M. S. Verish - Black Earth: The Complete Trilogy

Black Earth

(Dawning, Meridian, and Nightfall)

Night Apple, LLC

This is a work of fiction. All the characters and events portrayed in this novel are either fictitious or are used fictitiously.

No part of this work may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the authors.

All rights reserved.

Copyright 2012-14, 2016, and 2018

by M.S. Verish (Night Apple, LLC)

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Written by Matthew & Stefanie Verish

Edited by Carolyn Dubiel & Richard Moore

Cover design and maps by Stefanie Verish

Cover artwork by Deranged Doctor Design

eBook layout by Matthew Verish

Medical Consultant: Dr. Stephanie Stoke

Author photo by David Posakiwsky

First published: 10/31/2014

Second Edition: 02/21/2016

Third Edition: 02/28/2018

RAVENSTONE SAGA

Legend of the Ravenstone

Curse of the Ravenstone

The Hawks Shadow (Short Story)

BLACK EARTH TRILOGY

Dawning

Meridian

Nightfall

ORIGINS TRILOGY

* (The Silver Sigil - Forthcoming) *

* (Gate of Bones - Forthcoming) *

* (The Black Knot - Forthcoming) *

It was like slamming face-first onto a bed of shale. The cold was solid stone, sending shockwaves through his body, forcing the air from his lungs. The Demon blinked before coming to his senses, realizing that the water was closing in over his head. Beneath the depths of the waves, streams of bubbles escaped where the air worked free of his loose and tattered garments. He sank deeper, and the current seized him, pulling him toward the dagger rocks of the shore.

Nigqora!

His arms and legs snapped into action, pushing and clawing at the water in an attempt to free him from the oceans grip. His head and shoulder cracked against a jagged, black wall, and torrents of teeth-grinding pain replaced the shock of the cold. Warm, inky plumes of his own blood stained the water, further obstructing his already unsteady vision. His ears rang with a deafening drone, and he fought for consciousness.

When the ache in his head had dulled, and the ringing subsided, the Demon gripped the rock with his clawed fingers and began to pull himself upward. His face broke the surface of the water, and he gulped at the misty air to feed his starving lungs. The salty water and blood burned his eyes, though there was little to see anyway. A short distance from him was the coast, waves breaking and shattering upon the rocks as scattered diamonds. Could he reach it without shattering himself?

The Demon sighed and pressed his head against the rock for support. He was risking his life to save his life. What sense did that make? He pushed the thought away and prepared to kick away from his temporary haven.

Liquid silver slipped beneath the waves. The gossamer fins of a tail cut the water and vanished. He hesitated, knowing he should gothe immediacy of his situation had just increased exponentially.

He drew a deep breath and shoved himself from the rock, kicking forward with as much strength as he had in him. It seemed a futile effort, like a bird trying to fly against the wind. Where once he was drawn toward the coast, he was now in danger of being swept out to open water. He pulled harder, faster, at the waves, but he gained no ground.

His frozen limbs tingled with a growing numbness, and it was all he could do to keep his head above the water. He swallowed a mouthful of ocean and spat it out, only to dip below the murky surface again. His efforts grew half-hearted as he hung there, suspended. The black rocks grew farther from him.

The touch of something smooth and solid startled him, and the Demon glimpsed the pale flesh attached to the silvery tail. To most mortals, such a glimpse spoke of otherworldly beauty and grace. A fair face with large eyes, flowing hair that shone like satin, and round, supple breasts were the mermaids superficial traits. The Demon, however, was not a common mortal, and as a creature of magic, he could see the true form behind a being not so different from himself.

Chaotic and murderous, mermaids hunted dark waters for flesh upon which they could feed. Sailors were enticed to abandon their ships when the mermaids sang their songs. The creatures melodies were wordless, without shape and form, but the sound was so haunting, so alluring, that few could resist their beckon.

Beneath the womanly guise was a monster of the wild ocean. Swathed in Shadow, a mermaids eyes were fathomless and dark. Her teeth were sharp, and her hands had the strength to tear a mans arm from his body. Folklore said she could read a mans soul, foretell his future...if she was so inclined. The Demon wondered what use it was to learn ones fate rested inside a mermaids stomach.

She brushed beside him again, pausing to gaze curiously at this fellow creature of Shadow. Her black eyes searched his but found no fear. She reached toward him to graze his face with her long fingers. The Demon blinked, her touch stirring fragments of his past so that they rose like bubbles to the surface of his mind.

He remembered her.

Years ago, when he had sought to escape the islands of his birth, she had been there. She had watched him without malice as he swam for the Human ship. Now she was to witness his demise amidst the dark waters of Secrailosss coast.

The Demon did not have the strength to fight her as she took his arm. She gazed at him a moment longer before she turned awaystill gripping himand gave a powerful thrust of her tail. She dragged him through the water so quickly that he could not conjure a single thought. In a breaths span, he felt himself reeling, then touching lightly against solid stone. There was a flash of her tail, and that was the last he saw of her.

He reached for the rock, pushing himself upward. The cool air was liberating, and it rushed into his lungs as he gasped for more. He could not begin to consider why he had been sparedlet alone assistedthough if not for her, his mission would have been a failure before it truly began. There was no time to theorize; he had a job to do.

The Demon looked up at a precipice not far above him. If he could climb atop it, he could see where he needed to go. He took a deep breath, hauling himself out of the water and onto a narrow ledge that had been worn smooth by the waves. Even on his hands and knees, the surface was slippery. His shoulder felt as though someone had ripped it from him and then stuffed it back into place, but seeing as he could still move it, he decided that nothing was broken.