"Not darkness, not light, perhaps something in between, and is claimed
by the darkness...as theirs. Though being saved by the light, that which
is saved must in turn save the world..."
By J.W. Baccaro
"Not darkness, not light, perhaps something in between, and is claimed by the darkness...as theirs. Though being saved by the light, that which is saved must in turn save the world..."
Darshun Luthais has never experienced the Nasharin Frenzy—the unbending will to challenge a stronger opponent, no matter the cost. He doesn’t know what he will transform into, has never bonded with an elemental crystal and has never seen any of the unearthly creatures his father talks about. Even though he’s an infant in Nasharin years, his life consists of nothing but constant training, striving to unlock the sleeping power his so-called accursed race is born with.
But all that changes when he is pursued by a Dream Assassin in the dead of night. What he witnesses will forever change his outlook on life and lead him on a quest only the strongest can complete.
“This epic fantasy is action packed, all the way through. Definitely a powerhouse for fantasy lovers. It has plenty of dark magic, tons of bloody battles, and even some seductive tones.
The chosen one faces his destiny with tribulations that at times favor Homer’s Odyssey and Iliad. While reading I also felt it resembled Lord of the Rings especially due to its epic length. I can not stress enough how well detailed the story and characters are. Nothing is ever lost in the pages. The timeline is incredible and every aspect continues to build. Wonderful and fascinating!
It is involving, meeting the chosen one as a baby, watching him grow as a young boy into an adolescent, learning to fight, learning who he is, and learning to love. There are many secrets that unfold and characters to meet along the way. From witches to elves, to gnomes and trolls there is sorcery and magic around every turn. The creatures met along the way are descriptively colorful and incredibly likable. Even the darker ones! Well, there are some gross ones too as I think of it. You’ll see!
As a side note, the author does not hold back in his details of war and how brutal the effects are on the people and the land. He sets his world in a beautiful background, so exquisite and then details the destruction during bloodshed and battle.
I’m usually not into a lot of battle stuff. This series however carried so much with it, more than just a battle book. The action was absolutely a big part of the story and without it, the fantasy would not be the epic level that it is, of course! But, there is also the magical side, the mythical and mysterious wonderment. The creatures are so desirable and they stayed with me as I read the story. The colors of the world are so vivid. And actually the magical aspects are my favorite parts of all.”
~Cynthia Ellen Jones~ A Hippie’s Bookshelf: Reading, Reviewing and Bookish Vibes
The clashing of swords began to fade as more and more men
fell victim to the army of Asgoth. Outnumbered and outmatched,
Asgoth had taken the peaceful city of Zithel by surprise.
Human blood now painted the once beautiful infirmary gardens,
vineyards, and cemetery orchards. Even the manmade fountain,
where the people would cast in gemstones—a different stone for
a different wish—now contained the heads of Zithelian
fighters. The decapitated heads turned the water crimson as
they bobbled within the pool.
Lord Adeleric and his wife remained trapped in the upper
chamber of the tower, having no choice but to witness their
people slaughtered. Heavy footsteps from outside of the
chamber door neared as the enemy stormed up the stairway.
“Rosa, stay behind me!” Adeleric said, stepping in front of
her quickly. “Don’t resist them. We may have a chance.”
“Are you sure it’s not our guards?” she asked.
He sighed. “…They’re all dead.”
Suddenly, what could have only been a dozen fists smashing
against the door caused Rosa to scream.
“Stay calm,” Adeleric urged. “Let them come.”
The door was breeched and in rushed a horde of lizard-like
men, each of them double the height of a common man. They
looked around the chamber, seeing no other besides Adeleric
and Rosa.
“You can have me,” Adeleric said.
“No!” Rosa begged, clenching his arm.”
He grabbed her hand and squeezed it, trying to reassure her.
“You killed my army yet spared our young boys and girls. Spare
my wife as well. Let her go and take me. Whatever it is you
want of me.”
One of the lizardmen snarled, showing its teeth that dripped
with a discolored saliva. It spoke in its own tongue to the
others, and they separated. Six lined up against the left
wall, the others against the right.
Around the corner and into the doorway stepped a woman. In one
hand she held a staff, the other a decapitated head, swinging
it back and forth by its matted and bloody hair. She stood at
the entrance, smiling.
Adeleric cringed, recognizing the corpse’s face, one of the
fallen guardsmen.
“This one especially wanted me to spare you,” the woman said.
“His tone was desperate, unlike your other guardsmen. So, I
ended his life painlessly.” She released the head. Striking
the floor with a loud thump, it rolled off to the side.
The morning sun shined through the chamber window brighter
now, illuminating the woman who had yet to move from the
entrance. Adeleric got a better look at her. She was not
dressed for battle, no protection except maybe her leather
boots. She wore a long flowing purple dress with a thigh
high split. Because of the split, and the way she was
standing, her right black boot was exposed and dripping with
blood; likely from the decapitated head she had carried.
Slowly, she began to walk toward Adeleric and his wife.
“I noticed a working fountain outside,” she said.
“Beautifully carved from stone, with an abundant number of
gems sitting at the bottom of the pool. I do love gems.”
