Legacy Of The Gods Book II preview

The Battle continues….


In a modest home in the fabled and beloved city of New Orleans, a young, dark-skinned girl lay struggling in her bed. Sweat poured down her face as she breathed hard and her hands tensed as she clutched her bed sheets. Her head shook from side to side, as though willing whatever she was seeing in her mind to go away and never return again. But as the bright, nearly enormous full moon shined down on the centuries old city, not even it could soothe her as it showered her in its bright beam through her open window.

Young Billie McKnight continued to pant hard and struggle in her bed, but try as hard as she could, the images, the feeling of fear and desperation wouldn’t leave her. A strangled cry escaped her lips, and with a sob, she could only succumb to the terrifying dream that was haunting her mind:

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Billie was running, running faster than she can ever remember. But it just didn’t seem like she was going anywhere! Why was it so dark? Why was she so afraid if there was nothing in here with her? But just then, she could hear deep breathing behind her. What was it? Would she be able to get away from it? She could only pray she could.

There was certainly no reason for her to be afraid? It wasn’t too long ago that she and her friends practically saved New Orleans from the evil Baron Samedi and Shapona, the Disease God. There was supposed to be defeated, gone! Or at least weakened to the point that they would not cause any problems for a very, very long time, under the watchful eyes of the other Orisha gods. So why was this happening?

Just as she thought of her friends, her heart felt just a bit lighter, remembering how well they all got along and how well they worked together to keep their city safe. At the end of the battle, she even got to admire and get along a little better with the popular girl Hazelynn, which surprised even her.

As she continued running, her thoughts then turned to Dante, the young New Orleans native who had slowly but surely captured her heart. She had made sure over time to keep in contact with the handsome, dark-skinned boy. Unless she was mistaken, there was even a time she could have sworn he was trying to ask her out on a date, but it seemed like he suddenly became too shy and backed off. Her heart sank a little at that, but she understood he was going through a lot himself, with his grandmother still in the hospital.

Suddenly, the eerily dark surrounding she was struggling in began to lighten, and she was suddenly in front of Dante’s old, humble home in a working class neighborhood. Sighing with relief, she willed herself to stop running. After looking around for a moment, noticing that strangely there was no one else around, she calmly walked up to the front door and knocked gently. “Dante?” she called out softly.

There was no answer, so Billie gently pushed open the door. It swung open, revealing a darkened living room that was wasn’t typical. From the visits she’d had, there was always a welcoming atmosphere, even with Miss Hattie not home. She quietly walked in, almost having to feel her way around. “Dante?” she called again, but there was still no answer.
Suddenly, the strange breathing noises she heard earlier before returned, causing Billie’s heart to beat faster. Faster she walked, straining her eyes to see anything in the dullness of the house.

With a sinking heart, she realized the faster she walked, the harder and nearer the breathing became. What was going on? Where was Dante? Faster still she walked until she reached the medium-sized comfortable kitchen. It was nearly just as dark as the living room, but still Billie reached out her hand, trying not to miss anything. “Dante? Are you alright? Please, say something!” Billie called out, her heart feeling like it was about to jump out of her chest. Just then, her foot bumped against a figure. She looked down and peered, but could only make out an outline of a body lying prone of the floor, eerily still.

Curious, Billie knelt down beside the body for a closer look, and breathing hard, turned it over.

At first, Billie’s eyes widen, yet she could not fully process what she was seeing. Then with a quivering mouth, she threw back her head and gave a long, heart-breaking scream.
Laying right before her was the still and bloodied form of Dante, stiff and rigid as through he’d been dead for many hours. Blood covered his face, chest, and torso. It was as if there was no place on him left untouched. After her scream, Billie gently cradled Dante in her arms, tears falling in streams down her face. How could this have happened? Who did this? Didn’t they defeat their enemies?

She tried in vain to wake him up, shaking his body. “Dante? Oh God, Dante, please get up? Please! Oh please, no! NOO!”

But the boy remained stiff and lifeless in her hands. At the sight, Billie let out another sorrowful scream, holding Dante close to her, not caring she was being covered in blood from him.

At first she didn’t notice, but the hard breathing became louder and louder until she had to look up, her eyes wide and wild. A bright light flashed, and suddenly, a tall, immense man stood before her, grinning widely. But he was unlike any man she had ever seen, even stranger than Samedi.

His bare chest was scaly and a dark shade of green, resembling some sort of snake. Going higher, she saw that his face was also scaly, but not green as his chest or the rest of him. His handsome face was marred by a set of fangs in his mouth, long and curvaceous as a snake’s. The pupils of the man’s eyes were vertical and long, just like a snake, and glowed a soft green.

The man stepped forward, and with a gasp, Billie realized that the man’s bare feet under his dark-colored kilt and his hands were clawed with razor-sharp black nails, giving him a most terrifying look of a hybrid between a snake and dragon.

When he was before Billie, he grinned wider as a long, forked tongue flicked out of his mouth, making Billie nearly want to faint away from the fear. Who was he? Why was he doing this?

“Hello sweet one,” the man fairly hissed, his glowing eyes peering into her very soul. “It’s good to finally meet you. I heard about your heroic deeds. Let’s just say that with me, that was just the calm before the storm. And oh, what a lovely storm it would be.”

He closed his eyes and breathed in before shaking out his long, dreadlocks hair. He opened his eyes again and grinned wickedly at the trembling Billie. “And you are no fan of storms, are you, my dear. Oh I know, I know,”

Then before Billie could say or do anything, the strange man chuckled and quickly reach forward, snatching Billie’s arm.

The girl screamed long and loud as she felt a burning sensation on her skin where the man gripped her. Fear like nothing she had ever felt before raced through her, making her wish that the ground would open and swallow her whole…..


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With a frightened gasp, Billie shot up in her bed, breathing hard and sweat pouring down her face. With wide eyes, she looked around her room, calming just a little at the familiar surroundings.

She swallowed and forced herself to calm down, taking deep breaths. “A dream, it was just a dream,” Billie whispered to herself. Sighing, she turned to lay back down on her comfortable bed, but as she moved her left arm, she winced and gasped loudly in pain.

She lifted her arm to eye-level, wondering what was going on. Her eyes then widen as she brought her arm closer to see and saw the angry, red burn marks in the shape of large fingers encircling it. At first she couldn’t believe it, but the red marks and the pain wouldn’t go away, and that’s when she realized that somehow, in some way, what she just experienced was real. Very, very real.


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Coming Fall 2016……