Excerpt from The Infernal Isle

As promised, a small snippet from my upcoming novel, The Infernal Isle. The story is about a scribe's apprentice (Wick) and his fellow exiles trying to escape banishment by crossing a ruined island kingdom overrun by hellish denizens. A group sits around a fire, discussing what to do next as Wick draws a map of the Isle in the sand.

“What do you know about this place, boy? How could you know?” Nocke said.

“I’ve seen every map of this place, maps from the Olde Empire days and maps from the sailors in recent years. I’ve read everything there is to read about it. My father and uncle told me stories about it,” Wick said, now just adding small details here and there to his map.

“How does a mutt of a boy like you learn to read? What maps? Only place that would have that stuff is-” Nocke said before Skire cut in.

“The library. Scribe’s apprentice, were you?” Skire asked. Wick looked up at last and nodded.

“Been there three years, in Master Onik’s care. Until the royal guards purged it,” Wick said, voice dropping to a near whisper. “They killed Onik and banished me.”

The group fell silent again, all seeming to weigh Wick’s tale of woe against their own. The sun neared the horizon and lit up the sky and clouds in hazy pinks and oranges.

“Sorry about Onik, Wick. Most none of us deserved this, but putting a boy on this island tops it all. If I get a chance, I’ll put two knives in King Saedis’s eyes, one for each. For you and me,” Skire said with a grin. “Now, two leagues, you think?” Nocke sniffed but said nothing.

“Yes, I think so,” Wick answered.

“Too bad we can’t take that map with us,” Benno said.

“No need to,” Bear said, starting to stand. He tapped Wick’s head as he rose. “It all here.”

The Infernal Isle will be published in 2015.