About the Book
Title: Micah
Author: Lee DuCote
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
When lacrosse star Micah Spearman moved to the quiet little town of
Seven Springs, he never expected to become such a significant part of his
lacrosse team, his group of friends, or of the battle raging just beyond human
reach. With a gift to see into the spiritual dimension, Micah learns he is part
of a prophecy and must lead an army of guardians against legions of demons, all
while trying to live a normal teenage life.
Navigating through high school can be a daunting task. When Micah finds
himself falling in love with his friend Stephanie, he must be careful not to
disrupt their group of friends—or attract attention from the demons that watch
his every move. But high school will not be the biggest survival challenge he
faces. Micah and friends soon find their world expanding far beyond, as Micah
discovers his true purpose.
As the battle rages to find the Sword of Malachi, the young freshman
finds himself falling deeper into a world of unknowns. Can Micah find the sword
before all is lost? Will Stephanie give into her feelings for Micah? In Micah, the Sword of Malachi, you too
will fall under the charm and the mysteries of Seven Springs.
Author Bio
To introduce myself, I was
born and raised in Northwest Louisiana, just outside of Shreveport. I graduated from high school in 1989 and went
to Monroe Louisiana for college. After
my first year at NLU I decided (actually my parents did) I wasn’t ready for
college, so I did what every 19 year old kid does….I moved to the Marshal
Islands in the mid pacific.
After a few
years I came home, meet my wife and settle down for a short bit. I worked construction, opening my own
sporting goods store, became a full-time fireman, opened a candle manufacturing
company, and even rodeo for a short term.
Just not at the same time. In
2003 we moved to Franklin TN were I sold fire trucks until 2010 and moved to
Heber Springs AR. Since here in the
Ozark Mountains I have written six novels and currently working on my seventh,
another YA novel.
So that’s me in a
quick whirl wind. And yes, if you check
out my web site or social media you will see me with our pet raccoon,
Tucker.
Links
Grave Distractions Publishing:
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Book Excerpt
Chapter 1
Deep within a hellish cavern, six towering beings
merged from the depths of its heated core and gathered at the opening. They
were beautiful creatures with physically striking features and the physiques of
warriors, clothed to resemble the upper crust of the society they would soon
infiltrate. Their eyes glowed with a fierce ember red against the backdrop of a
darkening sky.
“It’s time we avenge our brother and bring this
Council to its knees,” one of them hissed.
“Your arrogance will be
the death of you, just like our brother, Luceph!” another answered with a
sinister laugh.
“Levia, as the Master
has told us, we must stop the boy first! Then we will have our revenge.” That
line of reasoning was offered by one of the beings sitting on the ledge of a
boulder at the entrance to the cavern.
“Modeus, you think
you’re better than us?” Levia snapped at him.
In a calm and
compelling tone, he answered, “It’s not that I’m better than you. We have a
mission to see out.” He stood atop the boulder, looking down at the rest of
them. “This child, who is now of age, has been delivered to abolish each one of
us . . . and our Master. The first thing we must do is—”
“Kill him!” one of them
interrupted.
Shooting him a deathly
stare, he snapped back, “To befriend him!”
“You know he is trained
to see who we really are,” Levia answered with a snarl.
“Yes, but we must only
look at his friends and pick one who wants something only we can offer. Once we
have chosen someone to betray him, then we will have our revenge.”
“And what can we offer
this friend?”
“We simply give
something back that’s been taken from them.” Modeus smiled.
“And I know the perfect
person. I’ll handle it,” Levia replied. And before any of the others could
respond, Levia vanished, leaving a brush of wind behind.
“He’ll be the next to
die!” Modeus rolled his eyes.
***
Levia gathered two of his followers and descended on a
small town nestled beside a tranquil lake in the Ozark Mountains, a town the
six demons feared. Within this town rested the final graves that were intended
for the six demons—and one grave that already held their brother.
“How appropriate that
the Council chose this town for their savior to live,” one of Levia’s followers
replied.
“We’ll have to pay
Luceph a respectful visit before we leave,” Levia replied as the three of them
walked unnoticed onto the grounds of the local high school. Invisible to the
average eye, they wove their way through the busy halls of students and
teachers, searching for the very person Levia wanted the most.
At the head of the pack, he held out a hand to stop
his followers. “There!” He smiled and pointed to a student.
“That student doesn’t
look like anyone who could help us.”
“Oh, yes, I’m sure of
it. And with the right persuasion, I can make the feeling of being robbed
intensify to the point of desperation.” Levia grinned and walked toward his
next victim.
***
At the
obscene beeping of an alarm clock, Micah hit the snooze button for the last
time. Who in the world made the snooze
time only nine minutes? he thought. He rolled out of his tangled sheets and
sat up, placing his bare feet on a cold, hardwood floor.
It was
unusually bright that early in the morning. Rubbing his face and opening his
eyes, he could see the dust particles in the beam of sunlight shining through
the mirror he had cracked while throwing a ball against the wall two weeks ago.
As he
walked into his bathroom, his brown hair was a matted mess. He reached in the
shower and turned on the hot water, instantly steaming up the small bathroom.
“Man,
what a crazy dream. I hope today is better than yesterday, and who in the world
was that redheaded girl?” he said to himself.
“Were
you talking to me?” Gran asked while walking by his room.
“No,
Gran,” Micah replied. Man, these old
walls are too thin, he thought.
Looking
into the fogged mirror, he wiped it clear with his hand, then studied the back
of his shoulder, where several small scars created a larger circular scar. He
had always thought they looked like teeth marks, but as he got older, he had
begun to suspect other theories of how he got them—still, he couldn’t quite
recall the memory.
