My favorite books of 2014

I tried to read as many of the 2014 must-read books I could… but of course I couldn’t get to them all. It was a busy year for me. Writing one big book, editing three others, plus a little thing called Life. I read the books I could and the ones I missed will have to wait for next year… or the year after… or the year after that. You know how it goes. Anyway, here are my Top 10 favorites released in 2014.

1) The Martian by Andy Weir – My number one favorite book of the year. The story of an astronaut left behind on Mars sounds like a grim thriller but it’s actually hilarious thanks to Weir’s humor and a wonderful main character. I loved this book and would recommend it to basically everyone. I’ll be reading this one again someday. Read my full review at Goodreads.

2) All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr – Historical fiction isn’t usually my thing, but I was drawn in by all the reviews. And hey, the critics got it right with this one. It’s not wrong to call this a coming-of-age story set during WWII, but leaving it at that really doesn’t do the book any justice. This is a wonderful novel. Beautiful prose, strong characters, and a compelling plot – this book has it all. It’s also… don’t tell anybody this… the only book on this list that managed to make me cry. Just a little, you understand. Not a lot. Not very much at all! But yes, there were tears, it’s true. Read my full review at Goodreads.

3) Bird Box by Josh Malerman – Tense thriller that plays with horror ideas in an interesting way. Basically, the world’s come to an end thanks to the arrival of these creatures. What do they look like? Nobody’s sure. If you see one of them you go insane and promptly kill yourself. Now, this book is going to bother some people who want (need?) to know what monsters lurk in the shadows. Because of the very nature of the creatures you are largely denied any hard information on what exactly is going on beyond the blindfold. Personally, I really liked this approach. I’ve always been more scared by the horror that’s just out of sight and Bird Box tapped into that fear extraordinarily well. Read my full review at Goodreads.

4) The Troop by Nick Cutter – Holy shit this was disgusting and awful and awesome and holy shit oh my GOD it’s just so fucking YEUUWHY… Hmm. Yes. That describes my feelings for this book quite well, actually. The Troop is a good, tough horror story. Unputdownable. I doubt I will ever read The Troop again—it’s just so nasty—but I can’t wait for Nick Cutter’s The Deep in 2015 and whatever else he’s cooking up for the future. Read my full review at Goodreads.

5) Othella by Therin Knite –Despite being an ‘indie author’ I really don’t read as much self-published fiction as I should. Sorry, guys. Still, from the 2014 indie fiction I have read, I think Therin Knite’s sci-fi novel Othella was the best of the best – and, if you want to make a thing out of it, yeah it was a whole lot better than most the traditionally published books I read this year. It’s a sci-fi thriller about a world on the brink, a technological society of geniuses who are tasked with bringing civilization back from the edge, and the dark secrets that threaten to bring it all down. It’s just really cool. I look forward to the sequel. Read my full review at Goodreads.

6) The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey – The book’s description doesn't want you to know what the book is really about. I’m gonna SPOIL it for you... It’s about zombies. Yeah, I know. I’m tired of them, too. They’re everywhere and I fail to understand why. But I gotta give it up for an author who manages to do something fresh and new with the tired genre. The Girl with All the Gifts is both horrific and sweet, featuring my favorite zombie girl in all of book & film. The book made this bored “fan” of the genre very happy. Read my full review at Goodreads.

7) The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell – A book that I found I admired more than I actually enjoyed. But still, the book succeeded in taking me deep into its epic story. I don’t agree with all of its choices – particularly leaving most of the world building for page 500 – but there’s a lot to like about the book. It’s hugely ambitious, and among other things it presents us with perhaps the most believable and depressing vision of the near future I’ve ever read. Read my full review at Goodreads.

