Redemption: The Boris Chronicles
Redemption is the new book from Paul C. Middleton and Michael Anderle, and we have the first snippet to share with you today!
Snippet 1
Unedited
Chapter 1
Danislav was angry with his boss. Boris shouldn’t have decided that now was the time to start pushing the borders of his domain out further. He sure as hell didn’t need to send an old hand like Danislav on one of the first clearance patrols.
There were gasps from the patrol as suddenly a pillar of smoke appeared on the horizon. There must be a homestead or village in that direction.
He could smell the fear coming off his own patrol. Most people were sensible enough to leave Boris’s domain and its borderlands alone, and they were barely 10 clicks from the previously established border. That people were attacking each other this close to the homeland was concerning, but hardly something to be afraid of for an old hand like him. He barked out several orders and he shifted with three of the others in the platoon. The rest were to follow as quickly as possible behind, after distributing the gear those four could no longer carry.
His anger increased at the wanton damage he found in the village that had been set alight. The only undamaged buildings in the village where the inn and the town hall, which were next to each other and made of stone with slate roofs. It would be nearly impossible to burn them quickly, unlike the other, thatch-roofed, buildings. What concerned him most was the scorch marks from a weapon that he didn’t recognized, combined with the smell of vampire in the air. He hadn’t smelt vampire since the first years after the world’s worst day ever.
As he moved closer to the town hall there were bodies scattered everywhere. Many were burnt to a crisp, and only one or two had the telltale bite marks of the vampire, despite the stench of them being everywhere. He couldn’t smell the more rotten over the odor of Nosferatu, but that was more of a relief than a concern to him. It was unlikely that any vampires older than fifth generation were around on Boris’s border. Not after the statement, it made by killing a pair of third gens who thought they could move in on his territory. He’d sent messengers from their forces with eight body parts to travel from village to village in the surrounding territories.
‘Really, Boris should be sending his eldest on these patrols,’ Danislav thought. Olaf was spoiled rotten, unlike his siblings. His sister, Fiona, was Boris’s ambassador to the Mongolians, for example. ‘Besides, Olaf is better suited to leading patrols against possible vampires than I am. I’m just not a Bear, and he is. Sure I can probably take one in a pinch with backup, but it wouldn’t be a fun tangle.’ his thoughts continued.
“Search the town,” He ordered. “Look for survivors, look for any information to be had. Regroup at the town hall. Town Hall is Operations Central.”
To find out more about Paul C. Middleton and to check out his other books – http://www.paulcmiddleton.com/
