Ashen Blades: Open Wounds (eBook, ePUB)

The arch-demon, Pride, leads demon-kind in an ancient plan to open a gate between worlds, so the vast armies of Hell might march forth and conquer the Earth. This becomes easier once nuclear weapons become available, in 1945, which have power enough to punch brief holes in reality.However, Pride needs more than just a massive quantity of energy: only a half-demon can stabilize the connection for safe passage. The only option available is a girl that calls herself the Hunter and absolutely hates demons, because Pride made the mistake of murdering her parents when she was three years old. She‘s supported by the Ashen Blades, an organization of human demon hunters that serve as Earth‘s last line of defense in the invisible war between humanity and the ceaseless tide of evil.Pride begins with subtle manipulation and tests of the Hunter‘s capabilities, then progresses to taking hostages, in an attempt to force her cooperation, but he never counted on how stubborn the girl can be, because she‘d sooner die, since the whole of humanity is on the line.In 1945, their conflict takes them from New York City to White Sands, New Mexico and the range the first atomic bomb was tested on. In 1972, they fight another battle in the jungles of Vietnam as Pride works to open a portal in the war zone. In 1986, a summer camp for teens becomes the backdrop as some of the arch-demon‘s minions make a third attempt at opening a portal. In 2024, Pride runs for President of the United States, in an attempt to gain both access to nuclear weapons and sufficient resources to arrange everything, to the last detail, including capture of the Hunter.Will the Hunter and her friends stop Pride once and for all, or will he succeed in opening a portal, allowing him to feed humanity to his mysterious master?Includes the first three volumes of Ashen Blades, as well as the novella, She Goes to Summer Camp. Approximately 322,000 words.