8) Landline by Rainbow Rowell – This isn’t my typical kind of book. It’s a dialogue driven bittersweet romantic comedy with a Magic Fucking Phone that talks to the past. Yep. Landline was so far from being on my radar that I hadn’t heard of it until Goodreads voters named it one of their favorite books of the year. I also confess I don’t really know who Rainbow Rowell is (I had heard of her book Fangirl, though). So yeah, I am pretty far from the intended audience for this book. But I wanted to give it a go based on all the craze praise… and it’s really, really good. Rowell writes fantastic dialogue. Landline made me laugh out loud, which is rare. She’s a great writer. I do think the book overstayed its welcome just a bit. The concept started to tire sometime before the end. But still, it’s a book well deserving of praise. And hey, sometimes it’s cool to read something outside of your typical genre/comfort zone. I’m glad I gave Landline a try. Read my full review at Goodreads.

9) Revival by Stephen King – Despite the hype that this is ‘vintage King’, I really don’t see Revival as a horror novel. It’s a dark saga of two men intertwined by tragedy and curiosity. Their curiosity brings them face-to-face with some horrific stuff along the way, but should the novel be considered horror? Ehh, I don’t know. So, I kind of went into Revival with certain expectations. Once I got past the fact that the book wasn’t what I expected I began to enjoy it a lot more. King’s fantastic writing makes it one of my favorite books of the year. ALSO: I quite liked King’s Mr. Mercedes. Read my full review at Goodreads.

10) Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami – I’m relatively new to Murakami’s work, but I think I’m getting a pretty good idea of what to expect from his books. When I first read Colorless Tsukuru I was rather disappointed (as shown in my review). I thought the book started off brilliantly but slowly became repetitive before coming to a completely anticlimactic ending. But in the months since reading it, I’ve found that my feelings towards the book have softened. More than that, I’m surprised by how much the book has stuck with me. I think on Colorless Tsukuru more than I think of many other books I read this year. Read my full review at Goodreads.

One of my other favorite reads of the year was Joe Hill's Locke & Key comic book series. I feel pretty good calling Locke & Key one of the greatest comics of all time.

The 2014 books I’m most disappointed I missed (and most looking forward to catching up with) are Pierce Brown’s Red Rising, Jesse Ball’s Silence Once Begun, Hugh Howey’s Sand, Stuart Keane’s All or Nothing, James Ellroy’s Perfidia, Jeff VanderMeer’s Annihilation, and Ksenia Anske’s Rosehead. Of course those books must compete with the classics that I gotta read and the new 2015 books that are coming out. I can’t wait to read Nick Cutter’s The Deep and Joe Hill’s The Fireman.

How about you? What are some of your favorite books from 2014?

What are some of the books you’re most looking forward to in 2015?

Death's Good Intentions FREE for Kindle today only!

Today only you can download my book Death’s Good Intentions FREE for Kindle. CLICK HERE.

Tomorrow it goes back to its already low price of $2.99. I don't know if it'll ever be available for free again, so if you've been waiting to download cheaper than cheap, then here's your chance!

Thank you to all those who download the book today, tomorrow, a year from now, etc! I hope you enjoy.

The Man with the Devil's Tongue is now FREE for Kindle

The Man with the Devil’s Tongue is now FREE for Kindle at: http://www.amazon.com/Devils-Tongue-World-Other-Things-ebook/dp/B00MFBVLR8/ref=pd_sim_sbs_kstore_3?ie=UTF8&refRID=18361KMBDHFCAHHZSRXK

Thanks to all those who helped with the price matching. I appreciate it!

As of right now, the Kindle ebook is free only at Amazon.com and not Amazon.co.uk and other branches of the site. If you want, you can try the price matching tool on Amazon.co.uk and tell them about Amazon.com’s price. That should speed up the process of making it free across the pond.

Death's Good Intentions & Kindle Unlimited

I have decided to give Kindle Unlimited a try for my latest book. If you’re a subscriber, you can now read Death’s Good Intentions for free on your Kindle device.

