Ravenquest and Shadowquest are full of great action, battle scenes and adventure! But there is also romance. Here is an excerpt from Volume 1 of Ravenquest when Raven met Skyeyes, or as she is known before she receives the name Skyeyes, Leolas….

As at peace as I am living with only the four-leggeds surrounding me that was about to change. Recently I met another 2 legged who had struck out on her own. I met her one day as she was hiding in the cleft of two joining rocks with a small opening between them. There was a huge black bruin bear that was trying his best to get to her. He was growling and salivating. She was screaming and threatening the creature and poking at him with a spear that was little more than a pointed stick. I could tell she was in trouble. I was viewing this scene from a good distance away but close enough for a stone from my sling to reach. Good thing I picked up those stones from that riverbed I crossed. I loaded one up and swung my sling several revolutions around my head and then thwaaack. It was like that stone had a mind of its own and it was on a mission. Pow! Crack! It found its target right at the base of that old bruin’s skull. He raised a paw as if rubbing his head and turned around to see where the object of his pain came from. Growling obscenities I am sure. I threw another and another each finding their mark. This was one of my better days with my sling! Finally he growled his final complaint and disappeared into the thick wood. Animals of all kinds who apparently had been viewing the scene with interest but hidden now came out of their hiding places slowly and cautiously and watched as the bruin disappeared. They all then began their chatter as if they all were laughing. I got the feeling that they didn’t like this bully either. I watched from my perch as she came out of hiding. She too, like the bruin, was looking around for where the stones came from. She picked up a stone arming herself. Searching for her rescuer but also ready to take on whoever it was in case they meant harm to her. I just kind of sat back from my vantage point and watched a while. She was beautiful. A little beaten and bleeding from her battle with the bruin but still a beauty to behold. She was not of my tribe. She dressed differently than the women of my tribe. Her clothing was not of animal skin but seemed to be woven from some type of fiber. She was shapely and dark haired. There were markings of some type on her skin. I pounced down from my hiding place in the rocks. Just for the fun of it I held my spear in front of me, not in a threatening manner, just holding it on ready with both hands. I circled her, staring at her a little menacing, just enough to worry her a little, you know, just for the fun of it. But as I circled she moved in a circle also so we both were moving in a circle, eye to eye, me with my spear and her with her rock. It was kind of comical and I was savoring the moment.

“Who are you? What name are you called?” I said.
“Who are you? What name are you called?” She said.
“I asked you first.” I replied. We sounded like two children.
She then said, “Hmph, I am Leolas of the sky people. My people are fierce and fear no one and we see all things from the mountain where we dwell yonder.”

I knew of the people and the mountain she spoke of. They were no more. One had to but look at the mountain and see that it looked like it had been split in two. I remember when it happened. It was the worst storm I had ever seen. It seemed all of Terra Zem was shaking. I had already left my people a few lunas back. I watched from the opening of my cave wondering if the mountain I was on would crumble also. But as soon as I saw their mountain crumble the storm subsided.

“Do you speak of Thera Zum?” I asked. “That mountain crumbled many lunas ago. Who do you think you are fooling?

She then dropped her stone and began to cry. “It is so. I may be the only one of my kind that is left. The only reason I escaped their fate is because I chose to leave them, like, a day before the storm came. I returned the next day only to find piles of rubble on the side of the mountain where my village once stood. Since then I have stayed in makeshift shelters, mostly nests in the trees, and ate plants and roots. So, if you mean to kill me then try if you will but I warn you I shall not go easy.”

I wasn’t sure what to say. How do you follow an act like that? I just looked at her. It was then I noticed her eyes, as blue as the skies. I had never seen eyes of this color before. I was captivated by her eyes and it seemed to melt her defensive posture. I dropped my spear and she dropped her stone and we embraced. She cried more and I welled up a little myself. We connected that day on a level I cannot explain. It was like a destiny that was finally fulfilled. I invited her home with me. I asked her if there was anything she needed to get. She said, “I got a spear,” jokingly, and we both laughed as we remembered her pointed stick she fought away the bruin with. It was joy unspeakable in the days ahead until this day.

And wait till you read about their wedding! Well, I will loosely call it a wedding. There was no ceremony like you would think of a wedding but a very magical moment where they become ‘One’ and she becomes the one that is known as Skyeyes throughout the rest of the story. She becomes quite a powerful and confident warrior and master of the magical bow and arrow Orion, the iron spear and long knives. But you will have to read Ravenquest to find out more! Hey good news! Ravenquest volume 1: Here Be Dragons is FREE by e-book or to listen to it read by the author! Just click on the ‘Fantasy Books’ tab for more information. I can’t wait for you to start reading them! It is a journey you will never forget!