Okay, first teaser. I'm having a lot of fun here, so forgive me if you're less excited than I am.

***

Once there were three brothers, Brandrahoon the vampire, Isranon called the Dawnhand, speaker to spirits, and Waejonan the Accursed, first of sa’necari. Isranon defied his brothers and was destroyed, his descendants forced into the darkness.
St. Tarmus of Lorendon


“The Darkness hunts us and the Light does not want us. Better to step willingly into the fires than to live undead. Better to die with honor than to take a life in the rites. Let each mon go to his own path, but these are ours. And these will always be ours, for this is what we were born to. This is the path the gods have given us, for we are the Dark Brothers of the Light. We are the walking dead who live, for our lives were forfeit with our birth. Forfeit twice over for our choice to live as myn, not monsters, though we are forced to dwell among the monsters. Set yourself apart in your words, in your deeds, in your silence—always in your silence, for silence is your castle. Be as still as the deer in the forest, and if you are fortunate the predators will not notice you. For when they notice you, they will eat you.”
Creed of the Dark Brothers

Beware the Beast

Fear the night my darling child.
The Beast-she hunts where no one walks.
Anksha-demon of the wild.
No mercy there for those she stalks.

Akin to none—though human seeming,
Beware her claw—lest ye turn pale.
Though the Bitch of Brandrahoon’s preening
Can never hide her furry tail.

All Sa’necari fear her well…
She feeds alike on those, and man.
She’ll rend and tear your skin to hell,
Or worse—your soul in mortgiefan!

Sad met this mistress in the dark.
Draw not close and don’t be crude.
For an erring child out on a lark.
Shall meet their end as foul Anksha’s food.

Lycan traditional teaching song

Sa’necari, necromancers, were the only serious rivals within the ranks of darkness that the vampires had. They had stolen all of the powers and abilities of the undead that they could take or control, assuming them through their rites, mastering and perfecting them in addition to their native arcane talents. This had been gained at a price, for they also had the needs and cravings of the undead, the unnatural appetites for blood. After generations of sa’necari being created in the rites, their very genes had altered until more and more of their descendants began to be born sa’necari with those appetites and powers manifesting in puberty. Their rites of blood, rape, and death had become merely the means for increasing their powers through the shattering of souls.

**********************************************************************

You can get the idea of why it's called the Dark Brothers of the Light series and why the first book is called Blood Rites.

Vote for my journal


Other spots to find me:
http://janraefrank.blogspot.com/
http://www.livejournal.com/users/cussedness

Some brief creds, a partial list

articles published in:
Movieline *** Cinefantastique *** Washington Post Book World *** Los Angeles Times *** Los Angeles Drive Guide *** Black Belt *** Martial Arts Weapons *** Monsterland *** Thrust: Science Fiction in Review *** Science Fiction Review

Former MPAA Accredited Journalist.
Currently Active member, SFWA, HWA