Why this is cool: Kindle Unlimited is sort of like a Netflix service for ebooks. If you’re a subscriber, you can read as many books as you want, and now Death’s Good Intentions is part of the catalog. I’ll also have some promotional tools at my control, like the Countdown deals, which I’ll put to use later.

Why it’s admittedly not so cool: For an indie author to have their ebook eligible for Kindle Unlimited, it means the ebook must be taken down from other sites. This means that Death’s Good Intentions is no longer available for Nook, iBooks, Kobo, or Smashwords. That sucks. I wish it were another way, but it ain’t.

So why did I decide to make my book an Amazon exclusive? Well, I wanted the goods they were offering… and to be perfectly honest, sales have always been pretty poor on the other sites. For the moment, it doesn’t feel like such a bad trade. However, I don’t expect Death’s Good Intentions to be an Amazon exclusive forever. If and when things change, I’ll let you know.

For now, allow me to direct you to the book’s Kindle listing. Amazon US & Amazon UK.

And don’t forget the book is also available in paperback.

Help make The Man with the Devil's Tongue FREE on Amazon

Hello everybody! I was wondering if I could ask you for a moment of your time…

My novella The Man with the Devil’s Tongue is free everywhere except for Amazon. I want to change that. Amazon does not give authors a FREE option when choosing their book’s price. The only way to get Amazon to make a book permanently free is to ask Amazon to price match another site. The more people who submit the cheaper prices found elsewhere, the quicker Amazon will price match.

This is what must be done!

1—If you’re an Amazon user, please sign in.

2— Copy any or all of these links of the ebook from other sites like Barnes & Noble, iTunes, and Kobo:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-man-with-the-devils-tongue-kyle-warner/1120076951?ean=2940046095951&itm=1&usri=the+man+with+the+devil%27s+tongue

https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/man-devils-tongue-end-world/id908400140?mt=11

http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/the-man-with-the-devil-s-tongue-the-end-of-the-world-and-some-other-things

3— Go to the Amazon listing for The Man with the Devil’s Tongue: http://www.amazon.com/Devils-Tongue-World-Other-Things-ebook/dp/B00MFBVLR8/ref=la_B00FSZON2I_1_4_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1411852601&sr=1-4

4—On Amazon’s page for The Man with the Devil’s Tongue, scroll down to the link that says ‘tell us about a lower price?’ (It’s right above the customer reviews) Click that link, select Website, and then paste in the Barnes & Noble link and mark the price and shipping as 0.00. You can complete this process over again with the iTunes and Kobo links if you like. The more competitive prices presented to Amazon, the faster they should respond.

Thanks to all those who help out! Your assistance is much appreciated.

New website design

New website. Same url.

http://www.kyle-warner.com/

Personally, I was never pleased with my old website. The new site design is very much a work in progress, but I like it more already.

I am also able to have a blog on my new site. Depending on how I like it, I may close up shop here on Blogger and post exclusively at the new blog. We shall see! I'll let ya know.

Anyway, check out the new digs and let me know what you think!

DEATH'S GOOD INTENTIONS now available

Release day! My new book DEATH’S GOOD INTENTIONS is now available for sale. 

 You can find the ebook for $2.99 at Amazon.com and £1.85 at Amazon.co.uk.

Death’s Good Intentions is Book 1 of the dark, urban fantasy series The End of the World and Some Other Things. The series is about the man chosen to become Death, the Fourth Horseman of the Apocalypse. Death rejects his role in the coming Apocalypse, making himself an enemy of both Heaven and Hell. While he hunts down his Four Horsemen brethren, Death is unaware that he is also being hunted. A secret order called the Gatekeepers believes Death must be destroyed. However, the woman leading the hunt is conflicted, believing that Death could become a formidable ally...

Amazon US: http://www.amazon.com/Deaths-Intentions-World-Other-Things-ebook/dp/B00N47LH08/ref=la_B00FSZON2I_1_4_title_0_main?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410294217&sr=1-4

Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Deaths-Intentions-World-Other-Things-ebook/dp/B00N47LH08/ref=la_B00FSZON2I_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1410294235&sr=1-4

Thanks for your time! I hope you enjoy!

