Prey to the Aswang

By Joshua Cox-Steib

Magic is alive and well throughout the world. It's always been there, and it still is; just waiting for those willing to see it. For most it is but a passing dream, too elusive to grasp, but for those who look closely it comes roaring into their lives with the strength of inevitable permanency.

Long ago a mighty spell was cast. Merlin, the greatest magician to have yet lived, summoned forth a single drop of blood from each living human, and upon this ocean of blood he cast a potent curse with the greatest of intentions. His spell changed the nature of mankind's interaction with the arcane forever. With this curse he insulated the species against the very fabric of the arcane. Future generations became all but impervious, and oblivious, to the effects of magic.

In time all that was magic became forgotten by the masses, and it had to be discovered anew by each magician as the generations rolled by. But once the magic was touched it shattered the protections upon that individual, and brought the pervasive realities of the unbelievable into stark view all around them. A new community of magicians, in all their varieties, began to form throughout this new world. They formed out of necessity for survival. With the entrance of magic into their lives, so too came the monsters.

This is a series of short stories delving into the adventure and mystery of modern magic. Stories that take us from university teaching wizards with their logically precise incantations, into the art-fueled magics made by clerics of faithful dreaming, through the ranks of druids wielding the powers of life in environmentalist activism, past the potion brewing shamans with their storefronts of homeopathic medicines, and to the contraptions and creations of mechanically-minded enchanters. Trolls roam state parks, imps battle in the sewers, bodies claw their way out from cemeteries, and gods walk the streets.

There's an entire world of magic out there. A dream just waiting for those who will look, and make it real again...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Joshua Cox-Steib
• Release date: Sep 29, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370520985

Joshua Cox-Steib

I'm an avid reader, and have been ever since I fell into it by an oddity of fate in the sixth grade. My best friend wouldn't quit talking to me about a fantasy series that he was reading. I borrowed the first book from him to guard myself from any further ranting (he couldn't very well talk about parts of the series I hadn't read yet, could he?). I ended up reading the book almost by accident. I couldn't stop reading, and I still can't.My wife and I live in Tulsa, Oklahoma - along with our small army of pets, and our books.

Book preview

Prey to the Aswang

Joshua Cox-Steib

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

Copyright © 2016 by Joshua Cox-Steib

Prey to the Aswang

Gareth ran. The footsteps followed. No matter how fast he went, the footsteps were always there. Right behind him. Never hurrying. Never changing their slow, methodical pace; never getting any closer, or any farther. Tap tap. Tap tap. Tap tap. Ignoring the falling sleet he bounded down the slick Chicago sidewalks at breakneck speeds. His feet never faltered, managing to land each stride just right to keep his skinny frame from sliding into the hard exterior of buildings that loomed overhead.

Gareth was a first rate shaman, and he knew how to keep his footing. What he didn't know was what wore the feet behind him, or how to shake it. Three blocks, and half his potions it'd been following him, and yet he still hadn't caught more than a glimpse of it. Just the incessant sound of predatory pursuit, and the icy chill in his spine that the magically