The Orcus Games: New Awakening (The Orcus Games Novella Trilogy #3)

By Louise Herman

You can run but you can’t hide...

Escaping The Orcus Games, each of the fugitive’s dreams of a happy reunion with loved ones are short lived as they each find out there is a bounty on each of their lives.

Ardan finally accepts his new life as a vampire and enlists the help of Cathal, the vampire leader of the district, to help him make a proposal to the Elders so he can live...but what ulterior motives does Cathal have?

Heather and Phoenix return to their coven, only to find they have moved. After much searching, they find their circle and are reunited with their daughters. They beg their coven to hide them but why is the Grand Witch so reluctant to agree with the plan?

And with Mistress V agreeing to marry Cathal, have the damned foursome finally found peace and safety? Or is there one more ‘hurricane’ coming to destroy all they hold dear?

The last book in the prequel to the, ‘Split Blood’ series, this novella is an enticing end to a tantalising fantasy trilogy...The Orcus Games: New Awakening gives you the electrifying conclusion, with a seductive surprise, to keep your blood flowing for another possible bite...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Louise Herman
• Release date: May 12, 2013
• ISBN: 9780957296961

Louise Herman

Louise Herman is a North London Fantasy author obsessed with pear drops sweets and 80s Fantasy films.In between reading James Herbert novels and drinking too much coffee, she writes Young Adult Urban Fantasy and Paranormal Romance novels.Louise Herman has currently written five YA Fantasy books to date (December 2015); The Orcus Games Prequel Trilogy and The Split Blood series, which take the reader on a journey of magic, mystery, obsession and forbidden love with seductively dark consequences.For more information, please go to: www.louisehermanauthor.com

Book preview

CONTENTS

~ Chapter One ~

Let the Games Begin! – 5

~ Chapter Two ~

Blood Brother Arena – 15

~ Chapter Three ~

Public Enemy No.1 – 27

~ Chapter Four ~

A Vampire Scorned – 40

~ Chapter Five ~

Don’t Make a Sound – 55

~ Chapter Six ~

Moonlight Mirage – 68

~ Chapter Seven ~

Enemy of the Shadows – 80

~ Chapter Eight ~

Ghosts of the Heart – 88

THE ORCUS GAMES: NEW AWAKENING

By Louise Herman

eBook Edition

Copyright @ 2012 Louise Herman

http://www.louisehermanauthor.com

Published by Mystical Media Publications

All rights reserved.

ISBN: 978-0-9572969-6-1

No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Books by Louise Herman

~ The Orcus Games Trilogy ~

The Orcus Games: Blood Moon

The Orcus Games: Mistress V

The Orcus Games: New Awakening

~ The Split Blood Series ~

Split Blood: The Ancient Codex – Part One

Split Blood: Rise of the Wolf

THE ORCUS GAMES: NEW AWAKENING

Louise Herman

CHAPTER ONE

HIDE AND SEEK

~ THE CRAFT ~

The desolate landscape confused my battered mind as I looked around for evidence of my former home,

Where are we? Phoenix asked, baffled at the deserted area, where we had once raised our children.

I looked around for the camp but there was nothing, just a dusty area where my home used to be,

She’s moved the whole camp? Phoenix continued, gob smacked, as he further investigated the abandoned vicinity

My mind couldn’t comprehend this major change,

Why would she move the entire camp? I asked as Phoenix came back from investigating. I assumed that maybe the Elders got to them which meant that they had to go into hiding.

I didn’t care why they’d moved; I just wanted to hold my babies in my arms again as I cried with frustration.

They were all I thought about during the games.

I couldn’t eat, sleep or care about anything else other than seeing my princesses again. Nothing was going to take that dream away from me.

Right, we need to cast a connection spell. I stated as Phoenix stared blankly at my stern face without objection.

He nodded in agreement and we began to chant,

No longer a happy, magical place, instead stands this dusty, desolate space. Take us to our camp, where the Grand Witch commands. Let us see our daughters safe, take us to our new home away from these unknown lands.

Whisked off our feet with a jolt, we began to fly through tunnels of energetic colours.

As we flew through blurry passages of vibrant reds and oranges, we were greeted by images of possible reasons why the camp had to evacuate so quickly.

Fragments of scenes flashed before us as we tried to gain some control over our fluid bodies as images of black misty creatures attacking and invading the camp filled our view.

Violently flying in and out of homes, executing my fellow witches and wizards as the others scrambled to cast spells to ward them off, these evil spirits relished the pain and destruction that they were causing to my fellow magical beings.

It looked like chaos but none of the scenes scared me as much as the scene steaming towards us, at warp speed.

We willed our bodies to move out of the way, looking back to see if we could hide in a corner or an alcove but there was nowhere to go.

Slowly turning back, we could feel the breeze on the back of our lucid necks as we were greeted by the final vision.

Slamming straight into us with full force, we were winded by the impact as we were sucked into the vortex of this new, powerful scene.

The vibrant, exotic colours of the tunnel were a distant memory as we slowly glided down this new passageway of greys and blacks, welcomed by gloomy images showing us the aftermath of the invasion.

The vapour demons had disappeared, leaving their devastated victims looking around at the destruction they had left behind.

Bodies of my neighbours and friends were scattered around like confetti as those who survived the battle tried to make sense of the tragedy by looking around for any survivors,

My babies. I screamed, yet the noise never came

My misty mass looked over at Phoenix as he was glancing to the left as we gradually came to a stop.

Hovering above a weeping woman, I could see that she was covering two children as another cloaked lady came over and whispered into her ear.

Our vapour bodies were pushed closer to see it was Celine.

She was concealing two young girls beneath her cloak as the Grand Witch announced that it was safe to come out of hiding.

The girls were aged between 6 and 7 as they peeked out from beneath the robe and slowly made their appearance.

They were beautiful.

Both with long, jet black hair, their piercing green and blue eyes melted my soul as there was something familiar about them.

I looked at Phoenix for help as he attempted to grab the children with excitement,

Heather, it’s them! he screamed as I paused with amazement.

When we left them they were toddlers,

How long were we in the games for? I thought as I absorbed every inch of their adorable faces.

I tried to hold them but my translucent mass wouldn’t let me,

Why are we just watching them? Why can’t we go to them? I screamed in frustration.

On my last question, we were ripped away from this mind-blowing scene and transported to another site.

No longer merely observing apparitions, our bodies were back as we touched each other in bewilderment as we inspected each other for any differences.

Once we were happy that we were back to our original states, we looked around for more information on our new surroundings,

Do you think it worked? I asked Phoenix as he pointed to a blurry building in the distance.

We began our trek down the grassy hill into a dense forest to explore this strange building.

Hidden behind the thickest section of the woods, stood this large, dominating structure, which looked out of place and uninhabited.

With walls so high it made my neck hurt trying to find the top, I knew that there was either something inside that should never come out or something outside that should never be