Episode 2: The Gift & New Pride by Laura Diamond

Before today's next part of Dark Origins:  Tales of the Scarlet Knight, Volume 0, here's a big announcement from author Laura Diamond about her latest release, New Pride.  So take it away, Laura...

New town, new love, new terror.

It’s here! My prequel novelette, NEW PRIDE, releases today. I’m SO stoked for it to run wild in the world.

NEW PRIDE was born from my upcoming novel, SHIFTING PRIDE (coming December 7, 2012!). In SHIFTING PRIDE, the main character, Nickie, searches for her missing father, Richard…and NEW PRIDE is all about Richard’s journey to independence and new love.

NEW PRIDE Blurb:

A shape-shifter without a pride, Richard Leone strikes a tenuous friendship with power hungry, Derek, from an unstable, rogue group. On a hunt in the forest, they encounter a gorgeous brunette, Molly, partying with friends around a campfire. Derek tells the rogue pride and they bristle at humans trespassing on their territory. Richard risks life and tail to protect his secret and the humans—especially Molly—while simultaneously trying to win her heart. When Molly is kidnapped, he faces taking on the rogue pride alone, but quickly finds he has to put his trust in Derek, not only to rescue his new love, but to ensure the rogue pride doesn’t wreak havoc on his new town.

Author Laura Diamond:

Laura Diamond is a board certified psychiatrist and author of all things young adult paranormal, dystopian, horror, and middle grade. Her short story, City of Lights and Stone, is in the Day of Demons anthology by Anachron Press (April 2012) and her apocalyptic short story, Begging Death is in the Carnage: Life After the End anthology by Sirens Call Publication (coming late 2012). Her debut young adult paranormal romance, SHIFTING PRIDE, is coming December 2012 by Etopia Press. When she's not writing, she is working at the hospital, blogging at Author Laura Diamond--Lucid Dreamer , and renovating her 225+ year old fixer-upper mansion. She is also full-time staff member for her four cats and a Pembroke Corgi named Katie. 

How to find Laura Diamond on the web:

Blog: http://lbdiamond.wordpress.com/

Twitter: http://twitter.com/diamondlb

Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/laura.diamond.52

Facebook Author Page: http://www.facebook.com/AuthorLauraDiamond

Amazon.com Author Page: http://www.amazon.com/Laura-Diamond/e/B009Y7L432/ref=ntt_athr_dp_pel_pop_8

Website: www.AuthorLauraDiamond.com 

 

YouTube interview:

            In The DM Zone—Talking about SHIFTING PRIDE

*GROUP HUG* Thank you, everyone, for taking the time to celebrate with me and for helping me spread the word. This wouldn’t be happening without you. Yes, you! Without you, I’d have given up a long time ago. ;)

I hope you enjoy NEW PRIDE and SHIFTING PRIDE.  

A bonus: 

I will be giving away copies of NEW PRIDE to several lucky fans! Please click the link below and fill out the form on my fan page to enter.

Thanks!

http://authorlauradiamond.com/?page_id=37

And Here's the link to purchase NEW PRIDE on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/New-Pride-Shifting-ebook/dp/B009ZN1WYQ/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1351795210&sr=1-1&keywords=new+pride+laura+diamond

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And now on to Episode 2:

She ran through the forest with no idea where she was going.  All she knew was she had to get away.  There was a whole mob after her with torches and scythes and other farm implements.  If they caught her, she was dead.

She still didn’t have any idea what had happened to her.  One moment she had been milking the goats as she always did and the next her entire body had begun to glow.  Her biggest mistake had been to run to her mother for help.  Instead of helping her, her mother tried to disembowel her with a knife.

“Demon!” her mother screamed.

“Mother, no,” she pleaded.

It hadn’t mattered.  Her mother raised the alarm and soon the whole village had come after her.  She had escaped them, but for the last two moons she had been on the run.  It was the same wherever she went; something strange would happen and she’d be cast out as a demon, a herd of angry villagers on her trail.

