This is the blog debut of the 5th Champion who will mentioned by name in future posts to allow me to continue marketing.  Now you’ll notice something different about this post.  I have it under all of the book categories and below you’ll see links to all 4 books:

Beginning of a Hero
Prodigy of Rainbow Tower
Allure of the Gypsies
Family of the Tri-Rune

What does this mean?  That the debut of this character can be in ANY of the published books.  I guess this means I’m also kind of a jerk, but this is how teasers work.  Enticing and curious.  Seriously though, I’ll be happy to be able to name this character from now on.

“You fought well enough to earn that. My name is Luke Ca-” starts the half-elf. He stops talking when he instinctively turns around to block a solid attack from behind. The smiling mercenary leader is at the other end of the parried longsword and his shield is already pressed against Luke’s counterattack.

“Sorry, but I got bored. Mind if I step in?” he asks.

“I was hoping to get a shot at you,” Luke answers, a challenging smile on his face.

The mercenary gently taps at Luke’s blades. “I hope you aren’t tired.”

Splinters fly off their weapons as the two warriors enter a fight that takes them all over the street. Luke flips away from a slash and dives in at the mercenary, only to have his attack brushed aside by the shield. The spinning block of the mercenary is the beginning of a slash that Luke ducks under. A downward strike comes at him, which he blocks and then runs his blade down his opponent’s sword. Luke is surprised when the mercenary lets go of his weapon to duck the attack. The young man spins around as he crouches and masterfully grabs the longsword before it hits the ground. The forest tracker leaps backwards to avoid the fast slash to his legs.

“Amazing,” Luke gasps.

“You may be faster and more nimble than me, but my skill and control makes up for that,” the mercenary declares, advancing on Luke. “We appear to be equals.”

“No, we’re not. You’re holding back,” Luke accuses him. The forest tracker bounds away and begins circling his opponent, gently spinning his blades.

“I’m not the only one.”

“Then, let’s do this for real.”

Both warriors clash with a noise that resembles two rams butting heads. Wooden blades swing with precision and speed that the gathered audience can barely keep up with. The cheers and taunts of the crowd are ignored as the young warriors continue to fight with all of their strength and skill. It is unclear if the people are more into the wild, acrobatics of Luke’s style or the perfect sword and shield style of the mercenary. With amazing speed, Luke charges in with a roar which is met with an equally loud shout from his opponent. After several savage strikes of their weapons, the dusty air is filled with an explosion of splinters that were once practice weapons. When the dust settles, people look into the street to see the young swordsmen standing with matching punches stopped an inch from their faces. They have wide grins plastered across their faces.

“So, how is our dear Selenia?” the young man coughs, looking at Luke’s graduation ring.

“She’s still a very dangerous woman. When did you graduate?” Luke asks, looking at an identical ring on the mercenary’s fist.

“Three years ago. I was one of her pet projects,” he answers proudly.

“I guess that explains why you’re so good,” Luke states with a smile.

“Were you the same?” the mercenary asks.

Luke blushes and chuckles at the question. “I was more of a troublemaker than a serious student. I was trained to be a forest tracker before I was sent to her school for some advanced courses. There’s more to the story, but it gets complicated.”

“Stories like that are best shared over some relaxing ale,” the mercenary says with a lazy grin and a yawn. They finally drop their fists into a firm handshake.

“My name is Luke Callindor.”

“Ah, the name explains it all. I’m Delvin Cunningham.”

“A name I won’t be forgetting.”

CONTINUED IN PRODIGY OF RAINBOW TOWER