My name is Richie
Earl and I’m the author of the Tales of Finndragon, young adult fantasy series.
I’d like to thank Nisha for hosting this leg of my Kindle Countdown Tour. I
hope that some of her readers might be want to take advantage of the discounted
prices. I hope you enjoy the short excerpt which follows this brief synopsis.
Finndragon's Curse:
“Your castle, kingdom and everything in it
shall sink into the earth and be set upon by monsters and demons until the end of
time, and never be seen again!”
The Legend of
Finndragon’s Curse is an original and unique fantasy adventure, which will
appeal primarily to older children and teens, but also adult readers who like a
bit of escapism. It is the story of three ordinary children, Emma, Megan, Scott
and their pet dog Bones in their quest to find their father, who has been
missing for nearly a year.
The story is based
on an ancient Welsh legend which has been kept alive by bedtime stories for
countless generations. The two sisters and their brother unravel the riddle of
an ancient scroll. This helps them find the gateway that leads to a 6th
century Welsh kingdom in search of their dad. The scroll states that anyone who
stays in the kingdom for more than a year can never leave. The journey through
the gateway is a mini-adventure in itself; involving finding their way through
a maze of caves, and ends with them entering the magnificent medieval Castell y
Mynydd.
In this extract, Emma,
Megan and Scott have only just arrived at the castle.
Emma beckoned them both
to one of the windows and they all looked through the narrow slit. They were
all once again speechless.
They were looking out
from a high window, with the ground about fifty feet below. There were lots of
people in ragged, medieval clothing going about their business. Two men were
pulling a handcart laden with a bulging cloth sack. Another was chasing a small
piglet, who kept evading his would be catcher by running in and out of his bow
legs. High on the castle walls were a small number of armour clad sentries,
keeping a vigilant watch.
Many others hurried to
and fro across the cobbled courtyard, seemingly too busy to stop and talk.
Considering the number of people below, there was an eerie silence. There were some
sounds that reached their window, such as a piglet’s squeal and the rattle of
wooden wheels on cobblestone, but not much else.
Within an instant that
all changed as a loud, ear piercing klaxon sounded from somewhere within the
castle. Everyone below left what they were doing and ran towards the tall stone
buildings surrounding the courtyard.
As the people entered
their dwellings, there was the sound of heavy doors slamming shut and large
bolts being pushed into place.
The castle walls were
heaving with soldiers. All wearing chain mail, protective clothing consisting
of small metal rings linked together, they were holding large, heavy swords and
long sharp spears, while others held bows already primed with arrows. Some of
the soldiers faced away from the castle while as many again faced inwards from
the battlements.
Emma, Megan, Scott and
Bones peered from their vantage point.
Suddenly they all heard
a noise like none they’d heard before. It started quietly, but within moments
it was terrifyingly loud and sounded like the beating of drums. Then they saw
the source of the noise.
A swarm of winged
creatures twice the size of a man descended from the red sky, circled the
castle and attacked from all directions at the same time. Their wing span was
at least twice the creatures’ height. Two small legs dangled from each and two
powerful, muscular arms sprouted from long, thin torsos. They had a pair of
piercing green eyes set high in their bony heads, no visible nose and a
beak-like mouth. Their ears seemed to be just small holes in the sides of their
heads and their skin was brown and reptilian in nature.
The fearsome creatures
set upon some stragglers in the courtyard, battering them with huge wooden
clubs. The unfortunate victims hurtling great distances through the air before
hitting the ground with a bone-shattering judder.
The archers, who missed
their targets more often than not, were being attacked from all sides by demons
that flew straight at them, swatting away with their clubs. Their armour clad
comrades were trying to stave off attackers in order to let the archers do
their jobs. Many of the archers were knocked off the ramparts to almost certain
death below.
The whole attack lasted
no more than ninety seconds, before the demons retreated as quickly as they’d
arrived. Emma was trembling as she turned to look at Megan and Scott, her look
of terror mirrored in their faces.
“Oh my God, those men
didn’t have a chance. Those creatures were so quick. They must have killed
hundreds!”
Nobody answered, but
they reluctantly returned their gaze to the carnage below, where they could see
the full extent of the slaughter. Countless bodies lay at the foot of the high
castle walls, tended to by the women of the castle. The surviving soldiers
remained at their posts, searching the sky for a second wave of attackers.
None came, and after a
minute or so another klaxon sounded the all clear. Now only the sentries
remained on the ramparts, as the other soldiers went to help care for the
wounded and dying below.
Emma, Megan, Scott and
Bones shrank back into the middle of the room, trying to put some distance
between themselves and the events they had witnessed.
“We should go straight
home, NOW!” Megan cried. “What chance do we have of staying alive in this
place, let alone of finding Dad, if he’s still alive, that is?”
“Don’t talk like that,
Meg. Of course he’s alive and we can’t give up that easily; besides, we don’t
know how to get back.”
They all thought about
that last statement, its implications gradually sinking in. Emma’s mind was
working overtime now. They’d only planned up until the point which they had now
reached. How on Earth could they have planned beyond? Okay they had an outline
of a plan: get here, find Dad, and get home. All their preparation had gone
into getting here, now they had to think on their feet and think quickly too.
Kindle Countdown Promotion - up to 67% discount. The Legend of Finndragon's Curse is on offer 15th-21st April.
Return to Finndragon's Den is on offer 21st-28th April.
Available
to purchase from:
Amazon -
for kindle
Links
One Thousand Worlds in One Thousand Words blog: http://onethousandworlds.blogspot.co.uk/
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