Death's Mantle: An Urban Fantasy Novel (Revelations Book 1) by J.A. Cipriano

Author:J.A. Cipriano [Cipriano, J.A.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Fantasy
Published: 2015-12-20T00:00:00+00:00

Kim 01:06

The light from the portal vanished, leaving Kim standing alone in the large, hollowed-out cavern. She turned in a slow circle, trying to get her bearings. The soot-stained walls felt like they were closing in on her as she looked around for someone, anyone, but as far as she could tell, no one else was here. Even if the others hadn’t made it through, Jesse had gone before her. He had to be around here somewhere.

She tried to keep her heart from pounding its way out of her chest as she peered into the surrounding darkness. The sound of water caught her ear, a faint trickle just on the edge of her hearing. She started toward it for lack of a better place to go. As she approached, she realized she was heading toward the center of the cavern. A pale stream surged beneath her feet as she walked closer. She shivered as the cold water chilled her feet, but try as she might, she couldn’t seem to find dry land. She sighed and shook her head. Of course. Of freaking course, she’d be trapped ankle deep in chilly water.

She squelched forward until she came upon a crystalline fountain. Pale water flowed from its center, splashing down over its diamond-hewn carapace and splashing to the ground in a shimmering waterfall.

A man stood there, leaning on the fountain and staring at her. One of his eyes was covered by a black patch, but the other pierced her heart with its baleful gaze. Her breath caught in her throat as he took a step toward her and rubbed his chin with one leathery hand.

“So you’ve awakened.” His voice was like a dreary melody, reminding her of a funeral hymn. “That’s interesting.”

“Where am I?” she asked, trying to ignore her fear as it wrapped its icy fingers around her throat.

“You should know quite well where you are. You don’t, not yet at least, but you should.” He waved his hand, and a black box appeared in his hand. It was a shabby thing, so badly splintered on one side the battered white wood beneath showed through. He reached one pale hand into the box and withdrew a single woodchip. He showed it to her. An ominous black dot was etched in the center of the white wood.

Without warning, he stepped forward and pressed the chip into her hand. It was so cold and thin, it was like a flake of ice, and for a moment, she was worried it would freeze her solid.

“What’s this?” Kim stared at the woodchip in her palm as the shape of the etching upon its surface began to shift and change shapes while never quite settling on any in particular, so in the end, it mostly looked like a writhing blob.

“It’s the winning ticket,” the man replied. “It proves the darkness is ignorant.”

“Ignorant of what?” she asked as he reached out and gripped her shoulder with one hand. His touch was strangely comforting.

“Of your potential.” He grinned. “Everyone always says death is the strongest force in the universe.

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