Original Book Teasers

Kedith Kegran

LGBTQ+ Themes, Language, violence, gore 

  The chattering slowly died down when the innkeeper's head thudded onto the floor. The silence became deafening quickly. With a few breaths and a pounding chest, the killer realized what she'd done.

Blood came down in quick droplets to the end of her blade before slipping to the floor, staining it. The poor innkeep hadn't even had a moment to move. He'd insulted his guest, who had only humbly requested some information about a missing person.

A challenger stood from his table, eying the dead innkeep before their gaze rose to the woman who stood above. "Ye go' two secon's ta give me a good reason as ta why ye 'ad ta go an' kill off our Levling friend 'ere before yer 'ead is next ta 'is." The Kitomen man threatened. He stood a solid three feet taller than the woman, his feline form was thin- but built well. She'd barely understood him.

To look between the two, it would be obvious who would win. Him. Cats were accustomed to fighting, and acted as though they had multiple lives to simply throw away.

Though they had no scale as to how powerful she herself was. It was foolish to assume such a thing. Beneath her cloak sat a vicious array of weapons.

Across the room a few Levlings had stood from their table as well, catching her attention. They were quite protective of their own kind. With the green-skinned, long-eared creature's head on the floor, looking quite like themselves, she could understand their discomfort.

Without a word, she sheathed her blade, allowing the blood to stain into it. She turned on her heels and stepped out of the inn, the pounding heartbeat in her ears overshadowing the shouting from behind. She tugged her hood over her head, blocking the blinding sunlight from her eyes. The Kitomen's thick accent rang through the Inn and out into the street as she briskly stepped as far into the crowd as she could manage.

She hadn't meant to kill the Levling. He had been kind up until his one comment. She didn't know why she was so enraged by his single phrase. That's why she needed her partner. He usually kept a level head on her. Godsdamn him for choosing to disappear at a time such as this. When the factions were butting heads and a war was about to break out.

She rounded a corner and took a sharp breath as she made contact with another woman, "I apologize," She quickly spoke, examining to make sure the other was ok. Her brows furrowed in concern as she realized the other was crying. Why? Had she been hurt?

"No- no I'm so-sorry." The smaller woman cried, wiping her face and taking a step back. She was another normal human- a rare sight in this area.

The hooded woman cleared her throat and dropped her hood, shaking her head as she did so.

"Don't be sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going, but why are you crying?" The shorter woman seemed to be young, quite young actually. She could be no older than fifteen summers. Too old to cry over lost parents. Too young to cry over something too serious.

"I'm- I don't even know how to explain this." She sniffled, obviously frustrated with herself. "My name is Rayla, I'm not from here. I'm convinced this is a dream where I fell from my world into some storybook." She explained as best she could.

Ah, there it was. She completely understood now. This wasn't the first time she'd run into this issue. The woman's misfortune was something that happened quite often. The taller woman eased, finding reassurance in the woman being unharmed and simply frightened.

"I see, well. I'm afraid to tell you that this is no dream, Rayla. And if it were to be a dream realm- you would be in far more danger there than you are here. The Dream and The Nightmare are currently at war with one another. Though I'm sure you know nothing about any of that." She explained, placing a hand on the other's shoulder and beginning to guide her down the street. She hadn't forgotten that there may still be people looking for her. Standing idly was risking getting caught. "My name is Kedith Kegran, and I can help you find your way home. Or, I can simply educate you on this one, if you would prefer to remain here."