Dark Vengeance

By Kevin L. O'Brien

When Medb hErenn was exiled from Ireland by the invading Gaels, she wandered the globe, eventually finding her way into North America. Along the Pacific Northwest she found temporary refuge with a coastal tribe. She helped them in numerous way, and they eventually adopted her as one of their own as a way to show her honor.

But she made enemies as well, and one has sent against the tribe an ancient supernatural monster more powerful even than her. To protect them she agrees to meet it on a ground of its own choosing, and battle with it until one of them is destroyed.

She must find a way to defeat it, because it is not just her own life that is threatened, but that of every member of her adopted tribe, should she fail.

And everything hinges on the courage of the young warrior who followed her. If he falters, they are all as good as dead.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kevin L. O'Brien
• Release date: Jun 23, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301419401

Kevin L. O'Brien

Kevin L. O'Brien was born with a pen in his hand.Well, not quite, but he has been writing for as long as he can remember, at least since First Grade. Writing has always been his first, true love, but it hasn't always been his career. He worked for 15 years as a biomedical researcher, then for 3 years as a web designer. However, after 30 years of trying to be published in print with little success, he has decided to try his hand at self-publishing.He writes primarily speculative fiction -- fantasy, science fiction, horror, and their sub-genres -- but he also likes to try his hand at thrillers, suspense, mystery, and even westerns. However, his stories tend to have a fantasy element, no matter how subtle.Most of his stories involve the following three main characters:Medb hErenn (http://www.medbherenn.com/) -- One-time queen of Ireland, she is over 3500 years old. A warrior and a sorceress, she cannot be harmed by any weapon made by the hand of man.Eile and Sunny, Team Girl (http://www.teamgirlforever.com/) -- They are two adorable, vivacious, fun-loving young women whose motto is ONWARD TO ADVENTURE!!! Yet trouble follows them like a love-sick puppy wherever they go.Sir Differel Van Helsing (http://www.sir-differel.com/) -- The descendent of Abraham Van Helsing and King Arthur, she heads the Caerleon Order, the premier monster-hunting organization of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. She commands Dracula, the most powerful vampire extant, and the greatsword Caliburn, better known as Excalibur.He also writes a series of sword & sorcery stories set in an alternative universe known as the Lands of the Dreams of Men.Kevin lives in Denver with his family and 4 cats.For more information, see his website: http://www.kevinlobrien.com/

Book preview

Dark Vengeance

Kevin L. O'Brien

Smashwords Edition

+++

Text Copyright 2013 by Kevin L. O'Brien

Cover design and typography copyright 2013 by Kevin L. O'Brien

Gaelic Regular font distributed under a free use license by Weatherly Systems, Inc.

+++

License Notes

Thank you for downloading this ebook. It is licensed for your personal enjoyment and remains the copyrighted property of the author. This ebook may not be sold, reproduced, or copied, whether for commercial or non-commercial purposes, but it may be given away if no changes are made. If you enjoyed this book and would like to share it, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from Smashwords or their favorite online retailer, where they can also discover other works by this author. Thank you for your support, and for respecting the hard work of this author.

Please consider writing a review for this book on the retailer's website.

If you see any misspellings or typographical errors, please notify Kevin L. O'Brien using one of his online social networks. Thank you.

+++

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents, including those based on the real world, are either products of the imagination of Kevin L. O'Brien or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Because some ebook platforms do not support special characters, certain words may appear misspelled, but this was done deliberately to avoid the problem of the platforms deleting the characters. Also, the LRF platform used by older models of the Sony Reader does not permit the use of links to external URLs, whereas the PDB platform used by Palm reading devices does not support any form of linking whatsoever.

+++

Table of Contents

Preface

Dark Vengeance

About the Author

Other Books by Kevin L. O'Brien

Connect with Kevin L. O'Brien

Sample Excerpts

+++

Preface

Medb hErenn was born around 1500 BC, and she will live well into at least the 25th century. As such a long-lived character, her stories can be divided among several life phases. Her Exile Period began shortly after the Milesians conquered Ireland and their leader, Amhairghin, exiled her from the island with a geis that prevented her return, on pain of death, until such time as it would be threatened by an external invasion. She wandered the globe for nearly 1200 years, until a chance encounter with Lucius Cornelius Sulla convinced her that the Roman Empire posed a sufficient threat to satisfy the conditions of the geis. During that time, she fought in the Trojan War and became the model for the hero Achilles, yet she also traveled with Aeneas and helped him to establish Rome. She visited Solomon as the Queen of Sheba, and later campaigned with the Assyrians against the Kingdom of Judah. She became an advisor to Nebuchadnezzar, but later helped Cyrus the Great conquer Babylon. She fought with the Greeks at Marathon, Thermopylae, and Salamis, and traveled with Alexander the Great as one of his generals as well as his lover. She visited every continent, including the Americas and Australia, journeyed through various underground kingdoms, and even toured hidden Tir na n-Og, Land of the Ever Young. This story takes place during that period, while she was touring the Pacific Northwest.

It is based on Tlingit mythology and culture, except for the Crusher, which is my own invention. Actually, I can't take full credit for that. When I was in high school, I spent a summer taking a special environmental science course. One of my fellow students told me and others about a legendary creature called The Crusher, a bear-like creature that walked on its hind legs, could move with incredible swiftness, and killed by crushing its prey to death in its powerful arms. It was tough enough to withstand magnum hot-load firearms. I realize now he made it up; he probably just wanted to see who was gullible enough to believe it for a private laugh. Unfortunately it backfired, because he did not count on me besieging him with questions for more information, or my tenacity when he tried to put me off or rebuff me. Nowadays I have a private laugh thinking about how he probably came to regret ever opening his mouth.

Even so, this demonstrates how even the most marginal and ancient of sources can have a later impact on a writer's imagination. And to think that an attempt to embarrass me produced one of my favorite fantastic monsters.

I should point out that this story is written in third-person omniscient, even if we spend most of the time in Medb's head. So occasional switches in POV are done on purpose.

Back to TOC

+++

Medb hErenn knelt to examine the track in the soft earth. Though shaped like the rear paw of a bear, it was at least three times normal size. What struck her as more odd, however, was that, while the line of tracks stretched for several yards along the crest of the ridge, she could not see a single print of a forepaw.

She stood and gazed down the slope towards the plain below. It was covered with thick, tall grass, patches of ground-hugging herbs, and late-spring flowers, but at the base the land flattened into a broad, shrub-filled heath that stretched off towards a lake. Behind it stood a line of purple, white-capped mountains, still imposing despite their great distance. Closer, a forest filled her view, stretching off to the edge