Hi Everyone!
Hope you enjoy this concept sketch for The Knight of Iaddash 2! I’m no illustrator, but I am pretty proud of how this one turned out. There’s also another surprise if you keep scrolling!
It’s almost the end of February and the release of the Knight of Iaddash 2 is coming closer! Currently, I am doing one final pass over the text to make sure that there are no obvious errors. The way I do this is by reading everything out loud. This is just an extra pass I like to do before I publish something. Call it quality assurance if you will!
Things have been moving a little slower unfortunately. It has been my intention to release this book in April but I might consider postponing it by a month or two. This is for two reasons. There were some complications while working on the cover, the printer to scan the final paintings needed a part replaced. However, I’ve mostly just been busy. Cory and I continue to push towards April’s Kickstarter, and I’ve been teaching a lot so a lot of my current energy is going into that.
If you didn’t know, we are planning on Kickstarting The Knight of Iaddash Book 1 into an audio drama/audio book hybrid. Last year we did our casting, and if we can raise the needed funs, we’ll make it into a reality!
If I do postpone Book 2 because of the kickstarter, I may consider providing an early ebook version of it as a bonus reward. That could be fun!
A preview:
Also, because you’ve all been so patient with my sporadic updates. I figured that it might be fun to share a scene from book 2 as you wait. If you have no’t read the first book already, this blurb will spoil the ending, so read KOI1 first by buying it from Amazon, Barnes&Noble, or Apple Books.
Anyways, here’s a preview from one of the chapters of The Knight of Iaddash 2: Into the Gates of Sheol. I hope you look forward to reading more.
Kahsa sat on the ground, reciting the lines of Iaddash and scratching Euthymeo’s leathery dragon head. This had become a ritual of sorts urged by Agape. He was not to blindly recite the words, but to think on what they mean and thereafter apply them to his own life. He had been told that many believers in Iaddash would recite such words in times of trial. He had been told that they would bring him peace. Yet Kahsa found no peace.
“He lets the strong fall and makes the weak leap,” Kahsa recited the words aloud, his voice masked with determination. He continued.
“He upholds us in power and revives the meek.
And from his right hand, he lends his strength …”
Kahsa’s mind shot back to the year before. Once again he stood staring down the man who had so quickly become his enemy. Burning flames erupted from his old master’s hands as the two of them balanced on an unstable bridge made of wood and rope. He had tried to forget that fateful night, but forgetting it had become impossible.
“He lets the strong fall …” Kahsa recited again. In his mind’s eye, the menacing Agar stared back at him, smiling. His face was lit red with embers. “He makes the weak leap,” Kahsa said again, trying to move his foot forwards. This is where everything went wrong. He had to be strong, he had to push forward. He would not lose this time. With a burst of adrenaline, he found himself lunging towards Agar with the green Sword of Iaddash held tightly in his hands. He attacked again and again, hoping to throw him off guard, but Agar was quick and refused to fall. In desperation Agar loosened the ropes of the bridge, making it difficult to balance, yet Kahsa didn’t give up. He would not back down. He made his way towards Agar until at last, he went for the killing blow.
“Have mercy!” cried Agar.
“You don’t seek mercy,” Kahsa said, staring down at him, his Sword lit green in his hand. “I won’t fall for that again.” Kahsa lifted his Sword. He would rewrite the mistakes of his past. He would kill Agar, and with one swift strike, he would satisfy the prophecy he was meant to fulfill.
“From the darkness shall arise, a Knight of might and valor, and by the Sword of Iaddai, shall come Agar’s last hour.” Kahsa stretched out the green Sword with both his hands, ready to strike. At last he would to deliver the final blow, he would show Agar his power, he would show no mercy …
“When the Sword glows green with light, then the Knight has come …” He was the Knight of Iaddash, he was to defeat Agar. It was his destiny, it was his prophecy, nothing could get in his way, he was the Knight of Iaddash. The strength of Iaddash flowed through him, he had rejected the darkness, accepted the light, and soon all would be well …
Pain seared through Kahsa’s hand as he dropped the sword! An arrow had struck his right hand! His dominate hand! Kahsa looked at it in terror as it swelled up. Agar smiled as flames erupted across the entire bridge. The Sword of Iaddash had been lost, falling deep into the pit below. Though this memory was altered compared to reality, its end was the same.
“No, this can’t happen!” howled Kahsa. “This can’t happen … stop!” he yelled at his old master, who was now engulfed in a strange shadowy flame. “I can’t lose. Not again.” Kahsa’s words were muffled by the flames as the bridge snapped and sent him tumbling down into the depth of Agar’s castle. Agar stood high above, watching his descent and laughing. Somehow Agar had not fallen from the broken bridge. Kahsa tried to remember more lines of Iaddash, more of the prophecy, but he failed. He had tried to reach for the Sword yet found himself unable. Instead, he fell, watching his life tumble away from the world above, falling farther into the hellish void that lay below. He curled on the ground, gripping his trembling right hand, looking for the light of his Sword—or any light at all—but was unsuccessful.
He had failed. And now every day, he bore a reminder of that failure. Each pang of pain that ran through his body would be a reminder of what a terrible Knight he had become. Just a year ago, it had been prophesied that he would be the one to defeat Agar. Kahsa had escaped his old life under the lordship of Agar and pledged himself to a new master, a far better one: a God named Iaddash. The one true God, as Agape would say. And yet, he was defeated. He had failed his mission and lost the most important weapon of all: the Sword of Iaddash.
“You cannot defeat Agar like this,” a strange and cold voice rang out. It was strong—it was powerful—and it held promise. Kahsa tried to pull himself to his feet yet failed, falling over in pain once again. He cried for help, but none would come.
It was a nightmare, one Kahsa had many times many before, but it had never gone on this long or felt this real. He had to remember the lines of Iaddash. He had to look for the light. He had to …
Oh boy! It looks like Kahsa is having a bad dream. You’re going to also find out that the wound Kahsa received at the end of book one plays a major part in this story as well. What happens when the promised knight fails to achieve his prophecy? I guess you’ll just have to read the book when it releases!
Glory to the Glorybuds!
Kenny
The Back KAB 