Month: February 2025

Hello everyone! hope you enjoy this excerpt from Chapter 13 of Intergalactic Mind Games:

Meanwhile, Isabella is escorted back to her cell by a Soldier of Royalty.
As she walks by Anderson, he asks, “Are you okay?”
Isabella turns to answer him, but Ace grabs her arm in a jealous rage
and pulls her toward him.
“Are you kidding me, dude?” Ace shouts. “She’s with me, not you!”
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Isabella assures everyone, but Ace and Anderson are not listening. Both men are locked in an intense staredown.
“I was just asking her how she was, man! Relax!” Anderson aggressively responds to Ace.
Ace points his finger in Anderson’s face and, with teeth clenched, angrily shouts, “I am so tired of you!”
“Get that finger out of my face!” Anderson yells, swatting Ace’s hand away.
“All right, all right.” Ace cowers as he puts his hands up, backing away.
Anderson sees Ace backing down and turns to talk to Isabella when . . .
BANG!
Ace blindsides Anderson with a punch to the back of the head.
Anderson is dazed but still on his feet.
Before anyone can intervene, Ace clutches the back of Anderson’s
head and thrusts him, face first, into the vision screen, causing the glass to shatter everywhere.
Anderson lies on the ground and feels himself starting to fade. He cannot hear anything except a loud ringing between his ears as he slips in and out of consciousness.
He sees Elmer and Billy Bob standing over him with a look of concern, while Ace looks to be throwing insults as Isabella holds him back. Suddenly, everything becomes blurry and then eventually goes dark as Anderson falls unconscious.

Hello everyone! hope you enjoy this excerpt from Chapter 12 of Intergalactic Mind Games:

The Intergalactic Team Games is a living board game type competition.
The entire battlefield is transformed into a triangular board with various odd-shaped symbols depicted on it.
Each team starts from the bottom end of the triangle with the objective to get to the top of the triangular board.
One team consists of three small extraterrestrials with sphere-like heads, black oval eyes, and tiny openings for noses, mouths, and ears.
Their gel suits cover up their steel grey skin.
The opposing team of four is of reptilian descent. They are tall, stout
humanoid crocodiles in gel suits ready for battle.
The jumbo screen presents symbols for each team at random that match those on the triangular board, instructing the participants to land on the marked symbols. If the same symbol appears for both teams, both teams will be forced to oppose one another for that spot. The board also displays objects of monsters, meaning the contestants not only face one another on the battlefield but also killer beasts when called upon. The game continues this way until there is a winner, or in some cases, survivors.
“I think I get how this game works,” Anderson says.
“Ya do?” Billy Bob replies, more confused than ever. “Wonder if they gotta manual with instructions on how to play. And what’s up with all the triangles on this here planet?”
“The first test challenge we had, the tug-of-war, was probably to see how strong we are and how we work together as a team. When Dean and Praagan were limited to using their hands, that was probably to see if we can follow the rules. Darm and Bundo’s fight likely was to see how we work individually. Billy Bob and Elmer, your challenge must have been to see how our team does as a duo. Maybe it was also to see our compassion level since we had something else fight the battle for us or to see how we interact with the beasts,” Anderson explains, thinking out loud. “Every challenge we’ve seen is to mentally and physically prepare us for the Intergalactic Team Games. The game looks intense; teams have to play on instinct, which is why we need the challenges to prepare us.”

Hello everyone! hope you enjoy this excerpt from Chapter 11 of Intergalactic Mind Games:

