City of Ruin

By Elliott Findley

In a world of monsters, bombs fall on the city's destroying all of humankind leaving only Faykin, Drakus, Demonkin and Darklings.
Feykin, the vampires, mages and shapeshifters of times long gone.
Drakus, the hill giants, orcs and orgers.
Demonkin the dark creatures of demonic bloodlines.
But the Darkling, known as Queensbloods, Kingsbloods, and Elemental tuners can change the fate of the world, with a drop of their blood they can enchant entire theatres, command hundreds of armies and even kill with only a word.
...
Scarlet lost Ruin in the rush, now in the desolate calm that came after she found half-vampire sisters Hazel and Meadow and the shapeshifter Gideon. Ruin found Ashe nearly dead when the bombs fell.
As the two groups flee towards Andreas they are challenged along the way, with what they know and what they hope to find there.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Writing Under The Moon Inc.
• Release date: May 20, 2021
• ISBN: 9781999387792

Elliott Findley

Elliott Findley has been writing for over 20 years with over 7 years and 1.4 million words written in national novel writing months. Elliott a shy, anxiety ridden, writer, spends most days as any writer does. Drinking to much coffee and sending memes to their friends well they listen to emo music and struggling to write.

Book preview

City of Ruin

by

Elliott Findely

Smashwords Edition

* * * * *

Published by Elliott Findely at Smashwords

City of Ruin

Copyright © 2020

Isabella Doucette

All rights reserved.

Distributed by Smashwords.

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then you should return to Smashwords and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

city-of-ruin

Chapter 1 - Hazel

Chapter 2 - Ruin

Chapter 3 - Scarlet

Chapter 4 - Ashe

Chapter 5 - Gideon

Chapter 6 - Meadow

Chapter 7 - Ruin

Chapter 8 - Scarlet

Chapter 9 - Ashe

Chapter 10 - Hazel

Chapter 11 - Gideon

Chapter 12 - Hazel

Chapter 13 - Scarlet

Chapter 14 - Ashe

Chapter 15 - Ashe

Chapter 16 - Meadow

Chapter 17 - Ruin

Chapter 18 - Hazel

Chapter 19 - Gideon

Chapter 20 - Ruin

Chapter 21 - Meadow

Chapter 22 - Scarlet

Chapter 23 - Hazel

Chapter 24 - Ruin

Chapter 25 - Scarlet

AUTHOR BIO

CHAPTER ONE

HAZEL

The news reporter on location is talking about the Yule tide seasonal rush, of festive tidings and of world wide celebrations. The clock tower in the background is counting down the hours until the festival starts. People darting this way and that. It is yule and it is time of cheer. But it won’t be like that for long. Even now in the video I see the bombs falling, falling, falling on the city. I see the reporter turning, her eyes wide and unbelieving. I see people running, I hear screaming.

Then I see them, My mother holding my sisters arm and pulling her though the crowed, I see my mother fall to the ground as people’s feet step on her over and over and over again, trampling her to death. As her blood spatters on the ground her body goes limp and my sister. My little sister looking around wildly calling out for her screaming and lost. Then the video cuts out.

My heart is thumping in my throat, my ears are ringing with the sound of the bombs falling, my eyes well with tears as the earth shakes, everything is wrong and the door flies open. Gideon runs into the room and picks me up, he doesn’t bother with anything else, he just holds me and we hide under a sturdy table as the room shakes and the world turns to ruin around us.

What feels like hours latter but is only minutes latter we look at one another, his eyes are darker than they once were almost black, with heavy bags under them, his skin looks tight and he has dirt in the creases of his skin, his ebony hair is full of the drywall dust that has broken apart around us. But it is Gideon, and he is here holding me safely in his arms. I relax. I sob into his shoulder.

their dead, their dead I sob.

He rocks me back and forth in his arms trying to sooth me, trying to hold me close as he can in his muscular arm’s, but I know he is dealing with his own grief, his brothers, where are his brothers, his mom, everyone we knew and loved?

what about your dad? he asks.

I never know I say though thin lips tears shinning.

we should get out of the building Gideon say’s and I am inclined to agree even if we have nowhere else to go.

I stand on shaky feet and realize the floor is lopsided. I close my eyes and let out a breath of air. Then we hear a knock at the door and look at one another.

I go to the door and open it and they’re in the hallway is Meadow, my baby sister covered in blood and bruised and with tears in her eyes. Standing there with a strange man in an army uniform.

is this your sister?

Yes.

Good, keep her inside, we ask that everyone stay inside, he says then starts a couching fit that makes me think there is something in the air. Maybe just drywall dust or maybe something else. But Meadow seams fine and that is all I want to think about not even how rude he was as he walks away to bang on more doors.

I pull Meadow inside and look her over up and down and all over, how long had we been out for, how had she gotten back, was she okay, she did not meet my eyes.

Did they hurt you? Are you okay? What happened? I question.

She’s dead, I let go of her hand, and she, she’s dead was all Meadow say’s.

Do I tell her that I saw it, that I saw people trampling their feet all over our mother’s body, that I saw them stomping her to death in a desperate flee to get away? I don’t say any of this. Meadow goes to her room, still covered in blood and with tears in her eyes. I don’t know anything about what has just happened and I looked desperately at Gideon but he doesn’t say anything.

Three days pass with Meadow in her room, three days of me watching and re-watching the video of the bombs falling, of the military coming to the door to tell us they don’t know anything else and to stay inside and the guards getting more and more sick. Then people start dying. But Meadow is fine, I am fine, Gideon is fine, none of us have had any of these strange symptoms. No fever, no chills or vomiting, no headaches or muscle aches and pink eye and all kinds of other symptoms but we haven’t had any of it. Are we just lucky or have we just not had any contact with the sick? We don’t know.

On the fourth day there are 1000 less people in the neighbourhood, in the next week people start fleeing and dying on the roads. Still none of us are sick. After two weeks were the only people left in our city block.

There is a knock at the door and I open it gingerly but It’s just Gideon. Its always Gideon. He is tall and muscular, with ebony hair, his eyes have circles under them from lack of sleep. I sigh and quickly as I can unlock the door.

Reviews for City of Ruin

[Izzi Doucette · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This story kept me rooted to the seat, it was a quick read, can't wait for the next book.