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BLURB:
In Confrontations by J.L. Walters, a Books We Love Young Adult Fantasy, Ash, Bran, Ky and Jay along with their friends have now mastered their affinities. They now control their ability to use Earth, Air, Fire and Water. The time has come for them to face Dom Senet and He Who Walks with Evil. They have learned a disturbing fact. He Who Walks With Evil is able to exchange an old body for a new one. Dom Senet wishes to obtain the secret and he is willing to sacrifice even his own son to gain this power. The four sets of companions set off to rid the doms and domas of Dom Senet’s bonds and to defeat the two evil men. Can they or will they become pawns to evil?
EXCERPT:
The time has
come. Ash bolted upright. Her heart pounded with a beat reminiscent of one
created by a mad drummer. Her gaze swept the room. She saw the other young
women slept. Had someone spoken on the winds or had the words been part of a
dream she couldn’t remember? When her racing heart slowed she cautiously opened
her senses to read the winds of the keep. Using her affinity for Air she
searched. The only person awake was the doma and the cry hadn’t arisen from the
elderly woman.
Fingers of
moonlight slid through the shuttered windows. She moved to the edge of the bed
and pushed her feet into her house boots. Ash crept to the window to peer
outside. She knelt on the stone bench and opened the shutters a crack. A gasp
pushed past her lips when she saw the birds, one light and the other dark. The
pair circled the keep.
She rubbed her
arms to banish the chill of the late winter night. “Mama, Papa,” she whispered.
“What does your arrival mean?”
Since the
destruction of the Wesren henge the birds had appeared at auspicious moments.
Sometimes the pair signaled safety and other times they brought a warning of
danger. What was the meaning of this sighting?
“The time has
come.” Softly she whispered the words. Like a jolt of lightning a thrill of
excitement swept through her. Did that mean her and her halfling companions
were ready to leave the safety of the keep and venture forth against their
enemies? There were more opponents than she cared to face. She considered the
number of doms and domas who followed Dom Senet, the four halflings he’d
trained plus Zand’s former step-mother and her two sons. A shudder rolled
through her body. There was also the voice of evil she’d heard on the winds.
Two years and a
season had passed since the return from the quests for the remaining halflings,
the heirs and the talismans. The sixteen companions had worked hard to gain
mastery of their affinities of the elements. Four whose element was Air, four Fire, four Earth and four Water
united in four mixed quartets. A sliver of fear stabbed. Were they ready? She
fought a desire to return to her bed and pull the covers over her head.
As the edge of
the sun appeared above the distant mountains Ash closed the shutters. She
thought about the birds and knew hiding was as impossible as a return to sleep.
Not while her emotions rose and fell in waves. Should she wake the others and
tell them about the birds? She frowned. If she did Ky, her younger sister,
would scold and rouse everyone in the keep.
Ash grabbed her
clothes and dashed to the necessary to wash and dress. Before she stirred the
others into action she had to speak to Doma Jandia. Perhaps their teacher could
interpret the meaning of the words and the arrival of the birds.
As she hurried
down the stairs she quested for the doma. The elderly woman wasn’t in her room
on the fourth level of the keep. The doma’s mind scent rose from the stillroom.
When Ash dashed from the third level to the second she heard stirrings from the
chamber where her brothers and the other male halflings slept. Since she wanted
advice before those with affinities plied her with questions she grasped the
railing and sped downstairs.
On the first
level she scurried along the hall and opened the door of the stillroom. Shelves
on one wall held jars of various herbs, spices and flowers. Ash tasted the air
as she’d been taught and isolated attars of roses, lavender and the scent of
rosemary.
The elderly
woman who had taught Ash and her siblings since the day they’d found refuge
with her sat on a bench at a stone table. She rested a pestle in the mortar,
turned and smiled. Hair turned to silver by age framed the doma’s lined face.
The gaze from her brilliant green eyes met Ash’s. In contrast to the
copper-hued skin of the halflings, Doma Jandia’s was as pale as linen bleached
by the sun. Until this moment Ash hadn’t realized how much the doma had aged.
“You’re astir
early,” Doma Jandia said.
Ash nodded. “I
heard a voice and saw the birds.”
The light of
knowing flashed in the elderly woman’s eyes. “Tell me the entire story.”
In a few words
Ash spoke of her awakening. “Do you think the time has come for us to leave the
keep?”
The doma
nodded. “I believe so. Though I would rather keep you here and safe you young
people have a destiny. You have learned all I can teach you and more since you
aren’t afraid to try new approaches. Yes, you’re ready to begin cleansing the
princedoms. Once that is accomplished you can confront Senet and his allies.”
Those words
caused Ash to straighten her shoulders. Fear and excitement slithered through
her thoughts. Her breath caught. “Are you sure?” The time had come but she
wavered between action and retreat.
The doma left
the table. “Senet is on the move. I don’t know what he plans but the air in the
highlands shimmers with strange energies.”
Ash’s hands
clenched. “How much danger do he and his cronies pose for us?”
Doma Jandia
grasped one of Ash’s hands and uncurled the tightened fingers. “He has full use
of all four elements. Alone he can overpower any two or three of you unless you
are joined in quartets of both mixed or a single element. When you are he
cannot overcome the meld formed even when you are distant from each other. Know
that to be the truth.”
Some of the
churning in Ash’s gut subsided. “Where should we go first?” The desire to avoid
Dom Senet was foremost in her thoughts. She fought dark waves of fear
threatening to engulf her. She couldn’t forget the times he had invaded her
thoughts in attempts to lure her into his web. A vision of a huge black spider
with the face of the dom made her shiver.
He’s not
here. You have barriers against him.
What if he
can break them?
Doma Jandia
stroked Ash’s hand. “You are safe. Though in the days to come you will face
danger you are strong enough to defeat him."
“I pray you’re
right.” Ash swallowed. “Where must we go first?”
“The four
princedoms must be cleansed. Begin in Easren, then Soutren, Nortren and Wesren
in that order. By the time the four are cleansed the sixteen of you will be
ready to face Senet.”
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