“Ahhh!” Dean screams in anguish as he awakens. He finds himself
lying in a hammock with his right leg from the knee down in a pail filled
with boiling hot water.
“It’s okay, it’s okay,” a woman sitting beside him says. “Leave your
ankle in there. I’ve put a burgundy enchanted vine in the pail; it has
healing powers. It won’t make your ankle a hundred percent better but
likely eighty to eighty-five percent. Just give it a few more minutes.”
Dean examines his leg and squints in pain. He then peers over at the
woman, who stares back at him, and in her alluring voice implores, “Please. Trust me.”
Dean nods before asking, “What’s a burgundy enchanted vine?”
“There is a tree located at the center of the Corpse Jungle that has been taken over by burgundy enchanted vines. These vines are magical, with healing powers only being one of its gifts. Rumour has it that the tree was here before the jungle, and it wasn’t until after the vines took over the tree that the jungle grew around it.”
She then offers him water from her canteen and a pouch of food to
eat, consisting of berries and branches.
“My name is Neemyn-K,” the woman says tenderly.
Neemyn-K comes from planet Kearilia. Keariliaons are almost
identical to humans in appearance, with the only physical difference being their pointy ears and nose.
She has warm, sincere amber eyes, long, black lustrous straight hair,
and a honey skin tone. Neemyn-K wears a shabby aqua blue one-piece
outfit—a collared blouse connected to a knee-high dress—with white
polka dots, scruffy orange knee-high boots, and long faded orange gloves that go from her hands to just past her elbow.
Neemyn-K is strong-minded and strong-willed with an optimistic
attitude. She is kind-hearted and always willing to help those in need.
Dean looks around and sees that he is in a small hut. The hut is a small,
enclosed dwelling where the walls and roof are made of branches, leaves, vines and logs from fallen trees.
The ground is composed of exposed dirt, with giant leaves spread
around like mats. A few large rocks are used as chairs around a table made from two smaller rocks with a plank of wood balanced across them. Dean is lying in a hammock that is tied amongst two logs planted deep into the soil, working as pillars to keep the roof up.
“Thank you,” Dean says with appreciation. “If not for you, I would
have died out there.”
Neemyn-K smiles before replying, “You’re welcome.”
“I’m Dean. I was sent to the Corpse Jungle by that son of a . . .”
Dean stops himself, realizing his emotions are still high. He gathers his
composure and continues, “Sorry, I shouldn’t be cursing, especially in front of such a beautiful lady.”
Neemyn-K giggles as the attraction between the two intensifies.
“Where am I exactly?” Dean wonders.
“The Compound of Light,” Neemyn-K answers. “Just like yourself,
I was also ousted to this life-sucking jungle. It was horrible. It happened
about six months ago. There were eight of us abducted from my planet, but we all got separated once we were banished. I was lucky because I found this community—a community filled with different life forms—and they took me in. It’s a community for the Banished Crew; that’s what we call ourselves. It’s a place where we look out for one another and survive.”
“Did anyone else from your team make it here eventually?” Dean asks sympathetically.
Overcome with grief, Neemyn-K puts her head down before responding, “No.”
“I’m sorry,” Dean comforts her. “My team is still battling in the palace. Hope they don’t end up here.”
“Yes, hopefully they can make it back home,” Neemyn-K responds with encouragement before insisting, “I have to introduce you to Majics.”
“Who?” Dean asks curiously.
“Majics, our community leader,” Neemyn-K explains. “He was banished here many years ago and created this camp. If not for him, none of us would last out here. He’s a true father figure to us all. I’ll introduce you once you’re feeling better.”
“I’d like that,” Dean says with a grin, and the two continue talking
throughout the day and into the night.

 

Hello everyone! hope you enjoy this excerpt from Chapter 10 of Intergalactic Mind Games:

Emperor Pryme rises to his feet to address the challengers. “For this
challenge, your fate will be in the hands of another. We have secured
six creatures from the Corpse Jungle, and each of you will select your
champion. The beasts will battle to the death, and the surviving creature will secure victory for their team.”
Several Soldiers of Royalty go into Pryme’s Pit and wheel out six crates
into the stadium, each one holding a different creature from the Corpse Jungle.
The first crate contains a raptor-looking beast called a Haridonyx.
It stands at seven feet tall with a flat round snout, and a sharp spear-like tipped tail. The Haridonyx is brown and has razor-sharp claws.
The second crate contains a Chamuida, an animal resembling a
unicorn. It is yellow with a long bouncy blue mane, two exquisite horns,
four strong legs, and two short, diminutive arms.
The third crate harbours a predator mirroring a tiger. This orange and
black striped killer is called a Dayrylla and is a larger version of a Bengal
tiger with deadly spikes along its back.
The fourth crate contains a flying bird-like species called a Winghwant.
The flying hunter resembles a vulture but is much larger in size with dull red and green feathers. What makes the Winghwant deadly is the highpitched sound it makes to disorient its prey and deem them defenceless. The only way to subdue it would be to have it muzzled.
All that looks to be in the fifth crate is a large grey boulder, but unlike
boulders on Earth, this one is alive. It does not have arms or legs, but it
has a visible eye, mouth with thin lips, and jagged teeth. Its nose and ears are simply holes hidden in its rock formation.
This life form is called a Jakamrock. It cannot run or grab its prey but
can roll over and crush its victims before devouring them.
The last crate contains the creepiest of them all—a giant ten-legged
spider. This alien arachnid is called a Sporachnia, and it stands at a
whopping ten feet tall.
“We select the Haridonyx!” Figerress chooses on Team Shelorin-2’s
behalf.
“Very well,” Emperor Pryme acknowledges. “Team Earth-7, have you
decided on your champion?”
“Which one?” Elmer whispers to Billy Bob.
Billy Bob, frozen in fear, mutters, “S-s-s-s-spider . . . big . . . huge . . .
creepy . . . crawly . . . spider! I hate spiders!”
“We choose the Sporachnia!” Elmer yells.
“Really? The spider-lookin’ thing?” Billy Bob asks.
“Sure,” Elmer says. “Maybe the Haridonyx is scared of spiders too!”