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The Demon Hunter's Apprentice - [Book One]
by Eric A. Radulski
Category: Dark Fantasy/Horror
Description: In the city of Hell's Crown, legendary Demon Hunter Cain Stoddard was infected by an ancient evil. Stumbling from the city, he fled north, seeking the desolation of the Old Kingdoms. There, he hoped to find the means to expel the wickedness roosting just beneath his skin.
But this is not Cain Stoddard's story. This is the story of the apprentice he left behind. A first- rate scoundrel, a second-class cheat, a third-rate braggart, and a fourth-rate drunk, Liam Gulban has been called many things, but no one has ever called him a hero. Now, Cain Stoddard's young student must put aside his foolish pastimes to rescue his oldest friend.
On the way, he will encounter savage monsters, lusty refugees, undead musicians, smelly druids, and at least one certifiably insane god. His closest allies will betray him, a goddess will choose him as her champion, and all the while he'll be fighting against his most tenacious enemy--himself.
eBook Publisher: Double Dragon Publishing/Double Dragon Publishing, 2010 d
eBookwise Release Date: December 2010
 
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Available eBook Formats: OEBFF Format (IMP) [220 KB]
Words: 45356
Reading time: 129-181 min.
The Demon Hunter's Apprentice - [Book One]
Eric A. Radulski
Dark Fantasy/Horror
2010 by DDP
First published in d, 2010
CONTROL: PUBLISHER="Double Dragon Publishing" PUBURL=double-dragon-ebooks.com
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The Demon Hunter's Apprentice
Copyright (C) 2010 Eric A Radulski
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Double Dragon eBooks, a division of Double Dragon Publishing Inc., Markham, Ontario Canada.
No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without the permission in writing from Double Dragon Publishing.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
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A Double Dragon eBook
Published by
Double Dragon Publishing, Inc.
PO Box 54016
1-5762 Highway 7 East
Markham, Ontario L3P 7Y4 Canada
www.double-dragon-ebooks.com
www.double-dragon-publishing.com
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A DDP First Edition November 18, 2010
ISBN-9: 1-55404-791-9
ISBN-13: 978-1-55404-791-8
Book Layout and
Cover Art by Deron Douglas
www.derondouglas.com
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Dedication
To my loving wife, Erin Beatty.
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The Demon Hunter's Apprentice
By Eric A Radulski
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CHAPTER ONE
CAIN STODDARD SAT up in his carriage, clawing at his stomach. Something was trying to tear its way out of him.
The old demon hunter banged his fists against his chest. "Stop!" he shouted, his eyes bulging. "Stop, damn you!"
The thing in his stomach stopped biting for the moment.
"You all right, sir?" a voice called down from the driver. The carriage groaned in the cold wind, drunkenly swaying back and forth.
"I'm fine," Cain struggled, his voice desert raw. He wiped his mouth with a handkerchief. "I'm all right."
The driver snapped his reins hard.
Cain peered out his window. Beside his carriage, the Trista River frothed with whitewater and the sky crawled with storm clouds.
He pulled his heavy cloaks in tighter, trying to fight off the wind. Then, Cain stared down at his hands as a sliver of moonlight poked between the clouds. They looked strange, somehow. Like someone else's hands.
For a moment, he thought he saw something resembling a liquid slug slithering beneath the skin of his palm. He prodded at the thing, half expecting it to rip through his hand. It didn't. It disappeared instead, burrowing deeper.
"Sharing space with the damned," Cain said, grimacing bitter irony. "I guess you can't beat hell back forever," he said.
A firm knock came down from the driver. The carriage was nearing Chapel's Rest, a town of nearly thirty-thousand souls that sat at the foot of Mount Ochana.
"Chapel's Rest," Cain whispered. Then he jerked upright again, coughing. The coughs wracked his body, shooting daggers of agony into his raw lungs. He covered his mouth with his handkerchief and kept on hacking until a shimmering black tar squelched out between his lips.
He stared down at the mucous. It pulsed and throbbed and reached.
Cain recoiled from the thing, casting the soiled handkerchief out the window. Then, he put his hand over his abdomen, wondering just how long he had left.
"Oh Liam," he said. "I should have listened to you."
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