Happy New Year and welcome to Rainbow Snippets and Snippet Sunday! Today, I’m sharing the opening lines to a short and sweet and super sexy story I have coming soon from Wayward Inc Publishing. Don’t worry! I won’t post the saucy bits here. I’ll leave that for the curious…
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Callum ran until his lungs burned, every breath ragged and painful. Fear spurred him on, though fog began to cling to the rough mounds of the barrows, making such flight dangerous. Stones stabbed through his worn boots with each footfall, but he daren’t stop. There had been voices in the shadows….
Exhaustion slowed him, his chest heaving as he fought for air. Dusk spread its dark mantle on the landscape, and he shivered as a finger of dread traveled up his spine. Perilous to be on the moors at night without shelter.
CALLUM’S FATE
In 1780, Scotland, following a harsh year of drought, Callum Mackenzie is forced from his father’s farm in the hopes of finding work.
But as fate would have it, Callum is lured onto the moors by the will-o-the-wisp. Lost in the dark, he falls into enchantment, encountering faeries and nymphs, until he stumbles into the arms of a licentious Barrow-Wight who lays claim to his soul.
Hearing his silent pleas, Donal sends Liam the gruagach (faery) to rescue Callum and bring him to his farm, a place of refuge from the Fae. Callum is happy working on Donal’s farm, slowly falling in love with the beautiful, silver-haired gruagach.
Yet there’s something wrong in the nearby forest…
Despite Donal’s warnings, Callum is lured into the forest and becomes tangled in its magic, easy prey for the Barrow-Wight. Will Liam be able to strike a deal with the Barrow-Wight to save Callum’s life, or has Callum found his last resting place instead?
Nice build-up of suspense!
Intriguing! Saucy fantasy, I like it.
I love stories about the Fae! This sounds very interesting indeed.
Your writing is beautiful–poetic. It invites the reader into the story, into the peril and the enchantment. Nicely done!
Tense and suspenseful snippet. “There had been voices in the shadows….” sent a chill through me.
Fantastic atmosphere here. I really like that the barrows were ‘rough mounds’–it just subtly hints that there is no hope of shelter here.
Eerie and intriguing snippet! I love your beautiful phrasing. Looking forward to more. 🙂
Great snippet. I look forward to reading more. 🙂
Very nice–I love the description–can’t wait to read more!
This was spooky!
I won’t be able to resist this one. Love faerie lore.
I sure feel his emotions! Great snippet!
Love your descriptions in this!
Oh, now that sounds spooky. Great snippet, Dianne 🙂
Very emotional. Spooky too.
Love Fae tales. Great snippet and wonderful imagery.
very magical 🙂
I like the imagery here.
Very good… you’ve done a great job capturing the desperation, exhaustion, and discomfort….
Spooky. I’m with P.T., too. The line about the voices in the shadows is a nice, spine chilling touch. Nicely done.