Pride and Fall

By Kevin L. O'Brien

Medb hErenn's confidence exceeds arrogance to border on hubris. Subconsciously, she truly believes she is invulnerable, due to her prodigious strength and endurance, and her profound magical abilities, and while far from foolhardy, she often leaps into dangerous situations without thinking. Worse still, her enemies can use this weakness against her, by luring her into traps through appeals to her curiosity or pride. Once she realizes she is in over her head, she may curse her short-sightedness, but when she extricates herself, her subconscious conceit reinforces itself and she learns little from her experience.

So when she heard of the deadly Upas Tree, which could kill anything that simply laid eyes on it, she had to see if it lived up to its reputation. She did not believe it would, but she also doubted it could harm her in any event.

Her companions often warn her that one day her overconfidence will be her undoing. Perhaps this is finally that day.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Kevin L. O'Brien
• Release date: Sep 15, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301644865

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

Pride and Fall

Kevin L. O'Brien

Smashwords Edition

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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.

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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.

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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. Finally, certain words use British instead of American spelling, to simulate the characters' English accents.

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Table of Contents

Preface

Pride and Fall

About the Author

Other Books by Kevin L. O'Brien

Connect with Kevin L. O'Brien

Sample Excerpts

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Preface

Medb hErenn's confidence in her skills, experience, and magical invulnerabilities goes beyond mere arrogance to border on hubris. Subconsciously she really believes herself to be invincible. While many times she is thrust into dangerous situations against her will, there are also just as many times when she charges in without first considering the consequences. And even if she consciously curses her shortsightedness, each time she successfully saves herself from destruction her subconscious certainty is reinforced all the more. At best she gains some small experience that might aid her in the future, but she never seems to learn the most important lesson.

That doesn't just make her foolish, but vulnerable as well. Enemies can lure her into traps with stories that pique her curiosity (cliched as it might sound, she is after all a woman), prick her vanity, or challenge her conceit. It doesn't matter that any normal person might be suspicious; she is not normal, and she takes pride in that assessment.

Back to TOC

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Of all the bathhouses in the city of Ulthar, the most popular was the Roman balnea of Gnaeus Quinctilius Commidius. Like most of the other establishments, it catered to both sexes; unlike all but one, it did not segregate on the basis of gender but allowed men and women to mingle. Yet it was no pleasure house, where couples openly fraternized. Instead, the old patrician meant it to be a serious establishment, devoted to promoting good health.

Patrons tended to follow the same routine. They would undress in a changing room, and proceed out into a large, central courtyard to exercise and play sports. From there they would enter the hot room, to purge their bodies through sweat, cleanse their skins with oil and abrasive scrubbing, and wash off in the heated pool, before taking a dip in the adjacent cold bath. They then spent most of their time in the large tepid pool. Most patrons ended their visit in the commissary, replenishing themselves with food and drink, before returning to the changing room to dress.

People came to the bath as much to socialize as to get fit. Some visitors transacted business there, but mostly the patrons gossiped and debated while playing chess, dominoes, and dice, or swam leisurely around the pool, or just lounged beside it. Swapping stories was a favorite pastime, the more outlandish the better, and adventurers who had returned from their latest quest were welcomed with great anticipation. Medb hErenn came three times a week whenever she happened to be in Ulthar, to keep in shape, to catch up on the latest news, and to flirt, but also to