QSFer Erik Schubach has a new FF urban fairy tale out:
Even the most beastly… may hold beauty inside.
While Daria McQueen mourns. The legends of fairytales fight to contain the incursions of the new demon hybrid contagion that Styche the Trickster has unleashed upon the world.
An enraged and seemingly unstoppable demon appears, and it seems just as powerful as Styche. It directs its boundless rage at anything that moves, friend or foe.
They learn that the beast can only be controlled by a young woman who has a uncanny ability to soothe the savage beast.
Excerpt
I huffed in frustration as I stared at my cell phone.
Snow asked from where she sat on the floor by the fireplace in the farm cottage we were using in Northern England. “What is it, Parker?” Her voice reverberated in a strange oscillating tone that filled the air with power.
Daria raised her head from where she laid on the floor at my feet, her fangs bared and dripping saliva as she let out a guttural and threatening growl. She sensed my aggravation.
My heart sank, she was showing more and more animalistic behavior since the death of her mate and our friend and leader, Mari. Even when she was in human form on the full moons, she never spoke now, and never bothered even dressing.
I reached down from where I sat on the little loveseat with Ella-Marie laying her head in my lap, and scratched the great wolf between her ears and told her, “Shhh… it’s ok Daria.”
The huge silver-grey wolf, whose pelt was tipped in black, looked up at me then settled her head back on the floor, with her eyes open and watchful.
My heart still hurt so much from the death of my friend, Maireni Damaschin. I had never thought it possible, the Red Hood was larger than life, and she seemed an unstoppable force for good. But she sacrificed herself and her blood to close the gateway to the realm of demons before they could overrun the planet.
We had been tracking the demon responsible for that transgression and for the new plague of human-demon hybrids that was sweeping the world, Styche the Trickster. In time, it would be a curse that would surpass the near-destruction of the human race of the lupus contagion.
Except now, Styche was not bound by a human and was able to wreak havoc at will, and this new plague was not bound to the lunar cycle like that of the werewolves. It would take him a couple years to amass the power he needed to reopen the portal to hell. In the meantime, he is keeping us busy chasing our own tails by unleashing his new contagion at random points around the world.
At least the humans are learning to battle these hybrids just as they battled the wolves before this. And the great walled cities like Seattle and London were taking in as many of the uninfected as they could as more cities erected great walls.
But unlike the werewolves, a small number of the hybrids could fly. So the containment wasn’t as foolproof as before.
More powerful firearms with immense stopping power have been constructed, and all the major cities now had incursion response forces.
But whenever magic was involved, which is becoming more and more common as the demon hybrids are starting to develop their own powers the longer that remain in the human realm, we Avatars are called upon to stem the tide.
We are a shadow of our former strength. With our heavy hitter, Katiana, our Goldilocks, in hibernation after the battle where the Red Hood fell, with no idea when she will awaken… Our tactical and strategic leader dead, it was becoming harder and harder for us to repel the attacks on the human population.
I glanced over at Gretta. We have been depending more and more upon the formidable power she wields in her Perchta, Nature Goddess form. But she is getting further and further lost in it. She is more a hybrid being like my Ella-Marie now. Two people sharing the same body.
Author Bio
I got my start writing novels by accident. I have always been drawn to strong female characters in books, like Honor Harrington. And I also believe that there is a lack of LGBT characters in media. So one day I came up with a story idea that combines the two… two days later I completed the manuscript for Music of the Soul.
My writing style may not be the most professional nor grammatically correct, but I never profess to be an English major, just a person that wants to share a story. I maintain that my primary language is sarcasm.
Each of my books features strong likeable female characters that are flawed. I think that flaws and emotional or physical scars make us human and give us more character than simply conforming to some “social norm”.
I have also written many SciFi series, such as the Valkyrie Chronicles which features a Valkyrie, Kara, who was left behind on Earth five thousand years ago to help the Asgard race escape the onslaught of the Ragnarok horde. With the aid of a human, Kate, she holds the line in battle to herald the return of the Asgard!
I also have multiple paranormal series such as The Bridge series and the Urban Fairytales series if mythical characters pique your curiosity.
My most ambitions undertaking is the Techromancy Scrolls series that is an epic adventure in the world three thousand years after a mass extinction event. Mankind is rebuilding in a world where magic and technology collide.
You can follow me online via Twitter @ErikSchubach or on Blogger http://erikschubachauthor.blogspot.com/ and on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/pages/Erik-Schubach-Author/438534946240951 for more information and to discuss my upcoming books.