This week should have been a short week...but it isn't! In honour of the holiday season, I thought I'd share the beginning of my newest Daemon Soul novella, A Winter's Tale. It's only really the prologue and bit of chapter 1, but it's still something. The Novella is set between the first story (awakening) and the still being worked on, Avalon. To that end there may be some spoilers but I've tried to make it as newcomer friendly as possible.
Before all that though, let’s check in on Brennan and Riz...oh dear...
The Comic Tales of Brennan and Riz
It's a Riz-mas miracle...or not. It could be argued the ending is not...the best, but then again, par for the course with some of the things Riz has pulled before! Plus, they'll be back next week for some New Year's Eve shenanigans, I'm sure things will work out...
Daemon Soul: A Winter's Tale
So, this is the Novella I've mentioned briefly in the past couple of weeks (and possibly even before!). The concept had been kicking around since about 2008 when my desire to write a seasonal tale collided with hearing the David Essex song of the same name. The plot took shape fairly quickly back then, but it nevef progressed far. It was left forgotten after the 2008 holiday season, till this year of course. I revised the original plot and made a clearer distinction between my timeline jumps (for example, the following prologue and chapter 1 are separated by centuries in time but are both relevant to each other), and to simplify a few things.
It is my hope that I can get it all sorted for release next holiday season, to tide thjngs over till a hopeful 2027 release of Avalon, provided certain dominoes fall into place. I'll also note that chapter 1 here isn’t complete, as I was worried about length.
With all that said, I hope you all enjoy this seasonal write for what it is, and you'll have to let me know if you want more!
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Prologue: As The Snow Falls
Somewhere in 17th Century England
No one should have been out that night, not in the fierce blizzard that raged. Even the animals had taken shelter in their nests and burrows. There was movement though, in the darkness. A man trudged through the thick snow, all alone. He spared no thought about his own safety, afterall, he had only come out to wallow in memories.
“Even this night wouldn’t have dampened your spirits, your love for the snow. No, I’ll push on for you,” the man spoke to no one. He had taken to talking to himself, lest the voices in his head convince him of his madness. “After all, I have nothing else to lose, now all my days are grey and cold.” He wore a heavy coat but showed no signs of discomfort from the extreme cold he was experiencing. “Perhaps it would be easier if I were just to fall here…” He paused in his steps, looking up at the endless sky, looking for where the moon should have been. “The moonlit nights amongst the pure snow…Those were your favourites. I can’t give up till we can see them again…No, there’s still so much to do.” He started moving again, brushing the snow from his shoulders.
It was then he heard the singing, a soft melodic voice that was being carried by the wind that howled. This is what brought a smile to the man’s face. He hummed along to each note as he went on his way. He risked a glance behind him, seeing a hazy shape obscured by the blizzard.
“Always following, always helping. Together we can see it through. You want to see her as much as I do, don’t you?” the man asked.
The person behind him just kept on singing. As the man resumed his steps, the figure following him came into view. A woman, clad in a beautiful blue ballgown, wearing a dark veil. Her light blonde hair largely stayed in place, despite the gale force winds. She was dancing as she moved, experiencing no trouble in moving through the snow. There were dark spots on her dress where blood had been splattered over her and frozen, causing it to almost appear as glitter.
Both of them continued their walk through the blizzard.
Chapter 1: Approaching Frost
Somewhere in England 2006
Cypher couldn’t remember what city he and Serena had found themselves in this time, he’d been in so many recently that they had all blended into one, it could have been London, Bristol or Manchester as far as he was concerned. Each of them had been fully kitted out for the Christmas season, coloured lights hanging from building to building, with Christmas Trees dominating every main square. None of this mattered to the demons that Cypher and Serena were hunting of course. Those monsters didn’t care for the pretty lights but only their hunger and lusts. As the Daemon Souls, Cypher and Serena had to kill them all, wherever they found them. Serena, being the more experienced of the hunters, often took the lead, while Cypher listened and tried to learn the best he could.
His thoughts distracted him though. It had almost been one year since he had left Highdale and his old life behind. He had taken his new name then as well. He’d abandoned everything, severed every tie he’d ever made to that point. Yet, thoughts about them lingered in his mind like a light that refused to switch off.
“Are you okay?” Serena asked, noticing that his gaze was captured by every passing Christmas decoration.
“What? Oh! Never better!” Cypher quickly replied, trying to cover for his lack of attention. Serena, however, since the pair had declared their true feelings for each other a year prior, had gotten very good at seeing past his bad attempts at deflections. She knew when something was bothering him, and usually, with enough cues, she could pin-point the issue like a laser beam.
“It is okay to still think about those you’ve left behind. I’d just advise against it where possible as you’ll only hurt yourself,” she explained. She knew herself that it wasn’t an easy thing to put into practice, as memories of her own homeland were never too far away, but she’d had two hundred years of practice at keeping control.
“My mum loved Christmas…To think it’d been a year since, well, everything,” Cypher tried to explain himself the best he could, but his words still fell short of what he meant.
