Scorpion’s Breath Callumron Book One: Hotel reviewer, Callum Steele, has his world turned upside down by a flirtatious colleague and a mischievous demon named Ron.

Scorpion’s Breath Callumron Book One: Paranormal Fantasy

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BLURB: Scorpion’s Breath

Hotel reviewer, Callum Steele travels to Mai Sai in the north of Thailand where he becomes unwillingly tangled in a centuries old demonic feud. As his world is turned upside down by a series of bizarre and inexplicable events, Callum finds support from his flirtatious colleague, his friend the entomologist, and a mischievous and smart mouth demon named Ron. Will Callum lose his mind or embrace his awakening? Is this the end of Callum Steele or just the beginning? And what the hell is that stuff coming out of the mouth of the giant scorpion?

EXCERPT: Scorpion’s Breath

“Have you ever just sat and contemplated life, Ron?”

Daylight was draining from the sky as Ron and Callum sat on the brick fence facing the scorpion statue. The same fence on which Callum and Ande had experienced a watershed moment of revelation which had been followed by an inexplicable encounter with the supernatural realm. Callum was lost. His faith in rationalism shaken to the core and split. The foundations of his life, the stones upon which he walked securely were gone, pulverized. He looked at Ron expectantly, needing solace; reassurance.

“Callum,” said Ron, after an uncharacteristically thoughtful pause, “your biggest problem is that you think too much. A little reflection is useful, even prudent, but…”

“I do. I do that. It drives me mad sometimes. Internalizing, analysing.”

“You know what matters now?” Ron stood and hopped over to the statue. “That’s what matters.”

“That’s deep, Ron, but why did you hop over there? Walking too mundane for you?”

“Have you tried skipping just for the heck of it?”

Callum laughed.

Ron shook his head slowly, looking every inch the wise old sage. “Of course,” he said. “People would look at you and think you were a weirdo if you skipped or hopped. What’s wrong with walking like normal people?” To prove his point, he skipped around the Giant Scorpion. “If I’m right, and I have to say I fairly confident that I am right,” said Ron, “Tonight we will both have many of our most pertinent questions answered. So, as I said, what really matters now, is what matters now.”

“Your brand of philosophy is as bewildering as my whole life these days.”

With a knowing smile, Ron nodded. “Destiny. Fate. The will of God. What has brought us together, Callum? A rationalist and a demon. It’s madness. Who writes this stuff?”

“I shouldn’t even be able to talk to you because in my worldview you don’t exist.”

Sidling right up close to Callum, Ron almost cooed when he said, “Hell of a thing, isn’t it?”

Easing away from his overly affectionate supernatural friend, Callum considered the situation. In order to maintain his sanity, it had become necessary to accept the impossible. Arguing against the evidence of his eyes would have only led to a mental breakdown. If he simply relaxed into the obscenity of this delusion—for surely it must be nothing more than a fantastic hallucination—then he would survive, and hopefully at some point return to the real world. He felt Ron’s elbow dig into his ribs.

“You’re doing it again, aren’t you, Callum?”

“Doing what?”

Gently crushing Callum’s disingenuous response under his small horny feet, Ron threw his arm around Callum’s shoulders, or at least as far as he could reach, and said, “Stop thinking. Stop trying to figure everything out. Explain everything. You have zero chance of correctly anticipating what will happen here tonight. I’m older than you. I know more than you. I am not in denial, like you are. I am much better positioned to glean answers, or even if I were to be so bold, prophesy, and yet, I do nothing of the sort. I know what I know. I will know what I learn next.”

Callum stood suddenly, thinking for a nanosecond, about skipping around the statue. Frustration was urging him to do something, even something ridiculous like skipping or hopping for no reason. This hindrance to understanding stunk and made him nauseous. He looked around, taking in the beauty of the surroundings: the verdant, pristine Burmese wilderness on the other side of the mighty Mekong. He breathed deeply and slowly, focusing on the fragrance of jasmine in the air, centering his thoughts on the caress of the cool evening breeze. Tranquillity descended as he ceased struggling and collapsed into it.

“Impressive,” said Ron. “You’ve managed to wrestle yourself in submission. Nice work.”

Callum smiled. “Do you mind if we go over everything again? We’re running out of time. If tonight is the night, then the moment we’re waiting for is lurking.”

“I’d love to, but we have company.”

The scene which confronted Callum should have been disturbing. He should have been filled with fear at the sight of the demon horde which had materialized. Lining the perimeter, enveloping them, was a motley cast of dreadful-looking devils of all shapes and sizes.

“It’s going to be quite a show,” said Ron.

Callum’s jaw was slack, forestalling any response from him. He slowly surveyed the setting, careful not to make any sudden movements as though he was facing an angry taipan, coiled and hissing. There were some horrific standouts amongst the crowd, seething in the tension drenched atmosphere. A very large, albeit amorphous, creature was draped over the wall to Callum’s left. To its left and right were black hulks with veins pulsing in their taut muscles. Callum’s eyes moved to the end of this line where he found a gap of at least two metres, not quite beyond the rear of the Giant Scorpion. His assumption they were surrounded was not exactly true. On the other side of the gap stood another collection of what he presumed were soldiers. These hellish troopers were less homogenous than those on the other side: a varied assortment of shapes and sizes, no less menacing in appearance.

His eyes having just arrived at a lavishly outfitted demon wearing sunglasses, who Callum decided must be the other leader, he heard Ron tell everyone assembled that it was time.

“I guess we’ll save the pleasantries and introductions for later,” he said.

The temperature dropped suddenly, and the scorpion laden mist appeared, as a large beast flashed down from the sky to stand face to face with the Scorpion. He drew his sword, prompting a sudden eruption of violence. Callum felt himself dragged away as chaos descended. Screams and growls. Metal on metal. Metal on stone. Metal through flesh. Squealing. Thudding. Grunting. Light flashed wildly, erratically from everywhere and from nowhere. From his position of relative safety, Callum watched as the last demon to arrive simultaneously beat off every attacker whilst hammering away at the statue. Blinding sparks accompanied every strike of his weapon. Blood splattered and splashed. Bodies fell. Dissolved. Reconstituted. Limbs were removed, then regrown. These legions of the damned were indestructible.

KEYWORDS

scorpions, humorous, paranormal, Thailand, demon

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