Title: Call of the Cambion
Author: Andrew P. Weston
Genre: Dark Fantasy/horror
Publisher: Raven Tale Publishing
Book Blurb:
Cursed to live his life as a Cambion – a half-demon, half-human hybrid – Augustus Thorne has spent centuries hunting the creature responsible for his existence. His own spawn-father, Fanon. Along the way, Augustus has built something of a reputation as a demon slayer. However, his reputation proves to be a two-edged sword, for while it keeps him safe, it prevents Augustus from forming a relationship. Something he yearns for with all his heart. Neither does it protect him from the wrath of the demondim, who view his activities as a threat.
In an effort to overcome these obstacles, Augustus finds it necessary to confront the darker aspects of his Cambion nature. Something, it seems, he must embrace fully. Only then will he be free to make his own choices, and in a position to end his father once and for all.
Alas, such a path results in dire consequences.
Excerpt:
For my kind, the most important heavenly body to cross the night sky is Venus.
In ancient times, Venus was also known as Lucifer, (translated: Shining one, or, Light-Bringing), first of the angels to rebel. The geophysical coordinates on the horizon where Lucifer rose and set often served as a reference marker for those seeking entrance to important sites of occult relevance.
The access points to those locations constantly changed, intersecting as they did with the movement of the Earth through the celestial meridian. That journey also affected the energy field of the planet, creating subtle differences, especially where it overlapped and harmonized with the higher and lower realms. The successful discovery of an archway to those protected sites could only be achieved by aligning with Lucifer and then blending with the specific astral signature of the corresponding ley line. Once uncovered, the portal’s inbuilt parameters would provide clues as to what else would be required to unlock its secrets.
Facing directly into the pre-dawn sky, I opened my sensibilities wide and reached out.
When it came, the response surprised me, for melodies in abundant variety tumbled out of the ether; soaring and vast, yet resonant and deep; a swelling rhapsody applauding the opus of life in all its forms. Altering my acuity, I began searching for the choral fulcrum that would provide the transitional crux between worlds.
A subtle harmonic swiftly distinguished itself from all the others, vibrating at a distinctive, almost personal pitch that blended as much with my nature as it did to the living essence of the universe all around me. Gotcha!
Absorbing that signature, I peered down through the aperture to the floor below and skirred. The frequencies coursing through the Tau-rus never changed, for it existed at the crossover between dimensions. However, the world as I knew it began to spin and the composition of the Pantheon itself started to fade and turn translucent.
The main colonnade flexed and then dissolved, revealing the three-dimensional image of a gigantic warrior armed with a falchion-style cleaver raised above his head. A gateway edged in clinquant voussoirs manifested between the span of the colossus’ legs, which were braced astride the exact center of the rotunda.
Retaining the key to the nexus foremost in my mind, I glided to the floor, and crept toward the freshly revealed portico towering over fifty feet into the air above me. As I approached, arcane symbols aligned around its border began to glow. Reaching the sill, I was about to step into the abyss beyond, when I remembered the phrase; hidden in plain sight.
I relaxed and discerned two huge runes emblazoned within the flagstones at the sentinel’s feet in my peripheral vision. Every time I tried to look directly at them, they disappeared. Ah, in reality they’re quite elusive? Fair enough, I can still make them out.
Moving deliberately, I repeated the process and the ancient Greek sigils for “T” and “P” appeared one after the other, over and over. I see. The designers have mixed cultures, so only the long-lived will appreciate the subtleties of the code.
The way forward was obvious. I had to enter the specific frequency of Lucifer mentally; the diabolical harmonic of the archway esoterically; and at the same time, utter the specific tones of the characters on the floor verbally.
Wasting no time, I concentrated the cipher signature for this day into a coherent thought beam and projected it into the gap, whilst simultaneously placing my hands upon the invisible threshold and unleashing a powerful mystic surge unique to my own hybridized genetic heritage. As it radiated away from me, I raised my voice and said, “Taff! Rho!” making sure to enunciate each word clearly.
A tremendous surge of golden and purple grandeur rippled down from the top of the arch. As it reached the glyphs, the curtain simply dropped to the floor, revealing an impressive staircase behind it that curled into the blackness below.
I stepped across from one reality into the next and undiluted dominion assailed my every perception and every atom of my being, filling me with so much potential I felt close to exploding in ecstasy.
Giddy with power, I descended the stairway, each step creating flashes of iridescent warmth that sprayed musical notes of variant tones into the ether. Heralded by that serenade, I continued my advance until I rounded a corner and found myself before an apparent dead-end, formed from effervescent seamless rock.
Analyzing the obstacle, I spotted a shallow depression in the cliff face at head height. The moment I laid eyes on it, instinct took over. Stepping forward, I placed the flat of my hand into the groove and uttered a demonic incantation. “Ah-nix meh sed tónn (Open to me now).”
Although I hadn’t discerned any crease or joint, the entire escarpment slid silently backward, a distance of about ten feet. A grating sound—deep and resonant, like granite scraping on granite—grumbled about me, causing the ground to vibrate and dust to fall from unseen crevices far above. The seamless wall split into two halves, withdrawing into the ridgeline on either side, leaving no trace of its existence. Behind it lay another barrier, this one metallic in appearance, which also retracted a similar distance before scrolling up into the ceiling and down into the floor.
That left me staring at the holographic depiction of a lifelike humanoid face with a spiral-shaped ocular embellishment in the middle of its forehead. Examining the third eye closely, I could see it was corporeally manifest and made from pure crystal. I opened my mind to it and sent out a second distinguishing phrase, mentally and verbally, in the demonic language. “Eman et Kabhalen, meh seûd angharut (I am a Cambion, recognize my presence).”
The gem sparked once then blazed to life, meshing to my aura and filling the small gallery with blinding brilliance. Everything went white.
When the light eventually faded, I was somewhere else entirely.
Buy Links:
Amazon US: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B1P8PCZY
Amazon CA: https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0B1P8PCZY
Amazon UK: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0B1P8PCZY
Exclusive Giveaway:
The first reader who is able to provide Augustus Thorne’s home address, and provide those details to me by way of the Cambion Journals blog or Facebook page, will receive the following:
A signed paperback copy of A Hybrid’s Tale (The first book in the Cambion Journal’s series) along with a triquetra tote bag and pendant.
Cambion Journals Blog: https://thecambionjournals.blogspot.com/
Cambion Journals Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/The-Cambion-Journals-103202992239752
Author Biography:
Andrew P. Weston is a bestselling author from the UK who lives with a large amount of rescue cats in a medium-sized house on a small Greek island. As well as suffering from an inordinate compulsion to make things up and write them down for other peoples’ entertainment, he is also an expert nuisance . . . just ask his wife.
Social Media Links:
Cambion Journals Blog: https://thecambionjournals.blogspot.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/WestonAndrew