The Little People Excerpt II

Adam was daydreaming a little when he thought he caught movement out of the corner of one eye. It was in one of the larger trees, not too far from him. He hoped it wasn’t more buzzards. He had forgotten to bring his gun with him. He casually scanned the area and tried to look up in the tree without seeming to look up in the tree. The breeze picked up a little and moved some of the branches out of the way. This revealed something that Adam was not expecting. At first, he thought he was seeing things. He closed his eyes for a moment and then reopened them to see if his vision cleared. What he had seen before was still there.

Adam casually looked around again and tried not to stare, but his gaze kept falling on the small figure that was partially obscured by the tree’s foliage. The figure was sitting on a thick limb high up in the tree. Not wanting the figure to know he had spotted it, Adam casually looked around again and pretended he hadn’t noticed it. After taking a few more quick glances, he realized that the figure was a small girl or woman.

She was sitting casually and had her legs crossed, dangling beneath the limb she was sitting on. Her small hands rested on the limb beneath her. When Adam looked at the girl again, she stared right back at him. She was of a slight build and was almost as tall as Adam. She had dark reddish brown skin, black hair that was pulled back into a ponytail and had small, slightly pointed ears. She was wearing some sort of brown leather woven tunic or dress. Feathers hung down from a band she wore around her forehead and she had shoes made from the same material as her dress. Her shoes came up above her ankles and had laces that crisscrossed all along the top. Leather fringe dangled all along the tops of her shoes. Her clothing was elaborate, but decorated in colors that blended in with the forest. She wore what looked to be a stone knife in a sheath at her belt. Its handle was wrapped in leather.

Adam tried to not look at the figure, but couldn’t help himself. He had never seen anyone quite like this before. Several minutes passed with him trying not to look at her. As he watched the figure, she stood on the limb and then abruptly jumped off of it. She landed on another limb far below the first one, but jumped off of this limb also. The distance the girl fell was astonishing to Adam. A normal person could not have fallen such a great distance without getting hurt.

It was a very long drop from the limbs to the ground. Adam guessed it to be almost thirty feet to the ground from where the figure had been sitting on the first limb. Adam was amazed at the feat. The small girl landed softly in a crouch just a little ways down the hill from where he was sitting on the rock. She had made no sound at all. She then stood and turned toward him and said, “You can see me, can you not?”

 

Adam nodded his head slowly. “Am I not supposed to?” He asked nervously. The small woman’s voice was almost musical when she spoke. She did not sound like a child, but did not sound quite like an adult either.

“No, most humans can not see us unless we want them to. It is rare for one of your people to be able to see us.” She told him as she moved up the hill toward him. She placed one hand on the hilt of her knife as she drew near. Adam felt a little threatened by her actions and the unusualness of it all. He also noticed that her movements were graceful and fluid. He stood up as she came closer to him. He tried to put the rock between them, but did not think it would do much good. He was ready to run if she tried to attack at him, but after seeing her jump, didn’t think he could outrun her.

The Little People can be purchased online in eBook and 5x8 paperback.
http://www.michaelpaulhoward.com/thelittlepeople.html

The Ruby Helmet Excerpt I

Chapter 3

            Everywhere upon the cold stone floor of the cave were piles of human bones.  A large, dark figure slowly picked its way over the grisly remains.  It moved silently, searching for the beast that lived there.  The beast had wrought terrible devastation and brought great loss to the surrounding area.

            A foul, putrid stench of death and decay emanated from deep within the dark, dank catacombs in which the figure now transverse.  The smell caused the figure to reel with disgust.  Knowing the awful power of its enemy however, the figure shook its head to try and clear it so it could continue on.  This caused its long dark hair to shimmer slightly in the dim light.  Reflections flickered across the silvery, well-worn ornamental helmet it wore.

            The figure’s upper body was covered in plate mail armor.  It glittered faintly from the few thin beams of light that filtered down into the mouth of the cavern.  The figure’s dark leather breaches and soft, high riding leather boots barely made a sound as it softly padded its way toward the ominous entrance to another, larger cavern.

            In the figure’s strong muscular hands it held a large, heavy, double bladed battleaxe.  The axe was made of the finest steel crafted by dwarven blacksmiths in the Timgranok Mountains.  The axe shone with a faint, slightly visible silver glow.  This gave it an eerie appearance in the darkness.

 

            The figure’s presence in the cavern was not a natural one.  Rats scurried before it as it worked its way toward the next room.  The beast within the cavern was waiting, knowing full well that a victim had entered its lair.  It waited hungrily for its enemy in the comfort of its own home, confident that it would be feasting well this night.

            Rakkon knew full well the extent of the situation that he had gotten himself into.  He moved forward cautiously, listening strenuously for any sign of the beast he knew to be lying in wait.

While traveling south to join King Tredebould’s growing mercenary army in the ongoing war of the Creahaul, Rakkon had been talked in to ridding a small town named Caerloon of a vicious reptilian killer that had been preying upon the town’s inhabitants.  The creature crashed its way into homes late at night and dragged its victims off into the nearby mountains.  It had left many bloody trails and screaming on many a night.  Rakkon had agreed to do the dangerous task, for a small fee of course.  He was always glad to help others in a time of need, especially if there was a profit to be made.

