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4 Horsemen Publications, Inc. - Dominic N. Ashen

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160 pages

English

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Description

David might have forgiven him, but can he forgive himself?

Sacrificial cults, giant man-eating serpents, even ghosts - Khazak has seen it all lately. But with his avakesh David by his side, he knows they can weather any storm that blows their way. After unexpectedly doubling the size of their group and a brief detour to the ruins of the ancient elvish city of Karthani, things are finally back on track. As long as they keep following the road north, they’ll reach their destination in no time. The group just has to keep the stops they make and the trouble they cause to a minimum. Easy, right?

David's been doing great. He’s got Khazak, his team, and he's even been able to reconnect with his brother, Michael. Now all he needs is for things to stay on track, and once they reach Maname, they’ll hopefully be able to figure out the strange things that have been happening since that fateful night in the Temple of Zeus. But of course, nothing is that easy, and when danger rears its ugly head, it not only puts his relationship with Khazak at risk, but threatens to reveal the truth of how they really met to everyone.

This book is filled with laughs, adventure, would-be royalty, werewolves, and ridiculous costumes! Go on a journey with Khazak, David, and their friends as they continue their treacherous quest and explore more of the dangerous and magical world around them. If you like to read gay/male-on-male romances with and Dom/sub elements, kinky relationships, and BDSM, give this book a try!

Sujets

Fantastique

Romance fantastique

Science Fiction

Orc

Horror

Dungeons & Dragons

BDSM

Erotica

MM

Orque (créature)

LGBT

Bondage et discipline, domination et soumission et sado-masochisme

Fiction

Donjons et Dragons

Fantasy

Informations

Publié par	4 Horsemen Publications, Inc.
Date de parution	20 février 2023
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9798823200882
Langue	English
Poids de l'ouvrage	2 Mo

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0350€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

Table o f Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Book Club Questions
Author Bio

Arenas & Monsters
Copyright © 2023 Dominic N. Ashen. All rights re served.

4 Horsemen Publication s, Inc.
1497 Main St. S uite 169
Dunedin, FL 34698
4horsemenpublicat ions.com
info@4horsemenpublicat ions.com
Cover b y Oxford
Typesetting by Aut umn Skye
Edited by Tilda M. Cook
All rights to the work within are reserved to the author and publisher. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 International Copyright Act, without prior written permission except in brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. Please contact either the Publisher or Author to gain per mission.
This is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used ficti tiously.
Library of Congress Control Number: 20 22947612
Paperback ISBN-13: 979-8-823 2-0089-9
Hardcover ISBN-13: 979-8-823 2-0090-5
Audiobook ISBN-13: 979-8-823 2-0087-5
Ebook ISBN-13: 979-8-823 2-0088-2

D edication:
T o my David, a good friend, a great boy, and my bi ggest fan.