She crashed into some brush and then felt her scalp blaze with pain.  The rest of her body wasn’t glowing or on fire, so this wasn’t another fit as she had decided to call them.  This was something far more ordinary:  her wild black hair was caught in the brush.

She clawed frantically to clear the brush from her hair.  She wished at that moment she’d brought a knife to cut it off, but she didn’t have one.  She didn’t have anything but the animal skins on her back.

After a few minutes she had only gotten herself more tangled in the brush.  She began to cry.  What good was it?  Even if she got out of this, where would she go?  No one would ever accept her, not like this.  She was cursed.

“You’re not cursed,” a voice hissed in her ear.  “You have received a wonderful gift.  You only need to control it, G’lyna.”

She tried to turn her head, but she couldn’t.  “Who are you?  How do you know me?’

A girl appeared before her.  She wasn’t much older than G’lyna and yet there was something regal and commanding in her brown eyes.  “My name is Anybl.  I was like you not long ago.”  To prove it, Anybl’s hand started to glow.  “You see?”

“You can control it?”

“Yes.  So can you.  I can help you.”

“How?”

“You’ll see.  But first, we need to free you from this mess you’ve gotten into.”  The girl smiled and then began to help G’lyna get the brush from her hair.  By the time they finished, G’lyna heard voices approaching.

“Oh no, they’re going to find us.”

Anybl only smiled again.  “They won’t find us.  Take my hand.”

G’lyna didn’t see what she had to lose at this point.  She took Anybl’s hand.  There was a flash of light—

G’lyna found herself atop a mountain.  A cold wind chilled her through the animal skins.  “Where are we?”

“Near where I grew up.  I have a hut nearby.  There’s a fire and food.  And some warmer clothes for you.”

It turned out Anybl hadn’t lied.  There was a hut, the inside of which was warm as a summer day.  A pair of birds roasted on spits.  There were two bear pelts, one for Anybl and one for G’lyna.

“I can’t thank you enough for this,” G’lyna said.

“You don’t need to thank me.  You just need to listen to me.  More of us will come soon.  I’ll need help to prepare them.”

“I don’t understand.”

“We are only the first, G’lyna.  Soon we will have many sisters, women just like you and I.  They’ll need someone to help them as I helped you.  Together we will grow stronger.”

“And then we can take our revenge on those who tried to kill us?”

“No.  We will protect those people.”  Anybl took G’lyna’s hand and squeezed it.  “As I said, this is a gift.  Very soon a terrible darkness will fall upon the land.  We must stand against it or it will consume everything.”

Right on cue, G’lyna heard something heavy crash to the ground outside.  Another and another crash followed.  Anybl held up a hand for G’lyna to stay quiet.  She crept over to the door of the hut.

A moment later, a clawed hand reached through the flap to yank Anybl out of the hut.  G’lyna screamed her name.  She bolted through the door after Anybl.  Outside, she found three creatures standing over Anybl.

These creatures were actual demons.  Their skin was blacker than the night.  Claws extended from their fingers and toes.  Leathery bat wings were folded against their backs.  And their eyes were a very unnatural gold color.

“G’lyna, run!” Anybl shouted.

One of the demons turned to G’lyna.  It grinned, revealing rows of pointed teeth.  “Another child to feast on,” the demon hissed.

“G’lyna—”

“I’m not going anywhere,” G’lyna growled.  Her entire body began to glow as it had before.  “You three get out of here.”

“What will you do, child?  Cry for your mother?”

G’lyna didn’t answer; her body did that for her.  The glow that had encompassed it fired three bolts of light. Each bolt incinerated a demon, leaving only ash in the snow.

Then G’lyna knelt down beside Anybl.  “Are you hurt?”

“I’m fine,” Anybl said.  She smiled.  “You see now?”

“I see,” G’lyna said.  This ability of hers wasn’t a curse; it was a gift.

TO BE CONTINUED...

Monday Merlin makes his appearance in the village and sparks will fly...