Category: Science Fiction Publisher: Republished by AetherBound Press
Pages: 252
Copyright: November 17, 2000
ISBN-13: 9780989010818
Born a shape-shifter and trained as a philosopher and teacher among the Altes, one of three 'discarded' human races on the planet Naeterra (Neo-Terra), Avistraya struggles to open the minds and hearts of the leaders of her people. When she fails and is banished to the other side of the world on a mission "guaranteed" to fail, her outcome may determine not only the future of her own race, but of all three of the races of Naeterra.
This is Book 1 of the Illiyan Chronicles.
Excerpt
Long Walk Home 717
Michrae
Gardens
Avistraya wandered along the inlaid stone
paths of the Gardens, slipping inside her own mind
and working to draw peace from the ground and the
steady drone of late evening insects. Anticipation
wrapped itself around her heart like the fragrance of
the clusters of blooming wisteria that fell from
between the slats of the archway that entered the
Enclave’s ornamental gardens. The sound of a small,
dancing stream washed away some of the vestigial
tension of today’s Progression exams.
A tingle in her Boundary-sense caused her
to look up. She watched for a minute as ribbons of
white, lavender and green arced across the night sky.
She carefully fed additional power into the invisible
sphere of energy, called the Boundary, that shielded
the Enclave from the electromagnetic storms and the
worst of the wild weather that often accompanied
them. As a Priestess, helping the Steward to
maintain the Boundary that protected her home Long Walk Home 727
Enclave always gave her a slight euphoria. Now, as
an Adept, she could maintain the Boundary on her
own if she needed to. But there was still something
special about joining with the others of the Family
for the work of protecting all. She could not imagine
a time when the electromagnetic storms did not
punctuate life with their eerie beauty. The Boundary
was actually two separate spheres—an inner sphere
that protected the innermost circle of Michrae
Enclave, and an outer sphere that protected their
herds, croplands, and the surrounding forests and
wild lands. The two energy spheres connected in the
very center, diffusing some of the lightning displays
along the inner Boundary in a cascade of colorful
electrical ribbons even as the larger outer Boundary
wall absorbed and diffused the majority of the wild
electromagnetic bursts. She sent a tendril of energy
into the pool from which the Boundary drew just as
one of the ribbons of lightning stretched from sky to
ground in a shattering crash of thunder. Long Walk Home 737
Avistraya reminisced about her one close
encounter with an electromagnetic storm. She could
remember the feel of the hair on her arms and neck
when she lived outside of the Boundary as a
Journeyman for two fascinating years. It seemed to
her then like her hairs were crawling out of her skin
to get a better view of the glorious sky. She smiled
to herself. That crawly feeling left most of the
Journeymen who were exposed to it cowering in
their tents or shelters. Not me—I had to see what it
felt like to be a part of that incredible power. She
remembered taking to the skies in her Shifted Raven
form, to see what it felt like to fly among those
ribbons of light. It had been one of the most
terrifying and exhilarating things that she had ever
tried. She tried to explain it in her report when she
got back. She struggled to explain the wonder and
the theories for better Boundary support that the
proximity to the ever-present electromagnetic storms
gave her. Unfortunately, all that it got her was a Long Walk Home 747
lecture and a block from her mentor, Amphior, that
prevented her from Shifting for an entire week.
This brought up another sore point in
Avistraya's mind. Avistraya pondered for a minute.
Why do they just throw so much useful information
away. Things that can really help us. I learned so
much more from doing than I ever did from books or
lectures. But nobody wanted to hear it. It was always
about the books—the laws—I might as well have
been a parrot! She shook her head. It doesn’t matter,
really. Nobody can force me to think a certain way.
Even though I know Belchrain and some of the
others are near about frantic to try! Despite the
drilling that she received from infancy in the Crčche,
she knew that things would change for the Altes.
Things changed for everyone and everything. They
changed for the Ancients, from the Neanderthal to
the old race of Man. There was no escaping it. And
I’m going to be ready. I swear I’m going to be
ready! Avis plucked a leaf from one of the trees and
crushed it between her fingers, inhaling the sweet-Long Walk Home 757
pungent scent. Soon I’ll have an Enclave of my own,
and I’ll be able to teach things the way that I think
they should be taught. She would be a true leader
and an open-minded teacher. She knew that the
Universe gave her new ideas for a reason. Now all I
have to do is pass my Progressions. At that very
moment she felt the beesting of conscience
reminding her that she hadn’t exactly made it easy
for the Council to pass her. Several of the
Councilors were hostile nearly to the point of
distraction during the Questioning. She sighed,
taking in the sweet wisteria scent and drawing
designs with her slippers in the soft dirt of the path.
She struggled to get over the frustration of dealing
with the closed minds of the Council. Actually, those
minds are more than closed—they’re downright
archaic! She felt so strongly that they were giving
up potentials beyond belief in their stubborn clinging
to outdated and parochial doctrines.
Utterly Fantastic Occurrences is a collection of 20 science fiction short story novellas existing in hardcover, in paperback and in Kindle and Nook e-book formats.
Snake Eyes and Boxcars, Part II is a collection of 14 sci-fi/paranormal stories and is author Jay Dubya's 13th story collection and is also his 33rd hardcover book.