“What do you want?” Adeleric said, clenching a fist.
“Your home is the highest point of this mountain. The only
source of water flows at the base of this mountain, the Azriel
River. So, I ask, where are you receiving your water
source?”
“Water has always flowed here, coming from within, spouting
upward. We utilize it for drinking and ornamental
purposes.”
“Water doesn’t flow upwards, you fool. Not unless affected by
another source. You have no such source. No higher elevations,
no way to channel it. Unless of course it is by magic. Perhaps
this phenomenon is due to Arabeth’s crystal—his
water crystal.”
“I am not aware of any such crystal.”
She grinned from ear to ear. “I am, and one of the four
resides within this mountain.”
“One of the four?”
“The crystals of power from the first age, lost at the end of
the second.”
“I repeat, I… know…nothing!”
She stopped abruptly, now standing an arm’s length from him.
Her icy breath and violet gaze caused him to shudder. “Are you
lying?”
“…I am not. Do whatever you want with me. Just let my wife
go, please.”
She turned to Rosa who had been squeezing Adeleric’s hand.
She leaned in closer to her, staring into her fearful eyes.
Rosa turned away, cringing.
She ran a finger across Rosa’s cheek, her long black nail
scraping the skin. She stroked her hair, sifting her fingers
through the strawberry blonde locks. “So beautiful, you are,
dearest Rosa.” Her eyes fixed on Rosa’s jewelry;
earrings made from amethyst and spinel necklaces of blue, red,
and citrine.
“Your husband must feel blessed, to have been given such a
woman of splendor. Surely, your deities have been good to you.
I too am somewhat of a deity, a goddess. Queen Talvenya is my
name—”
“Do not compare yourself to my Rosa!” Adeleric shouted.
Something like a shockwave passed through the room, slightly
heating the air, and splitting a section of the wall. The
lizardmen kept still. Adeleric noticed sweat dripping from
their scaly brows, as if they were afraid.
“Your jewelry, dearest Rosa, give it to me,” Talvenya
commanded.
Fearing for his wife, Adeleric stepped in between the
two.
Casting a glare, Talvenya reached for his left shoulder.
Gripping the cap, a cracking of bone brought a smile to her
face, and a scream out of Adeleric’s mouth. Next, she forced
him to his knees, pushing down on the fractured shoulder.
“Please stop hurting him!” Rosa begged, quickly removing her
earrings and necklaces. She placed the jewelry into Talvenya’s
hand. “Keep them. They’re yours.”
“I do love gemstones,” she said, smiling delightfully. She
put the necklaces on and then the earrings. “Each one tells a
story, just like the four crystals of power you claim to know
nothing about.”
“I don’t. Please, leave my Rosa alone,” Adeleric begged.
“You’re awfully fond of your Rosa. It’s quite
precious.”
“We grew up together—share everything together.”
She scoffed. “And that makes her special?”
“…Please, I am the one you must deal with. I am the Lord of
this land.”
Talvenya pursed her lips. “Lord of what land, this pathetic
little mountain top I so easily dominated?” She stepped closer
to Rosa.
“Speak with me, I beg of you!”
“Oh, but dear Adeleric, you've already stated your ignorance
of the crystals,” Talvenya mocked. She slid her hand down
Rosa's chest, pressing her fingers against her left breast and
tearing the clothing with her nail.
Rosa quivered, keeping her head aside, avoiding Talvenya’s
stare.
“Your Rosa…” She smiled. “I'm going to kill her.”
Adeleric rushed at her. Talvenya smacked him across the cheek
and he fell to the floor, smashing his face against the
granite tile.
“Adeleric!” Rosa cried.
He stood, wiping the blood trickling from his nose. “Queen
Talvenya, goddess, deity—whoever you are, don't do this. I beg
of you…”
Ignoring him, Talvenya placed a finger under Rosa's chin, and
lifted to see her face, smiling at those terrified eyes and
cascading tears.
“I'll do anything you command,” Adeleric pleaded. “I'll
search the mountain for you, will not stop until that crystal
is in my hands—for you. Only, don't harm my Rosa.”
She grinned. “Tell your husband to get down on his
knees.”
“My knees?” Adeleric asked, before receiving another blow to
the face from Talvenya's open palm. This time, he cried out in
pain as his body hit the floor once again, face-down. His
cheeks were black and blue, swelled and bleeding, and his
chest throbbed because of the hard tile he had crashed onto.
For a moment, he could not breathe.
“Stop hurting him!” Rosa shouted.
Talvenya grabbed her by the throat and lifted her off her
feet.
Adeleric could hear Rosa gasping for air as her little legs
wiggled back and forth. Quickly, he stood. “I'll do whatever
you say, just put her down.”
She released her, and Rosa almost toppled over.
Adeleric rushed over, stretching an arm around her waist to
keep his wife steady.
“While you are standing so close to her Adeleric, you should
kiss your wife goodbye,” Talvenya said coldly. “It shall be
the last time you taste those blush-red lips of hers.”
