when i was in Lincoln High School in Brooklyn New York City. I was the Son of New York and led the Lincoln High School to win the New York State Championship 2 years in a row (2001 and 2002)
In those two years, I got Mr. Basketball of New York 2 times, and the best high school student in the United States and i also got other honors.
Even the Owner of the New York Knicks joke about that once i participated in the draft the knicks will pick me. 
*****
follow me on IG @dunknd0nut

NARRATIVE of WARD COURIER
September, 2007
SOUTH WALES, NY

I should introduce myself. I'm Trevor Ward Courier, the voice of this book. I usually go by Ward. So you can visualize me, I'm a white guy about about six feet high and one-seventy heavy. I look like someone of my ancestry, a European mutt: Irish, Scottish, German, and English, so far as we know. I have brown hair, blue-green eyes, a sharp nose, and kind of a long skull. I am an English teacher and department chairman at an independent boarding school in rural Western New York.
I experienced a lot of what you are going to read in these pages, and when you see the word "I" or "me" in here and it's not part of a quote, the observations presented should be mine. I have a pretty good handle on the things I didn't see from interviewing some of the other players. Those I can imaginatively recreate for you, and they will be in the third person voice and often the present tense. I write those scenes as if they're happening in a film.
This is going to be two rambling, discursive books, put into one for the purposes of e-publishing. They are not going to have the tightness of the literary masterpieces I admire, ones with that sense of no word out of place and none that should be added or axed. You may even find a few typos. I keep finding them, along with awkwardnesses and blunders. But now that I've decided to write it, I have to get this story out.
This book is going to hop around in a couple of different plot tracks that took place over the span of five years. Things were happening at different times across the Americas, and from the way things came together in the end, I figured the best way to present them was in their rough chronology. A certain portion of this book, too, is comprised of my published writings exactly as they appeared, so you can see what there was in them that drew the official interest that brought me into the action. I will do my best at keeping them clear so you can keep it all straight.
I have a master's degree in British literature and know my way pretty well around European lit in general. I have a side-interest, though, that is my real niche of specialization in life: the paranormal. I'm the authority in my home region, upstate New York, though largely due my handful of books and the lack of any serious competition. I'm a reasonable scholar and interpreter of paranormal subjects and situations in general.
I have the local reputation of being a psychic detective, which I do nothing to encourage. Possibly because it is the handiest thing for people to get their heads around, it is impossible to talk people out of thinking it. I don't like false titles, but the impression certainly helps my research. I get called in on cases I would never have heard about otherwise. Lest you start getting images of the caped Dr. Strange or Dion Fortune's fictional Dr. Taverner, though, I should clarify that I am more of a historian and folklorist. I am no exorcist, either. Wouldn't touch the stuff without a Hell of a lot more training, as in, a career's worth.
There are plenty of ghost hunters in the upstate, some of them reasonably prominent. If you want an expert at running around in the dark with surveillance gadgets, any one of them would be better than I am. The upstate likewise has loads of psychics, at least people who say they are, plus UFO-geeks, exorcists, gurus, mystics, cult-leaders, spiritual healers, and representatives of just about every alternative -ism you can think of. Western New York, after all, was the home of so many alternative religious cults and communities that early in its days of white settlement it was nicknamed things like "the Burned-over District" and "the Spirit Way." It was as if the first observers thought there could have been something special about the territory itself. This is also classic Seneca country, and the insights of one of their prominent young elders is a major factor in the events these pages unfold.
I, however, am none of the above. I'm a profiler. I operate toward the paranormal with an almost Cartesian - "I think, therefore I am" - system of affirming by doubting. I'm like Peter Sellers' Inspector Clouseau: "I believe everything and I believe nothing." I start by presuming that everything I hear is just a report - human testimony. It can't all be true; I can't presume it's all false. I look for parallels in time, place, and tradition, and work back from there toward a consensus of likelihood. While certainty may not await us in any of these subject areas, there is a surprising amount you can learn through these means.
In matters paranormal, I record what people say and interpret what they have written. I try to make my conjecture based on broad patterns, not the testimony of single persons and certainly not on my own feelings or intuitions. I do not discount supernatural explanations for things; I merely save them for the last possibility standing. And I do not project meaning onto incoherent situations, either.
Under the pen name Mason Winfield, I've written a couple books about the supernatural-paranormal history of my home region, Western New York, as well as other books on the War of 1812 and the traditions of the upstate Native American League of Six Nations, the Iroquois/Hodenosaunee. I also have a website and publish many articles in magazines and papers in a typical year. Some people are convinced there really is a Mason Winfield. Hah. Does that sound like a real name? Mason Winfield? Who would name their kid Mason Winfield?
There are other people in upstate New York who write about paranormal subjects. My real niche is my broad base and my historic, objective take on the people, places, and events in the supernatural-paranormal past and present of my home region. If somebody wanted a crash course in the upstate paranormal, I would be the natural person to come to. If somebody wanted help interpreting any regional development that seemed related to any paranormal subject, I would typically get that first call.
One morning in September 2007 I checked my mailbox in the faculty lounge and spotted one of the notorious pink notes used to record messages for the faculty that come in through phone calls. This one was a summons to meet with Prescott Burns, our venerable headmaster, right after lunch in his office. "Prez," we called him, or "PB." There were variants among the faculty, like "Peanut Butter," and, "the Sandwich," and "PB-and-J," which of course evolved into just "and-J," sounding often like "NJ." "Talkin' to the Sandwich," one of us might say about heading to a meeting with him, or even, "Going to lunch," or "Brown-bagging it." My colleagues are inveterate nicknamers. Even people like me who don't pick up nicknames anywhere else get them here. If you're sensitive, don't work here.
Because of my initials - TWC, which I use to sign the countless passes and memos we exchange every day - I'm often referred to as "Cable Guy," after Time Warner Cable. Sometimes it's shortened to "T-Dub," or just "Cable." Sometimes it's "Larry," after the comedian, "Larry the Cable Guy." When I was a kid I went by my first name a lot, and people who have known me for a long time often call me "Trev." My mother has always called me "Trevor."
Sometimes a call to the boss' office is a trouble-sign, but I couldn't think of anything this one could be about. I hadn't skipped a study hall or gym duty, had a major fight with a student or colleague, spoken indiscreetly to a trustee, or shown up massively late for anything. At least not recently. That I could recall. I went in as a blank slate.
It was a bright afternoon about 1:45. I found PB in the little lobby of his spacious office conducting a meeting with the math chairman and the bookstore manager. He had his non-confidential meetings here.
I always liked the way PB dressed, like the classic New England headmaster. That day he had on dark grey pants, a powder blue Oxford shirt, and a brown herringbone tweed that went really well together. I could have done without the bow-tie - I've never once worn one - but that was an occasional given with PB. His full head of impeccably clipped white hair was a living landmark on the campus. It stood out against a crowd of campus walkers like a torch in the darkness. He got up when he saw me and met me at the door.
"Ward, I've got a call in from Ted Bennett. He's the head of the local FBI. He's asked me about you and I told him you're no terrorist. He'd like to speak to you in his office in the city. Can you get in there to see him sometime soon?"
"Well, sure," I said. "Any idea what it's about?"
"I'm pretty sure it's got something to do with one of your books," he said. "Sounds like a research question and he'd like to discuss it in person."
"I'll call him," I said.
"If you can do anything to help Ted out, I hope you'll give it due consideration," said Prescott Burns. "His dad was on the Pennsylvania with me when we were both just a little younger than you. And give him my best. I haven't seen him since he was in Sunday School."




