Read The First Wizard by Jeffrey L Kohanek #Epic #Fantasy #SwordandSorcery

Title Of Book: The First Wizard
Series: Dawn of Wizards Book 1
By: Jeffrey L Kohanek
Genre: Fantasy
Sub-Genre: Epic Fantasy, Sword and Sorcery, Coming of Age

Blurb:

Before wizards, the races of magic held the power…
and enslaved humans.
Ian and Vic are brothers. Their lives are simple, and while they might long for excitement, happiness can be found in a hard day’s work, a sunny day, or the smile from a pretty girl.

Their lives are turned on end when their village is attacked and they are taken as slaves, destined to labor under the watchful eye of their captors.

The strife that had long dominated much of the world had found them.

Things would never be the same.

Read on and discover how the first wizard came to be.

From international bestselling author Jeffrey L. Kohanek comes a fantasy epic filled with twists, magic, and discovery, certain to keep you enthralled and repeatedly saying “just one more chapter.”

Excerpt

Vic worked alone, as he always did, while the other miners opened a new tunnel parallel to his. He finished loading broken rock into a bin, leaned into the cart, and began pushing it toward the central chamber. An hour had passed since he last visited the egg, yet the strange and alluring object firmly occupied his thoughts. A small part of him railed against those desires, insisting that his obsession with the egg was unhealthy, but that voice was drowned out by one declaring that he had nothing else good in his life. He would continue spending time with the egg regardless of what Ian said.
He crossed the spacious, empty chamber where his crew had worked for many weeks before branching off to a side tunnel. As he entered the tunnel leading to the crusher, the ground shook, causing him to stagger and grip the cart, lest he fall. Another tremor tore through the mine, the second one even more violent than the first. Chunks of stone, dirt, and debris rained down from the cavern ceiling. Vic dove over to the wall and pinned himself against it while squeezing his eyes shut and covering his nose and mouth. When the debris settled, he opened his eyes to dust swirling in the dim light coming from the neighboring chamber. The cart and floor were coated in dirt. Chunks of stone lay strewn about.
As the noise settled, screams came from deeper in the mine.
Alarmed, Vic ran back into the central chamber and discovered the new tunnel entrance partially blocked by a fallen beam. He ran to the tunnel mouth. Only darkness waited within.
“Can you hear me?” Vic shouted.
Brady’s voice came from the darkness, his tenor strained. “Vic! Help!”
Vic spun, raced for the nearest of the five torches lighting the chamber, and lifted it from its sconce. He returned to the tunnel and held the torch over the fallen beam. He saw Brady’s face just ten strides away. A rock half the size of a wine barrel lay across Brady’s leg. Farther back, Colby lay on the floor, his forehead bloodied. A pile of rock blocked the way just beyond where Colby lay.
Adrenaline and concern overcame Vic, allowing him to toss caution aside. He climbed over the beam and wedged the torch between two fallen boulders. Squatting beside Brady, Vic gripped the bottom edge of the boulder lying across his leg and lifted. His muscles strained, the veins in his neck and forehead bulging as he tipped the boulder up.
“Pull your leg out,” Vic groaned between clenched teeth.
Brady pulled himself backward, sliding across the tunnel floor. His lower leg emerged bloodied and ravaged. When it was clear, Vic released his hold on the rock. It fell with a heavy thud.
“My leg…” Tears made Brady’s eyes glassy.
“I need to get you out of here. We will worry about your leg later.” Vic squatted beside Brady, wrapped an arm around him, and helped him stand on his one good leg. “You hop while I help you.”
The two of them hobbled to the fallen beam. Vic helped Brady over and into the central chamber before lowering him to sit with his back to the far wall.
“Remove your belt,” Vic said. “Secure it around your thigh just above the knee to slow the bleeding.”
Brady nodded numbly as he began undoing his belt.
With Brady safe, Vic hurried back to Colby, putting his cheek to the downed man’s face. When he felt breath, he sighed in relief. At least he is still alive. After sliding his arms beneath Colby, he sat the unconscious man up, bent low, and lifted until Colby was draped over his shoulder. Beneath the dead weight, he returned to the tunnel mouth, climbed over the fallen beam, and set the man down.
He then returned and grabbed a shovel lying on the floor. With it, he began working at the pile of debris blocking the tunnel, digging at the top of the pile until he broke through to a cavity.
“Can anyone hear me?”
From the other side of the rock pile came Terrick’s voice, thick with angst. “I am trapped.”
“Stand back.” Vic used the shovel to push and dig, making the opening larger. He then bent and lifted the torch. Ten feet away, on the other side of the pile, he saw Terrick’s dirt-coated face.
“Crawl through.”
Terrick whined. “I can’t.”
“Why not?”
“What if another quake hits? I’ll be buried alive.”
“You’ll die if you remain. Now, crawl!”
Terrick climbed up the other side and lay on the pile, squirming through the opening. When his extended arms were within reach, Vic gripped his wrists and pulled with all his might, dragging Terrick through the gap. He let go and Terrick rolled down the rock pile. Cuts and scrapes were visible amid his torn clothing.
As Terrick climbed to his feet, Vic asked, “Is anyone else alive back there?”
“I don’t know.”
Vic cupped a hand to his mouth. “Hello! Can anyone hear me?”
Silence. A pang of loss settled in Vic’ stomach. Sixteen men had set out that morning. Five had been sent to work at the crusher. That meant seven were missing.
“Come on,” he lifted the torch while leading Terrick back to the main chamber.
When they got there, Colby was awake, his face bruised and covered in blood from his wounded forehead. “Can you walk?” Vic asked.
Staggering to his feet, Colby nodded. “I will be fine.”
“Good.” Vic squatted beside Brady and slid his hand around his back. “We are getting out of here.” With a grunt he helped the shorter boy stand.
