Book one in an exciting new YA series, which has me hooked.
Blurb:
A world oppressed. An Ancient
Prophecy
When Garth witnesses the appearance of a portal through which emerges great
flying creature, he and his friends Bern and Ne-tel do not realize this is an
event long foretold. These beasts have been promised by the Creator Tel to aid
his children in a time of great oppression.
Queen Subja rules Telantia with cruelty and malice. She controls the masses
with her unnaturally powerful servants, the Vil. But the appearance of the
three eggs, and the pterosaurs which hatch from them, signals her reign over
Telantia is nearing its end.
But the creatures have been sent to three young men. How they stand the face of
such evil?
Sometimes the ordinary can accomplish the
extraordinary.
Extract: The
holy man paused to catch his breath. “I had a vision after you left. I am still
not certain of its whole meaning. But it involved you and the eggs. What is
certain, is that if you try to ensure the safety of the eggs on your own,” he
glanced down on them, “you will fail.”
“How can that be? Tel chose me, didn’t he?” Garth
shook his head to remove the fog leftover from his troubled sleep.
“Yes. You are still chosen. But one is easily broken.
Three, three committed to the eggs, their safety, and the love of Telba is cord
of strength. You need to tell a couple of trusted friends everything I have
told you. Two about your age. Guarantee their secrecy. Have you any that you
would pick?”
Garth thought a moment. “Bern is my closest friend.
His father, the farmer Som, fights to keep our village free by preserving the
water. Bern, I would trust.”
“So would I,” agreed Nevv.
Garth thought a while. Nevv did not press him during
the silence. There were no others his age in the village. Most were younger.
Some of those youth closest to his age he saw from time to time in the village.
Some sided up with him for a game of ball. Others enjoyed a desert hunt for
toads. He had not thought about it much, but with Nevv asking him, he realized
that after he and Bern, the next oldest were the young adults. Other than Bern,
there was no one his age.
“I can’t think of anyone else my age.” Garth admitted.
“And the only other person I’m really close to is Uncle Murenn,” Garth admitted.
Nevv’s smile dropped. “No.”
Garth looked at him in surprise. “Why not? Don’t you
trust him?”
The holy man looked as gloomy as the brother he spoke
about. “He was part of my vision, Garth. There is a dark cloud around Murenn.”
“A cloud? I don’t understand,” said Garth.
“I’m not sure. Either he already has an alliance with
the queen, or he will soon. In some way, he is leaning toward evil.” Nevv shook
his head slowly from side to side. “I wish it weren’t true, but the vision is
from Tel, not from me.”
Garth replayed the last few hours in his head. Surely
there had been nothing different about Uncle Murenn. “But he has seen ...”
“The eggs. Yes, I know. It couldn’t be helped. As much
as I might wish it.” Nevv put a gentle hand on his nephew’s shoulder. “That’s
why it’s even more important that you find two to join you. Around your age.
The prophecy is quite specific about it being the young who save the dinosaurs,
not parents or old holy men.” His smile returned at the joke.
“But I can’t
think of anyone else!” Garth was too tired to do more than breathe. The last
few days were the most trying he’d ever had.
“Perhaps Bern can think of someone? Or already knows
someone?”
Garth grimaced. He knew whom Bern would think of—his
cousin, Ne-tel. He was perfectly trustworthy, but Garth and Ne-tel argued more
than they talked. All it seemed to take was one word, and their battles were
off and running.
Uncle Nevv’s smile widened. “I see someone came to
mind. Someone difficult, perhaps?”
“You could say that.”
“But perfectly trustworthy?” continued the holy man.
“You could say that, too.”
“And your age?”
Garth dropped his chin and talked into his shirt.
“Yes.”
Nevv seemed not to notice his nephew’s reluctance and
nodded enthusiastically. “Then I do believe we have our cord of three. Meet
with them tomorrow. Show them the eggs and tell them the prophecies. Ensure
their secrecy and protection.”
Garth nodded, his tired eyes beginning to close of
their own will. “When will I see you, Uncle Nevv?”
“Soon. Always soon.” He lifted Garth’s window and
looked down at the eggs. “One is beginning to crack, you know.”
Garth didn’t know. He looked and saw a definite crack
on the largest egg. “Oh,” was all he could think of to say.
Inspiration: Years ago, back when my two twenty-somethings
were a toddler and a baby, I taught a group of tweens, all guys, a class in
writing. None of them read or read much. That concerned me, because, as any
writing teacher knows, it’s easier to teach writing to readers. They hear the
flow of words.
I asked my class, “Why don’t you read? And what would
you read if it were out there?”
They told me that none of the books they were allowed
to read had dinosaurs, for one, and they were all crazy about dinosaurs. The
other points they mentioned were that too many of the books were about girls
and not guys/young men. Or the Christian fiction was too old-fashioned. They
just weren’t interested in what their parents offered them.
With their frustration and inspiration rolling about
in my head, I wrote the first book, Portal Watchers (which I called Pterosaur
Rescue at the time). They read it and loved it, so I wrote the second book.
As far as the other four, and the whole journey to getting the series published, that is another long and lengthy story!
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