Author:
Author, teacher, storyteller, and supernatural historian Mason Winfield studied English and Classics at Denison University, earned a master’s degree in British literature at Boston College, and studied poetry and fiction at SUNY Buffalo with professor emeritus and MacArthur grant recipient Irving Feldman. He has written or edited fourteen books, including the regional sensation “Shadows of the Western Door” (1997) and “Iroquois Supernatural,” co-authored with Michael Bastine, on the traditions of the Six Longhouse Nations (Inner Traditions International/Bear & Company, 2011). Several of his surveys of upstate folklore and paranormal tradition may be found at the website of Western New York Wares: www.buffalobooks.com. He may be reached at www.masonwinfield.com.

An anatomically perfect human jaw fashioned of diamond-hard quartz crystal is uncovered at an Ohio burial mound and sold on the underground antiquities market. Shortly after, three pothunters are found dead.

A mysterious new drug suspected of South American origin surfaces in Buffalo, NY. Its unprecedented psycho-tropic effects include the momentary activation of ESP. 

Blind, speechless, emaciated street people start appearing in many parts of the world. An urban legend-cycle forms around them, and the name of a murderous old cult, “the Whistlers” attaches to them.

An archaeological team at a Mayan site reports finding a bizarre artifact and vanishes. 

An upstate schoolteacher’s book of New York legends and folklore foreshadows these developments and more. 

   These are the threads – plus his affair with a maddening woman – that draw narrator Ward Courier into the international adventure of occultism, terror, Native American tradition and onrushing prophecy that is Mason Winfield’s anticipated new novel THE WHISTLERS. By the time the picture of THE WHISTLERS becomes clear, we are ready to believe in a sinister conspiracy that could predate Atlantis and even hail from another world.

Everyone who was focused on the Cannes Festival heard the news. In foreign countries, not a lot of people were interested, but indie film fans knew that Qin Guan had won the Best Actor Award of the 56th Cannes Festival.
He was the third Chinese actor to get that award after Ge You and Liang Chaowei. Everyone wanted to toast to that.
Qin Guan’s female fans went crazy online. His fan club was expanding at a high speed. His official fans were as many as 100,000. Most of Qin Guan's acquaintances were frightened. They hadn’t expected their son, fellow classmate, and friend to win the award. Only the word "f*ck" could express their sorrow.
...
"Got it!" Rongzhi shouted with sparkling eyes after working all night long. He had finally found out who Blaire, the freelance writer of The New York Times, actually was.
Then he discovered his apartment address and IP address through the local network station. Finally, he invaded Blaire’s computer.
Counterfeiters always saved the original photos or documents in a folder that they never opened in their whole lives. Rongzhi found Blaire’s secret in an encrypted folder.
"Show me your secrets. OMG is waiting!"
Rongzhi rubbed his hands happily. Then he opened the folder and checked it out.
"What the f*ck... What’s that?" Current affairs… Entertainment gossip… Rumors... Real news were twisted into completely different reports.
There were 40 fake reports in total. Blaire had been publishing them in The New York Times for more than a year. It seemed that The New York Times, the newspaper with the highest sales volume in America, published unverified news quite often. Blair was a frequent writer of the newspaper. What a joke!
If the chief editor was careful, he could have found the loopholes. However...
Emboldened by his initial success, Blair had continued his unscrupulous fabrication.
Rongzhi took an excited breath and copied all the proof. Like a dedicated professional, he sent it to both Qin Guan and Vivian. As soon as she got everything, Vivian posted it on OMG, complaining openly about her idol.
Yes, that’s right. Complaining!
Qin Guan's romantic life was discussed heatedly on the forum by people interested in gossip. They were all really happy about the news.
In America, such stories were common among both ordinary people and stars. Female fans though, who tended to be perfectionists, couldn't accept that.
Childhood sweethearts? You cheated on her as soon as you won the award! Besides, that girl was not even beautiful!
They had a unique opinion on Chinese beauties. They preferred dark skin and thick lips, so Li Bingbing did not match their taste.
The story changed really quickly though, when everyone found out about the fake news fabricated by The New York Times. It was unbelievable! Now everyone knew about the fake news published by the most popular newspaper in America.
In a few minutes, the netizens had gone crazy. The striking news were on OMG, where everyone gathered to spread it.
In 10 minutes, the editors of all the mainstream media and portal websites had heard. Phones rang again and again. Will Ryan, the chief editor of The New York Times, rushed into his office.
The directors of all the sections were crowded inside, although it was not working hours.
"Talk… Anyone got through to Blair?"
Ryan rubbed his temples tiredly. The aggressive, achievement-oriented man was in big trouble.
"According to our technical staff, the material online is real. Blair is a fraud."
"We have to make an announcement tomorrow to correct the fake news..."
"Blair stole information from other media. Now we have to negotiate with those writers and publishers."
"The victim of his latest story was the Cannes Best Actor winner. His lawyer has sent us a letter..."
The calm, efficient man seemed overwhelmed by the bad news. He lowered his head, and then looked up again. Before he could say something to his startled staff, the phone rang again.
"Chief editor, you have a call from the board..."


Qin Guan was reborn and sent back to his final semester in High School 18 years ago. Getting a second chance at life, he works hard to turn things around and eventually become a Prince Charming. What will his life be like the second time around? What will he have to go through? How will he succeed in turning from a loser into a Prince Charming? Read this story carefully and find out!

