Mythology, Folkore and Fantasy! Today I hand my blog over to the incredibly talented Vashti Quiroz-Vega as part of her Rave Reviews Book Club Tour:
Hi, everyone! Welcome to the sixth day of my virtual book tour. I’m very grateful to all of you who have been visiting the stops and also thankful to the wonderful hosts for welcoming me to their blogs.
“There was no sun in Floraison to torture us. We had brillantes, a time of divine light which was like the warmth of God’s smile. Here on earth, we have to endure days of glaring, fiery light which stings our bodies and perturbs our minds. In Floraison, we had nightglows when light dimmed to a soft glow, which reminded us that God was still near. Here, we have night––the absence of light when we are left on our own. I miss our home.” ~ Gadreel (exiled on Earth)
Gadreel is a popular character from the first book in my Fantasy Angels Series, The Fall of Lilith. She is also a supporting character in Son of the Serpent. In Floraison, Gadreel wrote poems and added music to the lyrics creating songs. Today, I’d like to showcase Gadreel by sharing a couple of short excerpts from The Fall of Lilith and one of her songs.
Excerpt : Goodbye, Dracul
“Have you ceased to believe in our cause?” Satan raised his eyebrows.
Gadreel rose to her feet and moved about, inspecting her fingernails. “I––I thought I would stay behind with the little prince.” She shifted her weight to the balls of her feet.
“Very well, but be certain this time he remains in the cave,” Satan said in a somber tone.
“I shall take good care of him.” She scratched her nose and avoided his eyes.
With a deep sigh, Satan hurried to join the others. As soon as he was gone, Gadreel planned her escape.
“Dracul, you are an intelligent little being, thus, I shall not fret to leave you on your own.” She held on to his shoulders.
“Why must you leave me?” Dracul’s eyes were large and doleful.
She passed her hand over his hairless head. “This may be difficult for you to understand but unlike Lilith, Satan and Samael, I yet wish to return to God’s good graces, and I am unable to obtain pleasure from destroying other beings. I am determined to never again allow Lilith to manipulate me into situations that make me feel unworthy of God’s love. There is good in you, Dracul. Remember that. Hold on to it despite what you see happening around you.” She kissed the top of his head. “Besides, I, too, have little ones like you. I miss them. I need to find them, for it has been too long since I have held them in my arms.”
“I shall go with you and help you find them.”
She kissed him again. “No, Dracul. If you follow me, I shall be punished. You must vow to stay in the cave until your father and mother return. Stay, I implore you. Otherwise my life shall be forfeit.”
Dracul nodded, wearing a frown. “I shall stay in the cave until my father returns.”
When his words of promise reached her ears, she took flight. She flew at full speed toward the beach where she last saw Dagon and her little mermaids.
Dracul followed her with his eyes until he could no longer see her. He lowered his head and sniffed, holding back tears.
When the others returned, they found him alone entertaining himself with a bat pup he found hanging upside down in the cave.
“Where is Gadreel?” Lilith scowled as she looked about the cave.
“She fled.” Dracul said. “But she made me promise to remain in the cave until you and my father returned.”
“What do you mean, she fled?” Lilith’s face flushed a raging red.
“She said she needed to find her little ones––like me.” Dracul looked as innocent as a daisy. His pet bat now hung from one of his horns and he giggled.
“And you allowed her to leave?” Lilith yelled, making him jump.
“Enough! Do not yell at our son! He is an innocent,” Satan said. “It is not his doing that Gadreel abandoned us.”
Excerpt: Gadreel’s Song
Gadreel flew in darkness and in light, only stopping to eat and rest. She did not fear Lilith’s certain retaliation for her desertion. Her mind was focused: she wished to reunite with her little mermaids. She was liberated, no longer dominated by Lilith, whose only thought was to seek revenge on God.
After some time, she arrived at the beach where Fornues was laid to rest, and where she last saw Dagon and her daughters. She tiptoed to the edge of the water and stared to sea. The azure, never-ending ocean was calm and untroubled. It sparkled under the sun, but she saw no sign of Dagon or her children.
Gadreel entered the water. She waded to a nearby flat rock jutting from the ocean. She sat on its surface with folded legs. The ocean breeze played with her curly hair, the color of desert sand in the late afternoon sunlight. Once comfortable, she gazed across the ocean once more certain somewhere underneath the surface her little mermaids swam with their father. She began to sing:
Keenly, I watch my infants’ eyes,
dreading the stares, and soft sighs,
I’m blinded by what they surmise.
They mesmerize; they mesmerize.
Extraordinary off-springs,
Like new exotic samplings,
Shown with Dagon’s unique offerings,
They’re my blessings; They’re my blessings
Soon there dawned an epiphany;
Daughters of our love’s symphony,
Scintillas of our harmony.
True synchrony! True synchrony!
We shared moments evanescent,
When they flourished luminescent.
Now where fishes float florescent,
Is their descent, is their descent.
My heart was lilt in their gaze,
Wilts now in their absence and blaze
Deprived of their love, is to faze
As in a daze, as in a daze.
Emptiness is all fills my core.
My soul burns with hunger once more.
My daughters, I long to adore,
Come to the shore! Come to the shore!
I fear I shall starve, o’er my babes,
Lest their dulcet gaze meet my face.
With time, I’ll be part of this place,
Singing their praise! Singing their praise!
Oh, bring back my mermaids, love-charm!
Come now, or I’ll make loud alarm,
Until my last breath suffers harm!
Cold rocks, no warmth! Cold rocks, no warmth!
Both books in my Fantasy Angels Series are on sale for 99¢! Take advantage of this limited offer!
Bio:
Vashti Quiroz-Vega is a writer of Fantasy, Horror, and Thriller. Since she was a kid she’s always had a passion for writing and telling stories. It has always been easier for her to express her thoughts on paper.
She enjoys reading almost as much as she loves to write. Some of her favorite authors are Stephen King, Michael Crichton, Anne Rice, J.R.R. Tolkien, J.K. Rowling and George R. R. Martin.
She enjoys making people feel an array of emotions with her writing. She likes her audience to laugh one moment, cry the next and clench their jaws after that.
When she isn’t building extraordinary worlds and fleshing out fascinating characters, she enjoys spending time with her husband JC and her Pomeranian Scribbles who is also her writing buddy.
Purchase Link & Social Media:
Twitter (VashtiQV): http://twitter.com/VashtiQV
BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/vashti-quiroz-vega
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Vashti-Q-Author-Page-396515670465852/
Amazon Author Page: https://www.amazon.com/Vashti-Quiroz-Vega/e/B00GTXG5W4/
Son of the Serpent: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07HS4C3B7/
Thanks for supporting Author, Vashti Q. Vega on the release of her latest
read, “SON OF THE SERPENT.” To follow along with her tour, please visit the CURRENT EVENTS page of the 4WillsPub site. To book your own virtual 4WillsPub blog tour, please visit us HERE!
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LG Surgeson is a writer and teacher who lives in a cottage by a river in a little Welsh village with her long-suffering partner and their two cats. She writes novels and articles in the spare time she creates by avoiding the housework and pretending to be a hermit. She likes to write fantasy adventure stories and quasi-autobiographical tales about teaching, which are equally fantastical and no less adventurous but have fewer elves. She also writes articles and blog posts about subjects close to her heart, normally education and mental health. When she’s not writing, she likes to poke about in her garden, pretending to grow things and disturbing the fairies. Her cats like to help. They aren’t good at it.
Immersive fantasy fiction 