Tag: fiction series

The Maze of Mandoran

Chris Hall16 Comments

Maze Garden by Victor Garcia

Sinead awoke shivering in the darkness. She reached for her cloak but it was gone. Panic rising, she felt for the Sword of Elshain, but it was gone too. Then she remembered. She’d either been drugged or enchanted.

The room grew brighter. Stone walls encased her in a small chamber. No window. No door.

Not all is as it seems. Was this an illusion?

She looked up. A picture was forming on the ceiling as if painted by an invisible hand. It was a depiction of a maze. In the centre was a tiny figure enclosed within a solid wall. Sinead rose to her feet, not taking her eyes off the ceiling. The tiny figure moved too.

This must be the Maze of Mandoran; the first of the four final challenges.

She heard a dog barking. The Hound was calling to her! All she had to do now was escape.


Image credit: Victor Garcia on Unsplash

Read the previous episodes of Sinead’s Final Quest

Unto Slumber

Chris Hall21 Comments

pic shows a young woman asleep

Tarron laid a hand on Moonsprite’s neck. ‘She will come with me.’

Sinead began to protest, but the elderly elf spoke: ‘The challenge is for you alone. Fear not, she will be safe.’ Tarron whispered in Moonsprite’s ear and the unicorn whinnied softly.

‘The Hound will accompany you.’ Tarron removed the great beast’s leach. The Hound stood up and shook himself.

‘The Prophesy Book!’ Sinead reached for Moonsprite’s saddlebag.

‘It will be of no help to you in the Great Maze,’ said Tarron. ‘Now go.’

The Hound at her side, Sinead stepped through the archway. The chamber lit up before them. People were feasting, there was music and laughter. Someone led her to a table and gave her meat and bread; people nodded and smiled. The Hound was given food too. Sinead ate with relish but the Hound didn’t touch his bowl. As she slipped into unconsciousness, she realised why.

Image credit: Byzantium by Michael C Hays on Deviant Art

Read the previous episodes of Sinead’s Final Quest

The Hound of Hellidore

Chris Hall17 Comments

The Hound of Hellidore by Chris Hall lunasonline

The hooded figure and the magnificent hound disappeared inside the castle. Sinead and Moonsprite followed, forced to walk singly in the narrow torch-lit passageway.

‘Courage, Sinead!’

The voice echoed in her head once again. She remembered when she’d first heard it: when she’d last gone into battle. But why the welcome and now the warning?

The voice continued. ‘Both good and evil lie within these walls and not everything as it seems. Remember this.’

Up ahead, the figure halted before an archway. The hound sat bolt upright, its attention fixed on whatever lay beyond. As Sinead and Moonsprite approached, the figure lowered its hood revealing the smiling face of an elderly elf. His green-tipped ears twitched merrily.

‘I am Tarron. I bid you welcome. This is the Hound of Hellidore. He will lead you to the Great Maze of Mandoran. Choose your path wisely and you will pass through unscathed.’

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Read the previous episodes of Sinead’s Final Quest