So it was normal for Jake to become one of the crowd's favorite players, the people who criticized the Los Angeles Lakers team for swapping Eddie Jones, Elden Campbell and Derek Harper had disappeared and everyone praised Jerry West for yet another good choice for the Lakers team.
Soon Jake and the players of the Los Angeles Lakers team went to the court for the game to start, the opponent in that game was the New York Knicks team, this was the first game of the Los Angeles Lakers team facing the New York Knicks team this season.
The New York Knicks team got off to a good start this season with 16 wins and 13 losses in 29 games, even if they didn't win many games Jake was very careful with the New York Knicks team that would surprise in this year's playoffs reaching the final.
So if the Los Angeles Lakers team reached the playoffs final this NBA season it was very likely that the opponent was the New York Knicks team, in the New York Knicks team there was one of Jake's great NBA idols who was Patrick Ewing who was also one of David Falk's best customers.
Patrick Ewing was always an excellent player and stood out in the current team of the New York Knicks, this team New York Knicks had one of the worst attacks of this season, but also had one of the best defenses which would make this game more balanced if the team defense New York Knicks managed to stop the Los Angeles Lakers team's attack.
"Welcome to everyone who came to watch another game this NBA season, this is a game between the Los Angeles Lakers against the New York Knicks, they are two great teams that will face each other today."
"The New York Knicks team is doing well this NBA season and has one of the best defenses this season, with 16 victories and 13 defeats, the New York Knicks team wants to win this game more, the highlights of the New York Knicks team are the many times All-star Patrick Ewing and Allan Houston who have been playing very well this season."
"The Los Angeles Lakers team is currently the best team with the best attack and a good defense too, with 28 wins and just 2 losses this season, the Lakers team is a favorite to win this home game."
"With highlights from Shaquille O'Neal, Kobe Bryant and Jake Smith, the Los Angeles Lakers team can win this game if the best attack overcomes the New York Knicks team's strong defense in this game that promises to be balanced."
The Los Angeles Lakers team would start that game with Jake playing as PG, Kobe Bryant playing as SG, Rick Fox playing as SF, Dennis Rodman playing as PF, and Shaquille O'Neal playing as Center.
The New York Knicks team would start the game with Chris Childs playing as PG, Allan Houston playing as SG, Latrell Sprewell playing as SF, Larry Johnson playing as PF, and Patrick Ewing playing as Center.
The game started and Shaquille O'Neal got the first ball possession for the Los Angeles Lakers team, Shaq passed the ball to Jake who started organizing the first attack for the Los Angeles Lakers team.
Jake advanced with the ball and passed it to Kobe Bryant on the right, Kobe received the ball and Allan Houston arrived pressing on defense, Kobe held the ball for a while and passed it to Rick Fox on the left.
Rick played well in the last game and was more confident to help the Los Angeles Lakers team in that game, Rick received the ball and Latrell Sprewell came pressing on defense, Rick tried to trick Sprewell with a feint, but Sprewell was not fooled.
Rick held the ball a little and passed it to Jake in the back, Jake received the ball and Chris Childs came pressing on the defense, Jake held the ball a little and passed it to Shaq further on the left.
Shaq received the ball and Patrick Ewing came pressing on the defense, Shaq used his strength to advance closer to the painted area, but Ewing was very strong too and did not let Shaq go too far.
Shaq managed to make the spin and tried the hook shot to make 2 points for the Los Angeles Lakers team, Jake knew that in this game Shaq would have a lot of difficulty playing against Patrick Ewing and he would have fewer points even playing normally and not being replaced.
In this game Jake and the players of the Los Angeles Lakers team would have to think better about how to make the attack moves to overcome the strong defense of the New York Knicks team, achieving victory in that game was important for the Lakers team.
In another move, the New York Knicks team was in the attack, Childs advanced with the ball and passed to Houston on the left, Houston received the ball and Kobe came pressing on defense, Houston held the ball a little and passed it to Sprewell on the right.
Sprewell received the ball and Rick came in to press the defense, Sprewell managed to trick Rick with a feint and advanced into the area, Sprewell advanced and tried a mid-range shot to make 2 points for the New York Knicks team.
The two teams started pressing in the attack at the beginning of the game, the strong defense of the New York Knicks team prevented the attack of the Los Angeles Lakers team to attack normally and with the weak attack of the New York Knicks team, even the defense of the Los Angeles Lakers team not being very good I could still defend.
So the game was balanced in the first quarter as many expected it would happen, they would be the best players of both teams who would decide the outcome of the game if they played well.
Jake advanced with the ball and passed it to Rick on the left, Rick received the ball and Sprewell arrived pressing on the defense, Rick held the ball for a while and passed to Kobe on the right, Kobe received the ball and Houston arrived pressing on the defense.
Kobe returned to play well in the last games and he was helping the Los Angeles Lakers team to win in the last games with Shaq not playing very well, Jake also realized this and started to pass the ball over to Kobe.
Kobe tricked Houston with a feint and used his speed to make a crossover and move left, Houston managed to recover and tried to defend against Kobe, but Kobe did not try to advance to the painted area and tried a mid-range shot to make 2 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers team.
In another move the New York Knicks team was on the attack, Childs advanced the ball and passed it to Sprewell on the right, Sprewell received the ball and Rick arrived pressing on defense, Sprewell held the ball for a while and passed to Houston on the left.
Houston received the ball and Kobe came on to defend, Houston tried to trick Kobe with a feint, but Kobe was not fooled, so Houston decided to pass the ball to Ewing later on.
Ewing received the ball and Shaq arrived pressing in defense, Ewing made a feint and managed to spin and advance to the painted area, Shaq was deceived and tried to return to defend, Ewing advanced made 2 more points with a dunk for the New team York Knicks.
Ewing and Shaq were excellent players in attack, but nowadays Ewing was much better defending than Shaq and that made Ewing have the advantage in that game, in the dispute between these two players nobody could help much.
The first quarter ended with the Los Angeles Lakers team winning the game with a small points advantage, in that first quarter Jake played for 12 minutes and had 8 points, 3 assists, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals.
"The first quarter ends and the Los Angeles Lakers team is winning the game with a small advantage in points, yet the game was well balanced between the two teams in that first quarter."
"The Los Angeles Lakers team played better in that first quarter because their defense managed to stop the attack by the New York Knicks team, and the defense by the New York Knicks team failed to stop the attack by the Los Angeles Lakers team which is the best attack of the season."
"It's true, in the second quarter the New York Knicks team has to put more pressure on the attack and try to stop the Los Angeles Lakers team from making the points, I think this is difficult because Jake is playing very well and Kobe too."
"Yes, Rick also seems to be playing well in this game and Shaq is managing to attack even with Ewing's strong defense in the game, we will continue to follow up to see if the New York Knicks team defeats the Los Angeles Lakers team in that game."
In the second quarter just as the commentators spoke, the New York Knicks team tried to put more pressure on the attack and defense, luckily as the commentators said the Los Angeles Lakers team players were playing very well.
Jake advanced with the ball and passed to Kobe on the right, Kobe received the ball and Houston arrived pressing on the defense, Kobe held the ball a little and passed to Rick on the left, Rick received the ball and Sprewell arrived pressing on the defense.
Rick tried to deceive the opponent with a feint, but Sprewell was not deceived and continued to defend, so Rick decided to pass the ball to Jake further back, Jake received the ball and Childs came pressing on the defense.
Jake made a feint and deceived the opponent, Jake stepped back and tried a shot from outside to make 3 more points for the Los Angeles Lakers, Childs still tried to defend, but he was unable to hinder Jake in a move that Jake made several times in the game.
In this game as the players of the Los Angeles Lakers team were playing well, Jake was not trying as hard as he did in the last games that were difficult for the Lakers team to win, Jake was beginning to feel tired after the last games.
In another move the New York Knicks team was on the attack, Childs advanced with the ball and went to Houston on the left, Houston held the ball and tried to deceive the opponent with a feint, but Kobe was not deceived and kept pressing in defense.


