The Door of Shadows
Author: ZoeCopeman
Genre: Children's Fantasy
Wattpad Book Blurb:
Camilla Waters has fought knights, tricked trolls, and saved dragons, well, in her head at least, but she never once thought any of it would happen in reality. But all that changes when an old elf pops out of the crack of her foster parent's living room wall. Enslaved since his youth, the elf has one last task to fulfill until he is granted his freedom. When Camilla jumps through the rift between worlds, the elf finds himself on a journey to return her home.
With the help of two dwarves with nothing to lose, these two unlikely partners must embark on an adventure through a place much more dangerous than our own. After years of searching, the queen has found the door to the shadow realm. And as a secret unfolds before her, Camilla discovers she may just be the only one who can stop this world of fairytales from plunging into darkness.
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Guest Post: The Door of Shadows Playlist
(Note: The songs here were chosen in a particular order to correspond with the mood/events of the story as they unfold. In no way should these songs be taken seriously)
1. Aniron by Enya
2. Runaway Train by Soul Asylum
3. Ramble On by Led Zeppelin
4. Bad Moor Rising by Creedence Clearwater Revival
5. Over The Hills And Far Away by Led Zeppelin
6. Killer Queen by Queen
7. A Cloak of Elvenkind by Marcy Playground
8. Immigrant Song by Led Zeppelin
9. May It Be by Enya
10. Good Riddance by Green Day
Excerpt of The Door of Shadows
Chapter 4
“We should have left before we came through the gates,” Hymrag grunted. He pounded his jug on the rickety wooden table, and his frothy brew slopped onto the floor.
The younger dwarf searched the inside of the Tittering Troll. With each glance, his disdain grew.
The elder dwarf merely stroked his long beard, and sighed. “I’m sorry, Rag. I ain’t thinking straight as of late.” He lifted his hands to his temples and rubbed them, catching the curls of his red hair through his fingertips. It pained Hymrag to see his cousin as such, but Gerlong had always been in a strange state between happiness and sadness. So much so that the younger dwarf could no longer tell his elder cousin’s emotions apart. “We needed the pay, and I screwed it up.”
“Not your fault, Long,” Hymrag murmured, though he could still hear a hint of criticism in his own voice. He had to take another long swig of his drink before being able to look his friend in the eyes. “I was sure the humans were going to backstab us either way. In my eyes, you chose the best case scenario.” Hymrag gave his cousin a pat on the shoulder across the table, but he could not look into Gerlong’s eyes. The younger dwarf jostled the scanty coin bag on his belt in his unease. It felt increasingly empty after every draught.
“What if they got caught?” Gerlong banged the table with his own pint. “That Raas, if he was down here, I’d –“
“Shh!” Hymrag hissed, as five Ivaoan guards turned to face them from the other end of the smoky room. They jostled about at Gerlong's loud voice. The younger dwarf waved his hand back at their scowling faces. “You want to alert the whole bar of our contribution to an escape?” he muttered through a clenched smile. “With our luck, the humans will start calling us magical. Have our heads up in the square by sunrise.”
“Eh, I didn’t give the girl my dagger. Must have nicked it off me somewhere along the main road,” Gerlong whispered. His broad, infamous grin stretched across his face.
A cold wind brushed through as a dark hooded figure opened the door behind Gerlong. The face was masked and Hymrag watched the furtive figure slink down between the humans as it headed to the back of the pub.
“That cold gets me every time!” Gerlong exclaimed, pulling his scarf up and around his head so that all Hymrag could see of his cousin were his beady black eyes and burly bush of beard. “Winter must be coming early this year. I hope it’s not like the last one. Nearly starved crossing the mountains!”
“Yeah, well just keep it down. I’d like to get out of here in one piece!” Hymrag said. He craned his head to get view of the hooded figure, but the man was out of eyeshot.
“Oh, so now I’m being blamed for Taffon? As I recall, a certain hothead – Hey, where are you going?” Gerlong stuttered as Hymrag started to walk towards the bar.
“If you’re going to start like that, I need another drink.” The younger dwarf waved his cousin off and pushed his way through the men. He was tall for a dwarf, but the top of his head barely brushed the humans’ shoulders.
“Boy loses a toe in a bar fight and thinks he’s tougher than dragon's hide,” Hymrag heard Gerlong chuckle over the din of the crowd.
