Large clouds sat on the horizon as the sun climbed higher overhead. I sighed and inhaled deep breaths of air, enthralled by the amazing view, so much more interesting than the plains of ice and snow that I saw in my dreams.
Olivia baked in the sun nearby while I kept to the shade, still drained by my odyssey.
Wilhelm had not yet returned. Tonight, Olivia promised. Then we would get Caleb back home. Then I would drink the potions for which I had struggled so hard and finally, I hoped, reclaim myself. Then we would figure out where to go next.
Olivia raised her sunglasses and looked at me from beneath a broad-brimmed hat. “What are you thinking about, Shivurr?”
“That I’m lucky to be here. Lucky to be alive, especially after Dublin Gulch.”
“I knew that you’d be fine.”
“Why’s that?”
Olivia shrugged. “Bear was with you.”
“He’s a fighter, but—wait, you sent him to protect me, not just to guide me?”
She smiled. “You didn’t need him, though.”
“Well, he sure did try,” I said, thinking of how he’d charged the giant scorpion. “I just hope he’s all right. I didn’t like leaving him behind.”
“Don’t worry about it,” Olivia said. “He’ll be fine. He’s a special dog.”
An Alaskan shepherd wandering Death Valley would have to be pretty special to stand a chance of surviving, I thought. Still, since Olivia wasn’t worried, I tried to do as she asked. I had enough to do; there was no need to go looking for things to add to my list of concerns.
The Faction was still out there scheming, and the Bodhi Group still searched for me. And there was still the forgotten crisis that had led me to go to Nevada in the first place. The Allfrost was failing and it was needed now more than ever. As an Allfrost Sentinel, it’s my responsibility to restore it, right?
I shook my head as if to clear those thoughts away. All that can wait for another day. Today, I’m with friends in paradise.
I took a sip of my drink and leaned back in my chair, studying the clouds overhead.
I just wish that I could freeze moments like this.
Author’s Note
Shivurr’s adventures will continue in the next novel in the series, which is in progress as of this writing. Subscribe to my mailing list to get news, updates and more.
Thanks for reading Phantom Frost. If you enjoyed it and want to read more of Shivurr’s adventures, please consider reviewing it.
Play as Shivurr in the upcoming video game coming to PC, Mac, and Linux. Stay up to date on the game’s development progress by subscribing to the Wurreal Games newsletter.
Acknowledgements
Special thanks to my beta readers for taking the time to read the book and provide invaluable feedback.
Lorelei Pierce
Mark Gabriel
David Kuik
Book cover by Damonza.com.
Editing by Clio Editing Services.
About the Author
Since he was ten years old, Alfred has wanted to write and publish a science fiction/fantasy novel. In the years between, he has been an Olympic freestyle wrestler (winning national and international championships), a computer scientist (M.Sc.), a software developer and consultant, and a video game developer.
He lives with his wife, Lorelei, in Canada, where staying frosty comes easy half the year.
Subscribe to Alfred’s mailing list to get news, updates and more. You may also contact the author at: alfredwurr.com.
Twitter: @alfredwurr
Facebook: alfredwurrauthor
Copyright
This book is a work of fiction. Characters, names, locations, events, goods, services, and organizations are either inventions of the author’s imagination, or being used in a fictitious manner. Nothing herein should be construed as having occurred in reality or reflecting, or intending to reflect, actual specific actions, events, or characteristics of real-world persons, places, or things. Any resemblance to real-world persons, living or dead, organizations, or events is purely coincidental.
PHANTOM FROST
Copyright © 2019 Alfred Wurr
All rights reserved.
The publisher has chosen to make this novel available free of Digital Rights Management (DRM), so that you can enjoy it on your own personal devices.
Your purchase grants you the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to read the text of this eBook, on screen, for your own personal enjoyment. Beyond that, no parts of this book may be reproduced, published, read, posted, scanned, distributed, stored, or shared by any means, or used in any manner without the express written permission of the author, Alfred Wurr, except for brief quotations in book reviews. Requests for permission to reproduce parts of this book may be submitted to www.alfredwurr.com.
This book has been registered for copyright in Canada and the United States. Both Canada and the US are part of the Berne Convention. The Berne Convention extends copyright protection among the 171 signatory countries, meaning all countries agree to respect and enforce copyrights from the other member countries. Without copyright, the great movies, books, video games, music, art, and other creative works we all love and enjoy would not exist, and what a sad, dystopian world that would be.
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Published by Wurreal Games.
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ISBN 978-1-9992022-1-7 (paperback)
ISBN 978-1-9992022-0-0 (eBook)
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Contents
Title Page
Welcome
Dedication
Chapter 1: Lunar Crater
Chapter 2: I Was Detained
Chapter 3: Unto the Allfrost
Chapter 4: Stay Frosty
Chapter 5: Ain’t Near Enough
Chapter 6: Tonopah
Chapter 7: May We Come In?
Chapter 8: Car Trouble
Chapter 9: Dungeon Master
Chapter 10: Pool Party
Chapter 11: Jackpot
Chapter 12: Pizza Guy
Chapter 13: Snow Day
Chapter 14: Total Recall
Chapter 15: Are Those Flames?
Chapter 16: That Poor Dude
Chapter 17: Never Heard of Her
Chapter 18: The Wrong House
Chapter 20: Signs of Struggle
Chapter 21: Knock, Knock
Chapter 22: Collateral Damage
Chapter 23: The Gods’ Honest Truth
Chapter 24: No Man’s Island
Chapter 25: Homecoming
Chapter 26: Hue, Are You?
Chapter 27: Return of the Snowman
Chapter 28: Emergency Exit
Chapter 29: Shoshone
Chapter 30: Dublin Gulch
Chapter 31: Tiger by the Tail
Chapter 32: Enemy of My Enemy
Chapter 33: Can’t Bear to Go
Chapter 34: Lucky to Be Here
Author’s Note
Acknowledgements
About the Author
Copyright