-- Kyle

P.S. -- I expect the paperback to be available before the day is done. Also coming soon, ebooks for iTunes, Kobo, Nook, and Smashwords. Stay tuned!

Death's Good Intentions: Chapter 1 Preview

Death's Good Intentions will be available Tuesday on paperback and ebook. The Kindle ebook is currently available for pre-order.

In the meantime, here is the first chapter...

I hope you enjoy!

The Black Horse

They were waiting for him on the little island across the swamp. Their bonfire beckoned. They were naked, most of them, and their pale, sweaty bodies jiggled as they danced around the flame. The others wore black robes and sung a formless lullaby in deep, dark tones.

They acted like they were alone, not a care in the world as they prayed for their Dark Lord to make an appearance, but they knew they had an audience on the opposite shore.

Trey Decarr stood at the muddy shoreline with a gun in his hand and an empty bottle of whiskey by his feet. He had been watching the show since back when the fire was short and the bottle was full, thinking how best to approach his quarry.

An informant tipped him off that this little island in the Louisiana swamps was where he wanted to be tonight. The informant had hinted that he would have company on the island but could not say what kind, so Decarr came prepared.

He brought a wooden stake in case he ran into vampires and a flask of holy water in case there were demons. As expected, though, the only things awaiting him on the island were some backwards thinking people who thought that Satan still appreciated orgies around the campfire.

Satanists. He’d come prepared for them, too, quickly downing the cheap whiskey so that he might endure their senseless babble without losing his mind.

Decarr wasn’t really concerned about the idiots bouncing around the bonfire. 

He was not a man without skills, especially with a gun in his hand. Even with heavy drinking, he suspected he could kill anyone who rushed him and scare off all the others. And if bullets became scarce he still felt pretty confident in his hand-to-hand abilities.

Decarr was a tall, muscular man in his prime at age thirty-five. Over the years he had earned the reputation of a big, dumb brute. He didn’t appreciate the label, but had to admit that the shoe was comfortable, and tried to have fun with the role whenever the situation allowed it.

He wasn’t exactly a handsome guy. His looks were too intimidating, his eyes too dark, and any compliments about his appearance had become rare indeed.

So, it wasn’t the opponents that awaited him on the island that gave him pause. No, it was the fact that the Satanists had put a hole in the last remaining boat on this side of the swamp. The rope that had tied it to shore earlier in the day was now angled down into the murky depths.

He thought about swimming. It wasn’t far. Maybe five minutes through the muck and he would be out on the other side.

It would be easy enough. . . except for the fact that an alligator had been eyeing him since he arrived on the shore.

He only saw the big bastard’s eyes when the flickering fire caught them just right. They peeked out of the water, colored the darkest shade of black that ever existed, and never looked away from him.

Decarr couldn’t see the rest of the reptile but imagined it to be almost twenty feet long.

If he waded into the swamp, the gator would be on him in a flash. It would drag him under and he’d never see the surface again. His death would be quiet. No screams. Only bubbles.

Conversely, he could shoot the gator between the eyes and wade into the water unchallenged. Problem was, it would alert the groupies, making things harder on him when he reached the island.

That and he didn’t really want to shoot the gator.

The giant reptile was a dragon made real on a planet which liked to think that monsters were something that belonged to myth and fantasy. An alligator couldn’t really help being what it was.

Decarr could relate.

Used to be that he had lived a somewhat normal life and demons were reserved for fever dreams and bad horror movies. Not so much anymore.

Now he saw the beasts everywhere he went, and those who knew his face couldn’t stop themselves from talking about his greater purpose.

Decarr had pissed on destiny years ago and never looked back. Instead of doing what was expected of him, he went to decrepit buildings and backwater bayous looking for clues that could lead him to the remaining Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse.

It was a long, dangerous road, one walked with baby steps.