Adeleric wanted to fight her. He wanted to reach for his
sword and separate Talvenya’s head from her body, see if such
a cold-hearted creature drew blood. But he knew he would have
no chance, especially with several lizardmen gathered around.
So, he complied with Talvenya's suggestion, only he tried
imagining the idea as his own. He would kiss her goodbye,
passionately, believing he would see her again someday in
another world, another realm, where hate and brutality ceased
to exist. Reaching for her, he pressed his lips against hers
wetting them, messaging them, and inserting his tongue to
taste her sweetness.
Her eyes were full of tears and overwhelming passion.
Adeleric wiped the tears as their gazes continued to lock.
Then, slowly, he pulled back. “Do not be afraid, my love. No
matter what happens, we will always be together. That I
promise you.”
“How touching,” Talvenya commented in a voice cold as ice
accompanied by impish laughter. “Now, I command once more,
dear Rosa. Tell your husband to get down on his knees.”
She whispered, “Adeler—”
“Speak the words aloud!”
She looked to Talvenya, a submissive gaze accompanied by a
sigh of sorrow, then faced her husband once again. “…Adeleric,
get down on your knees.”
Adeleric obeyed but tried imagining the command only came
from his Rosa—not inspired by this so-called deity queen.
“Tell him you love him.”
“I—I love you,” Rosa cried, “…with all my heart.”
“And with all my heart, I love you,” Adeleric pled.
“Now, extend your hand,” Talvenya commanded.
Rosa obeyed.
“Adeleric, Lord of Zithel, take your wife's hand.”
Adeleric passed her a glare, and then looked to Rosa. Tears
were still cascading down her cheeks. “Do not be afraid,
Rosa,” he said, firmly gripping her palm.
“My heart—shall always belong to you,” she answered, lightly
rubbing her thumb over his palm, letting him know she was
aware of his warm touch, aware he was there by her side, no
matter what fate awaited her.
“And I shall carry you in my heart, always and forever.”
Adeleric closed his eyes and leaned over to kiss her palm. The
warm sensation of her skin disappeared suddenly, replaced by
what felt like cold stone. He noticed the same feeling on
Rosa's hand. Opening his eyes, he fell back at what he saw.
Rosa, from head to toe had become stone, like someone had
carved a figure of her—immaculately.
He turned to look at Talvenya. She was holding her staff
high, pointing it at Rosa. She cast the spell.
“Beautiful,” Talvenya said.
Adeleric sat speechless, his eyes still, never blinking. A
difficult thing to accept; one moment he held Rosa’s hand,
speaking with her, the next, she is a figure of stone. He
squeezed her hand, perhaps to see if the hard element was
real, and when the reality of it finally sank into his heart,
he fell to tears.
Talvenya tapped the statue’s forehead with her finger. It
fell back, cracking to pieces as it struck the floor. The
severed head rolled toward Adeleric and bumped into his knee,
stopping. He looked down on it, the face positioned upward, as
if it returned the gaze. A smile sang on her cheeks—the last
emotion his Rosa felt, happiness while Adeleric had been
holding her hand. Teardrops spilled onto the face as he began
to weep bitterly. He meant to pick up the head, perhaps to
keep it to remember Rosa’s smile, but even that was taken away
from him. A black leather boot stomped onto the head of stone,
crumbling the face to pieces, grinding it to bits under the
sole.
He peered up to see Talvenya, standing above him, smiling
like a demon with a gaze of midnight darkness.
“What was the point of this…? Why did you—you do this?” he
asked.
“All enemies are mere insects in my path. I do as I
like.”
“That cannot be the reason…”
She stared at him a moment, her face going expressionless.
“Why should she have what was taken away from me? Why
should you not feel what I have felt?”
“But I know you not!” he shouted.
“…It matters not.”
“Then kill me—kill me too!”
“In time, I promise to.”
J.W. Baccaro is the author of Prophecy of the Guardian, The Coming of the Light and Blood Dreams. Always a lover of creativity, from works of literature to writing music with his electric guitar; even baking and cooking. When not working on his next story or lost in a good book, J.W. enjoys kicking back with a couple of tasty craft beers and binging on Kaiju movies, 80’s action flicks, Japanese animation and slasher films (particularly the one involving a hockey mask). Heck, he even enjoys a good romantic comedy. Feel free to email him at jwbaccaro@yahoo.com. He lives in upstate NY with his wife Melissa, his son Alexander, his German Shepherd and his three cats.
WEBSITE & SOCIAL LINKS:
MEDIUM | TWITTER
THE COMING OF THE LIGHT
BLOOD DREAMS
More Books by J.W. Baccaro…
J.W. Baccaro is giving away a set of paperbacks - Prophecy of the Guardian, The Coming of the Light and Blood Dreams!
Terms & Conditions:
- By entering the giveaway, you are confirming you are at least 18 years old.
- One winner will be chosen via Rafflecopter to receive the set of books
- This giveaway ends midnight July 30.
- Winner will be contacted via email on August 1.
- Winner has 48 hours to reply.
Good luck everyone!
ENTER TO WIN!
Thank you for posting my book, Jazzy Book Reviews. :) Much appreciated.
ReplyDelete