Here Be Heroes Read online

  Here

  Be Heroes

  2nd Edition

  Epik Adventures

  Book 2

  By

  W W Dowd III

  Books by WW Dowd:

  Epik Adventure Series:

  Here Be Dragons

  Here Be Heroes

  Here Be Evil

  The Spacefaring Buccaneer Series:

  Birth of a Corsair

  A Pirates Booty

  The Captains Share

  Cookbooks:

  Dowd Family Cookbook – 2018

  The Family Cookbook – 2020

  Collections:

  Stories for Around the Campfire

  Coming Soon: (So many Stories; So little time)

  The Spacefaring Buccaneer Series

  Gauntlet*

  Going Legit*

  Single Novels:

  Soulshorn* (Horror)

  Dr. Zenier* (Horror)

  The Darker Side* (Horror)

  Western Tales Series:

  Chahakta*

  Riding for the Brand*

  Bounty Hunter*

  Longshot*

  Leather and Lead*

  Infernal Blessings Series:

  Bound by Darkness*

  Righteous Anomalies*

  The Horror of Beauty*

  Adventures in Ennui*

  The Elders Series:

  The Dowd*

  Medicine Woman*

  War Torn*

  Epik Adventure Series:

  The Second Saga:

  There Be Monsters*

  There be Madness*

  There Be Magic*

  There Be Gold*

  There Be War*

  *Forthcoming

  Epik Adventures: Here be Heroes is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2016 by WW Dowd III All rights reserved

  Published in the United States by Rocking Diamond Publishers

  This book contains an excerpt from the forthcoming novel Epik Adventures: Here be Evil by WW Dowd III. This excerpt has been set for this edition only and may not reflect the final content of the forthcoming edition.

  Hardcover ISBN: 978-1-365-56611-0

  Paperback ISBN: 978-1-365-51199-8

  EBook ISBN: 978-1-365-51247-6

  General Edit by: Lil’ Sami

  Final Edit by: Marie Dvorak

  Cover Concept: WW Dowd III

  Cover Polish: WW Dowd III

  Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Adobe are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

  Certain stock imagery © Adobe Creative Cloud

  Contents

  So Far

  Prologue

  Chapter 1 – Plans and Decisions

  Adventure Beckons

  Dragon Flirting

  Logistic Nightmares

  Travel on the Wing

  Social Interactions

  Shoulda Never Left

  Correspondence

  Chapter 2 – Setting the Stage

  High on the High Seas

  The Creatures Below

  Kardahn City

  Infestation

  Breaking the Mold

  Battling in the Dark

  Correspondence

  Chapter 3 – Moving Pieces

  Making It Back

  Epik Air-Vac Services

  Off to See the Dragon

  Deals Made Eyes Wide Open

  Humpty Dumpty

  Chrysalis

  Correspondence

  Chapter 4 – Eye of the Storm

  One Little Hitch

  Elemental Whisperer

  To Dwarf or Not to Dwarf

  Do We Have to Land?

  Field Medicine Without Medicine

  Epik Seduction

  Correspondence

  Chapter 5 – Internal Politics

  Passions Rising High

  Unexpected Ramifications

  Alone Time

  Unexpectant

  Good for One, Good for All

  Daddys

  Correspondence

  Chapter 6 – Traitors

  That Just Ain’t Right

  Soul Searching

  Battle Plans

  Scouting

  Diving Right In

  Drama

  Correspondence

  Chapter 7 – Magic and Steel

  New Threads, New Battles

  Night Work

  Besieged

  Relief Forces

  Saving Lives / Losing Lives

  Enter the Dragon

  Correspondence

  Chapter 8 – The Final Countdown

  Wormwood

  Flaming Skies

  Fields of Honor

  Massacres

  Are We There Yet?

  Null Plus Two

  Correspondence

  Chapter 9 – Gluing the Pieces

  From the Author

  Excerpt from Epik Adventures: Here Be Evil

  Appendixes

  Appendix I: Maps

  Appendix II: Special Transfer Genomes

  Appendix III: Transferring Dimensions

  Appendix IV: Team Epik

  Appendix V: Executive Officers of the Corporation

  It would be awesome to be able to thank everyone by name, but that could turn into a book of its own. I have to begin by thanking my wife, Sami. The writing and publication process can be vexing, and she was there with me the whole way.

  My grandbabies, Abigail, Emma, Sabrina, and Little Bill are always a reminder that there are higher priorities in life.

  The Friday night barbeque crew was an amazing stress reliever. Ergo, I would like to thank Mike and Paula for their encouraging words, as well as their daughter Alissa. I appreciate Tubz, April and Cain for being there. My nephew Brad and his wife, Karen, as well as their son Sebastian were consistent in their support.

  Marie Dvorak did an amazing developmental edit and polish, which helped me tremendously.

  With that said, I hope you enjoy Epik Adventures: Here be Heroes.

  So Far

  In 2212, the pinnacle of computer development came with the creation of the mass data predictive system. Decades in the building, the system took yottabytes of information gathered in everyday interactions and plotted them together to make accurate predictions of events to come. Using this system, many catastrophes, from natural disasters to terrorist actions, were averted. The Corporation, the builder of the mass data predictive system, strengthened its brand as benevolent watcher—until the system predicted the complete annihilation of the human race.

