Oh dear, Vinny, are you lost in some fantasy world?

In The Reptile Wars, it takes a while for Vinny to figure out what has happened to him.  But he doesn't like what he hears in the confines of Castle Hazard.

The Prince’s face is pale and sharp like chalk cliffs.  His eyes deep, dark slits.  He looks worse than ill.  Possessed?  If you were to ask me – and I admit I’m a latecomer to this party and don’t know a soul, but I’ve been to the movies – I’d say that  the evil that possesses him, controls him, stands right there, beside him, at his shoulder.  It’s got to be obvious to everybody.  Because when he speaks, Phar Lazar tilts his head towards him, the fingers dig deeper, so that the words come out of Prince Ynyr’s mouth, but the thoughts are those of Phar Lazar.

“My lords, my subjects, my friends.”  The Prince has to steady himself before he continues.  “Seek out the enemy of Christendom, the enemy of King James of Aragon and the Pope.  The enemy of us all.  This vile creature’s name is El Drac.  He is one from the northern coast of Africa.  The land of the people they call the Moors.  But he is now a warlord in the land of Aragon.  He does not believe in our God.  He is one who can make the trees uproot and walk.  Make rocks fall from the sky.  With a wave of his hand, he can turn your fields of corn into serpents.  Set these clouds above aflame.  And kill your children with a look.”

The words curl like a 12-bar blues chorus from the mind of Phar Lazar, out from the lips of the Prince, round the stone buttresses of the castle and hook into the crowd gathered below.  “El Drac!  The dragon-devil.  He is the evil one.  A dragon in the false shape of a man.  El Drac!  Find him and destroy him.  Chase him from our lands.  Hound  him back to the very doors of Hell.  Believe this.  He is the son of Hell and back to the fire he must return!”

The Reptile Wars is available as a free download.  Check below for the appropriate link for you.