James Dreadful and the Spell-Guardian (The Dreadful Series Book 1)
$4.99
In a single, fateful afternoon, James Dreadful’s mundane life in Murray, Colorado, is upended. After his grandfather’s dramatic escape from a mental institution, James discovers he’s the heir to the infamous Dark Lord, Jack Dreadful. This revelation propels him into Nobrocoso–a realm where fairy tales are grim and heroes carry the weight of their flaws.
Marked as enemy number one, James navigates a world where the Wozigod wizards’ iron-fist rule, and Phantom–a cult of invisible assassins–vie for his father’s dark legacy. Amidst this turmoil, James finds solace in the unlikeliest of friendships: a brash half-genie, a wise gnome prone to lectures, and a flying carpet with a lethal streak, owned by a king with a taste for terror.
“James Dreadful and the Spell-Guardian” delivers a coming-of-age adventure that flips tropes into a whirlwind of humor and horror. Goblins who smell like feet sell hexed wares, ogre mercenaries adorn their beards with goblin heads, and crystal balls throb with arcane memories. In Nobrocoso, the line between good and evil is as distorted as a watercolor in the rain.
Confronted with his dark lineage, James stands at a pivotal juncture. Will he yield to the shadows cast by his father’s magic, or will he carve out his own heroic identity?
From the Publisher
Flight!
Chapter 14: Rimbecella
His fingertips grazed the fabric. He could smell a sweet, floral incense wafting up from the material. Her frills were elegant, like locks of silk, gold hair. His eyes traced along the design of the tree. She was his just as she had been his father’s.
He was not aware of the eyes around him greedily watching his every move anymore. He was, instead, possessed by a presence, like the ensorcelled perfume he breathed—a ghost of his father reaching out to graze his skin. He felt giddiness and goosebumps all at the same time.
Then he said, softly, “Rimbecella?”
After that, his breath did not come. His ears were poised for listening. His senses alive. He ran a finger along impossibly soft fabric, feeling a chill run through his arm.
Then, quite suddenly, he saw the corner of the carpet flutter, as though a breeze had swept over the tables in reply.
Glutton
Chapter 13
James could see through the parting tablecloth. He let his eyes feast on the scene. What drew one’s attention first was the Glutton king himself. Cat had told him that he was a Gluffor and that Gluffors were very fat. But even an overstatement would not have done the description justice. He bulged with rolls of flesh that squeezed through his tight robe, which could have easily been a canvas awning. His face was so bloated it was overwhelmed with jowls. His beetled eyes were like black oil hidden behind clam folds of crepe-hued skin, where a milky residue had built up like egg white. His nose, like a blobfish, was a quivering mass of Turkish blue veins, and he had a bald, pinkish white head, but a black beard with a long plait.
Ogres in the Great Hall
Chapter 19: Fifteen Ogres Attend a Banquet
As for quality, neither James nor Cat had ever seen a meal quite as unsavory. Catoblepas—as they found Cato’s full name to be—brought the large cauldron up from the kitchen along with pots and a Dutch oven, so they cooked it over the fire in the giant fireplace. Ogres had peculiar tastes. Cat told James that troll tongue and goblin liver were a favorite; James was thankful they had not managed to procure these delicacies. Yet, an ogre named Bandersnatch had provided Pluto with cow brain from an old sandwich forgotten down his dragon-hide trousers, and another with toad entrails and goat ears, which had been soaking in a jar of vinegar he kept in a sack of tarred goblin heads—for whatever reason. Still, an ogre named Scab-Jaw had been kind enough to pluck lizard intestines that had been moldering between Grease Mold’s fangs for a week. Sag Lips demanded that they make his special dessert, which was bananas crushed in fisheyes, pigeon heads, and fresh frog legs. Catoblepas wanted porridge with rattails, oats, and soured milk.
Pluto had taken all these orders and did the best he could with his staff, while Formandible and Sag Lips went out to the stable and lugged in a horse’s trough and dropped it on the table. But it was Gunter who insisted they use the peculiar manmade treasures—the shiny discs that were called “plates,” and the silver things called “forks” and “spoons.”
James and Cat were tasked—by Gunter—with setting the tables with the strange treasures, while Gunter explained to the ogres the concept of silverware.
Cat shot a consulting look toward James as they set the table, having pushed the trough to the floor. “Ogres using silverware? Is this a joke?”
The Alley
Chapter 3: The Goblin’s Shadow Creeps
Footsteps.
It was quiet in the alley. So quiet, he could hear the sound of the wind rustling the edge of a newspaper and pushing a Styrofoam cup around. But the footfalls were loud, with each one resounding off the brick walls.
Thump…thump…thump…CLUNK! Thump…thump…thump…CLUNK!
He couldn’t help it; paralysis took control of his muscles, making his calves weak. As the sound drew nearer, the streetlight blinked against the wall in front of him, producing a strobing effect on the sudden shadow that appeared. He stifled a surprised gasp.
Unfortunate Servant
Chapter 13: The Merciful Glutton
The carpet had jolted suddenly on the table as though it were alive. Everyone in the throne room had eyes only for Qasif now, who had begun to pray more rapidly into the rug. He sobbed and sniveled and gripped the carpet tighter, pulling it to his chest with his knees. The carpet did not seem to like this; it convulsed again, this time stretching out.
Qasif cried with panic as his body flew up. Then he plunged back to the tables, sending bowls and plates pirouetting to the floor.
“Hold on, ya sack o’ dun-hu-hung!” Gar shouted, his lungs blowing hurricanes of laughter.
The Bloody Virgin bucked again, throwing him up and letting his body slam back, this time, knocking the wind from him.
A fork nicked the gobliness’s eyebrow, and she brayed with laughter as her Keeshond leaped out of her lap with a yelp.
Then, all at once, the Bloody Virgin went still. For a time, nothing happened.
Qasif looked up. “I—I did it?” he asked. “I can go fr—”
But the word freenever left his lips, for the carpet shot off the table so fast Qasif’s head whipped back. It raced through the air like a bullet, twisting. And then, just as abruptly as it started, it stopped. The prisoner tore screaming through the air, fast as an arrow, his arms flapping, his legs kicking. And then out the window he sailed, catching the side with his foot. There was a horrid snap, a sound of his leg breaking, and then his body rag-dolled through the air, spinning helplessly, before falling into the city far below.
ASIN : B0916CYJH7
Publisher : Creed Publishing (March 25, 2021)
Publication date : March 25, 2021
Language : English
File size : 3923 KB
Simultaneous device usage : Unlimited
Text-to-Speech : Enabled
Screen Reader : Supported
Enhanced typesetting : Enabled
X-Ray : Not Enabled
Word Wise : Enabled
Sticky notes : On Kindle Scribe
Print length : 282 pages
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