Today we have author Lexi Ander here with us on her blog tour for Dragon’s Eye.
Welcome to Love Bytes, Lexi!
Author Name: Lexi Ander
Book Name: Dragon’s Eye
Series: Sumeria’s Sons #5 (Series should be read in order)
Release Date: October 7, 2015
Pages or Words: 98,000 words
Publisher: LT3 Press
Cover Artist: London Burden
Blurb:
In the wake of birth and betrayal, Ushna takes the God Ashur to Tristan in a last desperate bid to save Tristan’s life—and is helpless to do anything but watch as Ashur instead buries him in a grave. Though he has no desire to go on living, having now lost Brian and Tristan, Ushna has no choice. Not only do their children need him, the mysterious Simurgh has come out of hiding and forces him to continue on—for there is much to do and little time to do it, especially with treachery and danger closing in on them from every side.
Categories: Fantasy, M/M Romance, Menage/Poly, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy
Exclusive Excerpt #7
Sitting heavily onto the large armchair, I rested my elbows on my knees and covered my face, only then realizing soil stained my hands. No wonder the she-wolves gave me sideways glances. Who in their right mind handled newborns this dirty? Grimacing, I rose and entered the attached bathroom to wash up then decided to take a shower. As I suspected, the armoires held my clothes, which I grabbed before locking myself in the washroom.
My hands trembled as I undressed. I was floundering and the warriors would be looking to me to guide them. I couldn’t allow myself to fall back into that place where I was determined to lay in the earth with Tristan. Hell, I was having a hard time believing I hadn’t lost my mind, especially when I closed my eyes and Tristan’s ravaged face was there to greet me, a tear sliding from the corner of his good eye.
How did I move past this sense of desolation? Always, I had Tristan. Now I was alone, but for how long? Ashur owed me answers, but if I looked upon him right now, I’d murder him.
Shamash, Patron God of the Lycans
The oldest name for Shamash is Utu, but I went with the Babylonian name because Uttu, Goddess of the Web of Life, also had a place in the plot of Sumeria’s Sons. To keep confusion at bay, I used Shamash since Uttu didn’t seem to have another name.
Shamash was God of the Sun, of Justice, and Lord of Truth. I had to look into the whole God of Justice claim because Shamash was first and foremost a Sun God. How did that come to include justice? “Just as the Sun disperses darkness, so Shamash brings wrong and injustice to light.” Which makes sense if one believes that evil cannot stand in the light of day. Looking at this in that way, I realized the superstition had persisted over centuries, not only perpetuated in religions but used in fiction. Look at how vampires were depicted, unable to come out in the day light, hiding in the shadows. There were so many other examples in folklore across all cultures. Anyway, I digress. In Sumeria’s Sons, the ziggurat in the middle of Bahbelle was called the Hall of Shamash because there Justice was dispensed.
He wore a horned helmet/headdress and carried a saw-edged sword and sometimes a mace. In carvings he was depicted with sun rays bursting from his shoulders or a sun disc. A few scholars had suggested that the texts of Lugalbanda, Gilgamesh’s father, gave the impression that Shamash was ones of his ancestors. I’ve read so many different books with scholars giving hypothesis based on what they are trying to understand about an ancient culture, rewriting their history so many times over the years that my eyes crossed. I disagree with some of their suggestions… and then I remind myself that I write fiction. What did I want to come from my research, other than a headache?
I chose to use Shamash as the patron God of the Lycans because he came to Gilgamesh’s and Enkidu’s aide more than once in the Epic of Gilgamesh. He showed favoritism for the two lovers. He protected the pair from violent storms, answered their prayers and gave them weapons to help them against the God Humbaba in the Cedar Forest. He even went so far as to defend Enkidu to the council of gods when Inanna used Enkidu’s lack of piety to argue for his death.
It made sense that Shamash wouldn’t abandon their children, and in exchange for the gifts of reincarnation and Twin Flames, the Lycans became the might of Shamash’s right hand of justice. But in a bid to protect the children of Gilgamesh and Enkidu form Inanna’s wrath, Shamash might’ve unintentionally placed a bull’s eye on them. The death of Enkidu proved to Inanna that taking away that which Gilgamesh held dear caused him more pain than attempting to take his own life. So instead of trying to kill Gilgamesh, she went after his progeny.