First step today: walk into a swamp with a hungry alligator as your swimming buddy.

Decarr swallowed hard and waded out into the water.

The alligator stirred. Its tail swished through the water, creating waves along the stagnant surface. Mosquitoes took flight. In a tree up above, an unseen bird called out, excited about the prospect of dining on whatever tidbits the gator left behind.

Those black eyes came closer. Decarr tensed. He kept the pistol raised above his head, safe and dry, and angled it in the reptile’s direction.

The snout appeared above the water. It breathed in, smelling Decarr’s scent, and released a guttural growl.

The thing was so close now that Decarr thought he could count the teeth in its mouth.

Without a given reason, the alligator splashed its tail through the water, altered its course, and swam in the complete opposite direction.

Decarr remained where he was for a moment, half-expecting some larger predator to come at him from behind, but nothing happened.

Maybe the alligator knew a challenge when it saw one and simply didn’t want to risk bodily harm attempting to kill a man as large as Decarr. Or maybe the gator was never hungry to begin with, it was just curious, just taking a swim…

Or maybe it knew that your flesh is rotten. That you’re dying inside. Maybe it knew that you’re Death himself. Even the most primal beasts—especially the most primal—recognize a monster when they see one.

Decarr pulled himself up on the island shore, covered in mud and vegetation. He wiped himself off and found that swollen leeches had latched onto his stomach and legs. He tore the bloodsuckers off and threw them back in the swamp.

Bleeding and smelling like the bog, Decarr cocked his gun and approached the campfire.

Now that he was closer he could make out lyrics in their song. He picked out lines like ‘your horse of darkness’ and ‘starve the babies, burn the fields’ and knew he was in the right place.

His foot fell on a stick. The snap was loud but he felt safe because their song was louder. Nobody had heard him—

A gun pressed up against the back of his head and a blade tapped his spine.

He sighed and held his gun with loose fingers so that the perimeter guard could snatch it away.

Dumbass, he cursed himself. The fire had blinded him to the shadows on the island and the alligator had kept him distracted from all else that moved. How had he missed the man in the woods? The guard had probably been watching him this entire time, just waiting for Decarr to swim across.

Decarr grumbled, “Take me to your fucking leader.”

The song stopped as he approached the fire. Those naked dancers went for their robes, dressing like embarrassed teenagers caught doing something naughty.

A woman stepped out of the group. She wore a pentagram necklace around her neck and her face was scarred with old burns. Decarr thought somebody must’ve thrown her in a fire once before.

Unlike the others, the woman showed no fear. Maybe she couldn’t. Could be that those burns had disconnected her emotions from her face, but Decarr didn’t think so.

She was the Queen Bitch, one of Satan’s lovers, and was well-acquainted with the worst of Earth and Hell. The others might have been posers, hopelessly drawn to this life by either local tradition or some long festering desire to rebel against society and God. But this lady was the real deal, a true believer, and one who understood the consequences for her actions but said fuck it and did what she wanted anyway.

Decarr would have to kill her first.

“Get on your knees,” said the scarred woman.

Decarr declined so the man behind him took a knife to his leg. He faltered just enough for the guy to get some leverage, forcing Decarr onto his knees before the scarred woman and her minions.

“This lowly creature is the Pale Rider,” the woman said.

Hushed gasps escaped the group of Satanists. One young man knelt to bow down before him, but was quickly tugged back to his feet.

Decarr yawned.

She said, “Instead of aiding the cause of our Dark Lord, Death has chosen exile.”

“I’ve chosen to fight,” Decarr said.

“And become a traitor in the process, killing our brothers and sisters in a futile attempt to save the sheep from the fire. How many of my friends have you killed, traitor?”

“They had it coming.” He gave the woman and her followers a good, long look. “You all have it coming.”

“You know that your cause is useless,” the woman said, “and yet you persist anyway.”

Decarr shrugged. “We all need our hobbies.”

