An empty universe, and the tall, powerful man that waits at its edge. He's wearing a royal blue toga, and there are lashings on his back. I approach him. There's something invisible between us. Something tugging me closer. As I walk, drums pound in the rhythm of my feet. The man must not hear it, or me, because he doesn't turn around. Not until I'm close enough to see the ridges of his scars. He towers over me by at least two feet. Each part of his body is powerful and massive, like he could crush my head between both of his giant hands. The stench of ozone and honey wafts around him, and something else too, something nearly intoxicating. He doesn't say anything. His eyes speak for him: blue and piercing, filled with some glowing light. They cast over me like lighthouses, searching for something in a violent storm. "What is this?" I ask him. He doesn't answer. Lightning wraps around his shoulders like thick straps of rope and starts spiraling down his arms. It gathers into his hands in boiling pools of blue electricity. With his right hand, he reaches into his waistband for the handle of a sword. My feet are rooted in place. Heat boils beneath my skin, like I'm going to catch fire. I try to scream, but my mouth is wired shut. He pulls out his sword and aims it at the sky. Blue lightning wraps around the blade until a jet of electricity fires overhead. Gray clouds gather above us, swirling into a vortex of heat and blue light. The darkness is absolute, but it cowers in the presence of this man's power. The earth, if it's the earth, trembles beneath us. Then, it speaks. "He who splits the sky. He who calls lightning from blood." The man lowers his sword, but the storm remains. He aims it at my chest this time. At my heart. "You will split the sky," he says. "You will call lightning from blood." He drives the sword through my chest and the world goes black. --Excerpt from Of Blood and Lightning , the debut novel of Micki Janae Excerpted from Of Blood and Lightning by Micki Janae All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