  Reports of invasion from yet another dimension had the Corporation scurrying to respond to the unknown threat expected to come through the magical world of Crystal Prime to Earth, or Null world as it had come to be known. The best odds of survival came from charging each of the five Conglomerates to produce a crack team of special transfers trained specifically for the job.

  Five member teams from each Conglomerate gave a very small chance of survival for humanity. Small being better than none, the Conglomerates were tasked with putting forth their best for the project under the guise of looking for new dimensions. After the assassination of several prospective teams dropped the predicted survival rate below 1 percent, the CEO of the Corporation ran the data from every person on Null to come up with members that could raise the odds.

  One set of people caused a spike in the probability index. Made of mostly retired persons and no military Special Forces personnel, the American list looked weak at best. With a 2 percent success probability, they offered the bes
t chance to save the human race. Using heavy-handed tactics, the Corporation forced the Conglomerates to use their preferences.

  Normal transfer to Crystal Prime used a basic map of the person being transferred to develop the genome model required for transfer. The discovery of the fabled white crystals and advances in transfer technology allowed the teams to transfer into defined bodies with enhanced strength, speed, mental clarity, and a plethora of other benefits over a “natural” body. Even the races of Crystal Prime could be mapped and used in the genome model, giving transferees an unheard-of insight into the magical races of Crystal Prime.

  The American Conglomerate candidates consisted entirely of retired persons, with new young bodies, hormones, and emotions that battled with experience and knowledge to interesting effect.

  The Opposition, as they were called for lack of a better name, had already infiltrated the ranks of the Corporation and the Conglomerates. So began a back-alley battle of politics, gossip, and outright assassination. The American special transfers, code-named Epik, spent grueling hours training in martial and magical arts as Opposition agents worked to break them and the teams of the other Conglomerates down.

  Liam, an engineer code-named Razor, developed his skills as a battle mage while searching for his son’s killer, rumored to have transferred to the Shogunate team of the Southwest Asia Conglomerate. A sadistic trainer teaches him martial abilities in the most painful way possible.

  Zoe, a botanist/biologist code-named Shadow, learns the magic and abilities of an elf as she pines for Razor. Razor stands oblivious to her designs as Nurse Hawthorne lures him into her silken web of sex and lies. A night of revelry leaves Shadow believing she had slept with Doc’s first real boyfriend, leaving her status in the group insecure.

  Alex, a retired military general code-named Cap, finds the brotherhood of dwarves fitting to his personality. He discovers that transfer law nullified his marriage to Raptor and works to find a way around this societal and legal quandary. Attempting to apply military discipline to a bunch of civilians makes Cap feel like he is herding feral cats. Struggling to balance his team and the required politics, he becomes mired in his own team’s drama.

  Sophia, a paraplegic psychiatrist code-named Raptor, finds herself with the most extreme body style as a true angel, wings and all. She attempts to overcome the challenges of the aggressive training regimen while developing the use of fully functional legs and wings. After misinterpreted signals from one of the local elf leaders cause an embarrassing incident, she decides to eschew elves for the dwarves. Sophia goes through the trials required to become an adopted dwarf, giving her the legal right to marry Cap.

  Dr. Riley Watson, a medical doctor/bioengineer code- named Doc, struggles to understand her new changeling body and focuses on learning the arts of magical healing. Working to overcome her victim personality, she finds herself overcompensating to embarrassing effect. In a bid to battle her basic introverted nature, she becomes Bimbo the clown to entertain children and eventually adults as well. Doc becomes close with Roderick until evidence reveals his tryst with Shadow and their ongoing relations.

  The Special Forces trainer, John Redwolf code-named Shaman, battles with the shadowy Opposition spies on Null and then on Crystal Prime. With his partners Terrence and Blood Witch, information on the Opposition slowly comes to light. Having lost the first two Epik teams, he is determined not to lose another. This new team does not make his job any easier.

  During training, Epik finds an energy crystal deposit that immediately makes them all wealthy beyond words. They also discover that the Corporation had an agreement with the Congress of Dragons for the special transfers to bond with the dragons as partners. The Opposition reveals itself as the race called Hellake in an assault on New Hope City and Castle Central.

  While teams from the other Conglomerates defend the city and the castle, Epik travels directly to the lair to battle the Hellake within their underground stronghold.

  After a tense moment, bonds are made precipitously with the dragons when the beasts learn of the crystal cavern. Creatures are battled and defeated, traitors revealed, and Epik triumphs, for now.

  Or

  You can experience all this in the first book Epik Adventures: Here Be Dragons.

  Prologue

  Esther the milkmaid had always been a happy sort with a kind word for everyone she met and a smile for those she hadn’t met yet. Maybe she wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed, but she was a joy to be around to those that knew her.

  Rather plain of face and thick of body, Esther didn’t draw the town boys like the other girls did. The miller’s son, Carl, had taken her to a few of the social functions, and she had always believed they would end up starting their own household when the time came.

