Thursday, January 9, 2014

"Blood Bride (Aarabassa World Part 3)" by Catherine L. Vickers

EXCERPT
Blood Bride
(Aarabassa World Part 3)
by Catherine L. Vickers


Blood Bride is Part 3 of the Aarabassa World series. Also available: Guardian Dragons (read my blog post) and Flight of a Changeling (read my blog post).

Description
Upon this world one half is dark and the other is light. A Magic Wall divides the darker characters out of the Lightlands.
All upon Aarabassa are preparing for battle.
The evil monshaad Emperor has enticed the Changeling to the Darklands where he hopes to capture her very essence of magic. However, the vamplin Lord has different ideas.
Evil stirs, who will stop it. 

Excerpt
Leon awoke to a loud snuffling in his ear.
‘Frizzle boy, stop that.’
Something gently nudged at his back, not at all like a dog’s paw. Sensing he had unexpected company, Leon swiftly moved to reach for his sword, but it was not nearby.
‘That would not do much good, my son,’ a deep rumbling voice spoke.
Leon looked up at a dark silhouette, blinded by the sun’s glare he could not make out who it was. Slowly he stood, squinting with his hand shading his eyes to clear his vision.
‘You must be Prince Leon?’ The husky voice asked.
Moving position to he could see better, he realised he was surrounded by many figures. Stumbling slightly as he stepped backwards, a strong arm steadied him from behind. A strong aroma of horseflesh meandered around his nose. Turning around to thank the man who had kindly saved him, he found himself staring into the strong proud eyes of a huge centaur with the face of a bearded man, smiling at him. The centaur had a long plaited string of hair on his chin that fell into a neat tail, with a colourful string intricately entwined into its display. His large naked torso bared strong muscled hairy arms that had reached out to stop Leon from taking a fall in his shock. The human-looking body merged into a horse’s torso with four thick horse’s legs. A swishing tail at the back was also neatly plaited with beads and ribbons. He had heard of these centaurs but never had he imagined what one would actually look like. He turned to face the rest of the group, only to notice even more of these beautiful creatures, amongst them stood a group of tall human men. Leon knew that where there were centaurs, then there would also be the human tribesmen known as the Cheroks.
‘Yes, I am Leon,’ he stuttered, a little stunned and lost for words.
‘I am Phellip.’ A tall dark skinned, lean young man stood forward and spoke. ‘My father has sent me to greet you and guide you safely to our village.’
‘How did you know of my arrival?’ asked Leon curiously.
‘The dwarves sent pigeons with brief message of your quest. We communicate often in this way. Very useful on many occasion,’ Phellip explained with a wide grin.

Review
Nooooo ... can't believe I have to wait for the next book to see what happens! In this 3rd book of the Aarabassa series, I still Love the dragons, centaurs, and all the other great creatures of Aarabassa! Great description of the evil ones of this world. Well written to make you feel like you are there experiencing events. Waiting (not) patiently for the next book!

About the Author
Catherine lives on the borderline of North and West Yorkshire, the gateway to the Yorkshire Dales in England.
She is a mother of four children and a grandmother of two grandchildren. She has three dogs and one cat. Her wonderful husband assists her with the complicated world of computers that enable her to publish her works for the world to view.
Her reading is dedicated to the worlds within Fantasy Adventure, Urban Fantasy and Historical English Crime. Occasionally she turns to English Classics with Charles Dickens and the Brontë sisters being favourites.
By day she sells antique and vintage items (you can visit her eBay store by clicking the link below). By night she is busy creating and writing towards her new fantasy series, Aarabassa World. Part 1, Guardian Dragons, was released in February 2013. Part 2, Flight of a Changeling, was released in June 2013. Part 3, Blood Bride, was released December 2013.

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