Child of Gaea is the first novel written about the Realms of Aquilar Fantasy World. This well-written fantasy novel is currently having the finishing touches applied before publication by the author and will soon be available online. The prologue written below is Copyright © 2006 and is subject to change at any time and without warning! We may, in the future include more excerpts from the story, if requested. Once published, we'll provide information on how to obtain a copy for yourself if you're interested. Please, if you like the story so far, spread the word: Email this page

Child of Gaea Synopsis:

Child of Gaea is a story about a young woman, Alimaye, who dreams that her life was more than the mundane life of a blacksmiths' daughter. Apprenticed to Kelliam, Alimaye is adept at the magical arts of sorcery. The great sorcerer and sage of the Dalelands has discovered that she possesses supernatural ability using magic and has kept it secret, until now. After a deadly incident at the Midsummers Eve festival in Orindale, her companion Iriador discovers arcane and unreadable markings upon her neck. She is soon thrust into adventure when the elven ranger Iriador agrees to lead her to an oracle who may know the secret to the ancient scribe and her newfound powers. The journey is long and perilous and everywhere they are pursued by an unknown and terrible enemy.

Follow Alimaye in her journey to discover her own self and the secret to the marks that now plague her life. This story delves into the history and mystery of the forgotten world of Aquilar and explores many different aspects of its people and cultures. A great introduction to the Realms of Aquilar fantasy world.

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There is in every true woman's heart a spark of heavenly fire, which lies dormant in the broad daylight of prosperity; but which kindles up, and beams and blazes in the dark hour of adversity.
- Washington Irving

In the orange glow of a single candle amid a dusty library, a young girl of only nine winters with long locks of blonde hair and brilliant green eyes curiously selected a large leather-bound tome whose pages were yellowing with age. A breath of air removed the dust from the book revealing obscure markings upon its surface but it had no title and she trembled as she opened the cover for she knew not what secrets were hidden inside. There were many secrets hidden within this room and it was forbidden for her to be here in the loft of her mentor’s tower and she was never to read the books in his private collection.

She was careful to be very quiet because she was neglecting her studies and if her mentor discovered where she was, he would be very upset with her and her punishment would be more tedious chores or worse, having to recite the tenants of magical practice over and over again until she was blue in the face. She hated that even more than her chores and would do almost anything to never have to do it again, but she couldn’t resist the lure of the wizards’ secrets. She looked at the first page and was pleased when she saw the magical scripture, which he had taught her how to read. The first chapter was entitled ‘Fall of the Celestials’ and she began reading out loud:

" Aquilar. In the ancient Danarin tongue it means ‘forgotten.’ The people of Aquilar chose that name long ago for a world that the celestials had forsaken. T’is a place of eternal beauty and wonder, but there remains a great shadow cast over all the land for the world is left deeply scarred by the great war that destroyed the celestial beings. Chaotic and unbalanced forces endured from the turmoil of this great battle and even now threaten the sanctity of this world. Without hope for the future, all would be lost.

Long ago before the durrin, the gnomes, or even the danarai walked the far reaches of Aquilar, the celestials ruled over the mystical realms of the universe, bending it to their will. The celestials were the children of Gaea, the creator of all life and the one being who knew the secret to harnessing the elemental powers that are the essence of all things. There were sixteen celestial children in all and each one was entrusted with the responsibility of governing elemental forces and charged with watching over the paradise that she had created. These ancient beings were given extraordinary powers, rivaling that of Gaea herself. A mothers’ love is blind however and she could never have foreseen how such power could warp the minds of even the most devoted of her children.

When Aquilar first came to be it was forbidden for the celestials to descend upon its surface in their natural form and interfere with the delicate balance of nature. Although the Aquilar was a sacred place, the celestials were still afforded an opportunity to interact with mortal life thereby understanding the value of it and to be in the mortal world, a celestial had to become mortal. To understand this lesson, Gaea taught to her children the secret of crafting life and encouraged them to use their power to fashion their own beings to populate the world in their likeness, thus were born the mortal races of Aquilar.

The first born of the intelligent races were the Saurians, born of Rrg’sssil, and oldest of the races of Aquilar. Silanna, of the faerie folk, breathed life into the noble Danarai, whose natural binding to the earth and to aether gave them extended life and a greater understanding of the ancient arts of magic. Seebo, father of the Gnomes, instilled within them the knowledge of engineering and wisdom. Konendd the Craftsman placed his creation deep into the mountains of the earth and instilled in them the gifts of craftsmanship and great endurance, breathing life into Durrin. The Beastlord Korgun spawned the race of Gorguns to whom he gave hatred, aggression, and obsession, which he claimed would conquer all other races. In similar fashion, K’bruuah created the Orrogs and instilled into them greed, envy, and chaos.