What would happen if Inanna won and the Lycan’s disappeared from the world of man? Would Gilgamesh once more become Inanna’s creature? At one time, wasn’t he a man so cruel the people he served sought the gods for help? Uruk was Inanna’s city and he was her priest-king. Wouldn’t the people have gone to their patron goddess for help when Gilgamesh got out of control? Was she an enabler? Co-conspirator? What kind of atrocities did the priest-king inflict on his people to make them cry out for help? Once Enkidu became ensconced in Gilgamesh’s life, the lives of the people of Uruk changed, and Shamash protected the pair as then from adventure to adventure. If Gilgamesh was once again alone in the world would he return to the beast that the people had feared long ago? Would he become easily malleable again, allowing Inanna to bring him back into her fold?
A huge thank you for allowing me to be a guest on the blog today! Throughout the blog tour for Dragon’s Eye, I hope you enjoy the behind the scenes look at the gods and mythos, and how they play a part in Sumeria’s Sons. For a visual representation, please visit my Pinterest page. (https://www.pinterest.com/lexiander1/sumeria-sons-inspirations/) During the tour I discuss the Sumerian pantheon, about who and what the Gods/Goddess are, and how I use them. Make sure you stop by the other blogs to get a complete look at the Gods and Goddess the Lycan’s follow.
Also, Less Than Three Press is running a special sale on Sumeria’s Sons from September 23rd through October 7th (dates inclusive).
Twin Flames is $0.99.
25% off Songs of the Earth
25% off Dreams of the Forgotten
25% off Surrounded by Crimson
Thank you for stopping by and reading!
Chapter One
**Ushna**
The God Ashur followed behind me carrying Tristan, whose body was battered and broken. The cry of our newborn pups preceded me. Their birth was supposed to be a wondrous occasion, but through treachery and lies, that was stolen from us. Instead of enjoying the happy moment, I feared Tristan was dying.
There was so much blood. The damage to his body overwhelmed my senses. I was afraid if I didn’t keep my eyes on him, if I turned my back for a second too long, his Flame would slip away. We ran through the cursed caverns that wouldn’t allow me to touch my wolf or feel the song of the earth. Ashur’s harsh commands to hurry spurred me on faster but I had to look behind me, I had to see with my own eyes that Tristan was still with us, still fighting.
The scars… I couldn’t care less but Tristan might. I vowed I would spend the rest of my life showing him how beautiful he was to me—but first we had to get him out into the open.
I glanced back. “Hurry, Ashur.”
The corridor seemed much longer than when we’d come in. Glancing over my shoulder again to ensure Ashur followed closely, my impatience caused a snarl to rumble in my throat. Tristan’s skin was a gray-blue, stark and sickly against Ashur’s rich mahogany tone. With every passing moment, we were losing him.
“Please.” I don’t know if I begged Ashur to go faster or if it was a plea to the Gods to spare Tristan’s life.
When we entered the darkened corridor carved from the bedrock, I heard Tristan sigh. For months, he’d been teaching me how to listen to the Earth and I could practically feel her rush to him. I climbed the stairs, my foot slipping on the wet step in my hurry to get outside.
The open air had never smelled so good, filling my lungs with the scents of life. My wolf stirred, frantic for our mate. I reached to take Tristan from Ashur, but he dodged my grasp, moving off to the side. His low voice had a musical tone as he chanted in a language I didn’t recognize and next to him, a hole formed in the ground.
“What are you doing? You said all we had to do was get him outside!” Why was Ashur not singing the song for healing? I reached again to take Tristan from Ashur’s arms. Tristan was teaching me the complex chant, but Ashur was Tristan’s tutelary. He knew what to ask the Earth for and how. Why was he not begging her to save Tristan’s life? She wouldn’t say no. She’d never say no to Tristan because she adored him.
It took a moment for the haze of my frantic thoughts to subside enough to realize Ashur was talking and then another for me to process the meaning of his words. What did he mean he couldn’t restore Tristan’s health?
With rising alarm, I said, “You’ve been teaching him how to sing to the Earth. Why can’t you do that now?”
Ashur dodged me, laying Tristan in the hole atop the dark loamy soil. Something eased in me seeing Tristan in contact with the ground, although the Earth didn’t rush up to him as I’d expected. She never missed an opportunity to touch him… until now. Instead, I felt power build until my bones ached and the snakes on my chest writhed in discomfort.
