Now Available - The Underworld Library: Hellbrary Book One by Laura Bickle #DarkFantasy #Hellbrary #UnderworldLibrary

Whoever possesses the Great Library of the Underworld rules Hell itself…and threatens the destiny of both the Heavens and Earth.

The Underworld Library

Hellbrary 

Book One

Laura Bickle

Genre: Dark Fantasy

Publisher: Syrenka Publishing LLC

Date of Publication: 4/1/21

ASIN:B091JKK3CP

Number of pages: 304

Word Count: 90,426

Cover Artist: Pretty in Ink Creations

Book Description:

Whoever possesses the Great Library of the Underworld rules Hell itself…and threatens the destiny of both the Heavens and Earth.

The Great Library contains the most deadly magic tomes penned since the beginning of time. This magic is both wondrous and terrible, kept under lock and key by witch-librarians serving the king of the Underworld.

Eve is one of those faithful librarians. She doesn’t recall her life prior to the Hellbrary, and unlike her fellow Hellbrarians, she has very little magic to speak of. When a dangerous book is stolen, she must recover it with the help of a Gorgon librarian, a hellhound, and a mysterious shapeshifting royal envoy. This daemon, Azarr, has a serpent tongue and the heart of a man – can he be trusted?

King Caldrius’s court has fallen under siege. Caldrius’s cruel son, Ral, has returned from exile with an army to assassinate his father. But his father’s crown alone does not guarantee Ral the throne. He needs the library, and he will take it by force. His ambitions don’t end with the Hellbrary – he means to take Earth and the Heavens beyond.

Eve knows there’s only one way to defeat Ral: they must use the recovered book to awaken the Queen of the Witches. Caldrius imprisoned Viridia millennia ago when she grew too powerful to control. Then, he offered the witches a choice: serve him or die. They served, until now…but will awakening Viridia summon an evil greater than Ral?

Time is running out, and all the forces the Underworld must unite to wage war for the library and control of all of existence.

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Excerpt 6.      

 

An elm tree grew at one corner of the crossroads, where a lantern hung, and a ghostly figure paced around the tree. The cloaked figure was shaped like a tall, thin man. Eve could not see his face. He carried a spear that was decorated with a garland of bones that rattled when he moved. Vertebrae, Eve realized, and they looked as if they had come from humans. Where he walked, his footsteps glowed white for a moment before fading.

            The horses flattened their ears as they reached the crossroads. They pawed and shied away, nervous. Eve whispered to Kyros, “Who is he?” She had been taught that the living had little to fear from ghosts, but the atmosphere had grown thick and oppressive as they had come into view of this shade.

            Kyros frowned. “Trouble. He is Singe, God of the Crossroads.”

            The ghostly figure walked toward them. His cloak was made of leaves, rendered translucent as ice. He radiated cold, and Eve was fearful that the horses would bolt.

            “Great and Powerful Singe,” Azarr said politely. “What brings you to this road, at this hour?”

            The figure looked up, seeming to scan the sky, then pointed at the red horizon, back where the minions had flown. “War is here, daemon. Your king is dead. News and the dead travel fast across the land. I have come to guard the road for the innocent to pass.” He opened his hand and gestured at an opossum crossing the road, covered with babies that clung to her fur. Right behind her, a family of skunks scuttled, melting in and out of the darkness.

            Despite his fearsome appearance, he seemed to Eve as a sort of magical crossing guard, ushering the creatures of the Underworld to safety. This warmed her, and the horses even seemed to settle, snuffling at each other.

            “May we pass, Great and Powerful Keeper of the Roads?” Azarr asked, with exquisite formality.

            “That depends,” Singe said. “On who you are and where you wish to go. And what you are willing to give up to pay the toll.”