Unlike the races that came before them, the origins of the race of Men are a mystery to all for no one celestial could claim lordship over them. It has been said that Gaea placed the aspects of all of the elements and all the races and gave these to the race of Men gifting them with the ability to learn quickly and adapt to the world around them. Men were gifted with ingenuity, ambition, and curiosity, providing the necessary skills to one day become the dominant race on the planet.

Many other forms of life were born during this time of great change, according to the legends. The utterly evil and demonic races of maori were one of the first creations and to this day, seek to conquer all other races for their own twisted purpose. Their creator, Baelor, fashioned these destructive beings out of his own likeness, creating for himself a race that would pay homage only to him and would follow his every command. The cunning and deceptive celestial from the realm of shadow gave life to creatures made purely of darkness that could invade the dreams and worlds of others, while the dragon king Drasmodeus gave life to the first of all dragonkind.

Of all mortals, the humanoids on Aquilar were favored by Gaea and were given the ability to use magic freely and think for themselves, using their freewill to decide their own destiny. The celestials, as powerful as they were, were bound by Gaea’s commandments and feared her great power for one who has the power to create also has the power to destroy. According to the legends, there was dissension among the celestial beings and jealousy reared its ugly head in the face of the perfect world of Aquilar.

The jealous and spiteful celestials planted the seeds of discord in the minds of their brothers and sisters, seeds that would eventually sprout into hatred, greed, and betrayal. There was one who utterly despised and loathed Gaea’s perfect world and envied her great power, the one celestial who had no name, the Lord of Nightmares otherwise know as the Shadow Lord. There were none save Gaea who could match his dark powers for he was the first-born and many of the other celestials already paid homage to him out of fear. This evil god campaigned to rally the envious to his cause, promising to them the power of Gaea and a new universe, which they would create and rule over in her stead. No one celestial could challenge Gaea alone but the dark lord knew that with the others as his allies, he could defeat her and steal her power. The key to defeating Gaea was to take away the source of her strength, the one place that no celestial could enter in his or her true form, Aquilar.

In time, the incessant plotting of those celestials that sided with the Shadow Lord gave away their intentions and Gaea perceived. It is written by the druids that she foresaw her own death and prepared for the inevitable by harnessing elemental energies together into five artifacts that could bind and control the elements. The artifacts were fashioned from a solid form, one that could contain and control the raw elemental forces within them. Water was contained in a white globe of ice that would never melt and was freezing cold to the touch; Earth in a globe of solid rock, gray and cool, like the earth itself; Air in globe of clear crystal, light as a feather and whose contents swirled about in a maelstrom; Fire in a globe of black obsidian with fiery red energy burning inside that was as hot as an inferno; and Aether in a globe of blue light that was solid to the touch. These were the Orbs of Elemental Power.

For millennia the Shadow Lord bided his time, watching and waiting while the toils of Gaea’s creation caused her power to wane and she rested, allowing the world to follow its own course for a time. Seizing the moment, the Shadow Lord conspired with two of his brothers to steal the Orbs of Elemental Power, allowing them to have dominion over the heavens. For once he had possession of the orbs, he could control the elemental forces and become as powerful as Gaea, inevitably destroying her with them. But Gaea was wiser than he and unknown to him, secreted the orbs away to Aquilar and used her powers to prevent any celestial from descending upon its surface.

The Lord of Nightmares eventually discovered Gaea’s secret and sent omens and visions to influence his worshippers on Aquilar, commanding them to seek out the orbs and conquer in his name. The dark lord and his brothers discovered the existence of ancient portals into the Underworld and sent forth legions of demons and their minions into the world to wreak havoc upon the races of Aquilar. The Beastlord Korgun unleashed the fury of his gorgun followers against the danarai of Western Oriador alongside despicable orrogs who rallied under their banners. From every corner in the world, the evil forces of the three dark gods brought destruction to the old kingdoms, ending their reign with frightening efficiency.

It is said that the danarai, who relied heavily on their great ability in magic, sought assistance from the celestials in their efforts to hold back the tide of war. The elves delved too deeply into ancient secrets and forbidden magic and their magical experiments failed them. The druids and mages of the three kingdoms were deceived into opening a portal into the realm of shadow, the home of the Shadow Lord. He’d waited for an opportunity such as this and used his powers to keep the gateway open while throngs of shadow creatures were unleashed into the heart of the west, destroying everything in their path. The Shadow Lord revealed his true intentions by entering this world through the portal along with his brothers, taking on mortal forms called avatars to lead their armies in the search for the elemental orbs.

This was the beginning of the Blood War, a war that would change the face of the world forever. As the machine of war rolled across the western lands of Oriador the prominent kingdoms of the danarai fell in their wake. The Shadow Lord underestimated the strength of the humanoid races however and his demonic armies were nearly defeated in the Everwood as men from the east came to their aid. The armies of shadow claimed victory despite the unusual alliance and in the Everwood the first of the orbs were found, hidden away in the deep forests.

