Passing Storm

By Dillon Blaine

The rising wind and threatening sky signal coming danger as a young boy is found dead at the pond’s edge. A terrible accident? The slothful Coroner wants the Inquiry over quickly so he can enjoy his ale in peace. But, other forces are moving. What bizarre twist of a human mind is behind events? Will the grieving parents discover the truth they deserve? Bertram, Gautier, and Robert realize that all is not as it seems, including the mounting fury of the passing storm.

“Robert paused at the doorway in front of The Hunter’s Chase. He had felt the wind trying to hold the door shut, as if trying to prevent him from the path he had determined to take. But, Robert had jerked the door open despite the objecting elements. Nothing . . . and no one . . . was going to prevent him from clearing up this mystery, today! He owed as much to his own dead son, whose tenth birthday it was, and whose own death lay heavy upon Robert because it also lay unexplained. He spoke out loud, as if rebuking the wind, “No! Today there will be questions answered.” He hunched his shoulders, lowered his head, and pushed forth into the dark grey turmoil.”

Passing Storm is Book II of The Sword and the Spirit Adventures by Dillon Blaine. Set in 14th Century England, this suspense-packed action-adventure will renew your faith in good people, give you reason to challenge your preconceptions about the human mind, while the story keeps you guessing until the end, Book I, Daemons Within, is also available.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dillon Blaine
• Release date: Jun 27, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311087898

Dillon Blaine

Dillon Blaine is a historian, philosopher, and a student of human psychology. The Sword and the Spirit Adventures are his way of exploring the human condition and the need for encouraging generosity between people. The Sword and the Spirit Adventures are exciting and intriguing fictional stories of human suspense, drama, and humour, set in 14th century England. They follow three heroes as they solve mysteries and fight to right the wrongs of the powerful against the powerless. The three symbols of the sword, the Greek letter psi, and the cross, represent the specific contributions of the three heroes to each adventure.

Book preview

Passing Storm

Book II

The Sword and Spirit Adventure Series

 ψ 

by

Dillon Blaine

Published by Dillon Blaine at Smashwords

Copyright 2014 Dillon Blaine

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to your favorite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This book is dedicated to my boys.

My pride. My joy. My legacy.

Prologue

The Green Monster, fierce and dangerous, ready to devour unsuspecting travellers who journeyed too close to its hidden lair, reached out its arms, long strands with venomous barbed claws, to finally destroy Lord Anthony who had, so far, preserved the inches between himself and the Monster’s clutches. Lord Anthony had only just freed the fair Lady Jocelyn who was destined to be consumed by the unquenchable hunger and the unstoppable rage of the Green Monster. But, with a single slice of his enchanted sword, Anthony had severed the tentacle that had entwined Jocelyn. As he leaped to the left again to avoid the monster’s putrid dripping mouth, Anthony knew what he must do. The Green Monster must no longer be permitted to live! With a final explosion of unbridled bravery, Anthony drove forward and . . .

Tony! Joss! Dinner! Come now! Don’t make me come and find you!

Tony sighed and gave the giant willow one last backward glance. He would finally destroy the dreaded Green Monster tomorrow.

Come on, Joss. Let’s go. I’m hungry

The brother, age 10, and sister, age 8, threw their swords back onto the kindling pile where they had found them and walked up the back path to their house. On the left was the copse of hard wood, bounded by two giant willows, currently in full magnificent splendour of thickly leafed branches swooping from a height of fifty feet all the way to the ground. On the right was their father’s pease field, bursting with healthy plants that would yield a bountiful crop when harvest time came. It was still warm though the sun was beginning to disappear behind the trees. The day was perfect, golden, blue, green, with midges and bumble bees sounding a chorus of humming praise, and two hawks circling at such an altitude that one knew they were riding on the air currents merely for the joy of the experience.

Yes, it was a perfect day! August twenty seventh, the Year of Our Lord 1367. Late summer. A lazy quiet time. The summer’s scorching heat passed, but harvest still weeks away. Yes, perfect!

No one suspected that the perfection of the day would be shattered, and violently. The sun was setting just as it always had, but the sombre hues and growing darkness was a lament to two lives reaching an abrupt end.

Chapter 1

Ah! C’est parfait! What a day, n’est pas?

Gautier roared and stretched his oversized frame in every direction as if to absorb as much of the fading sunlight as was humanly possible. A giant of a man at just over six feet six inches, Gautier was a rare combination of overpowering muscle and cat-like agility. He was a master of fighting and weaponry, with a sixth sense for danger and subtlety in others. Yet he was the most jovial and good-natured of men, just as well able to cheer his companions out of their occasional gloomy moods as he was to protect them from evil