“If you killed all the other Horsemen, they would simply be replaced by the next to be chosen. It’s a cycle and you cannot hope to stop it.”

“We’ll see.”

She scoffed. “Big goddamn hero.”

“Something like that.”

The woman asked for Decarr’s gun and the guard handed it over. She put the barrel to his head. “My name is Lorelai. You have heard of me, yes?”

“No.”

He refused to blink as she pulled back the hammer on the pistol and brought her finger to the trigger.

Lorelai said, “You came to claim the newborn as your own.”

“No,” Decarr said, “I came to kill it.”

The Satanists gasped. Some cursed him and kicked stones his way. He showed his teeth like a mad dog and they backed off.

“You cannot have it,” Lorelai said. “However, before I kill you, I will allow you the glory of witnessing its birth into this world.” She nodded to a couple of men. “Hold him so that he cannot flee.”

The men were upon him quickly. One put him in a headlock while the other kept a gun aimed at his heart. Decarr did not resist. Not yet. He had to let the creature makes its arrival before the killing could commence.

Lorelai went to the fire and removed a burning piece of wood. She stomped out the flame from the wood, revealing the charred black underneath. She put the burnt tip into the dirt and started to draw a circle about the size of a manhole cover, then scribbled black soot into the center, carefully coloring within the lines.

“Now we wait,” she said.

“That’s all?” Decarr asked, disappointed. “A circle in the dirt?”

“It only requires a door. I have created one suitable for its arrival.”

The Satanists bowed and prayed and licked their sweaty lips.

A mosquito landed on Decarr’s nose. He wanted to swat it away but knew any sudden movement could result in a bullet. He was about to ask for assistance when a hushed awe came over the group.

The black circle, once so primitive and childlike, now took on a shine like oil, reflecting the campfire on its rippling surface.

It swelled upwards slowly until it could take no more, then the shiny black surface split, and a dark hoof appeared.

Decarr watched as tears formed in Lorelai’s eyes. The tears trailed down her face, navigating the deep, ugly grooves. She smiled, looking wicked and mad, and Decarr felt for the first time that perhaps he had made a mistake in coming here tonight.

A second hoof appeared from out of the black. Together they landed on the dirt outside of the circle.

The black circle bubbled as the head of a black horse pushed out.

Lorelai, appearing uncertain for the first time, almost moved in to help the young colt, but then stopped herself.

The horse slid out of the hole in the ground and fell to its side, covered in black ooze. It kicked and neighed as it tried to find its footing.

Finally standing, the black colt returned to the circle from which it was born and licked up what remained of the black birthing fluids. 

Soon nothing was left but the primitive circle that Lorelai had drawn with soot.

Lorelai knelt beside the horse and patted its head. “It’s beautiful,” she whispered. “So beautiful.”

“It’s evil,” Decarr said. “I mean, right?”

“The horse is only an avatar,” Lorelai said and pulled the black fluid out of the horse’s mane. “Like you, it’s given little choice about its purpose in this world. It is tied to its rider and through him it is tied to fate.”

“Him,” Decarr repeated.

Lorelai frowned, realizing her error.

“So, the Black Rider is a man this time,” Decarr said. “Who is Famine and where can I find him?”

Lorelai rose up from the horse. She drew her gun and aimed at his head.

Lightning flashed. There was no thunder, no rain.

Lorelai’s focus was on Decarr, so she did not notice that the lightning didn’t come from the sky.

Her head snapped to the side and hot blood splashed onto Decarr’s face.

A chain with a barbed spike at the end had shot through the air, embedding itself into Lorelai’s skull.

The chain originated from a pulsing orb of light that hovered over the ground. 

The Satanists screamed as the orb grew, forming a portal and tearing a hole in the fabric of space. Around the edges of the portal were flashing bolts of purple and blue lightning.

The chain in Lorelai’s head yanked back, tearing her skull in half, and disappeared back into the portal.

