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Backstory for Shaman Troy
Like many third sons of the better
families in Caldone, when Jason Troy turned ten he was sent to the temple in
hopes of being chosen as a shaman. Only one in a hundred boys that arrive are
chosen. Many are dismissed on their day of arrival when they failed various
tests for empathy and kindness. The result of the early culling of meanness
means his fellow students are really nice and no one ever plays pranks and will
always help if you struggle on a certain skill or lesson.
But it also means in the first two
years, you are always losing beloved friends when they are sent home once the
shamans determine a student lacks the skills required to be a shaman in his
field. One friend, who had been soaring through the tests, was dismissed when
he wrote a compelling letter to Headmaster Daniels that females should also be
allowed to be shamans. From that debacle, Jason realized some of the leaders
were less enlightened than others and that speaking out, even on a just cause,
could get you removed.
Thus, he studied hard and avoided the
headmaster as much as he could.
In his second year at the Shaman’s
school, he had a dream about a cave. The next morning he woke early and logged
out with the intent to go hiking in the nearby mountain despite the fact he was
not in the least bit athletic. The Shaman logging him out worried as he stared
at his sandals. “You are not properly dressed,” he scolded.
Jason’s heart quickened. What would he
do if the shaman refused to give him permission to leave? “Sir, I must go. I am
confident the Gods will keep me safe.”
The old fellow walked to a cabinet and
opened the door. “You should never presume such a thing. The Gods are busy
managing the entire multiverse. What would happen if everyone took such an
attitude?”
“You are correct, Shaman Michel, I
apologize. I will return to my quarters.”
The Shaman pulled out a pair of hiking
boots and socks, an aluminum canister and two energy bars. “If the shoes fit,
you may go. Otherwise, you cannot.”
To Jason’s amazement, the shoes fit to
perfection, so off he went with water and energy bars, in search of the cave
he’d dreamt about.
Two hours later, he located a cave
opening hidden by a large bush. Upon entering, his skin tingled like it did
when he entered the main shaman temple for prayers. Thus, he knelt on the stone
floor and prayed. “I am your servant to command.”
A sense of peace surrounded him, but no
commands were given. He rose and moved deeper into the tunnel. While he may
have forgotten food, water, and proper shoes, he had remembered to carry a
small electric torch, which revealed twelve stone tablets in a dark hole in the
very back of the cave. He sat and tried to make sense of the words on the
tablets. While he had learned twenty-three languages thus far, he did not know
what the markings on the stone meant.
Memorizing the shapes of the letters, he
returned to the library and searched for the same symbols. After three days of
failure he approached his favorite teacher, Shaman Piper, for help. The shaman
marveled at the letters Janson had drawn then lead him to a room stacked with
boxes. Locating the box, the shaman and Jason carried it to a table in the
room. There they sorted through the stone tablets.
“This one!” Jason cried, finding a
tablet with similar markings.
“Are you certain?” the shaman asked in
disappointment.
Jason nodded.
The old shaman sighed. “It is Gaelic, a
language that none of us know.”
Jason sighed. Why would he dream of a
lost language?
That night when he went to sleep, he
dreamed of returning to the cave where he placed a stone tablet in his lap.
Whenever he stroked a cluster of symbols in the stone a word spoke in his head.
When Jason woke, he wrote the meaning of each cluster of symbols. Over the next
five years, in his spare time, Jason mastered the lost language of Gaelic. One
day he was in the garden, working on translating the words of the tablets, when
the Supreme Seer approached.
“It is not allowed to carry stone
tablets from the library,” the great Seer chided.
Jason looked up at the old fellow with
such a kind face. He sensed nothing but light in the seer. “It is not a tablet
from the library. I found it in a cave. I am trying to translate it into a
language we can read.”
To his surprise, the great Seer sat down
beside him on the grass and asked to see the tablet. Jason gently placed it in
the old shaman’s lap. “The first part says ‘To save the Path of Light, the Soul
of Three must travel to New Earth before the darkest hour befalls.”
The Seer frowned. “How do you know
this?”
Jason grimaced and shared his strange
dream. This might very well get him expelled from school, but he could not lie
to the Seer.
“Help me up,” the Seer requested.
Jason secured the tablet and assisted
the Seer up.
“Thank you. Now, who has assisted you
with your path?”
“Shaman Michel gave me shoes so I could
travel safely to the cave, and Shaman Pippa told me the language was dead.
That’s when I had the second dream which helped me translate the first tablet.”
“Let us see if Shaman Michel has boots that
will fit me,” the Seer said.