            Rakkon was a warrior, born and bred.  He grew up in the Anarest Mountains in the barbarian warrior clans of the Teargor people.  He was first among his clan in battle prowess and in war knowledge.  He had decided to leave his people when he had become bored.  Most of the people back home were at peace, so the only fighting was between his kin.  Rakkon had set out for the kingdoms of the South, seeking adventure and wealth.

He continued to move forward slowly, listening for any sound that might give the creature away, or give him some kind of advantage over it.  He had trailed the beast from where it had made its last kill. It had taken a small farm family in a house just outside of the town.  The trail of blood and entrails was not too difficult to follow, especially in the bright moonlight.  It had led right up to the mouth of the cave that served as its lair.

            Rakkon moved to the left of the large cavern entrance and stopped suddenly, standing very still.  There was a faint rasping noise like sandpaper being rubbed over rough wood.  The sound was coming from directly ahead and to the right of the chamber.  He strained his eyes and could just make out the moonlight faintly reflecting off of hardened, leathery scales.

             Rakkon edged his way forward, and prepared himself.  He reached deep within himself for the place of the warrior, bringing forth the inner being that one sought when entering into combat.  It was the part that showed no mercy, and knew only the power and surge of battle.  He reached down into his muscles, sinew and bones.  Power flowed out of him into the cold, hard steel that he held in his hand.

            Rakkon reached down into a pouch that hung from his thick, black sword belt.  He withdrew a small round object.  It was smooth and spherical, about the size of a dove’s egg.  The object was pale white in color.

            He turned his head away from the direction of the beast, then drew his arm back and threw the small sphere toward it.  The sphere spun toward the large reptile and exploded upon impact.  It released a powerful blast that produced a large ball of bright, white light that seemed to cling to the face of the reptile.

            Rakkon quickly attacked what he could now see was a large pseudo-dragon.  Pseudo-dragons were winged beasts made of pure hatred.  An evil created out of total darkness.  They came from a time when evil ran rampant over the world, many centuries ago.  Evidently, many of these creatures still survived, plaguing all of the humanoid races, good and evil alike.

            Pseudo-dragons were one of the toughest of the smaller dragon types to kill.  This one was about fifteen feet long from snout to tail tip.  It had two wickedly curved feet with sharp talons, a set of small leathery wings, and a poison tipped tail that was razor sharp.  It bared sharp, ivory teeth that could rip a man’s head off in one bite.  Upon seeing the deadly creature, Rakkon knew he faced an extremely dangerous foe.

            He took full advantage of the dragon’s momentary blindness, and dove in on its right side, seeking a vulnerable spot on the underside of its soft underbelly.  Rakkon knew that attacking the monster’s rough scaly outer hide would have taken too long, even with his enchanted blade.  He would not be able to avoid the deadly spiked tail for very long.

            He came in fast, quicker than most would have believed for a man of his size.  He ducked under one of the dragon’s flailing wings and came in with a vicious cut to the beast’s upper chest.  Rakkon attacked as it reared up while trying to fight off the light that had momentarily blinded it.

            Fortunately his attack was true to its mark.  It opened up a terrible wound in the monster’s chest.  This caused it to bellow with a loud roar of pain and fury.  It had never been so easily thwarted.  The cut itself gushed out a thick, warm, green ooze. The ooze stung and burned Rakkon’s skin wherever it touched him.

            The reptile swung around toward the source of its agony and lashed out with one of its large talons.  Its attack cut a vicious arc in the air right in front of Rakkon’s face.  It caught him with a glancing blow to the side of his helmet. The attack left a large gash in it.  The blow sent Rakkon reeling back, toward the cave wall.  He stumbled on a stalactite and lost his balance, toppling to the cave floor.

             Rakkon barely noticed the follow-up attack of the beast’s deadly tail.  It had come around, just missing pinning him to the wall.  It would have ended his short, adventurous career.  His fall had inadvertently saved his life.

            He quickly rolled to one side and came up swinging.  He aimed a powerful uppercut to the beast’s exposed neck.  The monster had closed in on him, hoping to finish off the vile human that had so painfully wounded it.  It had expected Rakkon to be knocked unconscious from the crushing blow it had landed on his helmet.

            With almost superhuman speed, Rakkon sliced the monster’s neck from ear to scaly ear.  In finishing through with its bull like charge, the dragon bowled Rakkon over even as he was ending its life.  It threw him into the cave wall once again.

            The beast thrashed about and crashed onto the floor of the cavern.  It went through its final throes, dying just as violently as it had lived. 

The Ruby Helmet is available online to purchase in eBook or 5x8 paperback.

http://www.michaelpaulhoward.com/therubyhelmet.html

The Ruby Helmet Now Available Online To Buy

After obtaining the rights back from a previous publisher, and many months of reworking and rewriting, The Ruby Helmet is now available online in 5x8 paperback and Kindle eBook.

