Category: Young Adult/Teen Publisher: Rule of Three Press
ISBN-10: 1466234970
Pages: 287
Copyright: 2011
ISBN-13: 9781466234970
A forbidden birth. A remarkable young woman. A marauding alien society. The battle begins.
Cadet Erynn Yager guards a secret that if revealed would change her life, and not for the good. Erynn senses the emotions of others, can manipulate the electro-magnetic field around her, bend time for brief moments, and see the future. It’s not Erynn’s abilities that jeopardize her. It’s why she has these talents. Erynn’s very birth as a child of two worlds is forbidden.
When a brutal alien society begins an invasion, sending a specialized team to assassinate a military representative, Erynn bends time, saving the dignitary’s life. The alien assassin takes Erynn hostage, using her as a shield to evade capture. Pursued and attacked, they crash land on Arranon, the sister planet of Erynn’s home world, Korin.
Erynn escapes the enemy, fleeing into the unfamiliar dangers of an untamed, frigid, and beautiful planet.
Jaer, enigmatic leader of Arranon’s elite Anbas Warriors, vows to protect Erynn. Together they try to save their worlds. From their first meeting, her touch awakens a need Jaer thought dead and buried, creating in him a desire for something more in his life. His defenses tatter, carried away by the intensity of Erynn’s unusual energy. Jaer covers his feelings with a rigid defiance, not believing someone as rare and precious as Erynn could ever love him.
Obsessed with Erynn’s potential, the enemy hunts her. In a constant race to elude the invaders, Erynn becomes aware of a mysterious connection between her growing powers and the living consciousness of Arranon, leading her on a mystical journey. The wild animals of the forests assist Erynn, communicate with her. Even the weather seems to interact with Erynn, acting on her behalf, further drawing her into the spirit of Arranon, a world that needs her help. The ghostly vision of Erynn’s biological father comes to her, empowering her, instructing her to trust Arranon.
Arranon leads Erynn to a portal, a virtual doorway to another realm and a strange glowing life form, a collective colony of part plant, part animal. By linking their intellect to hers, they impart their warning. The alien is gaining control and time is running out. With Erynn’s trust increasing, Arranon reveals one last task. Erynn faces the final dreadful and agonizing objective that awaits her if she dares to save her worlds.
Excerpt
Tendrils of blue static followed Lieutenant Erynn Yager’s fingers over the keyscreen.
She entered her response to the equation presented on the large overhead at the front of the cramped room. Her answer was correct.
Delicate currents reached out and wrapped around her hands with a faint tingling sensation.
In a breath Erynn whispered, “Com avlash.” She turned her attention from the keyboard and brushed at dappled shadows that danced across the pool of sunlight on her desk. The wispy blue filaments traced her movements. They flowed like a lazy stream, trailing the path her fingertips traveled before the energy faded. When the static disappeared, she glanced around to make sure no one noticed.
No one ever had.
She smiled.
The buzz of winged cintenents drifted in on the warm breeze through the open window.
She sighed and fingered the collar of her white uniform shirt, aware of the rising temperature.
From the front of the classroom, the instructor, Major Kendal asked, “Does anyone need more time?” He scanned the faces in the room. When no one responded he continued, explaining the variables they should factor in to allow for accuracy. “I hope you took into account gravitational pull divided by speed before multiplying . . .”
Erynn tried to listen, but his incessant drone soon matched the hum from outside.
Static crackled over her. With a sinking heaviness, the air thickened. The temperature plunged to an icy chill. A sweet, spicy aroma replaced the electronic scent of computers and sour sweat of bodies pressed into a tight space for too long. She glanced out the window and frowned.
What . . .?
Her vision blurred. She stiffened and squeezed her eyes shut. Images played like a silent vid in fast-forward on a screen in her mind.
Flash⎯a brilliant city nestled in a deep green forest. Flash⎯majestic spires of trees surrounding a clearing, the sentinel woods tossed in a violent windstorm. Flash⎯mountain peaks covered by snow and ice.
More impressions swirled, sped by, eclipsing her thoughts, taking control.
From her earliest memories, strange abilities had plagued her. If anyone besides her father knew of these peculiarities, her life would change with swift and dramatic certainty. Her very birth was forbidden by decree from the governments of the two worlds.
Bright points of purple, blue, and green swarmed under her closed lids. The high-pitched sound of a hundred musical instruments in discord screamed in her ears. The syrupy aroma intensified. She caught two words through the cacophony, a plea, and a warning.
Cadjoo. Mabrath.
Her chest constricted, unable to expand.
Help. Death.
The meaning of this language she’d made up as a child took her breath. Her heart thudded painfully against her ribs. Her eyes flew open. At the periphery of her vision, the sparkling colors blinked out. The shrieking voices diminished. Erynn’s ears popped. Sudden quiet made her believe the shrill proclamation had left her deaf.
She pushed recognition away, refused the insistent vision that pried at the corners of her mind seeking purchase.
Prophecy.
The word slithered across her nerves like a dry whisper.
Erynn jumped up, knocking her chair back, ramming the desk into the seat in front of her. “No!” Her shout rang out in the small room. The floor seemed to undulate, rolling waves on water. She leaned against the desk to steady herself. The nauseating sensation of motion stopped. She hissed quick breaths through clamped teeth.
The ten other students in her weapons and tactics class stared at her. Ridicule and resentment came as a barrage of stinging barbs digging under her skin. Concentrated emotions bombarded against her attempt to focus, to gain control.
Jennifer finally ends up in Apalachia after barely escaping an attack. She soon learns about her destiny and how her actions will 'put a friend in grave danger'. With everyone refusing to tell her more Jennifer must find answers for herself.
The second book in the Megan Martin series takes Megan, her best friend May, and now the nosy neighbor girl, Brianna, on adventures through a haunted house.