The four of them headed for the tunnel still occupied by Vic’s cart. They passed the cart, navigated past fallen rock, and emerged in the crusher chamber, where they found their five companions along with a trio of dwarves.
In Dwarvish, one of the guards asked, “Where are the others?”
Vic understood enough to get by. He shook his head and said, “Dead.”
The dwarves waved and headed toward the mine exit, making it clear that Vic and the others were to follow. However, the object of Vic’s obsession tugged at him.
Vic turned to Terrick. “You need to help Brady get out of here.”
“What about you?”
“I am going back. I have to know…” he couldn’t reveal the truth. “That nobody else is alive back there.”
Terrick shared a doubtful look with Colby, but said, “All right.”
Once Terrick had an arm around Brady, Vic turned and ran back down the tunnel. He emerged in the torchlit chamber and grabbed another torch, leaving just one burning behind as he entered his own tunnel.
Rocks ranging from pebble-sized to waist-high boulders littered the tunnel floor, but the path was navigable. Dim, warm light waited at the tunnel’s far end, the rocks he had placed to hide the opening now shifted and fallen. He reached the tunnel end, squatted before the opening and pulled a heavy chunk of stone aside as another quake struck.
The shockwave passed beneath his feet, causing him to fall to one knee. The tunnel ceiling cracked, split, and massive pieces of rock began to fall, one three times the size of his head just missing him. Driven by urgency, Vic dove through the opening, into the neighboring cavern just as the tunnel roof collapsed. The shaking eased as Vic climbed to his feet and surveyed the chamber.
Boulders, rocks, and debris now covered much of the multi-tiered chamber. A chunk tumbled down from the shaft in the cavern roof and plunged into the lava pool. When the boulder hit the water, glowing, molten rock splashed in all directions, some of the splatter landing on the egg.
Vic gasped, suddenly worried about his precious prize. He leapt down to the tier below and ran across it, dodging fallen rocks while focused on the egg. When but one tier away, he froze.
A crack ran across the egg’s iridescent surface. The crack spread and split, and split again, until the entire upper third of the egg burst open into a dozen pieces that tumbled to the ground around it. A twisted mass of dark, wet something jutted up from the remaining two thirds of the egg. Vic stared at it, trapped between shock and wonder.
Then, it moved.
A wing raised up and stretched. Another appeared, followed by a head. Damp, scaly skin and webbed wings were joined by a head and neck with a crest of spikes running down the length. It had a long snout with a blunt end and amber eyes with slits for pupils. The creature crawled out of the egg. Iridescent, dark purple scales cover its head and neck while its body, tail and wings were a dark red.
“A dragon!” Vic exclaimed as he stumbled backward.
Then, another dragon emerged from the egg, this one with a dark green body and purple head and neck. A third followed, its body orange. Then came a fourth, its body black, and although each dragon had a different coloring, all had a neck and head of purple and each was larger than Vic, leaving him wondering how all four had been packed into that single egg.
The dragons all turned their snake-like eyes toward him. The one with the red body then released a roar, revealing a jaw filled with sharp, white teeth. Three of the dragons suddenly stormed at Vic. In his panic to retreat, Vic’s heel caught on a rock and he fell backward. He rolled over and scrambled to his feet to find the dragons surrounding him with the red one standing between him and the opening to the neighboring tunnel. Even if the tunnel was navigable after the collapse, he was trapped. The word Hungry kept echoing in his head, the monsters salivating as they edged toward him. His heart thumped in alarm, and his mind screamed, Please don’t eat me.
The dragons all stopped, several of them tilting their heads as they stared at him. His breath came in gasps, and he was unsure what to do. The body of each dragon matched his own size, excluding the massive wings and long tail. While he might be able to fight one, he could not face all four and hope to survive. He gathered his courage, hoping his voice would remain steady.
“Easy,” Vic crooned. “I am your friend. I have been visiting you, talking to you every day.”
All four dragons tilted their heads from side to side. None advanced on him.
“I suspect you are hungry, but you don’t want to eat me.” He pointed toward the opening in the cavern ceiling. “If you fly out, you can find food. Maybe a nice cow, or some chickens?”
The dragons glanced at each other and then back to Vic. In his head, he urged, Go on. Fly out. Be free.
As one, the dragons burst into action, more than one coming toward Vic, who recoiled and raised an arm in protection. Instead of attacking, the creatures scrambled past him, hopping down to the tier below while following their brethren. Just before reaching the broken eggshell, the red one leapt into the air, spread its wings, and pumped them mightily. It streaked up toward the cavern ceiling and disappeared up the shaft.
In rapid succession, the other dragons took flight and sailed up the shaft, leaving Vic alone. The awe and fear that had dominated his thoughts faded away. He realized that he was alone and trapped underground. The tunnel collapse had left him with no way out.

Meet Jeffrey L Kohanek:

Jeffrey L. Kohanek is an international bestselling fantasy author with over 25 published novels. His stories are known for compelling characters, cinematic storytelling, action, intrigue, mystery, and humorous scenes. His titles, spread across 7 fantasy series, average 4.5 stars across more than 25,000 reader reviews on Amazon, Audible, and Goodreads. Jeff grew up in rural Minnesota where comic books sparked his young imagination, inspiring fantasies of heroes with super-powers saving the day. His tastes later evolved to fantasy epics featuring unlikely heroes overcoming impossible odds to save worlds born from the writer’s imagination. Now residing in Las Vegas, he uses that imagination to weave tales of engaging characters caught in fantastic plots to inspire young adults and the child within us all.