Chapter 1
“ Have you gotten used to the bad j okes yet?”
“Can you really get ‘used’ to bad jokes? I have learned to tolerate them,” I jokingly reply. “I take it he has always been l ike that?”
“Oh yeah, since we were kids.” Michael nods his head next to me as we walk. “And then he always makes that stupid fac e of his.”
“Oh, I am quite familiar,” I tell the man, just before we both break into our best impressions of David’s trademark wide, toothy, I-just-told-a-terrible-joke-and-am-so-very-proud-o f-it grin.
“Alright, that’s enough,” the man we are mocking says from his spot ahead of us, turning around and continuing to walk backward. “ You stop encouraging him,” he says, pointing at me before aiming his finger at his brother. “And you’re just jealous ‘cause I’m the fu nny twin.”
“I thought you were the hot twin?” Michael as ks flatly.
“It’s a heavy burden, but I’m both,” David answers solemnly, before turning his face back and grinning, making me snor t a laugh.
“That’s not even a joke!” his broth er groans.
We are only three members of a group of ten (eleven, if you count my wolf companion, Sona) that have been traveling north together for the past nine days. We are an eclectic bunch, though most of them are human, the three exceptions being an orc (me), an elf, and the aforementioned wolf. We have passed through a few small settlements on our way to the village of Rakatune, which we should reach the day after tomorrow, but our ultimate goal is Manamequohi, a city that lies much, much fart her north.
Michael is David’s non-identical twin brother. He is just a hair’s breadth shorter than David; I would estimate at somewhere around 1 ¾ meters in height. He is also a little stockier, with medium-length curly brown hair, compared to David’s which is short, straight, and black. He has a mustache, along with a good amount of stubble, as he has not quite gathered the courage to attempt shaving without a mirror yet. They share the same bright green eyes, along with many other facial features, which makes it easy to tell that they ar e related.
Since leaving Pákannon ten days ago, the two of us have been making it a point to talk and get to know each other. Before that, he and I were having a bit of trouble seeing eye-to-eye on some things, namely his brother’s homosexuality and relationship with me. Though to be fair, David says that he was not exactly aware of it himself until I awakened something in him. Of course, all of the issues between me and Michael could have been solved if David had simply told his brother what was going on, but that is not how my pup works.
For all of his complaining, I know the smile he wears under that grin is genuine. It is important to him that Michael and I are getting along. He spent those first few days stressing over his brother discovering his secret, all while watching the two of us continue to antagonize each other. Though I maintain that most of the antagonizing was on Michael’s part. In any event, we have become fast friends since, largely through telling stories ab out David.
The area we are walking through at the moment is lightly forested on our left and right, several dozen meters from our path. Off in the distance to our left are the Emerald Hill Mountains, a tree-covered mountain range that extends north to south almost the entire length of the eastern coast of Avur al Ug’dol.
“I think we might need to take a break soon,” Adam, the team’s leader, comments from the front of the group.
“It’s too damn hot,” Elisabeth, who prefers to be called Liss, complains from her place ne xt to him.
She is not the first person to complain, and I do not blame her. Though the first day of summer was only weeks ago, we are already feeling the effects. With the sun high in the sky, it is hot , and with no nearby trees to offer any shade, finding an area with enough shade to wait until the midday sun passes would be a worthwhile endeavor.
“Maybe we can find a place in the trees to have lunch and wait out the heat.” Adam looks to our left, already thinking of the same idea.
“Yeah.” Liss nods her head. “Let’s see what’s around the ne xt bend.”
Adam is a good man and someone I have gotten to know well in the time since meeting him. A natural and charismatic leader, he attended the Northlake Academy of Knighthood alongside David and Liss. The three of them left together, each for their own reasons, though all were at least somewhat related to a general distaste for how the academy was run. He has blue eyes, short blonde hair, and I do not mind telling you, a very nice body. His height falls somewhere between mine and David’s, and I’d say the same is true for our muscles—though my pup is doing his best to catch up. Though at one time they evidently had very similar builds, these days David’s body is more suited for speed than outright strength.
I hold an equally high opinion of Elisabeth. She is only slightly shorter than Adam, and from what I have gathered during sparring sessions, her physical prowess is an equal match for his. She has brown eyes and short, red hair, a style she chose more out of practicality than anything else. She is a stoic woman who takes her work seriously, and I have come to appreciate her perceptiveness and attention to detail. She is also the only person to have taken an active interest in hunting with me—though I usually make David come with u s as well.
As we near the bend and pass over a small hill, I can hear good news in the distance before we see it: a river. A refreshingly cool one from the looks of it, though that may be the temperature and humidity talking. It flows eastward down the mountain before turning and bending to the north. Its sight gives everyone a small burst of energy, everyone walking just a litt le faster.
“You wanna...?” Liss asks the unneeded question.
“Oh yeah, that’s where we’re going,” Adam says with a nod of his head, leading us toward the wat ery banks.
We set up camp a short distance from the river’s edge, behind a rocky outcropping that, while it may not provide complete cover from the road, should at least work for our belongings. It is more a collection of bags and backpacks than a camp, but it suits our current purposes. I grilled our extra fish when making breakfast this morning and stored them in my magical satchel, so they should still be warm when I retrieve them from the knapsack once we are finished swimming.
“Will our stuff be safe here?” Liss gestures to our collection of things.
“I don’t see why not, but just in case,” Piper, Michael’s fellow student at the Elven Institute for Arcane Studies, says with her hand extended toward the items. Her eyes and hand glow purple before a similarly colored pulse of energy extends out from where she has aimed, bathing our items and then us in the light. I have seen this before—an alarm spell. “There. Now if anyone comes near here who isn’t us, we’ll know about it.”
“I’ll do ya one better,” Riley, a druid and Michael’s other friend (though not a fellow student), says while making the same gesture, a similar effect taking place with green-colored energy. “That’ll keep away any unwanted animal visitors as well.” He crouches down, looking at Sona. “Except o’ course you, little lady.” He tips her an invi sible hat.
“You have been doing that every night to keep bugs away from camp like I asked, right?” Piper asks the druid, finished with spe llcasting.
Riley looks at her for a beat of silence, then looks like he is lost in thought for another. “Yes,” he finally say s, flatly.
Piper narrows her eyes at the obvious lie. With her black hair and dark complexion, I initially thought she might be from the same region the institute is located, Alkebulan, but her accent is distinctly from Albion. The woman is a sorcerer compared to Michael’s wizard, which means she has naturally gifted abilities allowing her to detect and analyze the presence of magic. She can also alter aspects of her own spellcasting, making spells larger, last longer, or as she is more want to do, adding small flourishes like ch