  That was why her present predicament had her so overwhelmed. Lord Antioch had picked her. His brooding dark eyes and straight black hair seemed to mesmerize her as he pulled on her heart in ways she had never expected to experience.

  At this moment, he held her in his powerful arms, his wide chest even with her eye level as she craned her head to look up at him. Those eyes, so dark and penetrating!

  He slid his cheek along her head when she naturally moved her head to one side. A sharp pain shot through her as she felt the flesh of her neck tear under his canines. A moment of pain was followed by waves of ecstasy. Esther couldn’t hold back her moans of pleasure as she writhed against him.

  “Lord Antioch!” The cry came from another Night Fang bursting into the room.

  Tearing the jugular vein in his haste, Antioch tossed Ester’s bleeding shell aside. Wiping his lips, he turned infuriated at the interruption to his repast. The milkmaid should have been good for several months at least. Now she leaked her life force all over the floor. What a waste.

  “You interrupt me! Speak your reason before you become my next meal!” he said coldly though his eyes burned bright red coals of fury.

  Dropping to a knee, the lesser Night Fang let out a torrent of words. “The Hellake, they kill all who do not genuflect before them. We are betrayed!”

  Lord Antioch had known the Hellake were untrustworthy, but he had expected their treachery to hold until the battles had begun, not as soon as they had begun transferring to his caves.

  Lord Antioch rushed to his suite, moving so fast that he seemed a blur to mortal eyes. Grabbing a sword and a sack of gold and gems, he turned to leave when the first two Hellake entered, their flat black forms looking like cutouts in reality.

  Not bothering to talk, he swung quickly, beheading the first Hellake before the second had a chance to react. Black oily blood oozed forth from the thing’s neck as he followed through to the next foe.

  Lord Antioch had become leader of the Night Fang through his abilities as an elder and also because he willed violence. These abilities were backed by his considerable skill with a blade. Even his unnatural speed and skill weren’t fast enough to take out two Hellake without a fight. The Hellake’s blade was up and parrying almost as fast as Antioch’s own blade. The crash of the two blades rang throughout the caverns as they fought for several precious minutes before Antioch finally cut through the Hellake’s chitin deep enough to dispatch the creature.

  Running out into the hallway, he could hear the scattered battles of his true followers and the Hellake followers. Today he must flee, but there would be a reckoning, a reckoning in blood.

  Chapter 1 – Plans and Decisions

  Office of The CEO, Crystal Spires, Corporation City, Null World, January 2, 2281

  The working office of the Corporation shone with the benefits of power and wealth. Today the displays constantly updated for the three people working at the holographic computer interface, developing and tossing reports in an effort to find an edge, any edge, to better the chances for Crystal Prime and Null world. On a central projection, the large bold letters “12.7514% chance of human survival” seemed to laugh at their best efforts. Despite their every effort they could not bri
ng the number up from that dismal chance. A miasma of desperation filled the air so thick you could almost see it. The first battle with the Hellake had been won, but the war still loomed large on the horizon.

  Dylan Boucher carried the weight of the title of the most powerful man on Null. Few knew what he looked like; fewer still knew him as anyone other than the CEO of the Corporation. Several technicians working on top-of-the-line computers had a career scrubbing all networks of his image regularly. Every twenty years or so, he would rebuild himself, taking the reins of the Corporation from his “old” self, leaving him technically as Dylan Arthur Boucher XII.

  All of this was an unexpected benefit of the transfer stations. Huge computers and millions of lines of code stored Dylan’s physical information down to the microscopic level while transferring him to the world of Crystal Prime. Since he had a stored, or baseline, version of himself in the software, he emerged with his body rejuvenated to his twenties.

  This had been going on for over two hundred and fifty years, ever since he had accidently transferred to Crystal Prime. After years of searching for a way back, he had finally met the dragon Rejek who helped him to find the necessary magic to transfer back to Earth. The number of people that knew this particular secret could be counted using the fingers of both hands. Behind the façade, Dylan had built his corporation into the monolith it stood as today.

  The two people with him made up 25 percent of the population that knew the truth. They had to; not only did they live under similar circumstances, but they provided the perspectives and support Dylan needed to make decisions and keep track of the many and varied interests of the Corporation. He absolutely trusted their dedication and advice, often realizing he genuinely liked them and their quirks immensely. Added longevity without friends cursed, while friends made each passing day a treasure.

  Phillip Brongniart, Chief Physics Officer for the Corporation, had been the youngest graduate of the Michigan Institute of Technology when he received his multi-discipline master’s degree at the tender age of twelve. The concepts developed within his doctoral thesis changed crystal-power generator development even today. The doctoral panel, unwilling to admit they only understood half the theoretical physics and mathematics involved, happily lauded his efforts and booted the creepy thirteen-year-old out into the real world. That had been a hundred and twelve years ago. Looking upon him in the plush office of the CEO, most people would dismiss the slight, nondescript, middle-aged appearing man as another Corporation flunky until you looked into his eyes. The burning intelligence viewed within those windows to the soul left most people discomforted and ready to exit the area. The effect made social interaction a challenge, even had Phillip known more than a handful of individuals with whom he could enjoy discourse without feeling like he spoke to a less than gifted five-year-old.