I have created many worlds within worlds throughout my tales of Terra Zem. In Book 5 of RAVENQUEST: Stars Will Fall you will meet a people who are one with the reptile. They are the Talon. Enjoy this excerpt as one of their great warriors, Arn, tells the tale of the origins of his people and the great ancient warrior Raelyon. This is but one of many peoples and stories you can experience when you read RAVENQUEST and SHADOWQUEST.  Enjoy and start reading RAVENQUEST today when you begin your journey with Book 1 of RAVENQUEST. Prepare for excitement and adventure beyond your wildest imagination!

“It is said that long ago there was a child whom we now know as Raelyon.” All the crowd stopped what it was doing and let out several high pitched whoops. Mothers placed their small children in their laps to pay attention to the story being told. You could tell Arn was well respected, and as far as we could tell, an excellent storyteller. “No one knows where this child came from, who were his principle people or who his mother and father were…or if he even had a mother and father. For seek as he would Raelyon would never find a single soul who knew his people and as far back as Raelyon could remember he had no memory of any two-legged that cared for him. Raelyon was but a child who had not even walked yet, alone upon an open plain. There was the sound of thunder and rain as it began to fall upon him. He had only the loin cloth of soft antelope hide upon him and around his neck a cord made into a necklace of gold and silver beads. There was not much of a chance for survival for such a little one and it certainly looked like it would not be long before his life would end as three Carnisians gathered all around him salivating and flicking their tongues as they drew closer and closer.”
Carnisians we found out were what they called the reptilian terrors that stood upright on two legs and whipped their tails about like a weapon. Their tails were very long and were often used as weapons. They always traveled in packs. Very often one would surprise its prey and keep it distracted while the others struck from both sides.
Arn continued, “It certainly looked like the end for little Raelyon. But it would not be so for this day something happened that never happened before and has never happened since. Though he was young Raelyon remembered and has told us that a burly spirit like hunter upon a spirit equine invisibly came riding before him unseen by the Carnisian attackers and for a moment, to Raelyon, time itself seemed to stand still and the great spirit hunter touched him with his great iron spear upon his forehead and said these words, ‘I am Eli. Walk upright before me’. And a mark like a flame was left upon his brow right between his eyes. It is also the mark every Talon bears. And as Eli commanded, it was so. This helpless child stood upon two feet and began to glow and seemed to radiate a flame. In the eyes of the child this same flame could be seen and he began to stare at each of them. Though only seconds before he was a helpless child that could not even walk, now he consciously stared at them, particularly at the one who seemed to lead them. The scaly beasts then each fell and seemed to be in the grip of death itself as they writhed and gasped for breath.  The little one was too young to comprehend what had happened but he certainly now had a consciousness and comprehension beyond his Solaris’ lived.
“As he stood over their bodies laying at his feet each time the lightning would strike he could see the dead beasts steaming as cold rain struck their bodies. It was as if their very bodies were so hot that the rain would make steam come off of their bodies.  Heated as a result of Raelyon’s fiery death inflicted upon them. And as the steam arose it became a spectre shaped like a Carnisian and it wrapped itself about his body and he glowed all the more from the fire within him.
“As he grew he quickly realized that he had received a power over every reptile and there were many different kinds and many different sizes. He clothed himself in the hide of the reptile and added claws of his prey to the necklace about his neck. He wore a reptile skull upon his head. Besides those he killed and ate he used his power to domesticate many of them and so became both the most trusted friend and the worst enemy of the scaled ones.
“He lived alone and his legend grew so much so that like many living legends he was misunderstood to be a threat though he harmed no one. There were a people we only know as Stalkers who decided to eliminate this imagined threat before he became more powerful. So they surrounded the valley Raelyon called home. His valley was like a bowl surrounded on all sides and his cave could not be seen the way it was concealed by the surrounding rocks unless you stood right in front of its opening. There was also a high point, an abandoned eagle’s nest that Raelyon had made a comfortable lookout point in and he often just sat for hours observing the sights all around him and looking out for possible threats.
“It was on one of the days that Raelyon was in his high place unbeknownst to the Stalkers that they decided to surround his valley. Big mistake. Raelyon by now had fashioned a horn for the purpose of training the scaly ones he wished to train. As he observed his attackers below he stood up in his nest and blew upon the horn and within seconds it seemed the entire Stalker tribe was surrounded by reptiles of all sizes. Raelyon then blew his horn once again and then beheld as every scaly creature surrounding the Stalkers tore them to pieces and their blood ran and dripped for days as it washed down the sides of his valley staining it red.” And as he spoke of this detail he gestured toward the red stone sides of their valley all about them and we realized that this was indeed sacred ground and the original home of Raelyon himself.
Then Arn continued his story, “From his high place he observed something very strange. All the Stalkers were dead except for one. It was a beautiful maiden, adorned as the hunter and warrior that she was. She was surrounded by many reptilian beasts and it surely seemed she would be the last to fall. But something was different about this huntress for though she was surrounded her reptilian assailants were paused and seemed hesitant to attack. It was then that Raelyon climbed down from his perch and hurried down to the place where she stood. Every lizard, every serpent, every creature with scales that surrounded her parted as Raelyon approached, as was their way. He held his spear he had from very young. It was sharp and barbed and carved from a single Traxas bone, largest of the reptiles. He called his spear, the Betrayer because it was fashioned from the bone of a Traxas he had befriended who one day turned on him and he was forced to slay it. As he looked upon her their eyes were fixed upon one another. She was a beauty, not at all like one of the people she lived among. Surely she was no Stalker.  They walked about each other once or twice. Both had spears in hand. She then held her spear in both hands to strike with it like a staff which was blocked quickly by Raelyon and they stood there with spears locked in the air above their heads and their eyes locked upon one another breathing hard. Raelyon then moved in such a fashion that his spear slid down the length of her spear and he swung it around her in an embrace and he kissed her long upon the lips and she felt the flame shut up within his soul as it seemed to engulf them both and from that moment on they were one.
“They lived wild as the river that runs. Raelyon taught her to rule the reptilian beasts around them and he called her Shadow Feather. And they loved like no other and their children became our people, the Talon.
“His ability to rule the reptile, to domesticate and to hunt it, to cause it to love or to fear was passed on to Shadow Feather and it became the inheritance of all Talon children.”

READ THE WHOLE STORY IN Book 5 of RAVENQUEST: Stars Will Fall! But be sure to start from the beginning with RAVENQUEST Book 1: Here Be Dragons. Just click on the ‘Fantasy Books’ tab for more information and to purchase your copy today!