A person who lived the life to the maximum even being a person with paralysis, always played his favorite sport basketball, even if alone, follow the story of Jake Smith to be happy with a second chance.
Jake who suffered a lot in his life, was unable to use his legs, lost his mother, was even more optimistic, before his death he received help from the fate that will be his system when he returns to age of 10, now that Jake can do it all over again, he will become a pro at basketball, and give a better life to his mother, and do everything he can to be happy

Image by Varun Kulkarni from Pixabay

To keep myself able to concentrate on writing, I'm doing lives on twitch, if you can follow me there and if you can and have a prime of amazon, subscribe, my name there is goodlionbr, https://www.twitch.tv/goodlionbr

"Speeding up the growth? How? Can the growth of Yggdrasill be sped up? By absorbing 5,000 kilometers of Jinkela that contains NPK?"
Bru was taken aback. It was beyond his knowledge.
"No such thing, but I have other ways which are more complex. We can plan slowly. I'm not in a hurry."
Sherlock said, "Before that, complete the updates that we discussed to improve the gamers' experience."
"I understand, Lord Sherlock. Do we have to care about Victoria City?" Bru asked.
"No problem, Lilo knows what she's doing," Sherlock said casually.
…
"What shall we do? Does anyone have a good suggestion?"
Lilo frowned as she sat behind the table while gazing at the rows of employees in front of her.
They were the Elf Untouchable, the Dwarves Hill and The King, Grand Priest Baldhead, Knight Lancelot, and her loyal bodyguard Hamsters.
"Shall we have our meal first?" Fat Otaku said happily.
"Pom!"
Big Boss gave Fat Otaku an elbow jab.
Lancelot frowned and said, "Duchess, are you saying that you want to have a full-scale war with the Duke of York and take over his territory, resources, and population? Is that what you mean?" 
"You have to find a successor to the York Territory. It's best if it's a male successor. Then you can get married to him before assassinating the current Duke of York. After, you can denounce his successor and make use of your successor to declare war. Once you've achieved victory, the York Territory will belong to your husband. In other words, it will belong to you," Lancelot said.
This was a method the nobles used to usurp territory. Besides the King's bestow, marriage was the easiest way to gain a title.
The plots and conspiracies to gain power were innumerable. Most of the nobles didn't die of old age or war, they were poisoned or killed in various ways.
It would be easy to write a book called "100 Ways for a Noble to Die".
"But Sherlock doesn't have the power to bestow titles."
Lilo frowned.
"Sherlock is…"
Lancelot was bewildered. From her age and appearance, Lilo didn't look like she would be married.
Perhaps she was already married?
Big Boss edged closer to Lilo's ear and reminded her, "Lord Sherlock has the power. He has the power to bestow titles in Eternal Kingdom."
"I have a new idea! A perfect plan that nobody thought of!" Second Boss shouted at the side.
"First, we find a female successor to the York Territory. We then let the female successor and Grand Priest Baldhead get married. Afterward, we assassinate the current Duke of York. We can denounce his successor and use the female successor to declare war on the new Duke of York. After achieving victory, Grand Priest Baldhead will be the Duke of York. Grand Priest Baldhead is our employee, so his territory belongs to Duchess Lilo!" 
Big Boss, Fat Otaku, and Lilo applauded. They were in awe of his wisdom.
"Wait. Is that any different from what I said? And there are many problems, Duchess!" Lancelot immediately rebuked.
"Let's not discuss whether a female successor is around. Most of the female successors are already engaged. Moreover, Grand Priest Baldhead isn't able to get married! If your subordinate acquires a territory, because both you and your subordinates are of the Duke and Duchess level, he will become independent. The territory won't belong to you."
"No problem. I'll not be a Duchess, I'll be a Queen. My Duchess title will now be Queen Victoria!" Lilo waved her hand and said casually.
"Duchess, the Queen title isn't bestowed like this…"
Lancelot was about to explain that the throne had to be acknowledged by everyone, including the sacred crowning by the Church, when Grand Priest Baldhead said excitedly, "Grand Duchess! I'm willing to perform the coronation! I was once a Bishop!"
"If this is the will of the Holy Lord, to let you create the Sacred Kingdom, I'm willing to help you! You've shown many miracles! The reviving Humans are the best proof. Only God and the Messengers of God are able to let them revive!"
"Is a Bishop required for the coronation? Conduct the coronation immediately. I'm going to be a Queen now."
Grand Priest Baldhead said, "No problem. Please open up your Castle so that your citizens may witness your coronation ceremony!" 
"Is that necessary?"
Though Lilo was wary, she ordered the three Hamsters to open up the Castle door.
The gamers who were working and preparing for war saw the Castle door open. The Hamsters were shouting, "Come inside to watch the coronation ceremony! Duchess Victoria will be crowned Queen Victoria!"
The group of gamers flooded the Castle. Lilo was going to be crowned Queen. How could they miss such an exciting Plot?
The gamers could ransack the Duchess' Castle at the same time! Previously, Lilo had forbidden the gamers from entering!
However, when the gamers entered the Castle, the items weren't interactive. The system was prepared against the gamers.
When most of the gamers arrived, Grand Priest Baldhead said, "Do you solemnly swear to govern the Victoria Kingdom and the citizens, manage their lands, and respect the laws and customs?"
Lilo nodded.
"Do you have the compassion and the will to let the law and justice be handled by the Judge?"
Lilo pondered for a while and shook her head as she said, "I'm the law."
"Wait, wait a moment! Grand Duchess, please pretend a bit…"
Lancelot wanted to remind Lilo, but Grand Priest Baldhead said, "May the Holy Lord bless you! With wisdom! With the royal law! With the Holy Gospel! You'll be Queen Victoria!"
After Grand Priest Baldhead finished shouting, he took out a small vial from his pocket. The vial contained Sacred Oil, which was a transparent and oily liquid.
Grand Priest Baldhead dripped some Sacred Oil on Lilo's head and looked around. Then, he created a crown from a piece of paper and placed it on Lilo's head.
Grand Priest Baldhead stepped back and looked emotional.
The gamers started shouting, "Queen Victoria! Queen Victoria!"
Hill and The King said that they would create the most beautiful crown and scepter for Queen Victoria. Even Untouchable, the Elf, promised to create the most beautiful plant-based costume. 
Lancelot was deep in thought.
Grand Priest Baldhead said, "Great Queen Victoria, I can't get married, but Knight Lancelot can do so. If you wish to arrange for Lancelot and a noble lady to get married, you have to bestow him a title."
The gamers began shouting wildly.
"Glamorgan! Glamorgan! We'll draw a Glamorgan for him!"
"I nominate him as Count Glamorgan!"
"I second that."
…
"Very good. I'll bestow you the title of Count Glamorgan, Count Lancelot!" Lilo lifted her head proudly and said to Lancelot.
…
Goldshire Town outside Victoria Forest.
A group of Knights was resting in the small town while the servants of the Knights took care of their horses. In one of the largest rooms, the commander was planning for a battle.
This was originally the house of Goldshire Town's mayor.
"This is Victoria City."
A golden-haired man wearing magnificent armor pointed to Victoria Forest's location on the sand table. 
Goldshire Town was two days' journey from Victoria Forest.
The middle of Victoria Forest was cleared and replaced with a small house to represent the buildings.
"No, the area is twice the size," the advisor of the Duke of York said as he extended his hand and expanded the forest markers.
"What? They expanded by two times in less than a month?" the Knight at the side asked in disbelief.
"I know that you went there the second time, but is that true? According to the Knights from the first visit, the area wasn't that big."
"I know that it's hard to believe, but it's true. There's a wall on the outer boundary," another Knight said as he drew a circle.
The area of Victoria City was expanded three times.
"No problem." The golden-haired Knight waved his hand nonchalantly and said, "Even if it expanded by two times, we have 3,000 Knights. We'll defeat them!"
"That's right. I'll feign a frontal attack with 500 Knights, while the rest will lay an ambush in the forest outside. When they pursue us outside the forest, you'll surround them. Remember, don't let anyone off! Kill them or capture them! This is an order from the Duke of York!" the golden-haired Knight said coldly.


