The Darkest Heart: The Void and the Flame

The Darkest Heart Series

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This filthy, toothless miscreant boasted an uncanny knowledge of my ambitions and prognosticated publicly that left unchecked, I would soon unleash doom upon the world. This raving creature had to be silenced, but, to my bafflement, doing so proved maddeningly impossible. How had he survived the stockades, the icy waters, and the knives I delivered so enthusiastically into his back? How had he returned time and time again to rouse the townsfolk with his wild speculations and prophecies? Finally, resigned to his uncommon corporeal resilience, I lured him to the dig. There, I showed him the Thing, and detailed the full extent of my plans.

Triumphantly, I watched as he tore his eyes from their sockets, and ran shrieking into the shadows - wailing maniacally that the end was upon us all. Mastery over life and death was chief among my early pursuits.

I began in humility, but my ambition was limitless. Who could have divined the prophetic import of something as unremarkable as a twitch in the leg of a dead rat? I entertained a delegation of experts from overseas, eager to plumb the depths of their knowledge and share with them certain techniques and alchemical processes I had found to yield wondrous and terrifying results. Having learned all I could from my visiting guests, I murdered them as they slept.

I brought my colleagues back with much of their intellect intact, a remarkable triumph for even the most experienced necromancer.

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Freed from the trappings of their humanity, they plied their terrible trade anew - the dead reviving the dead, on and on down the years I had collected many rare and elusive volumes on ancient herbal properties, and was set to enjoy several weeks immersed in comfortable study.

My work was interrupted, however, by a singularly striking young woman who insisted on repeated calls to the house. Her knowledge of horticulturalism, and its role in various arcane practices impressed me greatly. My licentious impulse gave way to a genuine, professional respect, and together, we began to plant, harvest, and brew.

As time wore on, her wild policy of self-experimentation grew intolerable. She quaffed all manner of strange fungii, herbs and concoctions, intent on gaining some insight into the horror we both knew to be growing beneath us. The change in her was appalling, and, no longer able to stomach it, I sent her to live in the Weald, where her wildness would be welcomed. Simple folk are by their nature loquacious, and the denizens of the Hamlet were no exception.

It was not long before rumors of my morbid genius and secretive excavations began to fuel local legend. In the face of my increasingly egregious flaunting of public taboos, awe turned to ire, and demonstrations were held in the town square. The wild whispers of heresy roused the rabble to violent action. Such was the general air of rebellion that even my generous offer of gold to the local constabulary was rebuffed! To reassert my rule, I sought out unscrupulous men skilled in the application of force. Tight-lipped and terrifying, these mercenaries brought with them a war machine of terrible implication.

Eager to end the tiresome domestic distraction, I instructed my newly formed militia of hardened bandits, brigands and killers to go forth and do their work. Compliance and order were restored, and the noisome population of the Hamlet was culled to more The ways and rituals of blood sacrifice are difficult to master.

Those from beyond require a physical vessel if they are to make the crossing into our reality. The timing of the chants is imperative - without the proper utterances at precise intervals, the process can fail spectacularly. My first attempts at summoning were crude and the results, disappointing. I soon found however, that the type and condition of the host's meat was a critical factor. The best results came from pigs, whose flesh is most like that of man.

The Great Thing I had managed to bring through was brutish and stupid. Moreover, it required prodigious amounts of meat to sustain itself, but this was only a trifling concern — after all, I had a village full of it. My zeal for blood rituals and summoning rites had begun to ebb as each attempt invariably brought only failure, and disappointment. Progress was halting, and the rapidly accumulating surplus of wasted flesh had become I could not store such a prodigious amount of offal, nor could I rid myself of it easily, possessed as was by unnameable things from outer spheres.

When excavations beneath the Manor broke through into an ancient network of aqueducts and tunnels, I knew I had found a solution to the problem of disposal. The spasmodically squirming, braying, and snorting half-corpses were heaped each upon the other until at last I was rid of them.

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The Warrens became a landfill of snout and hoof, gristle and bone — a mountainous, twitching mass of misshapen flesh fusing itself together in the darkness. My lofty position wasn't always accompanied by the fear of office, and there was a time I could walk the streets or raise a glass in the tavern without concern for molestation.

Faithful as the tide, one precocious village waif made it her hobby to shadow my every errand. It was charming then, troublesome later. In financial desperation, I struck a bargain with the ancient things that surfaced in search of sacrifice when the moon was right. Their price was the delivery of an obscure idol and one other item of more troubling portent. The pact struck, my newfound accomplices slipped silently beneath the brackish water.

A fearful stirring at the edge of the torchlight betrayed a familiar witness, and gifted me with malign inspiration.

Before she could properly appreciate her position, I clamped on a manacle, chaining her to the leering idol. The Ring passed to Isildur, who had this one chance to destroy evil forever. But the hearts of Men are easily corrupted. And the Ring of Power has a will of its own.

It betrayed Isildur, to his death. And some things that should not have been forgotten were lost. And for two and a half thousand years, the Ring passed out of all knowledge. Until, when chance came, it ensnared a new bearer.

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The Ring came to the creature Gollum, who took it deep into the tunnels of the Misty Mountains. And there, it consumed him. The Ring brought to Gollum unnatural long life. For years, it poisoned his mind. And in the gloom of Gollum's cave, it waited. Page 1 of 1 Start over Page 1 of 1. Product details File Size: Martin's Paperbacks April 15, Publication Date: April 15, Sold by: Share your thoughts with other customers.

Write a customer review. Read reviews that mention dark fae darkest flame donna grant dragon king flame part second installment exchange for an honest kellan and denae story line love donna part 2 of the darkest dragons humans romance major paranormal published publisher human matter. Showing of 31 reviews. Top Reviews Most recent Top Reviews. There was a problem filtering reviews right now. Please try again later. Kindle Edition Verified Purchase. I just knew that something would go wrong today.

My Karma was way off the charts. The knife coming at me was the first clue that I might not live to see tomorrow!

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Coming up, from the deep, into the cave, trying to get away from a co worker that you thought was a almost friend, was not on my agenda today! What is a girl to do? As always Donnas book keep you in the spirit. These never disappoint and the story and background are great. I pre ordered any all of her books.

It is a nice surprise when they arrive. You wont be disappointed with any of her stories.

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This one is fantastic cant wait till I get to the last book, then I will reread it. Dragons who doesn't like a good dragon book? Dragon been sleeping forever woke up to a fight in his cave.

The Shadow and the Wolf

This is the dragon that keeps all the history of the dragons. Girl is from MI5 service and her group is trying to kill her. To the recuse a hunky dragon of course..

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