Dark God
Descending is a vampire romance but it's one, I hope, with an enjoyable
twist. It's also a story of
friendship--between two men, separated by millennia in age: Tucker Upchurch, a 27-yeaer-old archaeology
student from the University of Georgia, and Semris, a Mayan god-king already
several thousand years old.
Tuck and Semris meet when the student accompanies his
professor to Yucatan on the trail of an ancient bat god. Instead of finding a stone statue, however,
they discover a living being in an extant Mayan city in the middle of the
jungle, and as usual when modern civilisztion intrudes into the past, disaster
results. Tuck's professor is without
scruples if it will enhance his own reputation, and this is an opportunity he
can't turn down. He and his men steal
the city's most prize possession--its Emperor, Semris.
Drugged and caged, Semris is guarded by Tuck who soon
develops an emotional bond with his captive charge. The two men communicate through an archaic
form of Spanish, and Tuck learns that Semris is the son of Yum Cimil, the Mayan
god of death, and is, as far as the civilized world is concerned, a
vampire. Tuck gives his blood to keep
his friend alive, and when the opportunity arises, he helps the emperor-god
escape.
Before he manages to once again return to the city in the
jungle, Semris will learn of mortal love and sacrifice, and will suffer an all
too-human grief. Tuck will lose the one
person he's loved all his life but will gain something more precious in Semris'
friendship, and be blessed with near-immortality. Everyone they touch on the journey back to
Yucatan will be changed forever. And the
punishment to the villain is both fitting as well as ironic.
I think it’s a good story.
I hope my readers agree.
EXCERPT:
“Upchurch, I want you and Cruz to stay here, as my guests
for a few days.”
To Tuck,
that sounded about as pleasant as Count Dracula’s invitation to Jonathan Harker
to visit his castle.
Westcott
tossed a set of keys on a silver ring at
Tuck. The young man caught it, turning
it over in his hands.
“There’s a
key to both the outer and inner doors.
You’re in charge until I get back.
Get Cruz to help you if necessary. I doubt that I’ll have any visitors
but if someone shows up, keep him away from the basement. Do whatever you have to!”
Tuck didn’t
like the sound of that. It sounded too
much like permission to use deadly force.
“Where are you going?“
“To my
office.”
“Won’t
someone see you? What about all that
secrecy you were wanting?”
Westcott started to walk past Tuck
toward the steps, starting up them.
“I’ve got to get started on that presentation. “
“You’re not
going to look at him before you go?”
Transferring the rifle to his other hand, Tuck took the steps two at a
time to keep up with Westcott’s long-legged stride.
“Later." In the rec room,
Westcott stopped, irritation creeping into his voice.
“Please,
you’ve got to look at him!”
“I will,
Tuck, in good time.” He reached for the knob of the door leading
outside, set to the left of the steps.
“No,
sir!” Tuck struck the door, pushing it
away from Westcott’s hand, actually managed to get between it and his
teacher. “You’re not leaving here until
you look at him! Now!”
“Upchurch,
you’re acting strangely." Westcott was startled. Probably no student or any one else had ever
spoken to him like that. "In fact,
you’ve been acting oddly for some time now.
I think perhaps you’re becoming a little too emotionally involved with
this creature. Granted it’s probably
going to be frightened when it awakens, but--“
Tuck
couldn’t stand it any longer. “It’s not
an animal!”
Westcott
stared at him. “What?”
“It’s a
man! He’s-- For God’s sake, Doc, just
look at him!” He caught Westcott’s arm,
tried to pull him back toward the stairs.
“Please!”
With the expression
of someone who realizes he’d better do as he’s asked because he’s in the
presence of a person about to become seriously violent, Westcott allowed
himself to be led back down the stairs.
At the
bottom, Tuck released him, and he turned to face the cage.
The
creature who had called himself Semris hadn’t moved, was still a wing-enclosed
heap on the cell floor.
“All right,
I’m looking at it, and I don’t see anything human about it, not at all.”
“That’s
because you’re not close enough, and he’s not an it!”
“Just calm
down, Tuck.” Westcott’s voice became
soothing, the tone used to calm someone extremely agitated, which made Tuck
that much angrier. “You want me to go
closer, get a better look? All
right.”
He turned
and started toward the cage.
Semris
turned his head. He sat up, wings
uncurling from around his body, flaring up and over him, so he was totally
visible.
The
professor’s step faltered.
Semris
stood up, all nearly-seven feet of him, wings curled protectively above his
shoulders.
Westcott
and his captive stared at each other.
“My
God!” The words were whispered in a tone
of total awe. “I-If I’d know this was
what was under that net, I’d have been examining him sooner! I’m sorry, Tuck. I should have listened to you!”
He took a
step closer. Semris didn’t move, just
reached out and placed one hand on the barred door in front of him. His chin went up, an expression of surprising
disdain on the pale face.
He’s not
afraid, Tuck thought. My
God! He’s not afraid at all!
In fact, he
was regarding Westcott as if the man was something to be swatted and dropped
into the nearest trashcan.
Dark God Descending will be available from Class Act Books on
November 15, 2012.
Author website: http://www.tony-paul.com
Twitter:
@tpvissage
Facebook:
www.facebook.com/tonypaul.devissage
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http://www.myspace.com/505918625
About Tony-Paul de
Vissage
One of Tony-Paul de Vissage's first movie memory is of being six years old, viewing the old Universal horror flick, Dracula’s Daughter, on television, and being scared sleepless--and that may explain a lifelong interest in vampires.
One of Tony-Paul de Vissage's first movie memory is of being six years old, viewing the old Universal horror flick, Dracula’s Daughter, on television, and being scared sleepless--and that may explain a lifelong interest in vampires.
This was further inspired
when the author ran across a band of transplanted Transylvanian vampires who
were sightseeing in the South. Thinking nosferatu were
getting a bad
press and
in need of some favorable publicity, he decided to do what he
could to change that attitude through his
writing. Though it may be argued his efforts have probably done the
opposite, no
vamp has complained…yet
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