Sherlock is a new generation Dungeon Lord whose ambition is to become the greatest Devil King and building up the greatest Dungeon in the Underworld.
He summons a group of other-worldly goblins who give themselves strange names, form cliques, engage in commerce, and even fight among themselves.
They call themselves—Gamers!

Daniel is now 16 years old.
He's writing his fourth novel.
It's the only novel he's felt good about.
He started it around 3 months ago, but he had the idea around a year ago.
Daniel spent a lot of time planning it out and revising the original draft.
Although, Daniel still had his doubts on how effective he was at getting his message across.
𝘐𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘦𝘯𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩?
Daniel constantly wanted to get better.
To a certain extent, he would long for the feeling of hopelessness when he wrote something horrible, this would make it a good challenge for him. He loved to mold the junk in to something beautiful, or at the very least something palatable.
It was therapeutic to make something bad he wrote in to to something that he found worthy. It would fill him with glee whenever he improved his writing with his own two hands.
Daniel felt like he could do anything as long as he set out to do it.
He could make countless worlds, as big as the galaxy or as small as a coffin.
He enjoyed making something that no one else could, to explore an idea that no one else had thought of. And he could do this infinitely, there was no shortage of ideas.
********************************************
After about, a month of grueling revisions, Daniel sent in his novel to about 3 publishers.
One of them was the biggest publisher in the country, PolarBear Publishing. The other was McAllister Publishing. The third was a smaller publisher that's a part of PolarBear called Warriors Publishing.
The title of Daniel's novel was called "The Quiet Man." 
The novel starts out with a man on a park bench who is sitting quietly on a bench in front of his apartment. 
the man begin to list everything that is dear to him
Items in his apartment
material things
He talks about their placement in his apartment as he has memorized the position of everything in it.
Not everything is tidy or straight,
He does this is to throw people off, he doesn't want others to know that he likes things orderly
Many people are illustrated or talked about by this man
he talks about the lives of other people who walk by his apartment
he knows about their daily lives
he talk about his co-workers, he talks about what they hate, about what they love
they think that he is a normal man, he keeps to himself.
but he is a murderer
their is a man in his apartment, dead, 
he wants to keep his daily life
he likes his daily life
ever since he was little, he didn't seem to have much emotion, he didnt cry when his mother died, his father dislikes him, sometimes his father would beat him when he was drunk.
his father apoligized when he got older, he forgave him, he was never mad at him
his father lived a fullfiling end of his life, he died very content
he thought about his boss, his boss reminded him of his father, but his boss was not as good of a man.
his boss was a serial rapist, he knew the routes that his boss would take, he would **** women all over new york. 
His boss was very smart, he would make sure to days off to "take care of his mother" who had dementia. And even then he would only go on few occasion to satisfy his lust. One time he even did it during work hours, saying he had business plans.
**************************************************************************************************
There were many clever aspects of Daniel's book, the most interesting was the relationships he had with those that were close to him. 
Often times, the main character would leave hints for people regarding the rapist and his identity, but no one ever catches on. 
One time, he even told his drinking buddy, that it was his boss. 
His friend just laughs it off.
************************************************************************************************
Warrior Publishing
"..."
Carl Jacobs was reading a manuscript sent in by a newbie author. His name was Daniel Hernandez.
"A Quiet Man"
This novel had been in the backburner for 2 weeks. 
The whole office had been backed up with new manuscripts ever since one of their novels blew up all over social media for its crass and less than favorable view of women in the US. 
This was also partly due to the author being a young woman, only 23 years old.
They had been quite excited about its release, but it even blew 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 their expectations. The book, "Caterwauling," even made it on the best sellers list. They were expecting it to get in to the top 10.
But, that's not what took Carl Jacobs attention at the moment. What had Carl glued to his seat was the book he was holding in his hands as it was so unbelievable that he had trouble understanding if it was a newbie author who wrote this.
Every part of it was filled with information, that made you want to understand more about the story. Every single aspect of this novel made you interested. 
Even the details about mundane things, like a comb on top of a desk, was interesting to him. 
He figured that whoever wrote this must have been writing for quite some time.
Immediately, after reading it, he decided to contact the author, rushing to be the first to contact him before his manuscript was snatched up.

Inspired by The Great Storyteller. I wanted to create my own version of this type of genre. There really aren't enough of things to read. A story about a young, up-and-coming author named Daniel. 

Daniel is a 16 year old boy, who likes to write and wants to publish his first book. Although, he didn't grow up with a whole lot of friends, the only thing that worries him is making his writing better.



*Note: This book contains strong language and some dark scenes.* 

... 

"Dan." 

"Dan..." 

"Dan!" 

Dan opened his heavy eyelids, exposing a set of hazel eyes. 

'What's all the ruckus about?' Dan thought. 

He raised his head from the counter while adjusting his glasses and stared sleepily at the perpetrator. 

He was too sleepy to even glare. 

"What the hell Philip?" he said groggily. 

The said person just smirked, happy at his accomplishment of having successfully woken him up. 

"You have a customer, " Philip winked at Dan. 

"And she's pretty cute too, " he gestured to the door, "at three o'clock." 

The almost stiff movement of Philip's neck and his eyes oddly reminded Dan of a chicken with New Castle Disease. 

Now that he thought about it, he actually saw a chicken in his dream. 

'But why on earth would he have dreamt about a chicken?' 

He sighed, adjusting his glasses again. He turned his head lazily to the entrance of the bookstore. 

He saw a short, slightly curvy twenty-something-year-old with glasses walk into the store. She was wearing mittens and a very fluffy head warmer—the kind with a ball at the top. Dan's eyes widened and he felt his cheeks instantly warm up. 

He averted his eyes as she walked up to him by the reception. 

￼ 

 He cleared his throat and straightened. 

"Welcome to Elaine's Bookshop, what book would you like to read today?" he said with a smile. 

"Good afternoon. You have a lovely shop here." She returned the smile, which revealed a tiny dimple. 

"I want to buy two books actually, " she said softly. 

 Dan nodded. 

"Alrighty. Can you tell me their names?" 

"Bittersweet' and 'In The Last Days'. You know, the books by the twin best sellers?" 

Dan looked up, eyes wide. 

He'd never actually read the books, and according to several top Newspaper companies—including the New York Times—referred to their books as beyond remarkable. 

"Yeah, sure." 

"Do you have them?" she asked hopefully. 

He noticed her overly excited face. 

He smiled. 

"Yeah, give me one minute." 

Two minutes later, Dan was back with both books. He wrapped it and handed it over to her. 

She paid for the books and smiled kindly at him. 

His heart raced for some unknown reason. 

"Thank you," she said and she walked out the Bookshop. 

He heard someone cough beside him. 

"Ahem!" Dan blinked and turned to face Philip. 

"I think you got a little drool on your chin, " Philip jested and Dan rolled his eyes. 

"She's cute, " Philip continued. 

