The Heronclaw Chronicles

Gavin Wolfe-Winland

Description

Demon Hunters investigate a murder that takes them to the Fey Realm. Their journey puts them up against a cult raising demons.
The Masserly Ingenious Clan is tasked to investigate a murder put on display in their city. However, when these demon hunters are forced to work with the Daughter of Lucifer and her team, the MIC find a demon-raising cult in the Fey Realm. The trust between the two teams will be tested when the brewing threat hits the streets of Masserly.

Sujets

• Fantasy (canción de Mariah Carey)
• Thrilling
• Dark
• Contemporary
• Fiction
• Fantasy

Informations

• Publié par: Archway Publishing
• Date de parution: 21 décembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781665734103
• Langue: English

Extrait

THE HERONCLAW CHRONICLES
 
THE RISE OF MASSERLY
 
 
GAVIN WOLFE-WINLAND
 
 
 

 
Copyright © 2022 Gavin Wolfe-Winland.
 
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.
 
This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.
 
 
Archway Publishing
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.archwaypublishing.com
844-669-3957
 
Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.
 
Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.
 
ISBN: 978-1-6657-3409-7 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6657-3410-3 (e)
 
Library of Congress Control Number: 2022922398
 
 
Archway Publishing rev. date: 12/20/2022
CONTENTS
INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1 GENESIS
CHAPTER 2 UNTRAVELED ROAD
CHAPTER 3 LINES IN THE SAND
CHAPTER 4 COURTESY CALL
CHAPTER 5 RISE ABOVE IT
CHAPTER 6 EVENT HORIZON
CHAPTER 7 INTO THE VOID
CHAPTER 8 DON’T GO
CHAPTER 9 SEASONS
CHAPTER 10 TERRORIST
CHAPTER 11 DEVIL’S CALLING
CHAPTER 12 SOAK ME IN BLEACH
INTRODUCTION
I thought I was lonely until I realized how big the world was.
Then I started to d rown.
“So, when you contacted me, Mrs. Heronclaw, were you positive that you wanted to sign your children up here …?” The woman behind the desk asked, clasping her hands together formally. Amanda Knox, leader of the Masserly Ingenious Clan, was interested in what she had to say. Amanda had recruited demon hunters, both from the streets and from her own office. However, there was something bizarre about what she had heard. This woman had two children, who had no fighting history, and suddenly she wanted to throw them into a clan of demon hunters? Where was their training? Their history?
And what kind of intriguing story could she enlighten me with? In front of Amanda, Kim Heronclaw clasped her hands together as she cleared her throat subtly, nodding. She adorned messy, dirty blonde hair, looking to be in her mid-thirties. To Amanda, she was a bit of an eyesore—she could tell that life was not kind to this woman. “How old are they?”
“My son Gabriel, he’s thirteen. His sister Cloie is fourteen, just over a year older than him. They’re not too young to join, right? ” Kim asked, looking at Amanda curiously. The warlock smiled, shaking her head as she stood up. Walking around the desk, rolling her tongue over her teeth while she drew up the right response.
“No. In all honesty, they are in the right age range. However, normally demon hunters get trained at a slightly younger age, usually starting at eleven or twelve, based on their general maturity. Is there any specific reason for signing them up here? ” Amanda paused, tapping her nails on the desk lightly. She was curious why Kim had approached her instead of the Masserly Peacekeepers. Amanda knew of more experienced trainers in the other regions of the Islands too, who were better equipped for training them. “Your home is closer to the Peacekeepers’ clan house. Why me?” She asked, tilting her head curiously. She crossed her arms as Kim glanced at the display case against the wall. In it, Amanda had a few awards from her time spent with the Council—the botched justice system of the Sibylline world. The awards in the case varied from her exceptional teaching ability to the plaque of an Honorary Act from five years ago.
“I don’t think anyone in the Peacekeepers can help. That’s what I’m concerned about, so I came to you,” Kim told her, turning her attention to Amanda again. She was curious about Kim’s issue; she was vague with her.
“Well, then, what’s the issue? If the Peacekeepers cannot help you, there may not be much more that I can assist with.” Amanda tilted her head, observing Kim.
For a moment, Kim choked on her words. Amanda inclined her head, curious about what was stopping her from speaking. Was she that nervous? Guilty of something, even? Clearing her throat, she answered.
“My son is a demon. My daughter, she’s becoming a … warlock,” Kim told her, taking a deep breath. Her cheeks faintly blushed as she averted her eyes for a few seconds. Amanda nodded as she bit her bottom lip. She chuckled to herself, relaxing her shoulders. Oh boy, she thought.
