Song Mages of Gaia

By Rebecca Bolduc

The barrier that has kept evil out of Gaia for a thousand years is beginning to crack. Gaias loving creator, Andros, decreed a thousand years ago that music is the cord that ties humans to the elemental powers of Gaia, granting all who believe in him access to his power and assistance. As evil creatures lurk in the shadows and wait to attack the innocent, a beautiful young woman feels her seemingly inaccessible power growing within her without any idea that she is about to realize her purpose.

After Karis path crosses with that of a handsome sailor, she must learn to listen to the voice in her heart in order to utilize her power to heal an ancient barrier. She soon realizes trust will not come easy as she has been misled her entire life. As epic battles erupt and everyone seems to conspire against her desires, Kari must find a way to accept her power, trust her loved ones, and save Gaiabefore it is too late.

In this inspirational fantasy novel, a young woman must rise above her challenges and accept her destiny to rescue her beloved land from evil creatures.

• Language: English
• Publisher: LifeRich Publishing
• Release date: Apr 27, 2018
• ISBN: 9781489715876

Rebecca Bolduc

Rebecca Bolduc is a faith-filled mother of two nearly grown men and the wife of a retired US Marine. When she is not writing, she is painting, drawing, singing, or teaching. Although Rebecca has published several short stories, Song Mages of Gaia is her first novel. She currently resides in Moorehead City, North Carolina.

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Copyright © 2018 Rebecca Bolduc.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

LifeRich Publishing is a registered trademark of The Reader’s Digest Association, Inc.

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Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

ISBN: 978-1-4897-1585-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-1586-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4897-1587-6 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2018938685

LifeRich Publishing rev. date: 4/25/2018

Contents

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Prologue

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

About the Author

Dedication

This book is dedicated to God, who gave me inspiration for the story, the perseverance to finish writing it, the patience to wait on his timing, and the provision to see this tale in print.

Acknowledgments

Jeff, thank you for being my best friend, my strongest supporter, and the best husband ever. Always and forever.

Mom, thank you for my love of words and language and for always being my biggest fan.

Daddy, you gave me the determination to see this through.

My sweet boys, Matthew and Gregory, thank you for being the best kids ever, and inspiring characters.

My baby brother, Daniel, thanks for being an inspiring character.

To my grandparents; you taught me the value of books, always supplying me with more.

Last but never least, to Eric, Durell, and family; thank you doesn’t begin to cover it! I love you guys. You quite literally made this possible in so many ways.

Map%20of%20Gaia.jpg

Prologue

K ing Andros ensured the door was locked behind him; he could ill afford to be disturbed during a crucial moment of this work. If what he was attempting went as planned, he would not have to worry about his mortality in the upcoming battle. Andros had long since become adept at bending the world he had created to his will. He and his wife, Sarah, had ruled for many years in peace, creating the five sentient races that lived alongside the humans of the world, the sphinx of earth, the selkie of water, the phoenix of fire, the ukkoi of air, and his greatest accomplishment, the dragon, the perfect balance of all the elements. The enemy was now knocking on the door to the kingdom. He wanted Andros and would stop at nothing to have him.

Andros would have gone willingly the first time King Eris offered to leave his people alone if Andros would surrender, but Andros knew that without someone who loved them to rule, his people would be easily swayed by Eris’s evil ways and soon he would no longer recognize his kingdom. This was not the legacy he wanted to leave his unborn grandchildren. He was prepared to die and go to his creator in peace, but his heart was too full of love to leave his people unprotected.

The work he was about to do would ensure that when he died, a tiny piece of his soul would go and reside with each of his people who’d heard it whispering and were willing to listen. Of course some would ignore the advice, perhaps many, since the advice would be coming from small but powerful creatures he had created called seraphs. They would be the still, small voice of his love for each of his people encouraging them to fight Eris at every turn.

Stop rationalizing and get to work, old man, Andros mumbled to himself. Sinking to his knees, he began to sing a song of praise to the powers of Gaia:

Powers of water, I call you to my side.

May you send the purity of my love to abide in the seraphs.

Powers of the air, I call you to my side.

May you give the knowledge of my mind to the seraphs.

Powers of the earth, I call you to my side.

May the certainty that all things have a time and a season be imparted to the seraphs.

Powers of fire, I call you to my side.

May you give each seraph a fire to kindle in the hearts of my people so that they may love each other and care for one another as I have.

Now to fuel these things I give my life, not at this moment but at the prescribed time, so that the seraphs may become ever a part of this world.

He felt the powers he had released into the world return to him once more, testing and recognizing his soul as the one they were born from. Andros opened his eyes. Before him was the physical embodiment of the powers that the creator had used to form his world. On the breeze blowing through the open window he could all the blue powers of air swirling with the wind. Rising from his small patch of garden, the golds of earth’s power flowed to him. He turned and the greens of the water splashed and bubbled out of his fountain. The fire in the fireplace crackled as the reds of fire leapt to answer his call. He felt the power flow from them to him, refilling his reserves of energy and personal power. From this time forward the powers would be accessible to his children and their heirs, but never again would one person be able to use them all, because that was how the trouble had begun.

He sighed and thought back to the birth of Eris and what a day of joy that had been for him. Eris was his eldest child and the one who had once stood to inherit all of Gaia from him. When Eris was young, he was a fast learner who was always interested in what he could do for other humans as well as the other races in Gaia. The time came, after many years, when he was to accept his control of power and the ability to create with those powers; he was to create a new sentient race that would rule with him in the world. His initial training had gone very well. He had learned at a rapid rate, absorbing the knowledge of each element in turn. It was soon time for a final test of his skill, as only one with a perfectly balanced heart and soul could effectively rule all of the elements at once. His creation was to be a reflection of his heart, just as the dragons were a reflection of his father’s heart.

