Centrayl Power - Teaser

    Glimpses of the Power have always been felt congregating toward Centrayl for as long as the war can be remembered.  The Light and Dark races have risked life and limb in a war where the initial intent has been forgotten.  However, the dreams of owning the Power, claiming it and thus the world itself fuels each side to continue in hatred and the desperation of slighted Justices.  One man who has lost the ability to fight must succumb to the unnatural ways of Centrayl in order to locate his desires and perhaps find a way to meld both sides into one.  Only his inner secrets and the knowledge of the existence of the highly sought after Power might be able to save him from even himself. 

(This is just the excerpt you might find on the back of the book to help you get into the story)



                                    Prologue - The Legend

    Centrayl had the Power buried somewhere in its depths.  There was no actual confirmation but neither the Armies of the Light nor Dark could deny the Force that pulled fervently at them.  It pitted the two sides against each other, slaughtering thousands mercilessly solely for the right to claim the Power thus bending the world into unquestionable subservience.











                                                    One
    The numb stupor started wearing thin replaced by unrivaled pain shooting up from the sword wound raggedly etched barely above my navel.  I tried to groan but my vocal cords seemed swollen reducing the booming baritone to a raspy hiss.  My sight had yet to return or perhaps the stupor was also controlling the movements of my eyes.  No matter, I could not banish the darkness that thoroughly cloaked the recesses of my vision.  Reaching out, I twitched my fingers and smiled.
Good all ten fingers.  Now the toes.


