hope seemed to fall with it. Shaking the thought off, she followed her current wall away from her cohabitant’s direction.

 

Mere feet away from where she started, Sarah could no longer see the rope or boulder. There was more light in here somehow, but not much more. She didn’t have the will to figure it out. Escape was her only objective now. The wall continued on and on. The pond continued to watch her from the middle, yet she still hadn’t found another way out. Several times, Sarah had to move around a large outcropping of stones. One area looked like some kind of platform. She pushed the thought from her mind.

 

Movement from behind had her spinning around. Whatever shared space with her was following at a distance. Maybe it was just some helpless animal too scared to confront her. So far, it hadn’t done her any harm. Several steps later, she felt something that made her cry out. It was the boulder still holding her rope.

 

Sarah collapsed to the floor. Her tears drenched her shirt. With shaky hands, she tried to wipe them away but only smeared mud across her face. Her mind raced with options on how to get out, but nothing seemed possible. The boulder wouldn’t move. The smell was getting worse inside the cavern. There was no way to describe it other than rotten eggs. It made thinking very difficult. Sarah’s thoughts became jumbled and foggy. Her limbs felt like lead. The last thing she heard before passing out was that same shuffling but much closer.

 

 

A Pawn of the Devil

Sarah had been hiking in the mountains for over two days now. It was her element. She loved the outdoors and being alone. This area was new to her, however. She followed trails the wildlife left behind, but other than that, there was no real direction. It didn’t matter. Sarah knew how to live off the land.

Up ahead, a small dark space formed just beyond a growth of tall shrubs. If it wasn’t for the sun hitting the area just as she glanced that way, it would have been entirely missed. A foul smell blew in the breeze, causing her to gag. Sarah nearly turned the other way, but something called to her from within the opening. It wasn’t a sound or a voice. It was a feeling. She just had to go inside.

 

All around, the forest was dead quiet. Not a single animal or bird made a noise. Sarah’s skin prickled with fear. Everything yelled at her to turn away, but she was never one to run. Since she could remember, she climbed the tallest trees and faced off to the meanest bullies in school. As an adult, she spent her free time helping orphans learn to be brave and happy. As a forest ranger, there was no end to the things Sarah had to face.

 

A sensation of urgency filled her core. Heart racing, she took several more steps in the direction of the cave. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. With a shrug of her shoulder and a cough, Sarah moved forward. Once she got to the shrubs, she brought out her hatched and cut a way through.

 

With that done, Sarah squatted down and rummaged through her pack. She always came prepared, and this time was no different. She removed her head lamp and a long roll of rope that she proceeded to tie around her waist. The other end was tied to a nearby, sturdy tree. There was nothing to be done about the smell.

 

The opening was barely large enough to fit her slim figure. She had to stoop so the ceiling wouldn’t knock off her head lamp. Water trickled down both sides from some unknown openings, causing the floor to be pure mud. Once she passed the threshold, it was as if the sun wasn’t allowed inside. Pure darkness engulfed Sarah. Only her lamp beam could show her the way. A very strange, deep feeling of terror shook her bones, but she had made it inside and wasn’t about to turn back.

 

Sarah sloshed through the mud, letting her rope line out as she went. She wasn’t sure how long she had been walking, but the tunnel grew smaller, forcing her to her knees. This was definitely outside of her comfort zone. Determined to see this through, she crawled forward.

 

After what seemed like an eternity, Sarah found herself standing upright again and inside an enormous cavern. She moved her head around to try and find the walls but couldn’t. The ceiling was beyond her lamp’s range as well. A small pond of stagnant water filled the center. Some kind of green algae floated on its surface.

 

Trembling, Sarah walked around a little. She didn’t want to expend her rope unnecessarily in case there was somewhere further she could go. A shuffling sound stopped her in her tracks. With how big the area was, every noise echoed and couldn’t be pinned down to a certain location. When the movement happened again, Sarah decided enough was enough. She grabbed her rope to follow back to where she had entered. It pulled tight, but that had to be from where it was tied to the tree. Finally reaching the wall, she soon realized she was wrong

The rope stopped at the wall but was stuck by a huge boulder blocking Sarah’s path back. Panic rose in her chest. She couldn’t get a deep enough breath. Her hands shook violently as she tried to move the obstacle. It wouldn’t budge. Leaning on it and using her legs didn’t help. Tears started running down her face. She was trapped, and there was something in here with her.