Eris created a new type of dragon, not really a new race and not at all a thinking and feeling creature. It was pure destruction on two wings. Eris seemed to enjoy the pain and destruction caused by his creation, and he refused to rein it in to be destroyed. The wyvern flew terror throughout the land, eating the herds and burning the fields and forests. Eris created still more of these beasts. Each was the length of a small field, a blue-black color with a bright red crest down its back. Its blood was cold, and the fire it breathed could flatten a village in minutes. It was then that Andros realized that the pure power and ability to create life from the elements was too intoxicating for any one of his children. Andros’s hopes had been dashed; he realized his beloved son Eris was lost to him for all time. His hopes were pinned now on his other heirs, but he could not leave Eris in the world with the powers he had endowed upon him. Although he had not told him how to create self-sustaining races, he knew Eris would make more with the power he had. Andros knew their final battle would require his life and would likely only temporarily defeat Eris. He had to protect his children and his creations. The seraphs were the answer. They would be seen only when a person accepted they were real and the person’s heart was softened to them. The powers of the elements could still be accessed by humans through the seraphs and all of Andros’s creations, while locking that very power away from those who did not follow the path of light, including his son. The sentient races would aid his children in keeping evil at bay, and the seraphs would be the link to the power he had loosed upon the world. The seraphs would be able to help his heirs to communicate and call that power to their aid.

I am getting old. I got lost in remembering, Andros said as he watched the powers swirl around him.

I wish for you to remain in the world and to give aid to each of my children. Air, I give you to my daughter Guiley; water, to my son Caspian; earth to my daughter Murigen; and fire to Edan. The children will call on you with the seraphs, using the music you love so much. Those who have a seraph with them will know the songs to sing to call the power. I send you back now into Gaia, my friends. Protect Gaia, your home, by giving aid where it is called for. Andros turned and bowed deeply to each element as their powers flowed to him.

The reds of fire, the blues of air, the greens of the water, and the golds of the earth swirled around him like a whirlwind rainbow. Then Andros shot out his arms and released the powers back into the world. At the time of his death, which he knew would be at the hands of his son, the release of his soul from his body would power the song spell into action.

Andros sank into a chair and thanked his creator that he had the ability to create the seraphs, and the knowledge to do so. He was so exhausted from the effort and the concentration that controlling all the power had required that he did not notice when a shadow in the corner of the room began to move.

Chapter 1

T he packages were stacked in Kari’s arms. She could barely see around them. At least she would be able to make a decent dinner for Father’s birthday. She just had to run by the bakery and pick up a cake; she would decorate it at home. As she ran down the list of things to do before Father’s boat pulled into its moorings, she glanced out to sea and noticed a dark cloud forming on the horizon. Looking harder, she thought she could see a boat being tossed about. It looked as if a huge wave was coming right for Sim.

Underneath the dark cloud a boat rocked and almost capsized. Dan was ready to panic. They were miles from shore and from help, and this creature that was supposed to have been banished from Gaia was trying to eat him for lunch.

You really need to learn to listen. Your father told you to stay along the shore so you wouldn’t wind up in this predicament, the voice in his head scolded.

If you aren’t going to be helpful, please stop talking, Dan said. He shook his soaked hair out of his eyes and readied his sword as he watched the giant snakelike creature swim straight for his vessel. He was well muscled from the training he had been receiving since the time he’d started to walk, but all the muscles in the world would not help now, when he was facing a beast three times as long as his boat. He gathered his wits and began to hum. The waves from the leviathan were splashing so much water in his face that he could not possibly sing the proper words to call the power of water to him. Water, his element, was in abundance here, but it was not a huge help against this beast of darkness that thrived in the water. I can’t sing properly, Arden. I’m practically drowning here.

Keep trying. The music will come even amid all that splashing and sputtering you are doing, Arden, his closest friend, spoke directly into his mind.

Dan was not at all disturbed to be speaking to a creature that only some people could see. Arden, Dan’s seraph, was usually no bigger than his hand. Right at this moment, Arden was at his full fighting size, a full foot taller than the average man, and was standing behind Dan to guard his back. The two stood facing opposite sides of the boat, back to wings. Arden was a full head taller than Dan, with dark hair and leather, whereas Dan had lighter brown hair and armor, as was the tradition of his land. The leather armor protected better against the elements but did nothing against a tail covered in sharp barbs the size of small swords.

Concentrate on what you truly need. Just get us out of here! A waterspout or wave to push your boat from the sea and to place you near civilization would be good. You should be able to sing enough power for that and not antagonize the beast.

Perfect. I feel it building now.

The power flowed in through him. He concentrated on humming, pushing aside the fear he felt as the sea creature rocked up against his boat from underneath. Then he began to sing the song spell that would save him and his tiny boat. A rush of water came to the boat as the power glowed in the waves as if it had been only been waiting for his need to be voiced through the singing of a song. Music was the cord that tied humans to the elemental powers of Gaia. Andros himself had decreed that a thousand years before, granting all who believed in him access to his own power and assistance.

It is working. Keep singing, Arden encouraged.

Dan sang thanks to Andros for the ability to use the power first. This was the most crucial part of the song spell. If the singer did not have the faith to believe in it, the song spell would fall flat every time. Dan had not had that particular problem since he was ten.

Now, as he thanked Andros, the power grew from a few vague streams glowing among the waves, with barely any definition, to rivers of power that were shining brightly. They swirled around the boat. As they grew, a great wall