Prophecy of Gods and Crows

Prophecy of Gods and Crows Clan of Shadows #1 C.D. Britt Phoenyx Publishing This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, and events in this book are the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any similarity to real persons, living or dead, is coincidental and not intended by the author. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means without the prior written permission of the author, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law. Copyright © 2023 by C.D. Britt www.authorcdbritt.com Cover Artwork by GermanCreative Editing by EFC Services, LLC. Published by Phoenyx Publishing ISBN (eBook): 978-1-7372652-8-3 ISBN (Print): 979-8-9872432-2-0 Content Warning Dear Reader, Thank you for taking a chance on my book! This entire book shifted and changed during the writing process until the end product was nothing even close to what I had planned. Yet, it has been a labor of love, one that holds more of my soul than anything I’ve written so far, but I must ask that you take your time and read through the content warnings. I am a huge advocate of mental health, and if anything on this page could potentially trigger you, I ask that you do not continue reading. Trigger Warnings: · sexual content · religious trauma · religious cults · witch prosecution · domestic violence · child abuse (past and present by family member) · emotional abuse · scenes of war · and death Again, please take care of yourself and only continue reading if you feel comfortable in doing so. All my best, C.D. Britt Contents Dedication Map 1. Chapter 1 2. Chapter 2 3. Chapter 3 4. Chapter 4 5. Chapter 5 6. Chapter 6 7. Chapter 7 8. Chapter 8 9. Chapter 9 10. Chapter 10 11. Chapter 11 12. Chapter 12 13. Chapter 13 14. Chapter 14 15. Chapter 15 16. Chapter 16 17. Chapter 17 18. Chapter 18 19. Chapter 19 20. Chapter 20 21. Chapter 21 22. Chapter 22 23. Chapter 23 24. Chapter 24 25. Chapter 25 26. Chapter 26 27. Chapter 27 28. Chapter 28 29. Chapter 29 30. Chapter 30 31. Chapter 31 32. Chapter 32 33. Chapter 33 34. Chapter 34 35. Chapter 35 36. Chapter 36 37. Chapter 37 38. Chapter 38 39. Chapter 39 40. Chapter 40 41. Chapter 41 42. Chapter 42 43. Chapter 43 44. Chapter 44 45. Chapter 45 46. Chapter 46 47. Chapter 47 48. Chapter 48 49. Chapter 49 50. Chapter 50 Stay in Touch! Also By Acknowledgments About the Author To all the women before me, their voices unheard, this book is for you. Chapter 1 Bryndis Kenneally had just slipped between the cool sheets of her bed as night relinquished its hold on the small desert town. The sun was just beginning its trek across the sky as it broke over the horizon, but the familiarity of another day ended when the warning horns rang instead of the typical church bells that announced the beginning of morning service. The only reason for the city guards to sound the horns was one that made her heart pound as her skin grew clammy. Running to her window, she tripped over her bed sheet, catching herself on the sill and earning a splinter in her palm for it. Her concern was not about the small pain, but about what was happening on a much larger scale down on the street below. Something that rarely happened in their small town, and the last time it had, she’d lost her entire world. The stifling heat radiating from her window did nothing to stop the chills moving along her skin as she took in what the horns meant. The gate was opening. Looking through the dirty window, sand having accumulated along the panes, she watched as the last true member of her family, her cousin Jace, stepped out of the church doors. Just as her father had done ten years ago. Her mind moving back and forth between two very different times in her life, she watched Jace, the town doctor, donning the same gear her father had to make the same trek. The exact same type of mask her father had worn ten years ago on his final journey past the gate slipped over a different face. In a tribute to their god, the leather bull mask was adorned with brass horns that glinted in the sun and one glass eye blacked out in tribute. That same mask now covered the face of the man who was the last of her family. Her throat tightened as the same brown hood went up over his blond hair, taking all that identified Jace from the rest away as he became a symbol of the end of Bryn’s world. Identical to what her father had once worn and died in. The town scrios, the leader of the Church of Baleros, stepped up next to her cousin and nodded as he affixed his own mask, before pulling the hood of his brown cloak up to cover his salt-and-pepper hair. The two vastly different-looking men were now indistinguishable from each other after having donned the religious regalia. Uniformity was the town’s unofficial motto. The town religion forbade anyone or anything to stand out, which was why their entire world was painted in the dullness of brown and gray. To be different in their community could very well get someone killed should the town decide a person was acting or standing out at the behest of a demon or witch. Bryn pressed her fingertips against the glass, tracing the path her cousin walked as she prayed. Not to the god that the town would have her worship, but to some unknown higher power. There had to be something, some deity, who was more than what this town indoctrinated their youth to worship. Someone who welcomed everyone, not just their chosen few.