Blurb:The precarious balance between two opposing forces has begun to shift and threatens the very existence of life throughout the universe. Only the Djed—the prophesied savior—has a chance of thwarting a catastrophe that could destroy the cosmos. And the next Djed is predicted to be a child of Earth.Katie awakens on a world far from her own, a world bound in magic, one of twelve that hosts entities of vast power and might. She is suspected to be that savior. However, to be acclaimed Djed, difficult and dangerous tasks, one on each of the magicked worlds, must be completed. Katie and a menagerie of misfit companions—a precocious witch, a half-blood elf, and a humanoid pup—work together to discover her fate. If proven true, a terrible burden will be placed upon her, one that will link her destiny with war, a war led by a thirteen-year-old girl.***The Djed Chronicles follows Katie over her teenage years as she confronts dark forces and discovers that the right choices are not always apparent and wrong choices can have deadly consequences.
There appeared to be
something in the water. Or was it one of the men? Squinting still did not prove
helpful, although she thought she saw a dark tint to the water around the
vessel. Blood?
“Ikuqu!” Katie cried
out. “Can you see what’s happening out there?”
The halfling followed
her gaze through the evening twilight. The boat appeared empty. Beneath the
water’s surface, a shape moved. Perhaps ten feet long, it rammed the skiff, and
the boat rocked dangerously.
What was going on?
What had happened to the people? As Ikuqu drew his bow back, the massive form
slammed into the boat again, and something fell overboard. The boy! Splashing
desperately, the child attempted to return to his vessel. On board, a man had
jumped to his feet and was reaching out to grab him. The third figure was
nowhere in sight.
All at once, Katie
realized what was occurring. “The thing in the water’s going after the boy!”
“Out of the way!”
Ikuqu ordered, but Katie was already sliding down the slope to the water’s
edge.
The boat jolted
sideways as it was shoved away from the child. The man shouted to the boy, but
he was struggling to swim for the shore and was too far away to hear.
Without thinking,
Katie charged into the frigid water and began to paddle toward the panicking
youngster. Overhead, an arrow shot past her; Ikuqu had taken aim at the
mysterious aquatic attacker. Ahead of her, the man beat his hands on the side
of the skiff, desperately trying to draw attention to himself and away from the
boy.
At first, it seemed
this strategy might work. Then the dark mass broke the surface. A
leathery-skinned dorsal hump cut through the water, making a beeline for the
child. The monster reminded Katie of a cross between a crocodile and a cougar.
Its raised head displayed a whiskered fringe around a fanged mouth. Strong,
webbed feet made it adept in the water; Katie, however, was not.
Another arrow flew
by. This one landed to the left of the monster. Sar’ra was shouting, “Katie,
get out of there! Ikuqu’s arrows are not working…it’s the saltwater…but he
might hit you!”
The boy, who appeared
to be around nine years old, was now not far from Katie. His terrified eyes
flashed, and his limbs flailed about. He had almost reached her. Behind him,
the creature approached. She could not turn away and leave him.
A third arrow veered
away and landed short of the monster, which seemed to aggravate the thing even
more. With an ear-splitting squeal, it dove under the surface. Katie reached
out and grabbed the child by one arm. As she tried to tug him back to shore,
she wished she had learned to be a lifeguard; that surely would have helped her
now.
Then several things
happened all at once.
“Dale!” the man on
the boat cried out. The boy gasped in pure fear. The dark mass, now directly
underneath them, was rising.
“Hurry!” Katie
shouted as she quickly began to back-paddle.
On the shore’s ledge,
Ikuqu took aim once again. Don’t miss! Katie
prayed silently, for if he did, she or the boy might be struck down. The arrow
was released. In seconds, the projectile sank into the nape of the monster’s
neck, just as the beast grabbed hold of Katie’s left arm.
The creature was
killed instantly and began to sink, pulling Katie with it. Desperately, she
tried to pry open the jaws of the corpse, but its death grip was too strong.
Suddenly, the thing turned about. Was it still alive? If so, she would soon be
its meal.
As Katie twisted with
the monster, it turned belly up and rose to the surface. Although her arm was
bleeding and bent at a horribly uncomfortable angle, at least she could breathe
again. Inhaling deeply, she heard the man’s voice.
“Hold still. I’ll get
’im off you.”
Rough hands reached
around her to wedge an enormous metal hook into the creature’s mouth and pry it
open. Thankfully, the crunching sound was not her arm. Regardless, Katie cried
out, but she was grateful for the man’s assistance into the boat. The boy,
Dale, was already wrapped in a threadbare blanket. He handed Katie another with
his gloved hands. The man bent and examined her arm.
“You’re lucky,” he
acknowledged. After binding her wound as best he could with what he had on
board, he tethered the giant carcass to the stern. “You and ya friends saved m’
boy. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome,”
Katie began as she turned toward her companions. “We…”
Ikuqu and Sar’ra had
disappeared. Taking a moment to look about, she said, “Maybe they headed to the
village?”
The man also peered
at the empty ledge. “Ilmatar is the only village on this side of the island.
That would be as good a place as any to meet up with them, I suppose.”
Gesturing toward the
carcass, Katie asked, “What is…was that thing?”
“Orobon. Those things
are vicious predators. He was probably tracking us since the open ocean.”
The boy began to sob,
and the man placed a hand on his shoulder. “It got my partner. Would have got
us, too. We are in your debt.” The man looked at Katie with an expression of
gratitude mixed with awe.
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