Showing results for "life" in Dark Fantasy

On the secluded continent of Edenvale, possessing magic is a death sentence. Those who have it are labeled Cursed, and by order of the king, they are Cleansed—a horrific event utilizing a hot, hungry pyre and an iron collar. Enemy to the king, a group known as the Cursed rebels defend their lands from his reach, creating an ongoing bloodthirsty war. When Sage's brother is conscripted for the war, she is forced to trade in her cozy, peaceful cottage life and join the Cursed rebels to get him back.

When good fights evil, the battle does not always go as planned. The Crimson Pact anthologies (Volumes 1-5) include a wide variety of standalone tales about the members of the Crimson Pact fighting demons across the multiverse. Now, three acclaimed tales from darkly disturbing author Donald J. Bingle are collected for you to taste and find out if demon-hunting is in your blood.

No warning. No explanation. Few survivors. Now we're all trying to get by as society collapses around us. Survival is a battle and it's getting worse every day. Food is scarce and the shelves are all bare. Finding medication for my little brother is impossible, and my desperation is growing as my options narrow.

The Demon Lord is dead. The System is broken. Somehow, Elias Hearthsong is neither of these things, despite being at the final battle of the Demon Wars. He is a Master Enchanter, perhaps the last one alive. Determined to keep a promise, he crosses the continent to protect his dead friend's legacy: a crumbling orphanage run by a beautiful kitsune. He isn't a teacher, nor does he have experience with children. But with the love of a few good women, anything can become possible.

Now no longer that wide-eyed child, Gabe is fresh out of prison, a leather-clad biker answering Grandaddy’s peremptory summons to, of all places, a cowboy bar in Northern Arizona. He is about to find out just how different he is from “most people” - and to meet the stranger with whom he will be sealed: life and limb, blood and bone, conscripted to fight an unholy war unlike any other.

In the beginning was the Oak, its hungry roots reaching deep into the earth, its gnarled limbs searching the distant heavens. Two hundred years ago, Obediah Magrute worshipped the Oak and died violently beneath it, feeding it with his blood and bone, shouting his chilling curse to the skies. Now, Laura and Mark Avery have come to the bustling little Vermont village.

Afterlife...just some gothic nightclub where gossip is fuelled by the presence of a rich and unearthly, handsome family or afterlife...the strange place where time seems to stand still and guests feel the presence of something more powerful held within the confines of the VIP. Keira is new to this small, cold town and is running from a past that seems to feast on her darkest memories. She finds living with her sister away from English soil to be just the ticket to the new life she is trying desperately to find.

Once upon a time, there were two Rhythm Gods: one of brilliance and one of darkness. But there was much more to the realms than the two gods alone could provide, so the Maker created a third, unknowingly unbalancing the Rhythm and setting the realms on a path of suffering. The God of War has stolen that which I hold dearest. Though I am reunited with my beloved gods, a hole remains and my heart is in shambles. Together we must look to the past to preserve the future, for if we cannot restore the Rhythm, the realms will crumble.

Safe Haven has been hit with awful blows since the war. They’ve been stalked, burned, shaken, shot, and betrayed so much that it’s now impossible to tell friends from enemies. Assassins and traitors have ruined the fragile peace, and personal dramas have weakened the dream of rebuilding a society of love and light. Surrounded by dangerous people and running low on supplies, the situation was already bleak when the camp arrived at that cursed mountain to make their settlement. Five hundred survivors crammed into the tunnels, hoping to be protected. They weren’t.

Brian Fieldings just buried his dad and lost the only job he's ever had. Waking up in an unfamiliar, pitch-black room the next morning feels a lot like the rotten cherry on a particularly awful sundae. Especially given the inhuman howling coming from the other side of the door. He's only been conscious for a minute or so, but Brian already has questions. Where is he and how did he get here? What is making those terrible noises? And why does the room he's in have an altar?

Jason wakes in the most unpleasant of circumstances, in a body not his own and in a world most certainly unfamiliar. The finery and splendor of the Grand Imperial Prince Magnus Torvon Thull Heir Apparent to the Thull empire is a world of gold and silver beset upon fine black and white marble. The women of this Grand Prince’s empire clamor for his attention amongst the parties, drugs, and (not-so-great minstrel music). Jason will have to fix the decrepit state Magnus’s body has sunken into from a life of decadent pleasures. While figuring out what the heck is going on.

Only a week after solving their last case, Raven is itching for a new assignment. In her downtime, she's focusing on the two most important men in her life: her father and Christian. But there's no rest for the wicked. When an old friend seeks Raven's expertise on a delicate matter, Viktor reluctantly accepts the case. But without evidence of a crime, they might have no choice but to walk away, even if that means countless bodies filling the graveyard.

Peace has finally come to Last Stop. The school is growing and Eli has settled into his role as both a teacher and a father. His only concerns these days are keeping Mayari out of trouble and the pending birth of his child. That, and whether or not the school's dungeon, Beta, will ever let him drink any damned tea. However, when Eli's World Quest updates with an ominous counter, he pushes for faster change, uncertain of what failure can mean. Things are further complicated when Alluria's long missing sister arrives with news of a time-bending dungeon.

After a year of fighting across three different lands, Dante and Blays have finally brought Gladdic to justice - and in the process, they've unleashed a horror beyond all reckoning. The enemy is known as the White Lich. He is ancient. He is immensely powerful. And Gladdic believes he will soon enslave all of Tanar Atain. Their only chance to defeat him is to strike fast, before the lich has regained his power. But attacking him directly would be suicide.

After facing her nightmares head on, Keira soon finds her troubles have only just begun, and if she thought mortals were dangerous, then being hunted by the world’s most powerful beings will spin her further into a web of supernatural destruction. Keira can’t help seeing the handsome man before her. She can’t help the dreams that consume her, and neither can she stop him from wanting her. But the controlling man who follows her every move isn’t the man she’s dating but the man who's hunting her.

Ray Bradbury’s moving recollection of a vanished golden era remains one of his most enchanting novels. Dandelion Wine stands out in the Bradbury literary canon as the author’s most deeply personal work, a semi-autobiographical recollection of a magical small-town summer in 1928...

With Keira finding death at her door, she is suddenly plunged into a world of the unknown and has to face it alone...or does she? Soon this new life is filled with heartache, shadowed followers and cryptic messages that promise only to lead her deeper into world of the supernatural like never before.

An army is half way to Glacium. And not just any army - it belongs to my mother. Time is running out as I rush to prevent a war which will kill thousands; the Solati people, my brothers, and the many Bruma I've come to care for. Yet it appears preventing this interworld war is just one snowball in an avalanche of problems as the situation in Glacium becomes volatile and destructive. My various identities hover on the edge of discovery forcing me to consider drastic action, and questions I've had since the abrupt end of the peace delegation are answered.

Keira soon finds herself becoming a pawn in a game she could never hope to win, and now the King on the board is a Vampire on a mission. With the only man to stop him miles away from the mountain prison in which she is kept, she must now choose which path to take in order to survive. With enemies at all sides closing in quickly, she must tread carefully, or she might find the only man to save her isn't the White Knight she loves but the Dark King she loathes.

After finding out the traumatic truth, Keira tries to move on from the doors of Afterlife and the love lost through a world of pain. But Afterlife's King isn't yet done with her, and Keira once again finds herself stood opposite the man who broke her heart. However, the truth that she thought she knew will soon unravel, and Keira finds herself following the ribbon of lies all the way to the very gates of hell. And as Keira knows more than most, the pursuit of truth can be a dangerous game to play when your opponents are supernatural killers.