About Journey's End
by Emily Veinglory
64 pages / 28000 words
ISBN: 1-933389-72-9
Available file types - html, lit, pdf, prc
Castel is an elf stranded in human lands, slowly dying from lack of magical energy. Mendry is a human assassin descended from a line of vampire 'Dragon Knights' who seek to bring an evil dragon back to life.
When Mendry's father steals a child he believes to be his grand-daughter, the seventh generation needed to carry out the resurrection ritual, Mendry and Castel come together to save an innocent life, facing evil mages and more. Together with the child's uncle and mother, they make an unlikely band of heroes, and find a whole new meaning to the word family. Set in the same world as Emily Veinglory's first Torquere novel, Broken Sword!
Review
Review:
Mendry, an assassin by trade, has been hired to kill a certain elf. That elf. Castel, is unmoved about the whole thing, which just doesn't set right with Mendry.
He can't understand why someone would be so indifferent to his impending death. What he doesn't know, is that Castel has been exiled from his own world and exile for an elf is nothing short of a death sentence.
Castel and Mendry meet again, awkwardly at first, but soon it becomes clear just how much the two men need each other. Both men have lacked close relationships (and family, for that matter) for such a long time; they have a true need for comfort and
solace.
But all is not well. There is still the matter of the contract on Castel's life. As they work to try to find who is responsible for wanting Castel dead (and why), they set into motion a chain of events that will transform them both. Full of fantasy, magic, and mysterious characters, Journey's End is an interesting tale. I can easily say that this is one of Emily's best works, and one I highly recommend!
Sample
''A little to the left.''
Mendry paused, his dagger poised. Nothing moved but a faint stirring of the air. His senses had been alert for any sign that the room’s occupant had been awakened by his efforts in forcing open the window. His body protested his frozen pose, balanced at the apex of a swift, killing strike.
''Through the heart. I wouldn't want to linger.''
A voice steeped in weariness came out of the close darkness of the room. That jaded tone made him, for the first time in many years, hesitate. The voice came from a blanket-draped body that lay still in the darkness, its position betrayed by a lumpy silhouette and now a glint of eye. His
erstwhile victim seemed almost quite resigned, even on the threshold of his own death. It was this very indifference that stayed Mendry's hand.
Mendry’s eyes drifted as he stood, bemused and at a loss about what to do with an elf who obviously didn't care at all whether he lived or died tonight. Dirt and disarray clung to every corner of the rented room and it seemed to Mendry to be a low place for an elf to have sunk to. But Mendry was hardly in better circumstances, a true-trained soldier of the
Dragon working for hire as a common murderer. He had been an assassin for so long and had mastered it so well he rarely wondered why he did it these days.
''Quickly now,'' the sleepy voice urged. ''I abhor pain.''
The elf closed his eyes, leaving Mendry alone in the darkness with his dagger and the sound of slow, patient breathing, unaffected by fear. His dagger hand began to drop slowly to his side. He had no wish, now, to continue -- no matter how generous the fee.