Shadowland
By C.M. Gray
Edging his toes closer to the lip of the cliff, Usher peered down at the rock far below where Cal sat, shivering in the lengthening shadows. If he didn’t do it now, it wouldn’t happen… he knew that. Biting back common sense and silently cursing himself, Usher stepped back and then committed himself to the jump he had felt destined to make all summer.
‘Cal, Cal. Watch me … Cal!’
Running two steps forward, he took a mighty leap to gain some distance from the jagged belly of the cliff and flew, rejoicing in the sudden rush of air as he tumbled, arms and legs waving wildly as he narrowly missed the rocky outcrop of the cliffs that they called The Tooth. ‘Caaaaaaaaaaaaaalll!’
As the dark water of the lake rushed towards him, he stole a moment of satisfaction from the shocked look on Cal’s upturned face. He just caught his cry of ‘Usher…You crazy fool! Ush…’ before he hit the cold water with an explosion that drove the air from his lungs and plunged him into a world of confusion.
The lake claimed him. A roaring sound filled his ears, and he struggled to control the panic that threatened to smother him. He gagged and just managed to resist the impulse to draw a breath of ice-cold water into his aching lungs. The lake filled his senses, fizzing and swirling, smothering him as he kicked out, desperately seeking a direction for the surface with its promise of salvation and sweet, warm air. At last, where he least expected it, sunlight revealed itself, dancing in patterns on the surface, and he kicked towards it, frantic in his need to breathe.
Slowly, very slowly, he closed in on the shimmering light, fighting the lake’s reluctance to release him from its cold embrace. After an age of effort, he broke the surface, drew a great, gasping breath, and coughed. Then pain exploded in his hand as it struck a rock. Ignoring it, he stretched out, struggling to claw himself onto the rock until one glorious moment where he relaxed and slowly controlled his breathing.
‘Usher? Usher?’ Cal’s cry brought him back to reality.
Genre: Fantasy
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C.M. Gray
Biography.
Born in Essex, England, with a heavy dose of ‘travel lust’, C.M.Gray has been lucky enough to live and travel in many countries worldwide. He has lived for more years outside of England than he has living there! Working as a carpenter, fruit picker and even a stint in stock brokering, he has called home Buddhist monasteries in the Himalayan Mountains, the clamour of central Hong Kong to a farm in deep rural Burgundy. Forever vowing to return and sink his roots once again in English soil… someday he hasn’t entirely made it back yet, but he does live a little closer these days, just outside of Barcelona in the middle of the forest with his dogs and two wonderful children.
C.M. Gray’s writing is mostly fantasy, and many of his experiences in Asia, Africa, and the Middle East come to life in his writing. The Flight of the Griffin, a finalist in The Times/Chicken House literary competition 2013, follows the adventures of a group of young friends as they battle demons and bandits on a magical quest to stop the world from tipping into Chaos. Shadowland blends fantasy with history as an old storyteller takes his audience back to Britain’s dark ages and the birth of the Arthurian legend.
The Sequel to The Flight of the Griffin, Chaos Storm was published Autumn 2013, while the Sequel to Shadowland, ‘The Shadow of a King’ will be published summer 2015.
C.M. Gray
