Necromancer Awakening (54 page)
Admiral Unega stood upon the foc’sle of the Barathosian man-of-war
Vengeance
, surveying the horizon.
The Land of Cowards, as his people knew Erindor,
was no longer protected by its shield. And now the false archmage would pay for his crimes against the empire. He would answer for the death of Yotto, the Glorious One’s son, with his own life. The Barathosian navy would descend upon Erindor with the fury of a thousand red dragons, laying waste to everything in its path. No building would remain standing. No person would remain alive. Not even their livestock would survive. Such would be the Glorious One’s orders.
“Inform the chimeramancers,” Unega said in his barrel-chested voice. “It’s time.”
The first officer clicked his heels and went belowdecks.
The Diamond Throne would have its vengeance, and Admiral Unega would be the instrument of its delivery.
About the Author
Nat Russo was born in New York, raised in Arizona, and has lived just about everywhere in-between. He’s gone from pizza maker, to radio DJ, to Catholic seminarian (in a Benedictine monastery, of all places), to police officer, to software engineer. His career has taken him from central Texas to central Germany, where he worked as a defense contractor for Northrop Grumman. He’s spent most of his adult life developing software, playing video games, running a Cub Scout den, gaining/losing/gaining/losing weight, and listening to every kind of music under the sun.
Along the way he managed to earn a degree in Philosophy and a black belt in Tang Soo Do.
He currently makes his home in central Texas with his wife, teenage son, and mischievous beagle.
Official Website:
http://www.nat-russo.com
Facebook Page:
http://www.facebook.com/NatRussoAuthor
Twitter:
@NatRusso
A Word of Thanks…And A Humble Request
I cannot express how humbled I am that you spent your valuable time reading my book. As a person with limited time myself, I know there aren’t enough hours in the day to handle all the chores, do all of the work, and, yes, read all of the books. So
thank you
, truly, for adding me to your already long “to do” list.
Your recommendation means the world to me. This is one book in an ocean of stories, and we readers can’t hope to discover them all without the advice of a friend. If you enjoyed your stay in my world, please take a moment to leave an honest review on Amazon, or any other venue of your choice. And please tell your friends on Facebook and Twitter! I will owe you the most sincere debt of gratitude.
Many thanks,
Nat
Pflugerville, Texas
March, 2014
Acknowledgements
In 1999, I started playing a game called
EverQuest
(a genre-defining game from Sony Online Entertainment). I made friendships in that game that last to this day, including one of my best friends, Joe Smithey.
One day Joe and I rolled up a couple of Dark Elf Necromancer characters; I called mine “Mujahid” and he called his “Nuuan”. We became so inseparable that our fellow Enchanted Circle guild members called us the “evil twins”. Some time later I wrote a piece of
EverQuest
comedy that I called “
d00d, sow plz - The Discovery of the /who Bug
”. Feel free to look it up, though you may need some knowledge of old-school
EverQuest
to get the jokes and style. I shared it with Joe, and he insisted I post it to our favorite site, EQNecro. It went viral before viral was a thing, and it sparked a passion I hadn’t felt for quite some time: writing. I owe Joe a debt of gratitude for that and for suffering through the 1st draft of every chapter of Necromancer Awakening.
Writing isn’t as solitary an endeavor as many believe. There are some great folks who had a lot to do with my success:
My beta reader, editor, mentor, cheerleader, and brutally honest friend, Joan Reginaldo. I’m a better writer today because of Joan, and there’s far less “eyebrow raising” in my work because of her.
My colleagues in software engineering, John Boyd and Ian Mitchell, who were the first two avid Fantasy readers to read my work. Their early feedback was invaluable. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to John for constantly making me feel like “the next great thing” in Fantasy. And my lengthy conversations on magic with Ian, who is equal parts mad scientist, Gandalf, and
The Dude
, kept my imagination working overtime.
I’d also like to thank my son, Nicolas, for insisting I use the name of one of his
EverQuest 2
characters: Zubuxo. The name has taken on a life of its own, and I can’t imagine an Erindor without a Zubuxo.
Every writer says this, and I finally understand why. This book simply wouldn’t have been possible without the support of my wife Casi. This was a three-year labor of love, and I can’t begin to tell you how much time it consumed. Casi never once made me feel guilty for it, and instead cheered me on from the sidelines, surprising me with “writer supplies” and interesting books that I never would have thought to buy for myself. It’s no coincidence that two of her
EverQuest 2
character names made it into this book as well.
Yeah, I come from a family of gamers. I’m a lucky man!
Coming Soon from Erindor Press
If you enjoyed this book by Nat Russo, look for his other short stories and books coming soon:
-
The Road to Dar Rodon
(A
Tales of the Mukhtaar Lords
Short Story, coming Summer/Fall 2014)
-
Target Acquired
(A
Tales of the Mukhtaar Lords
Short Story, coming Winter 2014)
-
Necromancer Falling
(Sequel to
Necromancer Awakening
, coming Spring/Summer 2015)
Find Erindor Press on the web at http://www.erindorpress.com
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