Alloria
(Labyrinth of Labyrinths: book 1) On her tenth Birthday Alloria discovers her true identity is a mystery. Her adoptive parents return to her an amulet they took from her after finding her in their cellar, bare footed and clutching a rag doll. Exploring the cellar and discovering that the amulet opens a mysterious labyrinth, Alloria embarks on a quest in search of answers, a quest that flings her into an adventure brimming with danger, pain, love, magic, and brutal honesty. The magic begins here… and that's the TRUTH! Available as both paperback and ebook. |
Opening of Alloria
Blinded by darkness, struggling to breathe past the foul stench, Alloria turned to Nathan following her through the cellar wall. “Careful you don’t trip,” she said, realising Mama or Papa must have closed the cellar door.
“I can take care of myself,” Nathan said, with a brusqueness Alloria found amusing.
“Really?” Typical of Nathan to belittle her efforts. “I did just save your life,” she mocked. “Twice! For real too, not pretend like you. Them creatures would have eaten you for sure if I’d not–”
“I don’t think so…” Nathan’s words faded into the darkness, and then he complained, “what’s that stink?”
The cellar did smell putrid. Really awful. Eye-stingingly bad. Alloria shivered and realised the cellar was much colder than any cellar had a right to be. Strange, certainly, the stench and the chill, but Alloria had no intention of letting Nathan change the subject. “They would have,” she argued. “You didn’t climb up to the top; you didn’t see the nests. There were bones in ’em.” She heard Nathan’s movement, knew he was likely gesticulating in some way, and tried desperately, without success, to see his reaction.
“If you say so,” Nathan finally said, with an obvious tone of whatever thrown in.
“Human bones, Nat.”
Blinded by darkness, struggling to breathe past the foul stench, Alloria turned to Nathan following her through the cellar wall. “Careful you don’t trip,” she said, realising Mama or Papa must have closed the cellar door.
“I can take care of myself,” Nathan said, with a brusqueness Alloria found amusing.
“Really?” Typical of Nathan to belittle her efforts. “I did just save your life,” she mocked. “Twice! For real too, not pretend like you. Them creatures would have eaten you for sure if I’d not–”
“I don’t think so…” Nathan’s words faded into the darkness, and then he complained, “what’s that stink?”
The cellar did smell putrid. Really awful. Eye-stingingly bad. Alloria shivered and realised the cellar was much colder than any cellar had a right to be. Strange, certainly, the stench and the chill, but Alloria had no intention of letting Nathan change the subject. “They would have,” she argued. “You didn’t climb up to the top; you didn’t see the nests. There were bones in ’em.” She heard Nathan’s movement, knew he was likely gesticulating in some way, and tried desperately, without success, to see his reaction.
“If you say so,” Nathan finally said, with an obvious tone of whatever thrown in.
“Human bones, Nat.”
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