Oddly enough, the boots fit the Seer
perfectly and the two made their way to the hidden cave. The Seer laughed when
Jason pointed to the large bush that hid the entrance. “Right before our eyes,
but none could see it.” He then patted Jason’s arm. “Except for you. I perceive
greatness in you, my boy. Indeed I do.”
A week later, Headmaster Daniels
attempted to send Jason home, but the Seer overruled him. The Seer then put
Daniels in charge of feeding the poor and asked Shaman Pippa to be headmaster
of the boys.
A month later, Jason was given his cloak
of a shaman by the Seer himself and promoted into the High Council. His only
focus was to find the Soul bond of Three and a blue bull who never forgets.
While he was honored to sit with such
enlightened shaman on the council, Shaman Daniel never let him forget he was
inferior and the moment he failed, he’d lose his seat.
Surviving Outbound
By
Liza O’Connor
Blurb
Saran
along with her ‘not dead, just no longer human’ soul-bond—Tamara, and their
giant blue bull leave in search of a handler so Blue can escape Earth and
travel outbound. The man Saran meets and falls in love with turns out to be
Tamara’s husband. Their spiritual joining of three sets into play a prophecy written
long ago. Together, they become Tamsarandem, the most powerful soul-bond in all
the multiverses.
The
shamans pay for their voyage to Terranue, an unknown planet, never before
colonized by humans. In return, Tamsarandem must look after the other colonists
and help them to prosper and find their Paths of Light. They will need to do
this mostly on their own, for the
Gods are running out of authorized interventions. However, the God Pane, with
the help of the sentient ship-computer, Marybell, constantly search for clever
workarounds to ensure The Path of Light will reign supreme upon the final
collapse. But there is only so much they can do within their bureaucratic
rules.
Having
failed to stop Tamsarandem from leaving Earth, those who walk the Path of
Darkness embed their own people, including their darkest lord, on the ship to
ensure it will never arrive at Terranue.
Excerpt
Shaman Daniel, who sat to the Seer’s
right, spoke urgently to their leader, his request loud enough to be heard by
all. “Allow me to bring in someone with more experience.”
The Seer placed his hand on Daniel’s
arm. “We wouldn’t even know of The Soul-Bond of Three if not for Shaman Troy.
He alone found the Cave of Light and mastered the lost language of Gaelic. He
then discovered the passages that foretold of The Soul-Bond of Three. Do you
truly believe a boy so young could have achieved such a feat without the help
of the Gods?
“Your Imminence, I do not deny the
boy has accomplished much, but perhaps he has done all that he was meant to do.
Perhaps now, it is time for our scholars to take over.”
Shamans around the table nodded in
agreement.
Shaman Troy bowed his head in shame.
He had failed everyone.
The Seer of Light shook his head. “I
have never forbidden any of you to search caves for lost tablets, from learning
the archaic languages of the past, or from discovering hidden clues in sacred
texts. By all means, assist in this critical matter if you will. But Shaman
Troy will continue the path he set upon twenty years ago when he was a mere
child of twelve. And I have faith the Gods will deliver The Soul-Bond of Three
to Shaman Troy when the time comes.”
Sales Link
Book 2: Surviving Outbound
Book 1: The Gods of Probabilities
About
the Author
Liza is a multiple genre author of 15 novels. A Late
Victorian Series, The Adventures of
Xavier & Vic, plus a spinoff, A Right to Love, is an ongoing
series. A Long Road to Love is a humorous Contemporary Disaster Romance
series of five books. She has two single books. One is a humorous, bad boys
contemporary novel with ghosts, called Ghost
Lover, the other is Untamed &
Unabashed, a spinoff from Jane Austen’s Pride
and Prejudice.
Now, she’s rolling out her Science fiction series (with
romance & humor) called The
Multiverses. The first four books are slotted for last half of 2015. In addition she hopes, if she hasn’t dropped
from exhaustion by then, to re-release a sometimes humorous/suspense thriller
called Saving Casey
Social
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I am excited about book three. Poor Troy he did have a tough time but I'm glad the Gods were watching out for him.
ReplyDeleteTurns out not all the shaman are as good as the should be. Ironically, the one trying to oust Troy is second in command. The only thing that secures his place is the the head seer who sees him as a white light in the coming darkness. I'm sure Shaman Daniel was a good fellow when he began his life, but power corrupts, and as #2 he is very powerful. In fact, he doesn't want the Soul-bond of 3 to be found because he has promised the first class berth to a man named Brenner who has given him a million dollars and intends to be the leader of the colony. That of course changes when Shaman Troy helps create the soul-bond of Three.
DeleteYou have to add some excitement and mystery.
DeleteSo you didn't like the back story. oh well. Thankfully, it's only back story.
DeleteI meant you were correct to give Troy a hard time!
Delete