You can read more about it here: http://www.michaelpaulhoward.com/therubyhelmet.html

Available Amazon CreateSpace 5x8 Paperback - Only $11.99 each
https://www.createspace.com/5479859

Available Amazon Kindle eBook - Only $2.99 each
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01B3CTH3E?*Version*=1&*entries*=0

Great Gift Idea - The Little People

Looking for a unique gift idea for someone that likes to read? Consider a copy of my contemporary fantasy adventure novel, The Little People. Can be purchased online in printed paperback or eBook. Contact me if you are local and I can get you a signed copy. http://www.michaelpaulhoward.com/thelittlepeople.html

What Do You Choose To Believe?

Each of us has an important choice. It is the most important choice any of us will ever make. A choice that will effect us for all eternity. We must choose what we really believe. Based on the evidence we have available to us, each of us must decide if we want to believe that there is a part of us that will live on after our physical bodies cease to exist, or if this life is all there is.

If we choose to believe that we do not have an eternal soul, then we have no hope for anything after this life is over. For those that choose not to believe in an afterlife, then once this life is over they simply cease to exist and there is nothing more. For those who do not believe in an afterlife, while they are still alive, there are no real consequences for their actions other than what people choose to inject upon one another based on their own feelings or desires. As human beings, we like to determine moral standards of right and wrong based upon our own thoughts, needs, wants and experiences. These standards change from person to person and are different for everyone. Mankind alone is not able to determine and set a moral standard.

If there is an afterlife and each of us has a soul, then we need to ask ourselves What Will Happen To Us When We Die? Each of us also needs to decide whether we choose to believe in God and the Bible. Are we willing to take the chance of losing our souls for all eternity by choosing not to believe in something greater than ourselves. Is it worth losing our souls to live as we want to please ourselves in this life? Why would we not want to seek out all of the evidence that is available to us about God, the Bible and an afterlife and do our best to serve God in order to have the hope of eternal life?

Based on all of the evidence available to us, the only reliable source that tells us about The Existence Of God and our final destination is the Bible. If we choose to believe that the Bible is from God, it gives us everything we need to know to be right with Him and to live happy, productive lives.

For those of us that have seriously examined the evidence and claim that we have chosen to believe in God, we must ask ourselves, are we really doing everything God has told us to? We need to examine ourselves on a regular basis, study God’s word, pray and then determine if we are really serving Him. If we do not keep all of God’s word, do we really believe in Him? Many people claim that they believe in God, but want to pick and choose which parts of His word that they want to follow. According to the Bible, we have to obey all of God’s word (1 John 5:3). The Bible tells us what our Godly responsibilities are and what we must do to be right with God. The Bible also tells us about God’s love for us. God loved us so much that he sent his only son Jesus, (John 3:16) to die a terrible death on the cross so that each of us could have the hope of eternal life with Him. The Bible also tells us that even though we are also to love one another (John 13:34), we can not compromise God’s word.

When a person obeys God’s Plan Of Salvation, as is outlined in the Bible and they become a Christian, or a follower of Christ, they must choose to do their best to live according to what God has asked us to do. Even though God loves us, he also expects us to be obedient to him in all things. We cannot serve God and man (Luke 16:13) and be right with God. God’s holy word is the only way we can determine what is truly right and wrong and how we are to live. Anything we do that is contrary to God’s word is sin. The Bible tells us that sin separates us from God and unrepented sin will cost us our salvation (II Corinthians 7:10).

In the end, each of us must make a choice. Do we choose to ignore God’s word and live as we want in this life and take the chance of losing our souls forever, or are we willing to turn to God, submit ourselves to Him and have the hope of eternal life?

How I Created The Cover Illustration To The Little People Part II

After getting my final sketches to a point that I was happy with all of the designs, I started thinking about the setting and overall scene for The Little People. I wanted it to be an outdoor, natural scene so I began looking for large trees in open areas during the summer that had limbs large enough that a person could be perched on them.

I finally settled on a small grove next to a local cemetery not far from my home. There were a lot of large oak trees with limbs at horizontal angles, perfect to have a small person sitting or kneeling upon. I took a lot of digital pictures of the trees, limbs and closeups of the leaves, then went through them and selected the limbs and leaves that worked the best. I then began putting them together in Photoshop and started painting over them.

Once the background was fairly complete I began painting in the animals. There were many layers of leaves, limbs and animals. After completing the animals, I then imported one of the 3D models I had used for my sketches and then began painting in all of the details for Daya using a combination of airbrush and paintbrush in Photoshop.

Once Daya was completed I worked on cleaning up all of the different layers making sure they blended well and touched up a lot of little details. What you see here is the final result.

http://www.michaelpaulhoward.com/thelittlepeople.html

Giants Battle Illustration

Color illustration of the giants battling: http://www.michaelpaulhoward.com/thelittlepeople.html

Color illustration of Uktena. http://www.michaelpaulhoward.com/thelittlepeople.html

Color illustration of the giant turtle DuGa-Si.
http://www.michaelpaulhoward.com/thelittlepeople.html

Color version of my ink illustration of when Daya first met Adam in the forest behind his home.

http://www.michaelpaulhoward.com/thelittlepeople.html