    Each movement was rewarded with a crisp crack as the knuckles of my toes popped.  Nerves flared sending bursts of agony up my spine and I arched my back.  All toes were accounted for but, whatever that bastard from the Light did, had crippled most of the movement in my legs.  Still, the pain, which was seeping quickly back into my brain, was fresh promising me future movement once I could recover from the battle.  And once I found out where I was.
    The stupor left my face and I found movement to my eyes restored.  Flipping open my eyelids I examined the surroundings that harbored me.  White walls... alabaster or granite by the looks of it... encased around me carving out the hollowed room I currently occupied.  No tapestries, paintings, or even suitable furniture decorated the room save for one matching desk and chair small enough for a child or perhaps a petite woman to sit at but not large enough for a grown man such as I.  The soft umber hues of the only furniture, aside from the bed I lay upon, provided the chamber its only color amid the stark whites and rich marble grey of the flooring beneath me.  It was too monotonous for my tastes, preferring more of the vibrant yellows, reds and even the exotic tastes of the blues and purples, but it did provide a respite from the callous heat I battled frequently in.  Of that I was most appreciative.
    Cool air, snared from the open window I found to the left of my bed was forced to circulate throughout my foreign quarters frequently brushing over my thinly blanked skin.  Feeling the white sheet with my thumb and forefinger I deduced that it was simple linen, light and used moreso only for privacy rather than conserving heat.  Again, another commodity that I held in appraisal.  The scorched lands of my ancestors still played havoc with the slick flesh of my body after the remnants of battle.  Still, I chewed on my bottom lip; the room could have used at least a rug or even curtains.  With only the thin sheet draped over my otherwise naked body, I felt indecently exposed.
    My head shot up as I heard the gentle whoosh of the far door opening.  Stilling my body, I closed my eyes just enough to create the façade of sleep yet still be able to see fuzzy images of the newest intruder.  A slight figure made up of monochromatic greys from seeing between my lashes, strode into the room with some type of writing slate tucked into the crook of its arms pushed up against a curvaceous set of breasts.
    Breasts?!  By the Moons!
    My eyes shot open wide causing the woman to jump a bit as my body clattered against the surface of my bed.  We both locked onto each other, my surprised amber eyes with her equally frightened turquoise ones.  Moments slipped between us as the wind twitched impatiently at my shoulder.  Finally, pinching my shoulder blades together to stay the itch, I cautiously slid my body back under the sheets.  With any luck, the woman was too frightened that she didn't notice the nudity of my chest or worse yet, my nether regions.
    Recovering, the woman placed the writing slate on the small desk and slowly tip-toed over to my bedside.  Moving toward my feet, she took another slate, similar in size and shape as the first, from the end of my bed, examined it and dropped it carefully back into wherever it hid.  Walking back to the desk, my eyes dropped to survey her slender curves claiming those hips, and stopped to watch her carefully as she scribbled something onto the slate and twisted back toward me.  Her eyes told me that she had regained her composure from the scare a minute ago and she was ready to approach.  And approach, she did.
    "Your name, sir?"
    Her voice was honeyed and soothing to my ears.  Quite unlike the nails-on-chalkboard shrills that so often accompanied the women of the Dark.  When I didn't answer, she tapped at the side of the bed and tilted her head trying to coax me into an answer by the looks of it.
    "Mehele..."  I coughed feeling the air whistle through my parched throat.  Gulping a few times, enough to milk some saliva onto the coarse inner flesh, I drew another sharp breath.  "My name is Mehele D."
    She quirked an eyebrow up and peered down at me with a bemused smile stretching across her pink lips.  "Mehele D eh?  You must be a warrior from the Dark side.  Your accent is rather rough and expresses lower vocal movement."
    "Are you an Analyst in Cultures, Lady?"  Curiosity rose inside me.  I have never met an Analyst before but I had heard that they were great at deciphering codes...possibly even the codes that I would eventually come to need once I found what I sought.
    The woman let out a musical laugh and shook her long fiery hair plaited in a tight braid down her back.  "No I am just the Healer of this place."  She waved her hands to indicate more than just the room I resided in.  "I just know because of how many patients I receive a day and all seem to be rather unique in their own ways, I might add."
    Unique...
    My fingers fluttered to my right side and touched the skin along my hip bone.  My throat quickly constricted and I threw off the thin sheet covering my body.  Frantically, I clawed at the bed sheets beneath me and rummaged looking for the familiar silver trinket I carried everywhere.
    "Where is it?"  I growled, glowering up at her.
    "Where is what, sir?"  The woman asked staring down at me confused.
    I propped myself on my knees and raised my bulk above her standing frame, my glare penetrating the top of her head.  "Where is my Watch?!"
    "Oh that..."  The woman drifted toward the desk neither flinching nor demonstrating anything to suggest I frightened her.  Opening the topmost drawer, she reached her small hands inside.  My heart leapt in my stomach.  "It is really time you go back to sleep, Mehele.  I expect my patients to get a full rest."  Extracting her hand slowly from the drawer, the woman produced a long thin needle.
    My eyes widened and I scrambled to find a way out of the room but the pain from my previous battle pierced my spine and I tumbled back into the folds of my bedding.  My lungs panted, heaving huge gasps of air to fuel the rest of my agonized body.  Gliding over to me, she placed the needle alongside the soft skin of the inside of my elbow.  I tried to pull it away but her other hand steadied my arm by pushing a pressure point on my wrist.  I also felt something cold press upon the flesh of my wrist but it was hidden by the curls of her fingers so I couldn't see it.  Gritting my teeth, I watched her gently slide the needle in my flesh and push some green liquid substance into my veins.
    "What by the Moons have you done to me?"  I asked too preoccupied to remember what I was so recently yelling at her for.
    "Just giving you some medicine to help you sleep.  If you expect a full recovery, you need plenty of it.  Now, relax.  We don't want you reopening the wound on your belly, nor aggravating all the other wounds."
    She did not elaborate on the other wounds I had nor could I remember exactly where my enemy had sliced me but I knew she was right.  Fussing in bed would only prolong my recovery which was imperative.  Even now, as I could feel the familiar numb stupor washing over me, I could not remember what I was so angry and excited about.  What was it?
    A silver circular object attached to a delicate silver chain dangled loosely in her free hand.  My eyes widened and fought against the stupor. 
    Wait...come back...  I tried to speak but my voice refused to move producing only more frustrating hisses and growls.
    The woman smiled and turned away.  She did not stop at her desk nor did she sit in the chair pushed out from it.  Swaying her hips, she opened the door and retreated into a hall of stark white color with my Watch still nestled in the palm of her left hand.