Dan sighed, closing his eyes. Philip scowled a little. 

"You've been single for too long, " Philip said. 

"Does it even matter who I like? You always steal them from me anyway." 

"Awn, cheer up Dan. I'm sure there's someone out there for you, probably some unlucky, unfortunate chick." 

Dan opened his eyes, they lowered. 

"Maybe, " he stated quietly. 

"Uh, what was that?" Philip gave him a scrutinizing look. 

Dan pretended to yawn. 

"Never mind, " Dan replied. 

Philip eyed him suspiciously then went back to his chirpy self. 

"Alright, suit yourself." Philip went back to counting the money in the cash register. 

Dan checked his wristwatch, it was closing time. 

"Philip, I'll be leaving, it's 10." 

Philip checked his wristwatch. 

"Wow, so soon." 

Dan removed his cap and shook his hair, freeing it. A few strands got into his eyes. 

He tried smoothening it, but it seemed his hair had other plans. 

Giving up, he left his unyielding hair, grabbed his cellphone on the counter and moved over to Philip's. 

"Aren't you ready?" Dan asked. 

"No, I still have one or two things to wrap up around here." 

"You go, I'll lock up, " Philip chirped. 

Dan nodded, grateful. 

"I'll see you tomorrow then. Good night." Philip nodded already back to counting the money. 

Dan grabbed his coat from the rack and walked out of the shop. 

He was met with the full force of the winter air. Streetlights filled the streets. 

He sniffed and put his hands into his pocket. 

He needed a smoke. 

Dan made his way to a dark alley, near his apartment. 

As usual, he found druggies and stoners there. Just the place he needed to be. 

He needed to warm himself up. 

"Sup D, what's good?" A very lean guy with a lot of piercings walked up to him. 

They called him Slim. Slim had AIDs, but that had never stopped him from smoking himself to stupor. 

"I'm K, " Dan replied giving him a handshake and a shoulder hug. 

"Whatcha need? You know anything you need I got, " Slim grinned at him. 

His teeth were in poor condition due to excessive smoking, but he didn't care. 

"I just need a little blunt real quick." Dan could feel his tremors. 

"Hey Jimmy, get my guy here a stick, " Slim ordered. 

"Yes, boss!" Jimmy, a boy no older than seventeen replied back. He seemed new. 

Less than twenty minutes later, Dan had smoked four blunts. He was on his fifth. 

He took a short drag and sighed—it was one of pure satisfaction. 

His tremors were long gone. 

By the time Dan left the place, it was already past midnight. He dragged himself up the stairs to his apartment. 

Locking the door, he removed all his clothing, save his underwear and threw them in the laundry. 

He brushed his teeth and went back to the bedroom. 

He removed his glasses and placed it by his bedside drawer. He fell face-first into his bed and moments later, his soft snores echoed in the small apartment. 

√√√√ 

The next day, Dan woke up feeling discouraged as usual. 

He sighed deeply. 

He sat up and grabbed the hand mirror by his bedside drawer and examined his face...it was blurry. 

He rolled his eyes. 'His glasses.' 

He reached for his glasses and put them on. 

His chestnut hair and boring hazel eyes came into view. He spread his teeth wide—they were pearly white. 

No one would have guessed he was a smoke addict. 

His teeth were one of the decent things about his entire features and he really worked hard to keep it that way. 

He was also 6'3—another bonus. 

His alarm went off. He turned it off and checked the time...it was 6:30 am. He sighed. 

He hated how he always woke up before the alarm. 

He laid back down and closed his eyes. 

The thought of going to shower filled him with such dread...because that would mean getting out of the comfort of his bed. 

Apparently, he couldn't always have his way. So, he dragged himself out of bed, brushed his teeth and took a quick shower—all in the span of ten minutes. 

He grabbed his phone, poured his cat—Tom—some leftover Chinese take out from two nights before and went out through the door. 

His apartment was on the fourth floor. The elevator was busted so he had to walk all the way down. 

Where he worked—Elaine's Bookshop—was not that far from his apartment, which was something he was really grateful for since he didn't have a car. So he walked there every morning. 

That morning was particularly cold, so he'd worn his coat. 

Fifteen minutes later, he got to work. He hanged his coat and looked around for Philip. 

Unsurprisingly, Philip was already at work. 

Dan secretly wondered if Philip slept in the store. He dismissed the thought with a smile. 

"Morning, Philip." 

Philip squinted at him. 

"Well, morning to you." 

"Is Elaine here yet?" Dan asked as he signed in. 

He then sat behind his counter at the reception. He didn't wear a cap. 

"Hey, has that girl been in here again?" Dan asked Philip. 

"What girl?" Philip asked clueless. 

"You know, the one from yesterday?" Dan averted his eyes. 

A smirk was plastered on Philip's face. 

"You mean the cute one that bought the two best sellers, " he stated. 

"Yeah, " Dan said quietly, placing his pen beside his register, then he looked up at Philip. 

"Actually, she literally just left 30 seconds before you walked in, " Philip said. 

Dan's eyes widened. 

"Really?" 

"Yes. She came for a few more christian books, and then she asked for you." 

"R-Really?" 

"She said, 'Where's the cute, quiet guy I saw yesterday?'" 

Dan's cheeks flamed. 

"And?" he asked eagerly. 

"Aaaaand...nothing." Philip deadpanned. 

"What do you mean nothing?" 

"I'm kidding, no one's come by the shop." 

He closed his eyes. 

'Calm down, Dan." 

"Whatever, " he muttered under his breath and went back to his counter. 

The bookshop was pretty cosy, he'd always liked the warm lighting and the systematic arrangement of the books by genre. 

There were even a used book section and a cafe where people just came to read and enjoy themselves. 

"Sorry, dude, " Philip said smirking, not sorry at all. 

"You're an a*s, " he said, propping his elbows on the counter and leaning his chin on his hands. 

'Breaking news, a 25m flood has ravaged the entirety of the city of California leaving thousands dead. One as terrible as this has never been see-' 

Dan switched off the TV. 

"Hey, I was watching that!" 

"Not anymore." Dan hated the news, or rather, he hated bad news, which was all they've been watching and hearing for the past year. 

He'd lost his entire family to the plagues. It was a time he'd never forget. 

He was all that was left of his family. 

"Dude, you can't keep killing the TV every time the news comes on, " Philip groaned. 

"Actually, I can. I'm in charge of the remote remember?" 

"Suit yourself, thank God for the internet." Philip picked out his phone and began scrolling through. 

Dan shrugged and went to put on his gloves and apron. 

He began his usual indexing and arrangement of the new books just delivered to the shop. 

He arranged them by genre and best sellers. 

After about two hours, he was done. 

He coughed. 

He was asthmatic and the dust kinda got to him. He removed the nose mask. 

He sighed and began climbing down from the ladder from the impossibly tall bookshelf. 

"Um, hello?" Dan heard someone say from under him. 

He'd turned too fast and lost his grip on the ladder, falling off. 

 His back hit the cedar floor, hard, his glasses coming off in the process. 

He groaned in pain. 

"Oh my God! I'm so sorry." He heard the voice, which sounded too high pitched for his ears. 

