An Excerpt the Magicall Fantasy novel, Awakening the Dragon--Book One of the Dragon Clan Trilogy

Looking up at the ceiling, he envisioned a dark cave. He didn’t know where it was or how he knew it existed. Yet he knew it was a real place. A luminous fog rose out of the pile of crystals on the top a round table, which lit the entire cave. He walked to the table. Grandmother came to mind and the daydream started to fade. He pushed her away and focused his will until he returned to the same spot. Only this time, he spiritually left his bedroom behind and found himself inside the cave. He walked around it, trying to remember--the knowledge he sought teased him, dancing just outside his conscious memory. The pile pulsed and shimmered before him. Reaching out, he picked one up; it was cold to his touch. It wasn’t the starting place.

He tried another and another until he found the warm one. He lifted up level to his third eye. “Crystal of wisdom give me the knowledge I seek.” It grew hot between his fingers. His third eye pulsed. Images appeared and faded as he scanned his own soul’s history, looking for the correct sequence of crystals and sounds. In the center of the crystal, he saw himself--not as he appeared today, but then when the Saxons swept southward and he called up the furry of the channel to up turn their ships. The cave had been his home and where he worked to protect Britannia. It had been that lifetime when his power had been at his peak; it was also when his pride cost him his honor and brought him spiritually lower than where he started. Starting with good intentions, he took the blessings the Goddess bestowed on him and thought him above the others; no longer did he wish to serve, but to be served.

The sudden awareness of his own darkness nearly made him throw the crystal across the cave. But then he remembered why he came and called out to his other self. The connection was nearly immediate. He stated his need for knowledge to bring about vengeance for a wrong done to a loved one. His other self understood. The crystal turned gray then black in his hand as the distance between them disappeared and they became one. With his free hand, he reached out and spread the crystals in a circle. He didn’t need them all to complete his task, only those who reached into the darker regions. Floating his open palm above them, he quickly found the six he needed. Placing the first in the center of the table, he energized it with his own life force. It was the centerpiece and the key to the rest. He fitted the first into its natural slot like piece in a puzzle. His energy flowed into it.

“The first act was betrayal.” His voice echoed in the cave.

Kevin put the second crystal into place. “The second act was murder.” They pulsed with his energy. The third was fit into place. “The third was false witness.”

Shapeless shadows swirled around the walls of the cave, rapidly growing in number and intensity. “In the name of vengeance, I call forth the Angels of Blood.” The fourth crystal slipping into place gave them three dimensional form and freedom to fly. Encircling him, they waited for their target and access to the physical realm.

Kevin picked up the final crystal. “I name her Katherine Mitchellson. My mother. Murderer of my Grandmother. The one responsible for my Father’s death. The one who did harm to many others. All in the name of greed.” He held the it above its place, knowing that once done, it could not be undone. He hand trembled. The centuries of wisdom between these to lives flooded back to him, warning of the cost he would have to pay. Once he gave them access to the physical world, he would have no control over the Angels of Blood. They would not stop until they had reached their goal; nothing or no one got in their path would be shown mercy. Until they found their victim, they would be a plague on the earth.

They continued to circle him, waiting and watching. The air did not stir, nor did they make a sound. Yet their energy pulsed, growing stronger until their very presence created a low level hum, which reverberated off the walls, growing in strength and intensity. Impatiently they circled closer.

Kevin watched them; the crystal still hovered above his place on the table. He wanted to put it into place, yet he could not. Fighting against an unseen force, he reached. Suddenly the darken crystal in his hand shattered, knocking him backward away from the table. The last piece fell from his hand and he was abruptly back in his bedroom.

Something hit the window. His head throbbing, he arched his back to look at it. Nothing. Suddenly a fist size rock crashed through the upper pane and landed around him along with shards of glass. Startled, he jumped to his feet and ran to the window, doing his best to avoid the piece of the windowpane. Sliding the bottom window upward, he looked down.