Of Gaea
Of Legacies #1
Genre- YA Fantasy
Her choice will change the world.
She hated the wheelchair. Hated the way it made her feel less than what she was. Most of all she hated not being able to do all the things she used to. Ari had been a track and field star, an archery champion and an Eskrima pro. Now she was confined to a wheelchair slowly dying inside from its restraints.
Medical science wasn’t working. The tests, the drugs, the therapies were all useless and a waste of time. She was tired of wasting her time; she was tired of failure. It was time to look away from the obvious and try something unconventional.
Nothing was ever free and that included miracles. Abruptly, Ari finds herself tangled in a web of lies, questioning everything she’s ever known as truth. Never had she believed she’d be thrown headfirst into a world of good and evil, magic and Gods.
Trapped in the middle of a war she had never known existed both parties demanded her allegiance. Ari was a catalyst that could change all the rules of the Earth. But when the time comes to make a choice will she be strong enough to know right from wrong?
And here is an Excerpt from Of Gaea:
“I’m twenty years old.”
Leonidas said quietly. “And I am destined to die before my next birthday. You
understand why I have no enthusiasm for hurrying that along.”
“Come on.” Sasha grabbed
the handles of the wheelchair and drew Ari back. “He’s not worth your anger.”
“Can I at least have the
runes? I’ll get someone else to help, but I need the other runes.” Ari begged.
Pride was no longer an option. Her one chance was slipping through her fingers.
She could feel tears welling up in her eyes. She wouldn’t just give up.
“Please. You may not care at all, and I really don’t care if you do or not.
But, please, don’t condemn me to this wheelchair for the rest of my life. Please?”
“Sasha.” Leonidas slowly
righted himself. He wanted to ignore her pain. Wanted to pretend it didn’t
matter. His ghosts, however, wouldn’t let him. His words were slow and
resigned. “You’ll need to pick her up. Her chair cannot go where we need to go.
Put it there,” he gestured next to the archway, “out of the walkway and follow
me.”
Sasha parked the wheelchair
and carefully slid his arms under Ari. He was always very careful with her.
Spun glass, was what she reminded him of, though, recently that glass was lined
with steel. He waited for Ari to grab her notebooks and nod at him in
confirmation before righting slowly and letting her adjust comfortably once
upright.
Leonidas watched bemused,
but said nothing. It wasn’t his place to say anything, and if he had it would
no doubt have met with defensiveness from Ari. While he wasn’t above being
argumentative, he wanted them out. It hurt to look at them for too long. Their
unit was too solid and it pained him.
Leonidas had been right
about the wheelchair. The hall behind the curtain was barely wide enough for
them to walk. There was no way a wheelchair could have been navigated through.
All the doors were closed so Ari could only guess at what was behind them.
At the end of the hall,
Leonidas pushed on a tile in the wall. The panel slid open to reveal an
elevator. It was just as brightly lit as the main gallery which made the ride
down a little more tolerable. Ari had no idea how far down they went before the
elevator dinged to a stop.
When the doors opened there
were books as far as the eyes could see. They disappeared into the shadows.
There were no windows and the lights were dim. Several of them flickered,
dangerously close to blowing out. It made the entire room look like something
out of a horror movie.
“Charming.” Sasha quipped.
“Do you keep your coffin down here, too?”
Of Sparta
Of Legacies #2
Genre- YA Fantasy
She was the strongest of Gaea’s Servants. Miera had been trained from childhood to be Faithful always to the Goddess. She had been taught with Faith they would always be protected. She had never wavered from that course. She hadn’t counted on the consequences of that choice.
As Ariadne’s birthday draws closer darkness closes in on Sparta. Monsters, both Tainted and Pure alike, were vying for pieces of their island. Doubt and fear grew like pestilence. Death was unavoidable.
Sparta sat on the brink, but of what Miera wasn’t certain. There was no record, no precedence for her to consult. There were no living patrons of the Goddess to seek council from. She only had instinct and Faith. If she could not maintain the balance Sparta would fall before Gaea’s return.
How did the lost lead the people out of darkness?
And now an Excerpt from Of Sparta:
“High Patriarch! High
Patriarch!” A page boy ran through the halls screaming.
“Calm yourself boy.” Thalia
grabbed his arm. “What’s wrong?”
He pointed out the windows.
Black smoke billowed towards the sky. “The corn is on fire. I was commanded to
come fetch you before it reaches the cotton.”
“Go get the horses ready,”
Miera gave an apologetic look to Sasha and Nasya. “I must go.”
“I go with you,” Thalia
stepped to Miera’s side. “I have sworn it Miera.” She added before Miera could
protest.
Miera nodded and turned to
Sasha, “continue down this hall…”
“What is all this noise?”
Leonidas strolled down the hall.
“Never mind.” Miera
squeezed Sasha’s arm as she passed. To Leonidas she said, “I must go, Sasha
needs to talk to you.”
She ran as fast as she
could out to the waiting horses. A car might be faster in any other
circumstance but depending on where the field was burning it wouldn’t have been
convenient. Thalia boosted her up then took to her own mount and they raced
from the South gate of the city.
The smoke was thick and
blowing in their faces with the north wind as they got closer. There were
people running towards and running away from the fire. Most of them were
running away. But Miera saw the gleam of precious metals on arms and heads as
they raced by. The Envoys and the Thaumaturges were trying to get there as
well.
There was no visible fire.
Smoke billowed out of a perfectly spherical circle the size of a football
field. It wasn’t trying to spread. This was something else. Miera felt it a
second too late.
“Ambush!” Miera wheeled her
horse even as dozens of wolves howled and formed from the black smoke. Thalia
jerked her horse between Miera and the black predators. Their gleaming red eyes
were unnerving.
“Get out of here!” Thalia
shouted at her drawing her swords.
“I’m not leaving you,”
Miera replied even as the wolves lunged.
“In Gaea’s name!” Thalia
caught two of them on her blades even as Miera called down lightning. The smoke
still billowed and seemed to thicken making it impossible to see through. Even
more impossible with them swirling around in it.
Miera heard the cries of
the Envoys and Thaumaturges that had caught up with them and felt the draw on
Gaea as their training kicked in and they fought back. For a brief moment it
felt like they were winning. Even though the numbers were impossibly stacked.
Then the smoke parted for a
second and Miera saw a man dressed all in black with billowing black hair and
endless black eyes. Crows flew about him and Miera tried to count their number
before the smoke closed again. She had counted enough for death.
About the Author-
Born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, but with the ability to claim eight states as home; Victoria Escobar writes fiction from her current home in New York. She writes whatever comes to mind and because of such has a variety of genres written including Young Adult, New Adult, Paranormal, Urban Fantasy, and Contemporary Fiction.
In spare time if not with family, and friends Victoria enjoys curling up with a book from a favorite author with music playing. If not reading or writing she spends time drawing, sketching, crocheting, or some other random art project. She enjoys staying busy, but most of all enjoys staying creative.
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