Lunar Revelations- Chapter Four Excerpt

I recently changed the name of my book. I liked how the new title fits with the theme of the novel better. Here's an excerpt from a chapter that I'm currently working on enjoy!

It took almost until sundown to find the river inlet. I actually had to ask for directions. When I stepped out onto the veranda the sunset had begun to paint the sky with strokes of red and bands of gold and dark orange. “Wow!” I breathed. “This is what I’ve been missing in the city.”

I heaved a deep sigh. It was good to see a full sunset again. The crowed buildings of the city often choked the beauty of the sunsets. The only thing that would block the view here were the clouds and a forest that sat on the opposite bank of the river. The leaves of the trees danced in the dying light of the sun. As it began to darken small lights began to flicker among the trees.

The lights moved about in a way that seemed like they were alive. They threw their glows haphazardly across the bark of the trees. Sometimes a light would land on a limb or a branch and seem to pace around. After the sunset, sound soon drifted across the water towards me. It was playful and happy in its tone. It was entrancing. I wanted to find the source of the music.

Screw looking for clues! I’m going to find that music! I raced down the stairs of the veranda and into the inlet. The moment my feet touched the water something strange happened. My head began to spin and my legs turned into jelly. Losing my balance, my body twisted as I fell. My body slapped the surface of the cold water and the force of the hit caused me to pass out.

The next sensation that I remembered was a feeling of warmth, burning almost. I opened my eyes to find myself hovering several feet off of the water. My clothes were soaked but I couldn’t feel the weight. My body itself felt completely weightless. The warmth that I felt flowed over my back. It almost seemed liked I was close to an open fire.

I glanced up and saw a pair of burning blue wings stretched out over my head. I could feel claws holding onto my shirt. Whatever creature had pulled me from the water was now flying me back to the veranda. Above us the stars in the sky glittered like a jewel box. I enjoyed the feeling of flight as I was carried back to the earth.

Placing me on my feet, the winged creature loosed its hold and swooped over to the railing. I followed its movement and when the being came to rest I saw what it was. An azure phoenix rested on the railing. It preened its feathers carefully and plucked a damaged one from its wings. It floated gently away when it was plucked and came to rest lightly on the floor of the veranda.

“Were you trying to drown yourself?” said a voice.

I looked around but saw no one but the phoenix. The magnificent bird was the size of a red tailed hawk. Despite the fact that the bird was not on fire its plumage shimmered in such a manner that it appeared to be on fire. I took a step towards the bird when the voice came again. This time I saw who spoke. It was the bird.

“It’s very rude to not answer a question,” it squawked.

I almost tripped backwards over my own two feet. It could talk! I was in shock. I’d assumed that phoenixes were like normal animals. This one was apparently intelligent enough to speak. I gripped the railing, just staring at the bird with wide eyes.

“You can talk,” I quavered, my body shaking from the adrenaline now pumping through my body.

The phoenix ruffled up its feathers in indignation, “Of course I can talk.” It seemed to deflate a bit as he added, “But only to you.”

“Why?” I inquired, tilting my head slightly.

The phoenix shifted nervously and then replied, “Because I was born from your spirit.”

“Huh?” I blurted, not sure if my ears were working right.

The Phoenix launched into the air and flew over towards me. It circled once and came to rest on my shoulder. I was expecting for its claws to clench down and hurt me but there was no pain. It must not have been gripping my shoulder very hard.

“You heard me right,” it urged. “I was born from your soul.”

I blinked and looked into the sapphire eyes of the creature, “Does that mean you’re my spirit guide or something?”

“Yes,” it nodded. “I am your spirit animal.”

Excerpt from Chapter One of The Defender of Legends

I closed my eyes and sighed. I had to stop beating myself up for what was going on. It wasn’t good for me. I had to let go of it and try harder to leave it behind me. As I was trying to quiet the myriad of questions and worries that often filled my mind before sleep banished them, I heard someone call out to me again. My eyes popped open and I looked around the room.

No one was there and my phone was off. I opened the door and called out into the darkened apartment. “Diana? Are you home?” I called into the blackness. I got no answer. I shook my head and closed the door once more. “I have to stop jumping at every sound I hear,” I muttered and turned back to the window.

I stood frozen to the spot when I saw what was in the glass. A beautiful woman had replaced my reflection in the window. She wore a high crown of stars and moon phases. She called out to someone but I couldn’t make out what she was staying. I’m dreaming…this can’t be real. My sleeping meds must have screwed with my perception of reality. I can’t actually be seeing this!

I rubbed my eyes in hopes of banishing the vision but it didn’t work. The woman was still reflected in the window. This time I could hear her. “Please,” she pleaded, her voice sounding like it was coming from everywhere and nowhere all at once. “Please, come back. Help us! We need you!”

Her cry was repeated at least three or four times. As I listened to her I looked around the room. The place seemed to become liquid. Everything in the room looked like it was melting away. I tried to reach for my bed but my arm could hardly move. It felt like I was trying to swim in deep water. The next thing I knew, I was sinking beneath the floor. Not like sinking in quick sand where it’s slow but the fast sinking that happens when you’re going underwater.

I kept my eyes on my room until it faded and all I had left was the dancing light of the moon that was refracted in the water around me. Soon, that faded too and I closed my eyes. I couldn’t fight what was going on so I surrendered to the current. I prayed that this was just something generated by the medication. Yet, it couldn’t be. I felt the wetness around me and it saturated my clothes and hair. That sensation couldn’t be faked or at least I didn’t think it could.

I remained in oblivion until I felt my head break the surface of the water. I gasped for air and took in huge gulps of it. Once I felt satisfied that I was alive, I opened my eyes. The first sight that caught my attention was that I was standing in a shallow river inlet. I heard the sound of running water and looked behind me. A great river flowed just a few feet away. The far bank was a good twenty or thirty feet from where the inlet and the river connected.

The far bank had tall grasses that waved emerald green in the moonlight. Just barely visible above that was a line of trees that formed a forest. I shook my head and tried to make myself wake up. You’re dreaming. Come on, wake up! As I was trying to do that a shout rang out.

“You here! Stay where you are!” cried a gruff voice from behind me.

I spun around and saw a heavily armored man standing on a stone veranda. Steps led from the veranda down into the waters of the inlet. The man looked like a medieval knight but one thing made him stand out. He had large, translucent, blue, dragonfly wings that jutted out of his back. I also noticed that his features reminded me of elves from the Lord of the Rings films. He had the hair and pointed ears to match.

“I’ve got to be dreaming…” I muttered under my breath. What I was seeing couldn’t be real. I couldn’t actually be speaking to a fairy. There was no way. I was rooted to the spot just staring at the fairy guard.

He fluttered down into the water and grabbed my arm roughly. “We’ll see how the King and Queen deal with you, spy,” he growled and began hauling me up the steps into the massive palace that lay before us.

As we got within the walls, my mind just stopped working. This can’t be real. I can’t be in fairyland… I just can’t be.