Novels by J. Amadeus

Underneath the Blight Lagoon, VeiledMaxim appears in a blur; slowly gaining shape and weight as every grain of his existence is poured into this new plane.I didn’t expect Paraiso to be damp, cold and dark. Father, have you forsaken me? He thinks as he fights to get his eyes used to the environment. For a moment, he seems to be in a yawning space suspended somehow between hazy stone and water.“This is not where the dead go, soft-skin child. It is my home.” The voice emanates from two huge gems at the far side of the cavern, onyx in color and glistening like the night sky.VeiledMaxim finally blinks enough to adjust to the dwelling’s soft blue light, which spills from luminescent plants clustered in the water and parts of the cavern walls. The air he breathes is as pure and refreshing as cold spring water.He manages to focus clearly on the talking gems, which reveal th

“I see them…” hisses one of the painted hunters among the branches, his voice seemingly carried by the vines to his companions nearby. His arm is tense as a drawn bowstring, the venom-tipped javelin in his hand has never failed him. He knows this with confidence. EmeraldEyes looks from the speaker to the other points he has placed his hunters and solitary warrior. He waits patiently to spring their long-practiced trap; honed for generations to bring down anything from ancient, gargantuan predators, to herds of beasts that would yield weeks of meat. All other eyes glance to him in the shadows of what will soon become green hell. “Why didn’t EmeraldEyes choose me?” SpearTongue grumbles loudly enough for CopperTongue to hear. “I am our party’s best tracker!” A clubbing slap echoes through the trees. “That is why you are still considered a small horn, sister. Your skill may be grea

“They walk in our jungle to take what is sacred to us.” A massive bronze scaled lizardfolk hisses.“I see them enter the edge of our lands, making a path for themselves. They use their magic to bend the will of our jungle, their weapons take the life of any who oppose them. The scales of my body cannot hide the color of anger when they walk on the earth from which our trees grow.” He continues.The tribe’s elders and warriors gather closer to hear CopperTongue’s story. “This time, they come to steal the shining plants at the Great Mother’s Lagoon,” he adds.“They are not ours to begin with,” answers one of the elders.“Have our brothers not given their lives for the Great Mother? Are we not the protectors of her temple home? Do we not shed blood to protect her blessed plants from other tribes?! Why should we treat outsiders any differently?” The young leader counters.