Malediction (Scars of the Sundering Book 1) (43 page)

BOOK: Malediction (Scars of the Sundering Book 1)
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Perhaps
it’s truly gone. I did not feel its touch fighting the prince.
He heard the draks
bickering but ignored them and focused on the tapestry. The individual threads
making up the pictures took on a life of their own as he concentrated on them.
Pancras followed a gold thread as it wound around the picture until he lost it
and picked up a different thread heading in a new direction.

Much
like our lives.
He fingered his focus, secure on his belt. The minotaur turned and regarded his
friends. Edric still sat by himself, fidgeting with his dice while he drank.
Kali stood near Kale while he and his sister argued over their next move.
Delilah’s disapproval was palpable, almost as audible as her huffs of
disapproval that accompanied every input from Kali.

Pancras
smiled as warmth spread in his heart at the familial scene. “It’s time to take
action.”

His
words silenced the room. All eyes turned to him.

“It’s
dangerous to stay here. I think we should take our chances on the road. We’ll
buy tents on our way out of town and put this place behind us.”

The
minotaur limped over to the draks and put his hand on Delilah’s shoulder. “No
longer will the humans decide our course. Gather your things.”

 

 

 

By Hans Cummings

 

The Foundation of
Drak-Anor

Wings of Twilight

Iron Fist of the
Oroqs

 

Scars of the
Sundering

Malediction

Lament

Salvation (Coming Soon!)

 

The Zack Jackson
Series

Zack Jackson & The Cult
of Athos

Zack Jackson & The
Cytherean Academy

Zack Jackson & The Hives
of Valtra

 

Seven Galaxies
(formerly published in the Sojourn Speculative Fiction anthologies)

Forgotten Dreams

The Pleasure Pools
of Persiphia

 

 

 

 

Scars of the Sundering

Book 1 – Malediction

Book2 – Lament

Book 3 - Salvation

 

Hans Cummings

 

This is a work of fiction. All characters and events
portrayed in this book are fictional, and any resemblance to real people or
incidents is purely coincidental.

 

Copyright © 2015 by Hans Cummings

 

All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce
this book or portions thereof in any form.

 

Edited by
Laura K. Anderson
http://rootshalfhidden.com/

 

Cover design by Eric Hubbel

http://hubbelcreative.deviantart.com/

 

Cover Art by Lily Yang

http://www.lilyyangart.com/

 

Heraldy by

Axel Löfving

 

Cartography by Anna B. Meyer
http://http://ghmaps.net/

 

World of Calliome Logo by Gwyneth Ravenscraft of
G-Sharp Productions

http://www.g-sharpproductions.com/

 

 

 

Acknowledgements

For Tink, without whom this would
not have been possible.

 

Thanks to Michael R. Hicks, J.A.
Konrath, Chuck Wendig, and Michael A. Stackpole for encouragement, advice, and
inspiration. You all help give me the drive to make this possible.

 

Special thanks to Mike Wolff, Craig
Majors, Rabia Gale (Lady Q), and the fine folk in the Fear the Boot and
KindleBoards message board communities for all their encouragement and
feedback.

 

 

 

 

Hans Cummings

Author/Publisher

 

 

Author of the
fantasy duology: The Foundation of Drak-Anor: Wings of Twilight and Iron Fist
of the Oroqs as well as the Zack Jackson science fiction series, Hans Cummings
published his first novel in 2011. Three of his short stories appear in Fear
the Boot’s Sojourn speculative fiction anthologies. He is Nuvo’s Best of Indy —
Best Local Author 3rd place Honoree for 2014.

Hans is a
volunteer for the tabletop gaming industry ENnie Awards and maintains a gaming
blog
http://doctorstrangeroll.wordpress.com
in addition to his writing blog
http://vffpublishing.com
.

Hans earned a
Bachelor of Arts degree in English from Indiana University in 2006. He grew up
in Indiana, Germany, and Virginia and returned to Indiana when he was 21. He
currently lives in Indianapolis with his wife. Hans’s hobbies include tabletop
and computer gaming, cooking and smoking meat, and igniting young people’s
curiosity and passion for science and exploration.

 

Learn more about this and other works by the author
at:
http://vffpublishing.com/

 

Use Twitter? Follow the author
@hccummings

 

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