He
thought about yesterday. It’s always awkward being the new guy on the first day
of school. Not that anything embarrassing happened, thankfully; actually, most
kids didn’t think much about Micah as the new kid. Being a freshman is hard,
but in a small town it’s even harder if you just moved in. And for Micah, he
just moved in a few weeks ago, so having time to make friends before school
started wasn’t viable.
Seven
Springs is a quaint, small town nestled in the northern part of the Ozark
Mountains. It sits on part of a tranquil blue lake that feeds into a cold
river, attracting fishermen from all over the world. Being a retirement
community, much of the town shuts down after 7:00 p.m., leaving the younger
generations to fend for themselves for entertainment. A few fast-food joints, a
small theater, and a bowling alley are about the only venues the retired town
offers. Micah hadn’t adapted yet, and being from a big city where the nightlife
was more active than the day, it was going to be a challenge.
He
had lived in Tennessee most of his life. As an orphan, he couldn’t recall the
first six years of his life but remembered vividly the day his adopted parents
drove away from the orphanage with him in the backseat, gazing back at a
half-dozen kids waving goodbye.
Micah’s
adopted parents, Dale and Kelly Spearman, were regular entrepreneurs in the
Nashville area and were quite successful for nearly a decade before the economy
took a turn for the worst, especially for small business owners. After closing
their business, they joined the mission field and moved to a small town in
northern Greece. Micah, who had just turned fifteen, had the decision to go
with them or move in with his grandparents. School was going to be hard enough
with the Advanced Placement classes he had planned on taking, but starting over
in a new country was out of the question. He decided it would be too much of a
culture shock, especially since he was a little shy.
Being a
natural at lacrosse, he was excited to play for Seven Springs High School, a
three-time state champion in lacrosse, and with the lack of money in his
family, lacrosse could easily pay his way to college. A dream of his was to
play for a division-1 school. So with mixed emotions, he decided to stay in the
States and pursue his dream of playing lacrosse in college.
Making
his way into the dated kitchen, he said to Paw, “I wonder how Mom and Dad are
doing moving into their new place.” Paw, Dale’s father, was a local preacher, a
sturdy old man who was set in his ways but loved to spend time with teenagers
and seemed to understand them.
“I’m
sure they are getting along just fine. Dale has a unique way of recruiting
help,” Paw replied.
“Don’t
say it like he cons people into doing things, Duke,” Gran replied in a sweetly
protective tone. Both Paw and Micah smiled at each other. “So what is on your
agenda today after school?” Gran asked.
“I have
workouts with the freshman team till four thirty, and maybe just hang out
afterward,” he said with a mouthful of toast.
“Okay,
just let us know where you are going to be,” Gran said.
“You
better get a move on if you’re gonna be on time,” Paw said while picking up his
paper.
“Oh,
crap! I mean . . . well, you know.” Micah fumbled while grabbing his backpack.
“I got to go. See ya.”
The
high school was only a few blocks away, and Micah wondered if riding a bike
would look too geeky. Other thoughts ran though his head about how hot it was,
the need for a car soon, and lacrosse practice, but mostly the redheaded girl
who smiled at him during lunch. He wondered who she was. There was something
unique about her; it was almost like he knew her from somewhere.
A
couple of guys strolled out on the sidewalk in front of him. One turned around
and gave him a head nod. “What’s up?”
“Hey,”
Micah greeted him back. They walked separately the rest of the way but once
they got to the school property, the same guy asked Micah where he was from.
“Nashville,”
he replied.
“Cool.
Why did you move here?”
“My
parents moved to Greece,” Micah said.
The boy
stopped walking. “Hey, you’re the new lacrosse player we heard about!”
“I
guess so,” Micah said with a shrug.
“I’m
Tyler, and this is Jake; we play on the JV team. You ready for practice today?”
Jake
was a stocky kid and bigger than most of the freshman boys Micah had seen
yesterday. Tyler was tall and skinny with jet-black hair. Both boys were
wearing athletic shorts with flip-flops. “Yeah, think so. Are there many guys
on the team?” Micah asked.
“Maybe
twenty; everyone will make the JV team but varsity cuts about half of the guys
who try out. Our coach is pretty cool; sometimes he can be a jerk, but he’s
cool,” Tyler replied, walking through the open back doors to the school.
“What
do you have first period?” Jake asked Micah.
Micah
reached in his back pocket for his class schedule. “World history with—”
“You
have Mrs. Hedding; she’s senile.” Tyler laughed from inside the hallway.
“Find
us at lunch. We sit near the back door in the cafeteria,” Jake said, walking to
his class.
“Okay.”
Thank you, God—normal guys.
Micah
walked into Mrs. Hedding’s class looking for a chair, while thinking about what
Tyler said about her.
“Jimmy,
have a seat,” she said, glancing over her glasses at Micah.
Jimmy? A few
students laughed as they overheard. News travels fast in a small town, and
everyone knew Micah was the new transfer. They also all knew that Mrs. Hedding
wasn’t good with names.
He sat
down in front of the same blonde girl he had sat in front of yesterday and
pulled his notebook out of his bag.
“Hi,”
the blonde girl said.
“Hi.”
“Where
did you move from?” she asked.
“Nashville.”
“Cool! What’s it like moving
from a big city to our little danky town?”
“Miss
Evans, please stop talking to Jimmy and get out your notebook,” Mrs. Hedding
snapped. The class laughed again.
The
blonde sat back in her chair and pulled out her books. “I’m Carrie,” she
whispered back.
Micah
overheard another girl to his left. “She’s trying to bag another guy. Can she
have ‘I’m easy’ written any bigger on her forehead?” A few girls sitting nearby
laughed. Micah didn’t hear a response or acknowledgment from Carrie on the
comment and figured she didn’t hear them.
She seems nice, Micah
thought.