 

TWO DAYS TILL LAUNCH!!!!

TWO DAYS TILL LAUNCH!!!!!!!!!
July 7th is almost here for my friend Dev’s 2nd book in the Supernatural Sisters to launch!! I am so excited to hear what y’all think! Book 1 is available, and you can preorder book 2. Both are on Amazon. Don’t forget to keep your eyes open for Magic’s Hunt as well. It will be coming out soon.

LAUNCH DATE SET!!!!

LAUNCH DATE SET!!!!
Hey everyone. It’s official! Launch date for Book 2 of my goofy sisters fighting monsters is set for JULY 7th!!!!! Spread the word cause it’s gonna be one hell of a ride in this one. New monsters, cross overs from my fantasy book that I will be publishing here soon, and Kat is nuts. Let’s just leave it at that.

I am doing this one through KDP for Kindle so the paperback is a bit more this time around. Their rules, not mine. The e-book will be available for Kindle Unlimited too.

If you haven’t read the first one or it’s been a while, go for it and read it or reread it. I would love it if you did.

Thank you to everyone who has supported me and cheered me on. You peeps are the best.

Look for Magic’s Hunt soon.

A QUEST, SHOULD YOU CHOOSE…

FINALLY DONE!!!! NOW FOR A QUEST TO OFFER YOU ALL!

HELLOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
Well book 2 is finally written to the ending. Thanks to Sherry Aldrich and Belinda Spaulding it will be edited soon as well. Then, it is on to figuring out Amazon’s KDP process. This is just a taste of what the cover should look like.

For all of you who have read my first book, thank you so very much. For those who haven’t, it is available on Amazon in both print and e-book formats. I have a quest if you choose to accept it. If you could, leave a review on Amazon for book 1. Those who do will get an email of the first 4 chapters of book 2 for free. It will be in a Word doc since I do not have it formatted yet, but you will get a jump start what comes next! Send me an email to katandpepper28@gmail.com when you do.

Read with your hearts!!!!

UPDATE UPDATE UPDATE

Supernatural Sisters Book 2 is just about finished and is going into the edit mode. (Thank you Sherry Aldrich) As soon as I figure out how to publish through Amazon KDP, it will be there.
Thank you to everyone who read Book 1. It is still on Amazon and there is time to meet Kat and Pepper on their discovery of monsters.

Love you all!

I will be posting more short stories here on my website soon as well.
I’M BACK Bs!!!

A Mystery Deep Below

It was another cold, quiet night in the abyss I call home. In all my twenty-eight cycles of life, I could still feel the gentle sway of Torchal. His ancient thoughts, a soft buzz in the back of my mind. A sweet lullaby that kept me calm. It kept us all calm. Soothed raw nerves, quenched anger and remorse. If I paid close enough attention, I could even hear the forming of words.

We all heard the buzzing. Most of us Firen were aware of his consciousness. Very few noticed his movements through the dense waters deep down in this ocean, however. I believe that is what the land walkers called it; ocean.

Just like those above, the Firen also became complacent to their way of life. We took many things for granted and could no longer see the wonders before us. I still saw it. I still felt it. My name is Limmeg. I am sole apprentice to Lar-Naneth. She is the voice of Torchal but goes by many names; healer, witch, crone. I simply call her… mother.

Most productive?

Daily writing promptWhen do you feel most productive?View all responses

I am usually the most productive at writing when I wake up in the middle of the night, or while I am at work.

Supernatural Sisters: Eight Rays of the Sun; Out on Digital

It is finally done and out on digital as well as paperback. Check it out at Amazon or Barnes and Noble. I am so excited that my characters finally get their chance in the spotlight.

Leigh Bardugo

I actually met this author at a convention. Her cover art and the back of the book description had me picking up instantly. So when I stood in line to have her sign it, I found she was a very cool person. She laughed with everyone and never dropped her smile. By the time I got there, I would think she would be tired of smiling all the time but I was wrong. She was such a hoot. Just love her.

Her writing is just as amazing as she is. You feel as if you are the characters. Her world building is one of the most impressive I have seen. The book I picked up at the convention was Shadow and Bone. When I finished it, I very quickly picked up the next and then the next. The Grishaverse has grown immensely with countless followers.

She is a New York Times best seller. You can find her books here: https://www.leighbardugo.com/

Missing out on reading her books would be a huge mistake.

Read with your heart!

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