Written In Shadows

Shadows Rise has been ongoing since May 1st 2019. The below teaser is from an earlier draft of the story. You’re welcome to check it out anyway, but if you you’d rather read the serial spoiler-free, click here to get started.

Thank you for your interest.

B.B

Hello, there! Blackbird here again with a couple of updates.

It’s going to be a little while still, but we are coming closer and closer to a release date for Shadows Rise. Writing is flowing a little bit easier and we’re four chapters away from the final chapter now. Editing is taking a bit longer, but it’s going. Ideally, I wanted to have episode one written and edited before we start posting anything, but if 2018 hits and I don’t have it, I will post it as I write, so there are no more delays. It’s not ideal and it might mean I won’t be able to post a chapter every week like I planned, but I just don’t want to delay it more than I absolutely have to.

That said, I feel it’s about time to talk a little about the story and what to expect from it.

Shadows Rise follows the conflict between the Wolfpack; an assassin clan that resides in the heart of the Valcrest forest, and the Wolf Hunters; a group of people who have dedicated their lives to hurting the Wolves as much as possible, if not taking them down altogether.

Episode one follows two twin brothers; Kyle and Sebastian, trying to pull themselves together eleven months after the assassination of their older sister, their run-in with the Wolf Hunters, and their path to becoming Hunters themselves.

Here’s a small excerpt from chapter one:

[City of Blackpond, Lacus 25th, 2 hours until Midnight]

A razor sharp wind swept across Blackpond. It whirled through the torchlit streets and extinguished several flames. The first weeks of Winter always caused exasperation on the already strained city guard; now tasked with rekindling the street lights on top of their usual duties. On wind-swept nights like this one, the city was constantly engulfed in darkness since the torches were snuffed out much quicker than the overworked guards were able to tend to them.

Kyle Rivers stirred at the sound of boots rasping against stone. He peeked around the corner of his hiding spot and squinted at the approaching light of a lantern. Retreating further into the shadows, only moving his eyes, he followed the figure of a passing guard, snorting when the man strolled past one such unlit torch without giving it a sideways glance. If there was ever one constant in the glorious City of War, it was the ineffectiveness of its city guard.

For a few moments, Kyle entertained himself by watching the guard walk past. The sound of the man’s boots tapping the stony ground joined with the metal clang of the mace hanging from his belt to create an almost soothing rhythm with his every step. A faint hum caught Kyle’s ears in the few seconds the man was passing right by him. He seemed distracted and content. The boy noticed the sturdy boots on his feet and the thick wool cloak hanging flat from his shoulders – too heavy for the breeze to carry. Kyle figured he probably felt he had a great thing going and, admittedly, the boy was beginning to see for himself how just being warm and well-fed might be worth possibly being stabbed in the throat by a pack of thieves. For the moment, though, he’d call that his last resort.

Soon the man’s black cloak was far enough away that it blended into the night’s shadows and the guard disappeared into the night, completely unaware of the fact he was being watched. If only he had paid attention; or bothered to relight that torch, he might have found something suspicious in the thirteen-year-old leaning against the outer walls of a closed down bakery. Kyle’s form was partially concealing a half-opened ventilation grate on the side of the building and the boy was nearly dancing in place, trying to fight away the cold air penetrating his thin layers of clothing.

Inside the baker’s shop, another thirteen-year-old had been busy in search of something specific, albeit with no success. Now Sebastian’s quest was for anything that could possibly be of use to him and his brother. The boy had meticulously searched the front of the shop, the storage room, the kitchen, there was nothing there he could make use of or take. After a moment of hesitation, Sebastian decided to not leave empty handed until he exhausted all possibilities. With slow and steady steps, he made his way to the second floor of the building.

The upper floor had almost just as little to offer, the boy searching the small office and finding nothing more than a table full of financial documents. The little he could make out of them in the dark; for what he could understand, told him business wasn’t going great lately.

The last place to search was the master bedroom and, while hesitant to do so, Sebastian slowly cracked the door open and spotted a large man collapsed in his bed. There were empty bottles all over the floor, some of them dusty like they’d been lying there for days. It took a little bit of finesse to navigate the littered floor without making a sound, but Sebastian managed. The first thing he noticed was the man’s coin purse laying partially open on his bedside table; a few silver coins catching the moonlight coming from the window. For a moment, he almost reached out for it, but eventually turned away, instead grabbing a cloak hanging from a hook behind the door. It was a dark, faded, grey and smelled of cigarettes and liquor, but it was warmer than anything the boys currently owned. It was also three times Sebastian’s size, which immediately posed a problem when the boy moved. The cloak dragged behind him, sweeping several empty bottles across the floor. Sebastian froze in place, watching as they rolled noisily through the wooden surface, knocking against several other bottles and causing even more of a ruckus. He turned to the bed and the man was now wide awake and glaring daggers right into him.

“Shit.”

Hope that was entertaining.  And if you think you might enjoy Shadows Rise, follow the blog and keep an eye out for that release date. It is coming. Soon. 🙂

B.B