"A-Are you okay?" He turned his head and saw someone kneeling by his side. 

Everything was blurry. The only thing he could make out were two small green blobs he guessed were eyes. 

He tried lifting himself up. He groaned out as pain exploded at the back of his head. 

He tried reaching for his glasses. 

"Here." The small voice said. 

He cleaned them and wore them. 

"I'm so sorry. I didn't mean—" 

"What do you want?" he unintentionally snapped. 

Her eyes widened in surprise. He stood and placed a hand on his left temple—it was bleeding. He did the same for the back of his head and thankfully, there was no blood. 

He sighed, lifting the fallen ladder with his other hand. 

He was thankful the ladder wasn't broken. 

"U-um, I'm kind of lost and I need directions, " she said. 

Dan searched the aisles for Philip but he was nowhere to be found. 

'Where's the douche when you need him?' 

"Hello?" the girl said softly. 

He turned to her, annoyed. 

"What do you want?" he repeated thoroughly annoyed. 

"I-I need directions." Now that he had his glasses on, he observed her. 

She had long, auburn hair with striking forest green eyes. 

She was dressed for the cold weather and had on a head warmer. 

He couldn't help but notice she was pale. Too pale. 

Dan huffed. 

"Do I look like a map to you?" he snapped at her. 

The girl's eyes widened and then they lowered. 

"It's alright, I'll go. I'm sorry about your head, " she said, before turning and walking to the entrance. 

She was stopped by Philip. 

"Hello." 

Philip walked towards her. 

"How may I help you?" 

"What seems to be the problem?" Philip asked. 

"It's nothing, I just came in to ask for directions, " she said. 

"It's fine, your colleague already helped me." 

"Colleague?" Philip said puzzled at first and then he turned to Dan who then joined them. 

"Thanks for the help." She averted her eyes and with that, she left the shop. 

Philip faced Dan and glared at him. 

"That's a potential customer you just scared off." 

Philip's brows furrowed. 

"What did you do?" 

Dan's eyes widened. 

"What did I do? 'What did she do?' is what you should be asking." Dan huffed. 

"She just walked out with tears in her eyes. What did you say to her?" Philip pressed. 

Dan gritted his teeth in annoyance, frustrated. 

"Will you just shut the fuck up? She was the one who came in here asking for directions like a two-year-old." 

"Who the hell doesn't know how to use their phones to ask for directions?!" 

"Dude, chill, " Philip said calmly. 

"I am chill, you're just annoying me right now." 

Dan walked right past him and grabbed his coat. 

"Where the hell are you going?!" Philip yelled after him. 

"Anywhere but here." 

He needed a smoke, quick. 

...

Life is unpredictable. 

From being a bookshop clerk and an average individual, Dan is pulled into a world of demons and dark creatures.

Given a destiny he hadn't chosen, he is sinking fast into the pool of misery.

He's all alone.

Will he succumb to the devil and the demon within or find a way to change his fate?

Find out in 'The Sin'.

I live in a strange new world, a invention went wrong and here we all are, you thought times zones could be tricky for zoom calls or online streaming, but no one was prepared for this.

I can understand why someone was trying to create a time machine, 2020 wasn't a good year for anyone, many lives lost, injustices highlighted and much unrest, too many riots.

Now some are trapped reliving it for what seems like forever, by some I mean what had been know as New York is now the state of 2020.

I did mention that if you thought time zones were bad, welcome to time states,  all over the world, different years, some don't loop, I don't understand it but some one out there could.

Now here is the other news of this new world, no veil inbetween worlds any more, that means those who once thought dragons and unicorns weren't real are now finding face to face.

Those that have human forms still tend to hide, can you blame us, to stand and look into another time and witness so much hate, not to mention the stories told to us down the generational line of why a special magic hid us to live in peace.

The story never said how, maybe some time pocket if that is a thing, or a dementionable thing that more then one earth exists at one time in different tones or vibration, frequencies? I am not a scientist, I am a hybrid.

Mom is a unicorn and Dad a dragon, both able to shift to human form, and in that form fell in love.

I shifted for the first time on my 13th birthday under a super blue moon in the warmth of a summer's night at the same time realized my best friend is a hybrid two of a unicorn and werewolf, he didn't end up with a horn he got the mane and tail that glitter mixed with white glittering fur of a wolf, it was a sight to see, he was beautiful with sapphire blue eyes that could leave you in a trance.

According to Warren I transformed a  pegasus, unicorn body and horn with dragon like wings and some special magic dragon breath that heals, found that out when a few of my friends didn't transform and were just human, Kayla got scared and fell back hurting herself, I rushed to see if she was ok but had to slow down when I realized I think she was scared of me, when O got close I saw she was bleeding and I let out a sigh and found dragon's breath in bubbles landing softly on her wounds and they were gone, she got up and  approached me slowly, petting may neck like she pats her horse, I strangely enjoyed it as her touch communicated her feelings and thoughts, a unicorns power.

We have deep empathy from the time we are born but now this was heightened, I could see things not just feel the current emotions but see the experiences that lead to them. I could see and feel the bond she has with her horse, the great care she takes, that's her best friend in the whole world and she feels great peace on their rides together, I felt a tear in my eyes, it was a precious connection to experience myself as she caressed my neck compassionately letting me know she is thankful and sorry she had been scared.

I saw my appearance from Kayla's eyes and was surprised, my teardrop was a rainbow and my eyes not blue like my human form but galaxy eyes, like looking at a nebula upclose that is a dragon thing, when Kayla backed up to look at every one who transformed I saw  us, in human form I didn't feel beautiful but now I did.

Pearl was a black werewolf with what looked like fairy wings, wonder if they can really fly, she looks pretty big as a were wolf considering her small human frame and figure, not tiny but just her femininity yet this wolf form seems male sized, then again we didn't completely know we were magical children.

Hiding in human form our parents never really told us, I guess hoping this day wouldn't really happen but we are in Ontario, we are not in a loop, this seems to have ended up a area of magical beings. However as I think I already pointed out, new to this journal thing, back to the point in human history magical beings have often been hunted, used as trophies some times medical ingredients but I think of they has asked nicely we as magical beings would have more then likely helped them heal, not sure if any one ever asked, I mean look at the mess made by settlers to natives.

In school we learn about history from dinosaurs to current history, greed ruins many lives, the massacres, holocaust, culture genocide, wars and riots, greed may have been behind the time bomb, it wasn't fully understood.

According to the textbook this new world ended up created January 1st 2025, a witness wrote a flash of bright blue light emitted from the ball drop in Time Square New York at 12:01 am, a high pitch sound was heard with it, a force like the bombs dropped in Japan for world War 2.

No one knows the inventor or their why only the how of it being done with the new year light ball and the point of the finished drop, or the perceptions that is the facts, hard to investigate when New York was thrown back in time to 2020, being the epicenter of the United States Covid 19 outbreak, seems like no one from that state can get out, little is under stood about it.

Was it nuclear? 5G? Sound waves on steroids? The witness did mention many suffered headaches and seizures, a few other witnesses mentioned anyone born after 2020 disappeared all together, all accounts gathered were constant in the high pitched sound and wave of blue light, one even highlighted a super blue moon was in the sky with the ball reflecting that light, some believe that suggests a magical component to it, not sure if on purpose or why we came to the human world and not the special pocket as our world had often referred to. More acutely I guess we existed in myth, legend and imagination not seen by all as a different plane of existence.

