WHAT IF MAGIC IS REAL?
In most cultures and periods, people have believed in magic, and they had professionals who studied the craft and followed its rules. Only in our modern western society do people think that magic does not exist.
What if the vast majority of people in the world and in history have known something we don't? What if this is simply a knowledge that eludes most modern westerners? What if magic is a scientific phenomenon that's still waiting to be discovered?
Magic, to the modern westerner, is like electricity would have been to someone in ancient Greece. Imagine explaining to someone in 1000 BCE how electricity works and what it can do. Lightbulbs? Carts that move without being pulled by animals? Telephone? Television? Internet? The good folks would either laugh at your gullibility, pity you for your madness, or whip you out of town for your lies.
Electricity existed in their world and the effects of it were all around them, but they explained these in ways that fit their view of the world. When they saw lightning in the sky, they assumed it was their God Zeus hurling lightning bolts in anger.
Perhaps there is magic all around us in our modern world, and we simply don't understand it, attributing its effects to other causes. Perhaps we are as ignorant about magic as the ancient Greeks were about electricity.
When I write fantasy fiction, I base my yarns on the premise that magic is real, but it requires skill to harness its force, and abuse brings danger.
The wizards in my stories are highly trained experts, each specialising in a field of their trade. Merida in Storm Dancer is a weather mage. By dancing, she can bring sunshine, rain or storm. She has travelled to a distant country where droughts ruin the harvests and the people are starving. Her gift of rain will bring relief.
The ruler has promised her everything she needs: privacy for preparations, a date when the right planets align, an energy-rich location at a river mouth, and an orchestra playing a specific tune. On arrival, she finds the conditions are not as expected. Her ritual is treated as a public spectacle in the arena, the date is wrong, and the only musicians are two drummers who have not rehearsed and don't know the tune.
The only way to raise the needed power is to draw energy from the spectators - an unethical method Merida has sworn to eschew - and to enter an extreme level of trance, potentially lethal, that will leave her vulnerable to attacks. What will she do?
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Storm Dancer is the story of Dahoud, a demon-possessed siege commander who needs to atone for his dark past. When their lives intertwine, Merida and Dahoud are drawn into a whirling spiral of darkness. They have seared each other's hearts with betrayal. Now the only way they can stand against evil is as allies. Can they learn to trust?
Dark Epic Fantasy
Scimitar Press
Pages, 400
Word Count, 150,000
ISBN: 9781467516651 (Smashwords)
ISBN: 1230000010279 (KOBO)
ASIN: B005MJFV58
Demon-possessed siege commander, Dahoud, atones for his atrocities by hiding his identity and protecting women from war's violence - but can he shield the woman he loves from the evil inside him?
Principled weather magician, Merida, brings rain to a parched desert land. When her magical dance rouses more than storms, she needs to overcome her scruples to escape from danger.
Thrust together, Dahoud and Merida must fight for freedom and survival. But how can they trust each other, when hatred and betrayal burn in their hearts?
Caution: Storm Dancer is a dark epic fantasy, and contains some violence and disturbing situations. It not recommended for readers under the age of sixteen, and not suitable for YA blogs. Contains British English. Some words, spellings, grammar and punctuation will be different than American English.
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She holds a college degree in publishing management and a masters degree in creative writing. Currently, she edits the Ten Tales series of multi-author short story anthologies: Bites: Ten Tales of Vampires, Haunted: Ten Tales of Ghosts, Scared: Ten Tales of Horror, Cutlass: Ten Tales of Pirates, Beltane: Ten Tales of Witchcraft, Spells: Ten Tales of Magic, Undead: Ten Tales of Zombies and more.
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