Skip to main content

Free Peek at Balance on the Terra

I hope you enjoy this excerpt from my book, Balance on the Terra. Let me know what you think.

At the beginning of Time, there were many Gods of different sorts and degrees of importance. They each had phenomenal powers, and all had fascinations of one kind or another. One had a love for the water and placed water sources that moved and flowed on the Terra, while another had a 'green thumb,' as it were, and filled as many areas with plants and trees as she could, creating her own garden to tend. This was the same for all of the gods. While others would obsess over their interests, there were some that took their time and leisure to let their diversions flourish on their own while the god would watch it, like a child would watch a spinning top. It was this way when the Creator of Time was given free reign over the Terra. Anything that his imagination could see walking, crawling, swimming, or flying was created with joy. However, he realized that while each one of the creations that were granted him had wonderful potential for the future, it would also have the ability to choose. This gave them the ability to grow, but also to create havoc if not monitored. He had decided that what his precious world needed was a Balance, never too much, or too little of anything. This is when he created his Guardians. There were five of them. Helena was the Mother. She was responsible for all life on the Terra, whether it was the tall and graceful Centaur, or the tiny mosses that covered the trees. She was the holder of life as each of them grew and multiplied. Rorik was the Guardian of light and purity. His charge was to keep things running smoothly in a way that benefited all and to look after what was good and right. If necessary, he also had the power of positive influence to sway decisions without actually making them. Erebos was Rorik's counterpart as the Guardian of the night and darkness. His duty was also to keeping things running smoothly, but the way he handled things was to keep the darker nature of the world in check, allowing bad things to happen, or something evil in some cases, but not to any extreme degree that it disrupted the Balance. Between him and Rorik, both light and darkness had important roles in the Terra, as long as they kept in order. Mare and Aeros were the Twins. Mare was Guardian of water. He kept the waters of the world clean and tended to the flora and fauna of the seas, along with controlling the rains. Aeros was guardian of the air and wind. Anything that flew in the sky was under his protection. These five were called the Holy Ones.
Each Guardian was given special abilities that would help them tend to their duties. In their infancy, if one could call it that when they were all created as adults, they were carefree and were given the opportunity to get to know their world. When they were ready, the Creator of Time passed the responsibilities of keeping the Balance to their hands.
The five lived on the peaks of a blessed mountain chain that was lined with never-ending forests of great beauty, while the uppermost peaks were topped with ice and snow. From this vantage point, the Guardians could observe the world and its happenings, and help wherever they could. Being created just for their duties, each was dedicated deep in their soul toward his, and her, purpose; at least it was that way in the beginning.
Over time, many inhabitants of the Terra were created. Magical creatures were dominant and included those who did not use magic, but were infused with it. They included the Centaur, Barbarians, Goblins, and so on. Time went on, as it always seems to do when one is not looking, and peace covered the Terra. At least, it was peaceful for a time. Up on the blessed peaks that the Holy One's called home, tension was brewing.
The Creator of Time introduced the race of Man to the Terra. Normally, the introduction of a new race was met with excitement among the Holy Ones, but this time was different. This time, there was no magic involved. Erebos contended that a race without magic is without the moral compass they all possessed, and would mean the end to the Balance and their world. Rorik insisted that the Creator of Time had a plan for these children, and for them to give Man a chance at life. Helena agreed, emphasizing the importance of following the Creator's plan and the only way to do that was to nurture them along. Years passed, and then centuries. Erebos continued to plead with the Creator of Time to eradicate the Man race from the Terra, but he was immovable in his decision. The dark one tried to reason with his siblings with argument after argument, but they grew tired of this debate and ignored him. Feeling betrayed and abandoned, Erebos left the mountain, declaring that when he was done, the Man race would be enslaved by the world of magic. Recognizing the insanity that they all had overlooked happening with their brother, the four remaining siblings went out to find and retrieve him before he caused any damage. Erebos left a trail of darkness in his wake and, therefore, was easy to track. They found him in the marshes, close to the adjacent mountain range from their own, urging on a battle between three races, the High-elves, the Barbarians and the Orcs. He could not have been there long enough to have started the battle, but the Holy Ones were certain that the battle was probably worse than needed to be because of him. With the battle being a distraction, the siblings used this element of surprise to try to capture their brother. Erebos did not stay in their custody for long, however. As time passed and the Terra was wrought with destruction, wedges between all of the Holy Ones were formed. The Creator of Time was saddened as he watched his chosen ones turn on one another. He could feel the Balance tearing under their neglect and could hear the Terra cry out in agony. He had given them enough time to handle their squabble. They needed reminded of their true nature.
Casting his hand over their faces, from his perch beyond their mountain, the Creator of Time took away their sight; not the sight as others use to see the world around them, but their sight of sanctity, the sight of all that is good and pure. This left the siblings with only the sight of despair, all that was morbid, decayed, and sullen. The Creator was certain that once they saw what they were doing to each other and to the world that they loved for so long, they would stop what they were doing, and repair what destruction they had caused in the Balance. For the most part, his assumptions were correct. Helena and her brethren looked at each other with new eyes. The horrors they saw brought screams and cries to their throats and pain to their hearts. They saw physical counterparts to the emotional upheaval in each other. Where there was sadness, they saw blood streaming from one another's eyes; where there was betrayal, they saw burns and slash marks covering the bodies of their brethren. Looking around, all any of them could see were the remnants of fires and animals cowering in fear, if not dead. Sobbing uncontrollably, the siblings stopped their bombardment on one another, all except for Erebos. Erebos saw what his siblings had seen, but it did not move him. He heard their cries, yet felt nothing of empathy for them. The Creator of Time realized that he was too far gone in his mind to be helped, even by him.
Rorik and the others knew what had to be done. The Twins would drive Erebos up the mountain that the creatures of magic knew as the Ulgan Mountains; named after their Creator of Life. Once they reached a set of caves that they knew from their childhood, they would force him inside. Helena and the Twins would remain outside of
the entrance while Rorik would battle Erebos on his own. They had all agreed that only one could leave that cave. Only one. If it were not Rorik, they would be forced to ask the Creator for the power to destroy Erebos. If it were Rorik, they needed to be ready in case they had to seal the cave entrance.
All went according to plan, as dismal any result would be, and weeks passed as they kept Erebos inside the cave and the battle ensued. No one wanted this to happen. They longed for the days before Man was born and they could laugh and play games with their brother. Those days were behind them now, they knew, for as they stood their ground on the outside, an explosion shook the side of the mountain. They all feared the worst. Moments later, they saw movement just beyond the shadows of the cave entrance. They prepared themselves for yet another battle, but it was not necessary. Out of the shadows staggered a very weak and worn Rorik. They rushed to him and, as he fell into their arms, he said, "It is done."

