Excerpt: Intent of a Monster (Tentative)

Opening "prologue"-type scene. Karyu is going to be the main antagonist throughout the novel:

Karyu kept his eyes on the double doors but spoke to Dom. “You and Evalina stay out here. I'll deal with the man myself,” Karyu ordered Dom.

Dom nodded, keeping a hand on the small girl.

Karyu went through the doors, tapping them with his heel so they swung shut behind him. The “throne room” appeared empty. The fool didn't even have any protection. He walked the length of the room with a careless, loping stride, almost as if he'd found his treasure unprotected and fully intended to take it for himself.

The throne was black marble and richly padded in overstuffed dark red velvet. Without hesitating, Karyu adjusted his sword and threw himself into the throne with a contented sigh.

Almost immediately, a long dagger flicked just into his peripheral vision and darted across his throat, opening a deep red line from ear to ear. Karyu's eyes widened and he gripped the arms of the throne. A gurgling noise came from the new opening in his throat and blood poured from his neck, drenching and staining his shirt. A few moments later, his eyes glazed over and he slumped back in the throne.

The man wielding the dagger stepped from behind the throne, wiping the blade on his pant leg. McKidd had been the head of the House of Entropy for two decades now. No damned pretty boy was going to take his position from him. “Fool,” he sneered in a thick Scots brogue. “Did ye truly believe ye had a chance? Ye're not even a member of the House and ye thought to arrive directly at the top?”

McKidd turned his back on the Asian man and headed towards the doors. He'd heard that this man had brought friends. His grip tightened on the dagger as he relished spilling their blood as well.

He was halfway down the throne room when McKidd felt a nudge at his back. He froze, his heart leaping into his throat. The only entrance to the throne room was the double doors. He knew there were only two people in the room and he'd killed one of them. Slowly, he turned.

The dagger hit the stone floor, the clatter echoing the through the otherwise silent throne room.

The Asian man stood directly behind him, his sword held out level with McKidd's throat. The white shirt was still crimson with blood and only a scar remained on his throat. To McKidd's panicking mind, it seemed the Asian man had simply appeared out of thin air, not swiftly and silently approached him from behind. “I do not back stab,” Karyu said, his voice dull and even. “Nor do I fight unarmed men. Pick up your weapon.”

McKidd's body was tightened to the point of trembling as he knelt down to pick up the dagger. He slowly stood and in the space of a few moments, had a profound epiphany. Who was this pup? Obviously, he had some kind of tricks up his sleeve but he was still flesh and blood human. McKidd had been the Head of the House of Entropy for longer than any other man alive and that said something. No child was going to best him. His eyes hardened and he tightened his grip on the dagger, vowing not to let it go unless it was wrested from his cold dead fingers. He held it out at the Asian man, feeling the calm, content languor of one who was about to win.

Karyu saw the man's resolve to fight and didn't hesitate. The katana darted out and knocked the dagger from McKidd's hand, sending it flying across the room. He didn't even register the shock in McKidd's eyes before he brought the sword across the bigger man's belly in the back swing.

McKidd dropped to his knees and fell forward. Unlike Karyu, he wouldn't be getting back up.

In a habit that was so deeply ingrained it was practically instinct, Karyu knelt next to McKidd and used his clothes to carefully clean the blade of his sword before returning it to the sheath.

The necessities taken care of, he turned his back on the former Head of the House of Entropy and approached the double doors. He took his time, taking the last cigarette from his pack and lighting it before reaching the doors. He held the cigarette in his lips and pulled one of the doors open.

Dom didn't even flinch when he saw his boss covered with blood, from the fresh scar on his neck down to his upper legs. Evalina, however, seemed shock. Her eyes widened and tears began pooling in them. “Ka-roo?” she asked, mispronouncing his names as small children always did.

“I'm fine,” he said emotionlessly. He turned to Dom. “Where are the others?”

“Down in the main hall, waiting for you,” he answered.

“Let's get out of here then.”

Karyu tucked his free hand in his pocket, bringing his cigarette to his lips as he walked down the stone corridor. The ember from the tip flared and lent the illusion of a glow to his dead, colorless eyes. The low torchlight in the corridor created demonic shadows within the dark curtain of blood covering his torso. Behind him, Dom carried Evalina on his shoulder, the small pale girl in the frilly pink dress contrasting sharply with the darkly scarred, heavily muscled man.

Together, the three of them returned to the hall where they were to meet the men Karyu had allowed Evalina to heal after they had encountered Dom. They were the ones with not only a smidgeon of intelligence but also some fighting ability. Karyu would use them to help return the House of Entropy to the formidable power it had once been, before that fool McKidd had arrived at the Head.

Unlike his predecessor, Karyu had patience and intelligence. He could set up plans and then wait patiently until everything was ready for them to be carried out. After all, he had nothing if not time.