The Pendant and a Rose – a discovery of belonging
Andrew Sugden
Type: Beta project
Genre: Fantasy
Word count: 156,000
Warnings: Graphic violence, graphic sexual content, swearing
An ancient evil, unleashed through three demonic pendants, haunts the descendants of a scattered warrior clan through centuries of persecution. Linked by blood and a magical rose, a seer, a troubled psychologist, and a long-lost family must reunite across time to destroy the artefacts before their malevolent power consumes them all, culminating in a final battle between ice and fire. Please note: this book is over 120,000 words, so you will have three weeks to complete it, and the bonus will be £15.
Gargi, an old clanswoman, soured by sadness. Unwanted. Sold, as a child. Scarred by pox. Exiled by the clan. Then Savitur turns up, so he does. So why did this shape shifting God give her a rose? Not that she’s complaining. It’s been a long time since anyone gave her a gift, and then tells her she’s the saviour, really?
She looks at the corpses of the defeated warriors in the cold mist of the Indus valley and watches Ahriman soak three pendants with the clan leader, Irin’s, blood. The pendants feed into the evil of whoever holds them, driving them to find and destroy the clan.
Gargi is the last of her family, yet the blood on the pendants call to her. The sweet scent of the rose swirls her through a vortex of time and place. Gargi encounters an autistic girl trapped in hospital, a psychologist sidekick, a boy kidnapped by assassins, and a girl left in an abusive children’s home. Gargi joins them in their battles, and watches their journeys bring each of them together as their plights interweave, bringing her closer to the pendants, closer to saving the clan, but would she uncover the lie she was told, and discover where she truly belongs?
Hi everyone, Andrew here, from Bradford in West Yorkshire, England. I retired from nursing in January 2025 (yes, I’m 66), so I can spend more time on my writing. So it seems I like to write fantasy stories. Why, I ponder. I think it is because I can use fantasy to get distance from issues and emotions that matter to me, take them out of reality and put them into a place where I can explore what they mean for me. Sort of cathartic.
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