A Brand New Series of Fantasy Novels
Book One: Raven’s Call is out now
Book One: Raven’s Call is out now
Raven’s Call
At the base of a giant oak tree, a young Half-Elf named Edwin knelt between his parent’s graves. Edwin could hardly remember his Elvin mother’s face. She had died while he was still a child. He gripped her sword, the Blade of Light, tightly. It was all he had to remember her by. For years, Edwin watched his Human father grow old while he stayed young. Listening to his father’s stories of the world beyond their forest home. Tales of dragons, bandits, undying, and the Esa; The sworn defenders of the light, but to them Edwin was a mutt. A mongrel dog born from an unholy union. The sword was forged by the Esa, and they would do anything to reclaim its power. As would a cursed soul called Raven. A fallen Esa knight, Raven believed the Blade of Light was his by right, and the only way he could reclaim his honor, but the unworthy cannot wield its power.
What I’m doing? Writing Painting Drawing.
The Raven series is about Redemption and Temptation. The title character, Raven, believes himself to be the chosen one. Believing it’s his destiny to be king, he led a bloody revolution to seize the crown by any means. Defeated, Raven is left cursed. Wondering the land for decades without rest. Until he had given up all hope of being king. It was then that a young man called Edwin stumbled into Raven’s life. Edwin is carrying the Blade of Light. The legendary sword of kings, but to Edwin the sword is worth far more. It is all Edwin has to remember his mother. She died while Edwin was still a boy.
As the story begins, Edwin’s presence will upset Raven’s loosely formed team of outlaws. The group becomes divided as some of them enjoy Edwin’s naive, optimistic attitude. Whisper, a female Deep Elf assassin disguised as a male Grey Elf. She is bound the Raven by her oath. To serve him until he dies. Human lives are short to Elves, but Raven has hardly aged in decades. Hairloom, a Minotaur warrior. Kept as a slave, he has never known his own kind. His only friend is Mirage. Together they had escaped slavery before Raven found them. Mirage wants to see the world burn. Like his twisted, charred right arm. While Hairloom wants food, drink, and another friend. Someone else who doesn’t see him as a monster.
While this group of reluctant heroes are dealing with there own issues, armies through out this world will rise up to claim the Blade of Light. Who will drowned in the tide of war to come?
Hello World!
I’m Erick Bates and I’ve been telling stories my whole life. As a kid I told my first stories through my GI-Joes. There was conflict, diversity, and even love triangles between my little plastic toys, but I was soon diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD. Reading was always hard, and the modern educational system failed me. I was always writing stories, but my teachers never used my love of storytelling to help me read. I was always told you can’t write because you can’t read. I was so angry when I was told my school journal wasn’t for stories. It was for the real world, not a place of imagination. It would take me years, but I would teach myself to study as I worked my way through college. Ounce I understood how I learnt, I was able to graduated Magna Cum Laude.
It would still take me decades to finish my first story. My first story was to be a ghost-mystery-love story, but I quickly realized I didn’t have the skill to write it. That story revolved more around what I didn’t say to create a compelling mystery, rather than what I said. I put the story of Arthur and Angela on the shelf, and I decided to start with a fantasy. I thought, that will be easy to write. I was wrong. It toke me years to write, and build the world of my first book. Every time the story got stuck, I would have to spend weeks filling out the world to keep the story moving, and yes, I fell into the trap of building the world more than writing the story. I learnt that the world is meaning less without the story to bring readers into it. With my first story finished, I hope you enjoy the world I created.
Contact Me
Reach out to me, and I’ll let you know about upcoming projects, and future book launches.
ShadowWood50@gmail.com
Omphala is an innovative card battling game similar to War, but with far more strategy. Simple to learn, challenging to master.
Created by a friend of mine, Omphala is a collectable card game that can be played with multiple decks. The first deck and the game was created by LostChildLLC based on James Owens Star Story Book One: Anchored. Each collectable deck is going to be based off different authors creative works. Me and other are working on Omphala decks.
I’m currently working on my own Omphala deck, but because I’m using my own hand draw art, it’s taking a long time.
Click the link below to go to the Omphala Etsy page.