Gaea could not battle the combined might of the three celestials herself and commissioned the other celestials to do battle in her stead and protect the orbs from being found. The celestials that obeyed took their avatar forms and descended upon Aquilar to do battle but one by one, they were destroyed by the combined might of the three evil brothers and the dark god claimed lordship over the orbs until only one remained.

Near the end of the Blood War, much of Oriador had been devastated by war and covered in darkness and it seemed that all hope was lost. The world trembled under the power of the Shadow Lord until there came a fateful day when the three remaining celestials, Silanna of the danarai, Konendd of the durrin, and Reilen who represented men, mustered an unusual alliance of the three races and vast armies from across the continent marched together towards a final confrontation to bring the forces of the Shadow Lord to its knees. The celestial Silanna discovered the location of the final orb, the Orb of Aether and gathered all armies to defend the ancient temple where it was hidden. It was to be their last stand against the evil that was bent on destroying them and taking control of the heavens and earth.

In the midst of what is now known as the Blood Plains, the largest battle ever to take place on Aquilar had begun and lasted for more than a day in the blazing sun as the temple was assaulted. Powerful magic was unleashed from both sides and the landscape of the plains was changed forever as the forces of men, danarai and durrin fell amidst the onslaught of gorguns, orrogs and demons, staining the dry, cracked earth red.

It is said that the Lord of Nightmares took the form of an ancient demon from the shadow realm, an Ahrimane , a creature engulfed in shadow and flame. With the power of four of the elemental orbs at his command, the army of mortals could not hope to stop him. Konendd and Reilen engaged the dark lord hoping to outnumber him, but he was too powerful now and they were slain, leaving only Silanna to defend the remaining orb. While her two allies were busy giving their lives in defense of the orb, Silanna’s skill and grace in combat along with her command of magic allowed her to defeat the dark lord’s allies, leaving her to face him alone.

As their armies continued to do battle all around them, the two celestials engaged in a frightening duel that shook the very ground they tread upon. The power of the Shadow Lord was too much for the patron of the danarai and Silanna fell to his flaming sword and her essence slowly slipped away into the unknown. The Lord of Nightmares cried out in victory and summarily cut a swath through the remainder of the mortal army before him and reached the steps of the temple before something unexpected happened.

One of the survivors of this day, a warrior by the name of Korlin, once described the appearance of the woman as something out of a dream, where time itself seemed to stand still and all combatants became powerless to continue the battle. It was at that moment that a song was heard upon the plains, a song so loud and brilliantly beautiful that it took hold of the combatants on the field driving them to their knees in reverence and awe. As the evil celestial looked upon the battlefield, he saw a rift in the chaos before him and through it walked a fragile old woman singing effortlessly and beautiful, charming all those who heard her voice.

The power of the orbs protected him from being affected by her magic and he continued onto the steps leading up to the temple where his ultimate prize lay in wait, hoping to reach it before she did. As he reached the top, Gaea suddenly appeared before him and the four orbs curled inside his demonic wings disappeared and he howled in rage, unable to do anything to stop her. Gaea looked up at the hideous demon before her with blazing eyes full of infinite wisdom and the song abruptly stopped, leaving the two immortal enemies to face each other. The artifacts appeared above them then, swirling about in a circle and bathed in a brilliant halo of light.

"All the power that was given to you was not enough. Your greed and your jealously has brought you nothing save your own destruction. You cannot command the elements my child, the elements have dominion over all of us and you shall pay dearly for your transgressions." She said to him, her voice carrying across the wind as if blown from a powerful storm.

"Your love for these pathetic mortals has made you weak, mother." He bellowed, "There is a new power in the universe now and that power is me!" as he spoke, the Lord of Nightmares drove his flaming sword into Gaea’s chest, pushing it through her now mortal form.

Gaea stood there unwavering and simply smiled at him as her essence flowed like blood from the wounds, bathing the plains in brilliant light, "Your arrogance has ended with my death and never shall this world be threatened by your evil again." The five orbs suddenly exploded in a flash of chromatic power, sending beams of energy in all directions. As the Shadow Lord watched in awe, his form began to split like cracked porcelain and he felt his life force draining away. He reeled in pain and anguish as his sword shattered and then his mortal form slowly disintegrated into thin air and his words were lost to the winds. All beings who were not of this world also departed, simply disappearing from the battlefield leaving only mortals behind.

Gaea’s mortal form slowly faded away into nothingness leaving the combatants on the plains with a ghostly vision and these parting words, "The celestials are no more and this world is yours forever, but I will be with you always for Aquilar and I are now one." And then she was gone and the celestials were destroyed forever."

"Alimaye!" the old wizard called from somewhere inside the great tower, sounding irate as he always was when she disregarded her studies.

Alimaye quickly slammed the cover of the tome and replaced it exactly as she had found it. She ran to the door of the attic and cracked it open, peeking down the stairs to see if he was there. He was nowhere in sight and she breathed a sigh of relief and called out to her mentor, "Coming Kell!"

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