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Luxatra, The World of the Gifted
Category:
Fantasy
Publisher: CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform; 1 edition
ISBN-10: 1482742489
Type: Fiction
Pages: 290
Copyright: March 31, 2013
ISBN-13: 9781482742480
Price: $0.99 (eBook)
Warrior guardian Daen Mallaur is from Luxatra, a land where people are gifted with special abilities, swords are used to administer justice, and rulers must never show weakness. Sent to the world of shadows, his mission is to help a woman whose identity he does not know. And so his journey begins: a strange world, almost no memory of his mission, and … no way home?
In a world where people are gifted with special abilities and swords are used to administer justice, life is peaceful for a change. The disputes among the realms, long ago ended, and the ensuing peace allowed the guardians to exercise their rightful role as keepers of the histories. As a result, the missions of the guardians have become, more often than not, focused on watching the people of the lands, or so thought guardian Daen Mallaur as he stood on the mountainside, ready to depart. Little did he know his next mission wasn't going to be like the ones before it.
When his view of the snow blanketing the mountain tops started to fade, and the sensation of being pulled forward into nothingness enveloped him, Daen heard an unknown voice in his head telling him what he needed to do. When his senses returned, Daen found himself in a place … no, in a world he didn’t know, and the only words he could remember were, “You must help her.” And so his journey began: a strange world, almost no memory of his mission, and … no way home?
Excerpt
Thirteen-year-old Randell stood at the top of the attic ladder scanning the space around him. Old boxes and trunks dating back several generations were stacked on a plywood floor under the exposed roof rafters.
He wasn't supposed to be in the attic but it was a space he couldn't resist. It was a rich source of items waiting to feed his imagination and quench his boredom—or so he hoped.
It had been a while since he'd ventured into the attic with his father but he was bigger now, stronger, and able to sneak up the ladder on his own. His boredom had gotten the better of him that day and he'd decided the possibility of an adventure was worth the risk. His father was working and his mom was in the kitchen with the television on, so the odds were in his favor.
Light from the dust-covered attic windows cast silhouettes of the objects that filled the space. As he reached the top of the ladder, he pulled the string and the light from a single bare bulb shone bright, lighting the center of the attic and turning the silhouettes into boxes and trunks and other various items.
Randell moved quietly around the trunks and boxes, wiping dust from their surfaces, trying to ascertain their contents without opening them. He had only so much time and he couldn't waste it opening a box that didn't hold anything interesting.
Many of the boxes belonged to his parents and contained camping supplies and old clothes. His sled was stowed in the corner along with old toys his mother felt would be collectibles many years from now. It didn't take long for Randell to reach the wall furthest from the ladder and for disappointment to press against his chest. He turned and scanned the area, hoping he'd missed something, anything of interest.
He was about to start back, thinking he'd seen it all, when something behind a stack of boxes caught his eye. He quietly pushed the stack to the side, revealing a wooden trunk. He moved slowly and furtively. Even though his mother was in the kitchen the last time he checked, he didn't want to take any chances of being heard.
He pulled his sleeve down over his hand and wiped the dust from the top of the trunk. One swipe revealed two numbers. Another swipe revealed two more. A year, 1910. He gasped, "Yes!" None of what he'd already seen was this old.
Grinning ear-to-ear, he carefully lifted the lid to the trunk, secretly hoping to find a forgotten family treasure or something just as cool. The lid cast a shadow on the trunk's contents making it difficult to see what was inside. Randell gently pushed the stacked boxes a little closer to the ladder so that the light from the bulb up above could shine on his hidden treasure.
His eyes fell on what looked like a small woolen blanket. His excitement began to wane but he wasn't going to give up. He lifted the blanket from the trunk, ever so hopeful that it hid his treasure, but the next layer revealed was clothing and some old-fashioned women's shoes. Still, this was just the beginning. The trunk was deep and he had only just begun.
Not wanting to get in trouble for messing up the trunk's contents, he carefully set the items on the floor next to him, trying to remember where everything had come from. The next layer consisted of more clothes and a canvas bag that reminded him of the one Indiana Jones carried in each of his adventures. Finally, something he might find useful. He set the bag aside, away from the other items.
He returned to the trunk to see the next layer of items, but found there was nothing else. He'd reached the bottom. Perplexed, he sat back on his heels, looking at the outside and then the inside of the trunk. He used his arm to measure its depth, from both the inside and the outside. Something was wrong, and he knew what it was.
Barely able to contain his excitement, he felt around the inner edges of the bottom of the trunk and found a small bit of leather close to the front wall. He pulled on the leather and met resistance, but persistence has its rewards. He pulled harder and the bottom of the trunk lifted away. "Yes," Randell hissed as his heart started to pound in his chest. This was it, his hidden treasure.
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