“Well, that’s quite a predicament. I take it that their powers just now started to develop? You probably came up here out of fear, hoping we have someone employed here to help you out?” After a moment of silence, Amanda sighed and cleared her throat. “I can take them in, Miss Heronclaw. I train demon hunters; however … I don’t help half -b reeds learn their abilities normally because that’s not my expertise. But I have connections you don’t. I can call in a friend, actually more—if one’s a demon, the other a warlock—how powerful were the fathers?” Amanda gazed at Kim, then at her chipped nails for a brief second, before pushing her blue-rimmed glasses up on the bridge of her nose.
“I wouldn’t honestly know.”
Amanda nodded, hoping it would not be a big issue. “I see. Well, I suppose these strings could get pulled. What’s obvious is that they’re a problem on your hands. Both have unknown, powerful abilities that, if they become rampant, there can be a lot of serious consequences—both for them and you since you’re the caretaker. We’ll have you sign over custody to me; that way, we can ensure that we don’t have any legal problems with the Sibylline Council. How does that sound?” Amanda asked. She was sitting on the desk now, looking down at Kim. One eye is the color of the blue sky; the other is amethyst.
“That sounds good to me, Ms. Knox. Is that all? Shall we discuss a payment plan, rent, or anything else?”
“No. Any person under eighteen who complies with the Accords is under the jurisdiction of my Clan. Even if that weren’t the case, let’s look at it this way. They need to learn to control these abilities; otherwise, bad things can happen. I would not charge you anything regardless.” Amanda smiled faintly as she observed Kim from where she stood. Curious to meet the two young teenagers, she wondered how much trouble she would have aided them. It was a unique and precarious predicament, but she knew of a few worse cases.
“Thank you, Miss. I really appreciate it,” Kim said as she stood up. Amanda gave her a smile as she put out her hand in return. Giving it a brief shake, Kim faintly smiled at her; Amanda was wondering how her children would react to being sent here. Would they love it, thinking it was a vacation from home? Would they hate it, thinking their mother gave them up? Sacrificing them because she could not handle training them properly? Amanda figured Kim probably wanted to give them their best life, even if their adjustment was rocky.
Amanda cleared her throat as Kim began to grab her purse, with her filled-out paperwork sitting on her desk. Kim stopped to gaze at her, a curious look plastered on her face. Her eyes enlightened Amanda, seeing the relief already coming out. “Before I let you go. Who is the boy’s father?”
Seven Years L ater
“Masserly has been getting restless, you know?” Alaric looked across the rafters from the shadows at his partner, Gabriel. Glancing up in return, Gabriel started shaking his head.
“The whole world has been, Alaric. Do you think that changes anything?” Gabriel peered down, stepping onto the next beam, curling his fingers around his sword more tightly than before. Below them, a group of demons running across the neighborhood had stopped in an empty warehouse to begin nesting. They had already picked off a few demons, but below them was what remained of the group.
“Not saying it does, Gabriel. It makes me worry about what could be coming.” Alaric said to him. Gabriel’s eyes flickered up at his best friend once more, glancing over his ice-blue eyes and shaggy blonde hair. He had known him for years, forming a strong bond the more they hunted together. Alaric was one of the better hunters in the city that Gabriel knew, but sometimes his heart was not always in the right place. At times, it felt like Alaric did not care enough for what mattered at hand; other times, he cared enough to die for the city.
Gabriel wished he could say the same, but it felt like he was teetering off the beaten path. After the death of his previous partner Damien in a fight to save innocent lives, Gabriel had been lost ever since. Whether or not they could achieve their goal of making a difference in the world was too soon to predict. They were striving to achieve the reduction of threats from demons over time, no matter how insignificant their contributions felt. The likelihood of demons overrunning the world could change at any moment, let alone any fight—Gabriel hoped he would not see that firsthand.
Trying to keep his head clear, he shook the thought of his old partner and looked at the weapon in Alaric’s hands. They used what they could—bladed weapons, blunt objects, firearms. They all dealt damage to demons and could kill them, but the tougher ones were resistant to firearms renderi