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The Mindsinger
Amazon Books
Category:
Science Fiction
Publisher: Self-published
ISBN-10: 1470187426
Type: Fiction
Pages: 127
Copyright: December 12, 2011
ISBN-13: 9781470187422
Price: $4.99 (eBook)
Volume I in 3 books:
Book One: The Great Bell of Fellowship
Book Two: King of the Barrier Wood
Book Three: The Deceiver
PROLOGUE
“It’s no use!” The professor of antiquities threw down his pen and walked away from the table. “We’ve tried every ancient language known to humanity and alien worlds alike and none of them fit! No language, no code, no nothing!”
The offending book lay open on the big table in the union hall of the University.
Beside it was a wooden box - old, heavy, with a simple key lying beside it. A scent as fresh as springtime still lay on the remaining five books it contained. The box had been uncovered by archeologists exploring an old space center in the western desert of New Iberia. No markings could be found on the box but the key had been found in a small easily opened compartment. Lying amid dust and mold in the ancient vault, the box remained clean and untouched by age.
The archeologists found six books inside filled with unintelligible writing. The box with its contents was brought here where all had been studied in minute detail. The wood itself made the box special and marked its age; for trees were no longer used for lumber. The binding of the books was another puzzle. The coverings were not leather, but some kind of vegetable product with properties similar to leather or a form of synthetic. The pages were fine linen and the lettering was done with regular ink. Regular that is, except there was no fading and no apparent aging of the documents.
Professor Keanoe left the enigmatic objects lying on the table and walked across to the refreshment console. While he dialed up a stimulant, a young student staffer took the opportunity to dust that portion of the table. His eyes fell upon the ancient manuscript and he stood there studying it.
“Get away from that!” Keanoe strode back across the room.
“But what is it, Professor? It looks like an interesting story.”
“None of your business…what!? What story?”
“Well, it says here The Chronicles of Windfallow: a history of our world and its heroes.”
Thus it was discovered that certain individuals could read the ancient writings with ease. A group of them was gathered to transcribe the manuscripts and the following documents are the fruit of their labors.
Excerpt
“As you can see, Mr. Thomas, we must find the Bell of Fellowship and return it to its rightful place. The thieves do not know who we are and they did not get a good look at our faces. They don’t even know if we are in this world or not.”
“Are you saying you need Zachary’s help in this?” Mrs. Thomas found her voice. “Surely you can’t think of putting our son in danger.”
“No one has passed through the gate in centuries, Ma’am. Our Queen believes he was sent to us for this very purpose,” Sparrow tried to explain.
“Do you mean through magic?” Sarah Thomas did not look convinced.
“A kind of magic,” Sparrow answered, “but more like the working of our Maker. He sent Zach to us when we needed him most. None of us knew how to get along in your world, for only I have done any studying of it and that was from a distance. He has given us valuable help already and if you are willing, will give us more.”
“Oh, boy. How do I explain Angari, Stilts?” Zach saw Angari leaning over the map on the far side of Sparrow.
“Let me try,” the old man said. “You see, in our land the angels are visible. Here, they aren’t. It must have something to do with your world being wounded. In any case, Angari would be known here as an angel. In our land they are called Alari because of their wings.”
“He has wings?” Sarah Thomas looked with awe at the spot Zach had indicated. “He’s an angel? Did you say they are here as well? All the time only we can’t see them?”
“That’s right, Ma’am,” Sparrow spoke up. “Angari, do you think you could let the Thomases see you just this once?”
There was a long silence and then Angari changed before Zach’s eyes.
He began to glow; his garments became bright white and his skin golden bronze. Zach heard a gasp from his parents as Angari came into full view. Even Stilts and Sparrow stepped back a pace.
“Why don’t you look like that in Windfallow?” whispered Stilts, for once subdued.
“Because you couldn’t endure the sight of so many of us in this form.” Angari spread his glistening wings. “Can you imagine what it would be like to order us around if we looked like this?”
“Order you around?” Sparrow grew pale. “We do, don’t we? And we
never think a thing of it. Why do you let us?”
“Because we’re your servants. That’s part of our service to the Maker, to give glory to Him and to serve His people. Our service gives Him glory.”
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