Imagine a world were Time Zones take on new meanings, where all the creatures of fantasy are real and maybe your neighbor or even yourself.

A mysterious event stull being investigating has occurred to do just that, creating a new world where some are stuck in time loops.

As a magical being must explore what it means to be herself as a hybrid she seeks to understand history, magic and science to be able to join in those who seek to understand what happened.

How could a poor graduate student without any background or connections become successful? With a coaching system? An upgrade? This is not a computer game, but real life we’re talking about!
 
This will be a fantasy based on reality. Dai Li will fight back against all those who would mock and humiliate him with his astonishing and awe-inspiring training skills. From a nobody he’ll try to become the most illustrious coach in the sports world, so join him in proving to everyone who’s the real master here!


Six years later
Noah Cutler locked his car and paused at the entrance to Jimbo's. The last time he'd been here he'd been at a party with Randi Alexander. Six years later he was here for another party, aware she would again be here, and more nervous than he'd been since tracking a Great White off the coast of Australia. 
If he had a lick of sense he'd have turned down Jeff Nagle's invitation to the party, begging off with an overload of work. But the man was still his best friend, despite the fact that they saw each other so infrequently now and that friendship was relegated to phone calls and texts. Luckily his current assignment had brought him back to San Antonio in time to celebrate his friend's birthday with him. Living in New York and traveling the world hadn't given him much chance of that up until now. Or, if he was honest, as much pleasure as he'd thought it would.
But Randi would be there tonight. Randi, with the lush body, the sun-streaked honey colored hair and eyes the color of rich bourbon. The woman he had once thought he'd be spending the rest of his life with. The woman he'd loved. He had replayed their last night together over in his mind so many times he was no longer even sure how much of what he remembered was truth and how much was his imagination. 
What he did know was he had made two major mistakes. The first was expecting her to chuck everything and follow him to New York on what could turn out to be a disastrous career choice. One where she had only uncertain options. The second was not believing in her and her ability to handle herself in the career she wanted. Badly.
He'd just been so terrified of her putting herself in life-threatening situations he couldn't see past that fear. No matter how many times she assured him she would get appropriate training. No matter how many times she told him firefighters always worked as a team and had each other's backs. No matter what she'd said, he hadn't been able to get past that fear.    
They had left things between them so bad, so destroyed, he wondered if they even had a chance to get past all the residual pain. Both of them had been angry, neither one giving an inch. He might have hotfooted it out of San Antonio but he had still kept track of her all this time. Quietly, through Jeff who wisely never asked any questions. He knew she had excelled in her training and in her work. He would have expected nothing less of her. Now she was a proud, newly minted arson investigator and the buzz was she was sharp, insightful and on top of things. It seemed everyone asked for her when an investigation was needed.  
He'd never stopped loving her, or missing her, or wanting her. He hated the way they'd left things but he hadn't come up with a way to fix it. Every time he decided he'd suck it up and fly back to San Antonio to see if they could still repair things, another assignment came up for him. More and more time passed, until it seemed all he had in his life was the job he'd given up so much for and a hole in his heart he couldn't seem to fill.   
Okay, he'd say hello, congratulate her on her success and take the temperature of the situation. Maybe there was a way they could pick up all the broken pieces and put them back together. One problem, though. He still hadn't changed his mind about her and firefighting. Maybe investigators didn't rush into burning buildings but they still stepped into a lot of dangerous situation. So exactly how did he expect to fix this? Could he ever get himself past what he'd done and how he felt about her job? 
If you want her in your life you will, asshole. Suck it up. 
Maybe he should just say hello, congratulate her and move along.
Oh, right. Who was he kidding here? Since he boarded the plane from New York to San Antonio he hadn't thought of anything except her. He wondered if the current story he was working on hadn't brought him back to San Antonio would he ever have made the trip to see her again?
No, because I'm a coward. Besides, she's probably moved on with her life. I'm not even a blip on her memory chart.
A knocking on his car window startled him out of his reverie. He looked out to see Chaz Krieger staring into the car. The man made a rolling motion with his hand so Noah obligingly lowered his window.
"Hey, guy. Long time no see." Chaz stuck his hand through the open window
Noah shook it and nodded. "Sure has been."
"You're looking damn good. Must be all that world traveling."
Noah laughed. "It does spice up one's life."
"So," Chaz drawled, "You planning to sit out here all night? Because in case no one told you, the party is inside." He took a step back. "Come on. I'll even pop for a drink."
"Best offer I've had yet." He raised the window and climbed out of the car. "Let's do it."
The moment he pushed open the door to the bar he was assaulted by the intensity of the noise. The bar was jammed wall to wall with people, a hundred conversations crowding the air. Someone had apparently put some money in the old-fashioned jukebox because a melody was trying its best to make its way through the babble. Three bartenders were working as fast as they could to fill the orders of the people lined up four deep.
Jeff knew a lot of people and most everyone liked him. A lot. He was a top-notch cop, now a detective with the homicide division. He had friends in both the police and fire departments as well as the Texas Rangers. It seemed all of them had turned out for tonight's celebration. Putting a grin on his face, Noah elbowed his way through the crowd to reach his friend who was surrounded by well wishers, all of them it seemed trying to talk to him at he same time. 
"Still Mr. Popularity, I see," Noah teased, giving his friend a light punch to the shoulder.
"Noah! Holy shit, you really did make it." He elbowed some room to give Noah a man-hug. "I thought you'd just continue to be a figment of my imagination."
"Wouldn't have missed it." Then his mouth curved in a lopsided grin. "At least I hoped to make it."
"You're here now, That's what's important." He looked at Noah's empty hands. "No dink? Let's fix that right now." He waved his hand at the bar and shouted, "Hey Jimbo."
Jimbo Gratz, he heavyset man working the center of the bar and the owner of the place,  looked up even as he continued to open three beers and hand them out.
"What?" he mouthed. "You want another?"
"For my friend here." He pointed at Noah. "Corona Gold."
"I'll get," Noah told his friend. "You need to stick here with your admirers."
Jeff laughed. "Yeah admirers. Right." Then his face sobered. "Can you hang back a while after everyone leaves? I'm off tomorrow and we can get a late cup of coffee."
Noah nodded. "Sure. Just enjoy celebrating. Catch you later."



USA Today best-selling and award-winning author Desiree Holt writes everything from romantic suspense and paranormal to erotic. and has been referred to by USA Today as the Nora Roberts of erotic romance, and is a winner of the EPIC E-Book Award, the Holt Medallion and a Romantic Times Reviewers Choice nominee. She has been featured on CBS Sunday Morning and in The Village Voice, The Daily Beast, USA Today, The (London) Daily Mail, The New Delhi Times and numerous other national and international publications.

Controlled Burn Part 1
Montana Wade was home after writing off the past ten years of her life, but she needed one more night of courage before she faced her family. Boone Crider, hotshot firefighter, was burned out from the rash of malicious fires. They thought one night as strangers would cure them both, but the fire they started between them soon became a barely controlled burn.


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