Ancient Eden - Chapter 9

A conversation with a handsome stranger leaves Ariane chained in a cellar with a strange affliction. She soon discovers that the darkness of the nineteenth century’s Deep South hides many dangers. Mages, wolf shifters and the humans who hunt them play a risky game where to stumble is to die, all under the amused gaze of the apex predators of the supernatural world: vampires.

It is never healthy to attract the gaze of the aristocracy of the night. It takes much to survive in this merciless world, but Ariane will not let that deter her. The southern belle has a bite, and she is willing to learn and to grow in this hostile new world. She will use whatever means necessary to reclaim her freedom, be it guile, charm, or those intriguing new instincts that make blood so delectable.

This is a story of vampires as I believe they should be, with their strengths and weaknesses, with their remnants of humanity and the beast inside. Updates every Friday. Mind the tags.

Cover by Antti Hakosaari: https://www.artstation.com/haco

Special thanks to Svensonsen for getting me started, as well as Omi Nya, Hesketh, Rhaegar, Yaksher, Selkie and Raven for proofreading my stuff. Thanks to my patrons and you dear readers, for the support. I could not do it without you.

Journey is on Amazon, both in ebooks and audio. here is a link to the first one:

https://www.royalroad.com/amazon/B08DK6G8Y8

The story probably exists in your local marketplace as well of I can tempt you.

[I have led a cautious life, but the system keeps trying to do me in] “Ding Dong!” “Welcome to the Smart Cultivation System!”

“You have chosen to cultivate the Bone Forging Art. The system will start cultivating for you. The system has detected that the host is missing the Bone Tempering Pill. Please wait a moment…” “Ding Dong!”

“The system successfully stole ten Bone Tempering Pills for you, and the cultivation will continue…” “Important reminder, while the system is cultivating, you will lose lose control of the body…”

After getting the Smart Cultivation System, Pei Ling began to grow stronger rapidly. He was prepared to become a deity until one day… “Ding Dong!”

“You have chosen to cultivate an unknown technique. The system has identified this as a dual cultivation method. The system will start to cultivate for you. The system has detected that the host is missing a Dao Partner. The system is looking for a Dao Partner for you…” So, Pei Ling watched as he ran to the fairy’s training room next door, drugged her, and carried her into his room…

Take a look at the cover. Now take a look at the synopsis. Now take a look at the cover once again. Did you manage to see anything else outside of two big plots on it already? Then let me tell you this - if I'm willing to use this great cover for this novel, then surely as heck I am confident in the first chapter making you read more!

She was the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy family—abandoned by her father, oppressed by his legal wife, and humiliated by the so-called sister. She watched her mother perish in a raging fire and was thrown into the flames herself.Her name was Janice. And she died in that fire.Ten years later, under a new identity and the name “Janet,” she survives in silence. Forced by her stepmother to marry a wealthy heir rumored to be “paralyzed and disabled,” she becomes entangled in a vicious struggle of family betrayal and ruthless power games.With cold eyes, she watches the hypocrites who once trampled her into the mud—one by one, they will become prey on her road to revenge.Her wheelchair-bound “husband” Philip, the feuding brothers Charles and August… But what she didn't expect was that the boy who once quietly handed her a handkerchief all those years ago would become the most unpredictable piece in her game of fate.She has returned—not for hatred, but to personally end the past that was once crushed beneath their feet.