Most of Lorelai’s followers ran, diving into the swamp in a desperate attempt to flee. Others stood their ground, firing round after round into the portal.

Dozens of chains, all tipped with barbs, shot out from the portal, spearing the armed gunmen and ensnaring those who tried to flee.

The black horse hurried over to Decarr and nuzzled against him. Despite himself, he wrapped his arms around it, holding it tight.

The chains ripped the people into pieces. The others died screaming as they were pulled through the portal, never to be seen again.

When only Decarr and the horse remained, the chains disappeared from whence they came.

Decarr pried the pistol from Lorelai’s stiffening fingers and watched as a man stepped out from the portal.

The man was naked from head to toe and covered in a red lubricant. He lacked any hair on his head or body. His skin smoked and he smelled burnt.

Decarr asked, “Did you forget your pants?”

The visitor regarded Decarr with respect. “You are he,” the man said with a Spanish accent.

“Am I?” Decarr asked and did his best to hide the pistol behind his back.

“Death,” the man said. He bowed slightly but was careful not to break eye contact.

“That I am,” Decarr confirmed.

“I am the keeper of the sacred texts of Angralahr and master of the dark arts. Leung Bai was my teacher and you may consider me his protégé.” He bowed once more. “I am the sorcerer Vasco.”

“What, like a magician?”

“No, not like a magician.” Vasco came closer. “Your attempt at humor does not mask your fear.”

“I’m not afraid of you,” Decarr said.

“Then why are you holding a gun behind your back?”

Decarr smirked and brought the gun into view.

Vasco said, “Mortal weapons cannot kill me.”

“I find that basically anything succumbs as long as you shoot it enough.”

The nude sorcerer spread his arms out wide and welcomed Decarr to try.

Decarr drew and fired six bullets at Vasco’s chest. Each bullet was deflected by a vibrant flash of red light and fell harmlessly to the dirt.

The sorcerer closed the distance between them rapidly. Decarr tried to protect himself, but Vasco swiped his hand across Decarr’s stomach, leaving a deep gash.

Decarr stumbled backwards, clutching his belly as blood flowed through his fingers. He stared at Vasco, whose blood-soaked hand now appeared as a beast’s paw, with long talons and scales.

Vasco came at him again, but Decarr was ready. When Vasco went for his throat, Decarr raised his pistol to Vasco’s head and fired one more shot at close range. His aim wasn’t perfect, but the bullet took off Vasco’s left ear.

The sorcerer screamed and clutched the side of his head.

Decarr laughed. He wanted to finish Vasco off, but his legs had become like noodles. After taking one step he collapsed into the dirt, still clutching his bleeding stomach.

Vasco growled at him and opened his clawed hand, but his attention was diverted by the sound of the horse’s hooves.

The young colt bucked nervously, surrounded by the dead and the dying. Vasco’s hands became normal once more and he patted the horse reassuringly, calming the animal.

Taking the horse gently by the back of the neck, Vasco led it towards the awaiting portal. The horse did not seem frightened, it walked alongside him willingly, purposefully.

Getting back to his knees, Decarr aimed his pistol at the back of Vasco’s head.

The horse entered the portal, disappearing into the glow. Vasco remained standing outside of the portal for a moment, as if waiting for Decarr to pull the trigger.

“Why do you hesitate?” Vasco said without turning around.

“Why would you let me live?” Decarr asked.

Vasco looked over his shoulder with a grin on his face. “Simply because it’s easier that way.”

Without another word, Vasco passed through the portal. The portal closed after him, leaving a burn mark on the dirt and grass.

Decarr got to his feet, holding his guts in with his hands. In almost every conceivable way, he had failed. The horse had escaped and he had been defeated by a new and strange enemy.

Naked magicians, horses growing out of crap in the ground, crazy Satanists; it had been a long night. He’d try not to let the loss go to his head. There were still things to do.

He needed to find the black horse’s rider.



Thanks for reading!
Death's Good Intentions will be available Tuesday.