Tigest Girma is releasing a new book titled "Eternal Ruin," which is a follow-up to her previous work, "Immortal Dark."

Excerpt From Eternal Ruin
By Tigest Girma

Lessons from the Last Sage
On the Origin of Vampires

Like all ruinous things, he came from the abyss.

The abyss stretches between two intersecting mountains mistaken for an unmoving collection of dark clouds. Yet the people native to those mountains know two truths:

One, whatever falls into the abyss never returns. No trace of bone is found at the bottom of the cliffs. Human bodies are vanished as if folded into the universe, never to be seen again.

Two, on the night of an eclipse, a man emerged from the abyss, with skin dark as night and hair the burning white of stars. He carried death on his feet and every blade of grass he touched wilted, the earth rotting.

The villagers’ greatest predator on those mountains had been lions but even those beasts bled when struck–not this creature. No weapon, no arrow or spear pierced its iron skin. The natives fled but the blackened ground snared their legs, held them helpless as the creature opened its gash of a mouth and bared its fangs, draining their blood as they screamed.

They called him Varos the Night Lion.

The First Vampire.

After years of blood and death, the abyss would offer one more soul. This time, the man wore a glowing mask, a red ring and strapped silver weapons. The bottom of his feet glowed like balls of sun and where he walked, the earth healed, the rot clearing at once to a lush green.

The natives fell to their knees and wept. At last, their salvation was here.

They called him Yonas the Sun Bird.

The First Sage.