Alright, I know I’m jumping the gun a little, as the first book in my Triad series, The Road To Was, has not been released; but I’m going to post the prologue to The Land of Not. The Land of Not is the sequel to The Road To Was, and, seeing as how I’m still waiting to get Black Moon Rising back from the editor, I’m ready to throw myself into writing something new. The Land of Not began screaming at me, “Pick Me!” So, I’m rolling with it.
The Road To Was and The Land of Not are both YA DarkWorld titles, and like other DarkWorld stories, are spin-offs of Crimson Dawn: Darklife Saga Bk I. Once I got done with Crimson Dawn and read over it, the time that the two main characters, Valeria and Irulan, spent in the FaeLands, began to stand out. I am in love with mythology and folklore, and because of Laurell K Hamilton , became aware of the Sidhe of Irish and Scottish mythology. I’ve read more books dealing with the Fae since then, and it’s only increased my fascination with the subject. The Sidhe aren’t your run of the mill, sprite sized, butterfly winged faeries, and I totally dig that. Val and Ire’s jaunt into Fae territory was the perfect starting point for me to began building my own version of the Fae.
After finishing the first draft of Ascension, my werewolf novel, I wanted to do another young adult title. It just so happened to be November; time for NANOWRIMO (NationalNovel Writing Month), and I wanted to challenge myself to write a complete novel in a month. The timing was perfect. Everything came together and The Road To Was, was birthed in 29 days.
With The Road To Was, I was able to delve into the FaeLands, Irulan’s birthplace, and begin building the magical, steampunk, world of my imagination. It’s sitting on the shelf now, waiting for me to come back to it and finish up the re-writes and editing. Until I get ready to bring those characters to the masses, I’m going to begin working on the sequel.
The Land of Not is a YA DarkWorld title. While none of the Darkworld characters that readers are familiar with, make an appearance in The Road To Was, Valeria, my smart-mouthed vampire from Crimson Dawn, is making one in the second book of my Triad Series. She’s got a pretty important role to play when it comes to aiding the heroine of the story.
I’m posting the prologue because I’m looking for a little feedback. Let me know what you think before I get too far into the story. Would you want to continue reading after finishing the prologue? Tell me what I need to change.
The Land of Not
Prologue
Before you go any farther know this; the world that you know is broken. A shadow of the former, glorious realm it once was. Mankind and the Fae once co-existed in relative peace. But like all things too good to be true, that peace met a crashing end.
War between mortal and immortal began. Fighting for dominion over the land lasted for hundreds of years. The immortal armies waged war against the humans with magic and myst, winning more often than not, but the humans would not break. Over time they learned what weakened their powerful adversaries: iron for the Fae, silver for the shape-shifting races, wood for the vampire scourge. Soon they were a force to be reckoned with because humans did something far superior than any of the immortals…replenish their numbers.
Humans spread across the world, fifty for every single immortal, until their sheer numbers cut the Fae’s territory to a third of what it was since The Dawn. It was then that the most powerful of the Fae, the mighty Sidhe, were forced to make a rash decision.
The strongest of them would band together and perform a spell; an incantation so strong that it would rip the fabric of the world into two separate realms. But for both to occupy the same space, one world would have to lose most of its ties to the source of all magic, The Ether. In their eyes, there wasn’t a choice. The Sidhe decided the mortal realm with its weaker humans wasn’t worthy of the gifts that Ether bestowed.
Thus, led by the Light and Dark High Kings, the living embodiments of Summer and Winter; a spell was crafted. Together with the lower kings and their strongest nobles the task was done. The bonds between Mortals and the Ether were severed. The humans were cut off from their Fae brethren and the FaeLands were born with a pledge from both High Kings; that never again would the other take up the powerful mantel of the seasons as a weapon against the other. Time as we know it began.
Very few beings remain that were alive during the time of The Great Divide. Most of the ancients have faded to memory, or retired to the Nevermore. But there is a handful that remains; awaiting the fulfillment of a prophecy. One that will right the wrongs the overzealous kings committed that day.
The world as you know it is broken; a shadow of the glorious realm it once was. But like most things with a purpose that are broken…it will mend.
To read more about Crimson Dawn, the novel that paved the way for the Darkworld titles, and any of the works I mentioned, head over to my website http://www.ronniemassey.com/ orcheck out my other post here at http://frogenyozurt.com
Crimson Dawn: DarkLife Saga is available now at Amazon, Barnes and Nobles and where ever books are sold; as well as both Darklife Shorts, Never Again and UnSpoken. Faerie Wishes andJaguar Kisses, the first DarkWorld Novella, is available from Amazon.
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