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    Along the Path of Darkness
    Along the Path of Darkness
    Along the Path of Darkness
    Ebook72 pages1 hour

    Along the Path of Darkness

    By Edward Crichton

    3.5/5

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    About this ebook

    Fifteen years have passed since mankind discovered its first portal, a type of wormhole capable of instantaneous travel between two distinct points around the globe. No two portals had ever appeared in the same location twice and predicting where or when one would appear proved impossible. But despite their inexplicable appearance on planet Earth, portals were quickly embraced by those powerful enough to discover and maintain control of their awesome potential.

    Harnessing them without thought to their origin or worry over the consequences of their use, sects of humanity prospered while others faltered. Empires fell, empires grew more powerful, and newcomers were welcomed to the world stage. The geo-political, social, and military landscape across the globe shifted as portals opened new avenues for travel, trade, and warfare, but only those able to hold a portal prospered.

    Everyone else was left behind.

    Thus began the Age of Portals.

    Today, portals are accepted by humanity as unassumingly as concepts such as gravity or oxygen. They are ubiquitous all across the world, yet additional portals are always sought after. New portals mean new opportunities, but just as no one foresaw their arrival, the world will not be ready for what is still to come. One man, whose sole desire to discover new portals is the only thing left that drives him, stands alone along this oncoming path, but is unprepared for what he, and the rest of the world, will soon face.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherEdward Crichton
    Release dateOct 1, 2015
    ISBN9781310871474
    Along the Path of Darkness
    Author

    Edward Crichton

    Edward Crichton, a native Clevelander, lives in Chicago, Illinois with his wife, where he spends his time coming to grips with his newfound sports allegiances. A long time enthusiast of Science Fiction, Fantasy, History and everything in between, he spends his time reading, writing, and overusing his Xbox (he wishes). Until recently, Crichton had often hoped for a cat, but his wife decided to let him have a baby boy instead. Born in November of 2013, the child has turned into a little hellion but he and his wife couldn't be happier Nearly two years old at the time of this Bio update, said little hellion has grown into a wonderful little boy who keeps his daddy busy and occupied doing anything and everything but writing. Now a work-from-home-dad, Crichton squeezes in bouts of writing when he can. Due to his changed lifestyle, he has decided to shift his focus to shorter stories to improve productivity. His first novella, Along the Path of Darkness, will be released October 1, 2015. Following its release, Crichton will return to work on his long dormant Starfarer Series, again focusing on tighter stories to keep the words flowing...

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      Book preview

      Along the Path of Darkness - Edward Crichton

      33

      Along the Path of Darkness

      The Dark Portal Saga: I

      By Edward Crichton

      Copyright 2015

      Smashwords Edition

      This ebook is licensed for your enjoyment and is not to be shared, reproduced, resold, or altered in any way. The author thanks you for respecting his intellectual property. If you wish to share this novel with others, please refer them to Smashwords.com.

      Books by Edward Crichton

      The Praetorian Series

      The Last Roman (Book I)

      To Crown a Caesar (Book II)

      A Hunter and His Legion (Book III)

      All Roads Lead to Rome (Book IV)

      Starfarer

      Rendezvous with Destiny

      A War with Oneself

      The Dark Portal Saga

      Along the Path of Darkness

      A Note from the Author

      As this story is only a novella, I’ll keep this message brief. For those of you who are familiar with my work and myself, whether through personal messages or social media, feel free to skip this note and come back when you’re finished with the story. For those new to the work of Edward Crichton, allow me a few moments to introduce myself.

      I wrote my first novel, The Last Roman, back in 2007 when I was just finishing up my undergraduate college work, hoping to find riches and glory and the means to quit my day job. While wealth and fame continue to elude me, I was able to find some semblance of happiness and success by self-publishing The Last Roman (and the three sequels that came later), along with my Sci-Fi novel Starfarer: Rendezvous with Destiny. I felt like I had accomplished quite a bit and had firmly established myself at the low end of the Realm of Indie Authors, if such a thing even exists.

      And then came baby.

      My wife and I already knew I would be the one to stay home with him. She was the primary breadwinner and I was, surprisingly, the more nurturing one of the two of us, and we were both in agreement that we wanted one of us to stay home with the kid. As I also already worked from home, the primary candidate to take on the responsibility was quite obvious, but while I knew my responsibilities would require something of an adjustment, I had no idea just how much my life would change.

      In a way, I feel fortunate that I decided to self-publish. It gives me the freedom to write with far fewer responsibilities and deadlines than if I had ever been picked up by a publishing house or had landed an agent. It’s far easier to say that now, after having never had those things and after being a stay at home parent for a while, but it’s the truth. I self-identify myself as father first, author second, and for the moment, I’m happy with that decision. In the future, perhaps the day will come when I can really sink my teeth into my writing again, but, for now, that simply isn’t an option for me.

      So, with my brief backstory established, I present to you my first novella. Shorter and sweeter by far than anything else I have ever written, I’ve come to realize that if I’m going to have any chance at maintaining my status as an active writer, this is how I’ll have to focus my career. Shorter, tighter, more serialized stories will become the norm.

      With that in mind, please enjoy Along the Path of Darkness, and as a quick aside, Praetorian and Starfarer fans should keep a sharp eye on the words to come. To say more may be to say too much.

      Enjoy.

      Ed Crichton

      September, 2015

      Tomorrow…

      With the sun low in the west, its crimson hue igniting the landscape in a fiery glow, a billowing trail of dust followed a lone vehicle racing through the open expanse of desert. Vast and desolate, there seemed little reason for the large all-terrain vehicle to brave the harshness of the Chihuahuan Desert, but it was not the dune buggy that had a choice in the matter. That decision had been left to its sole occupant: the driver, who raced through the desert chasing ghosts and dreams, not caring which he would find first.

      The buggy and its occupant raced on, leaping suddenly into the air as the ATV encountered a steep sand dune with a sheer drop-off on the far side. They came crashing to the ground together with a jolt and a rattle of loose equipment but held together, and the driver had to smile.

      A few more of those, and maybe they’ll finally give me a new one.

      His thin smile grew into a grin as he threw the wheel to the left, narrowly avoiding a boulder along his path. Disaster avoided, he kept his direction steady and continued along his new route through an endless patch of scrubland. The unscheduled detour did not bother him. He had no direction. No destination. No preplanned route. His journey would take him wherever fate and the wheels beneath him decided.

      Aimlessness was the very nature of his chosen profession.

      He was a treasure hunter, but one who needed no map, no red X to mark the spot or a guiding blue line on a GPS device. Like the great wanderers of ancient history, he had simply set sail into the great unknown, all in the vain hope of discovering riches and glory.

      A treasure hunter seemed an ill-advised profession in the mid twenty-first century; perhaps a more viable day job than that of an explorer, but not by much. Hardly a single Spanish doubloon or chunk of rock was left to be uncovered on the blue and green jewel that was Earth. There were no lost civilizations left unfound nor undiscovered lands to settle, and even those swiftest of routes

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