Serena saw his distress, and paused to think about what the best response would be, she’d read an awful lot, but when it became time to put things into practice, she could never think on what the most appropriate cause of action was. A second later, and in one spontaneous motion, she embraced Cypher in a dramatic, and over the top looking, hug.
“Serena? He stuttered in response.
“When your partner is in distress, you deploy a hug to defuse their inner turmoil and make it it clear that you are ready to support them,” Serena’s explanation sounded scientific, and Cypher was afraid to ask where she’d heard that, but at the end of the day, a hug was a hug. He allowed himself to sink into it.
“Is it working?” Serena asked.
“Yeah, it’s working,” Cypher replied.
“Then, we can get back to the task at hand. The demons are proving to be quite restless at the moment, we have to be vigilant,” Serena broke the hug and resumed walking, once again focusing on their mission.
Cypher nodded in agreement, then gave a little sigh and a slight smile.
“...And this is why I love you,” he said softly.
“And I love you too,” Serena responded, showing that even though she was ahead, she was still listening in to what he was saying.
It was in his rush to catch up to her that he felt a chill erupt through his body, a sensation that he hadn’t felt since he became a Daemon Soul. Serena had explained to him then that their bodies were hardier, meaning that cold weather had little effect on them any more. This made the chill even more surprising.
“Hey, Serena? Did you feel that?” he asked.
Serena had stopped, standing silently just ahead, she was looking around, mild concern on her face.
“Something isn’t right,” She was rubbing her arm, the same kind of gesture that someone would do to warm themselves up.
Clouds had gathered above, hiding what had been a clear night sky, little bits of snow started to fall down silently.
“Snow eh? That’s kind of neat. I did always love snow,” Cypher said, wanting to fill the silence that had fallen on them with something.
Serena looked puzzled by it, and the pair of them then shuddered in unison.
“This isn’t right…” Serena uttered, and then their demonic senses went off, alerting them to the presence of demons nearby, but even this felt oddly cold compared to normal.
“Ah, great, more to do,” Cypher said with a little sigh, pushing the strangeness of what was going on to the side for the moment.
“We need to figure out where they are, and if they have anything to do with this weather.” Serena looked around, searching for any sign of their target. The feeling both Daemon Souls had felt was close, so they should have been in visible range.
Cypher started to look around as well, but something different caught his eye. It was on the big tree in the centre, a group of decorations clearly made by children from one of the local schools. Leaving Serena momentarily, he wandered over closer to it while his partner was checking the area near a side street. The ornaments had nudged a memory into his head, of the winter after his father had left him and his mother, what had already been a bad year was looking to end even worse as it felt that there was little hope for either of them. His mother had taken a part time job to try and make ends meet, while he could never shake the thoughts that others in school were looking at him differently.
Despite all that, he’d made a small ornament for the tree, of two people hugging. That was the intent anyway, they certainly didn’t look like two people, but his mother loved it all the same. There on the tree, was the same idea, done with the same amount of skill, though perhaps better proportioned. Cypher reached out to touch it, all those old feelings rushing back to him, when his demonic senses roared loud, he was in danger.
A clawed hand burst from the tree, and if he hadn’t moved, it might have been the end for him, but as it was, he dodged out of the way, falling to his back. He immediately reached for his sword that was holstered around his waist, attached to a device that Serena had recovered from the lost Saviour City for their use. He pulled it free and held the blade against the demon’s claws. The creature looked humanoid for the most part, but extremely scrawny with their ribs showing. Each hand ended with claws instead of fingers and horns protruded on the head. Their eyes, however, gave him pause, as instead of the deep red colour that demons normally had, they were glazed over and the colour of ice.
He pushed hard against the demon, knocking it back, and went straight on the offensive, and cut into its right arm. The sword cut deep, and Cypher had been expecting to sever the arm completely. Instead, he’d found a resistance there, and when he looked at the wound, there was no black blood pouring out, there was just his sword stuck fast. He put his foot against the demon and pushed as hard as he could, freeing his weapon, but falling backwards in the process.
It was at this point that Serena came running over, sword at the ready, there was no hesitation as she swung away, taking the demon’s head clean off. The demon’s now headless body swayed slightly, before taking a step towards the Daemon Souls, its unhurt arm raised. The wound on its neck exposed veins of frozen black blood, parts of it falling apart like crystals
“This demon is already dead,” Serena murmured as she went to strike again, this time cutting it in half, causing it to topple over, the impact with the ground shattering its upper torso.
“Well, that’s one demon down…” Cypher said, standing up. “What was up with it?”
“No idea, but we’re not done yet…” Serena replied, turning around as more demons gathered, all looking like the first one, all with the same vacant gaze.
“Never easy is it…”
“Of course, but we do our task regardless.” Serena stood back to back with Cypher, as the pair got ready to attack.
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Now that's out of the way, I have something else to say.
If you celebrate, I hope you have a Merry Christmas. If you can, find enjoyment with what should be a peaceful time of year. At the very least, find rest where you can. I think we all deserve that much.
Till next time...
Keep on writing
Peter James Martin
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