©2009, Martin Sagadin
Karis McGavin never wanted to be the hero of a story; but she never expected to be the villain.
Now she’s wondering what Fat Stan of ‘Fat Stan’s Fantasy Flavors’ puts in his ice cream; because along with her two best friends, Brandon Bonaè and Victoria Kyrst, she also never expected her after school indulgence to include a Gate Keeper fighting demons in the middle of the highway and a car accident that plunges her into another realm entirely – Verlǿręn.
Verlǿręn and Yashtár are the first of the realms, created by the Morning Star and populated by the fantastic, where anything imaginable could, and probably does, exist. Chaos first entered Verlǿręn in the form of Parn, a bitter immortal who loved to make life unpleasant. True to form – and probably in the midst of a temper tantrum – Parn tore the structure of the first realms, causing them to multiply; universes upon universes, worlds upon worlds, shadows of Verlǿręn and Yashtár, but no less real. A side effect of Parn’s meddling produced small fissures in the fabric of all the realms; a tear, or vorax, allowed ‘Travelers’ to wreck havoc, party, or just get miserably lost in a different world than their own, whether by accident or less than honorable intent.
Lost in Verlǿręn and completely out of their element, Brandon, Victoria, and Karis encounter Alexi of the Fey, a young man with the ability to change into a lion; a shape-shifter. As their reluctant guide, he promises to deliver them safely to the Emperor of Jezmalia, largest province in the land, where after many different kinds of weird they learn that their seemingly random slip into Verlǿręn may be far from sporadic. Karis is the Key of the Sword – or the Chosen, depending on whose side you’re on – and the means to unlock a weapon of ancient prophecy, created by the Morning Star to protect the worlds; Parn, ever the opportunist, vowed to steal it the moment it was made. Parn intends to manipulate the darkness in Karis’s heart, and thus wield the weapon through her; Karis is faced with the certainty that by resisting Parn’s seductive promises of immortality she condemns her own soul, and that despite her struggle, she may be the means of Verlǿręn’s ruin.
Guided only by prophecy, Damien the 13th, son of Xavier the Dragon Heart and Emperor of Jezmalia, must escort Karis and the others on a journey that will take them beyond the path of Nightmares to Dreaming; in to the past where Hiawatha, a mighty peacemaker of ancient myth – who is regrettably still a child – will guide them to Hades and his host of dead souls; and finally he must gather his courage and an army – even though it appears his only allies in the fight are the decidedly neutral Sidhe – and lead them all in the legendary battle that will determine the fate of the worlds.