Rorik had almost missed the young Elf's presence in the woods. He would come in good time, he supposed. Destiny was a playful lady and leads everyone to their places, whether it were only to their front door, or to his, it did not matter. Today, Rorik was troubled, for while everything seemed in order in the forests of the Ulgan Mountains, the air itself warned that something was clearly wrong. Whistling, more to himself than to any of the forest children that were out playing, Rorik stepped out of his cave home and took in a deep breath. The air was sweet and cool. It would get colder soon, he knew, for as the sun still shone high, the leaves shared their sleepiness with some of the forest animals. Not himself, however, he had a restless sleep the night prior with dreams of a battle long since won, and lost, depending on how one would look at it.
His little Elf guest was getting closer. He needed to take a walk, however, and see if he could get some answers from the forest. He felt a disruption. The Balance was in danger, but of what kind, he could not say. Perhaps, he could ask his guest to help him before it became too late for everyone, before they lose their world to the darkness.

Comments

  1. I just finished reading The Terra. Enjoyed it very VERY much! What a wonderful journey it was :-)

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Adding Flesh to Bones: Character Creation in Fiction

Here you have your great story idea. You have it in your head how it is supposed to go and where its happening. You are set for that million-seller, award winning novel. Now you just have to get it down on paper, or word processor. Boom! You get to writing and the first character comes up. Your face gets that blank look to it and your enthusiasm fades. Who is this person? Where is he from? Do you have any background on him? How did he get to here? EEEEEEK! I will tell you this, sometimes, most of the time, you are not writing about a story. You are writing about a character, or several. Sometimes the character is so obvious that creation is easy. Joe Shmo is a mechanic who wins the lottery, or Jane Whatsherface moves to the beach into an old lighthouse. But is it this easy every time? Not on your life!  If you go into your story without some sort of idea about your characters, it is like going cross-country driving without ever opening a map. The journey is slow and arduous. There w

My 10 Quick Tips on Writing

Hello, my fellow aspiring writers, poets and playwrights! First I want to thank all of you for the incredible support that you have given me in my writing and blogging. I have been writing most of my life but only recently decided to go pro. Many of you have decided the same thing. It's a rough road but we can take it. We are tough. It is always helpful (at least it is to me) when others with more experience or just some good ideas share what they know with the rest of us, so here I go with my little bit. Here are 10 quick tips on writing that I have found to be really helpful to learn. 1. Write like a demon! Ignore the format of the page, all of the little writing rules and every bit of writing tips you have been forced to swallow and just write! Let the words flow out like a busted fire hydrant. That first draft is the most important, even with its type-o's, grammar snaffoos and plot holes. It is the heart of any writing process and you can't let over thi