Staring down, I searched for the source of the energy, sure that at any moment, whatever it was would show itself. My gaze continued to return to Tristan with his ruined eyed, his torso ravaged and gaping. Never had I seen him so vulnerable, so small, the very sight calling to the caretaker within me.
Tearing my gaze away, I confronted Ashur who was pleading with me. “I teach him the songs but She doesn’t respond to me.”
An ancient sadness shone in Ashur’s visage but I didn’t care. I had trusted him to save Tristan. Never before had I been filled with such useless rage. I didn’t understand what Ashur was saying. Who was he talking about? The Earth? He was the king’s tutelary, so why wouldn’t the Earth answer his call?
Desperation rose up and I barked, “Why the fuck not?”
“Because I took the wrong side in a war, now I’m forever separated from Her.”
What did that have to do with the here and now? What did it matter he’d lost something or someone? My Tristan was dying and all he could do was talk. Ashur’s pleading gaze held mine and I suddenly understood. I glanced back down at Tristan, lying in a bed of fresh dark soil.
A grave.
“No! You cannot mean to do this. He’s not dead!” I jumped into the hole; Tristan’s single eye stared at me with clarity, despite the state of his body. His chest rose and fell with each labored breath. There was still time. I could save him.
With the strength of the God he was, Ashur wound his arms around my waist and easily hauled me away from Tristan.
I went mad.
I fought, screamed and begged. First Brian and now Tristan. How was I to stay behind? I pleaded with Ashur to allow me to go with Tristan. We’d travelled through the Earth together before, we could do it again. I could sing to the Earth and beg for Her help.
It wasn’t too late.
Then Ashur chanted and the soil covered Tristan, taking him from my sight. I roared with fury, thrashing and clawing at Ashur’s hands. I vowed vengeance for this act of betrayal. Silently, Ashur held me as I beat and wailed upon him, trying to free myself from his steely grasp. He whispered continuously, “I am sorry but this had to be done,” in my ear. Tears of grief stained my cheeks and I hated him all the more because it didn’t have to be like this. He had no right to take Tristan from me.
Buy the book:
Lexi has always been an avid reader, and at a young age started reading (secretly) her mother’s romances (the ones she was told not to touch). She was the only teenager she knew of who would be grounded from reading. Later, with a pencil and a note book, she wrote her own stories and shared them with friends because she loved to see their reactions. A Texas transplant, Lexi now kicks her boots up in the Midwest with her Yankee husband and her eighty-pound puppies named after vacuum cleaners.
Where to find Lexi Ander:
E-mail: lexi.ander.author@gmail.com
Tour Dates & Stops:
24-Sep Andrew Q. Gordon, Christy Loves 2 Read
25-Sep Wicked Faerie’s Tales and Reviews, Dawn’s Reading Nook, Bayou Book Junkie
28-Sep Decadent Delights, Hearts on Fire, MM Good Book Reviews
29-Sep Amanda C. Stone, Jessie G. Books, The Novel Approach
30-Sep The Jena Wade
1-Oct Louise Lyons, Lee Brazil, BFD Book Blog
2-Oct Love Bytes, Chris McHart, TTC Books and More
5-Oct Molly Lolly, Wake Up Your Wild Side
6-Oct Three Books Over The Rainbow, Scattered Thoughts & Rogue Words, GGR Review
7-Oct Inked Rainbow Reads, Prism Book Alliance, Crystal’s Many Reviewers
Rafflecopter Prize:
- Prize offered: Prize offered: $20 Amazon Gift card, $20 All Romance Gift card, hard copy of Dragon’s Eye, swag (pens, bookmarks)
- $20 All Romance Gift card, hard copy of Dragon’s Eye, swag (pens, bookmarks)
- hard copy of Dragon’s Eye, swag (pens, bookmarks)
- e-book copy of Dragon’s Eye
- e-book copy of Dragon’s Eye
Loved the excerpt Lexi and I am SO excited to read this newest installment of this series! Thanks for hosting her Love Byte’s.
<3 I hope you enjoy the story! It's been a long time coming. ^_^
And thank you for hosting me, Love Bytes!
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