Now.Here: Kiona the Gardenian

By Richard Haslam

When Kiona's little brother, Achak, was kidnapped by the ruthless Eresh Kigal, she embarks on an adventure that leads her to the fulfilling and start of a destiny that was sown in her from long ago. As well as meeting up with her friends, from the old such as Abenanka when helping with the rescue, to the new such as The Masked Piper, whom Kiona

• Language: English
• Publisher: Now.Here
• Release date: Oct 12, 2020
• ISBN: 9781738493654

Richard Haslam

Richard James Haslam is a humble individual who is the author of the Now.Here Saga. Born in Bolton, Greater Manchester on the 2nd April 1989 with High Functioning Autism, he lived with his older brother, Philip, and his parents, Christine and Martin near Horwich for a short time before moving to Whittle-Le-Woods near Chorley, Lancashire, where his childhood there shaped him with events, including TV shows such as The Dreamstone, Animals of Farthing Wood, Watership Down, Redwall, The Wind in the Willows, and other examples that would gradually overtime inspire him to write the Now.Here Saga. He was given an extra year in Nursery after coming down with Meningitis when he was three, and as a result, had a year gap between himself and Philip at Manor Road County Primary School (1995-2001). After Primary School, Richard went to Lostock Hall Community High School and Arts Collage (2001-2006), where throughout that long 11 year road of maturity, his carer, Sally, would help him mature his rebellious childhood and transition him into an adult. After High School and warm goodbyes to Sally, Richard gained more independence in living when attending a disabled boarding college in Wirksworth, Derbyshire called Callow Park, part of the Alderwasley School (2006-2008). After two years of staying with his parents, Richard eventually moved into Townley House in Chorley in June 2010, a disability-living apartment of flats. The ingredients that lead to Now.Here's conception was from that experience of a Born Again Christian. It was also inspired by Bethesda's video games of Skyrim and Fallout 4, Raymond Brigg's When the Wind Blows, and also the ridge and furrow landmarks when he was on his family's narrowboat holiday along the Oxford Canal in 2015. If there are many stories of a Post-Apocalyptic Future. Why not a Post-Apocalyptic Past. Richard's time in Townley House was an enjoyable one at first, but over time, many of the staff left and were replaced, gradually hiring fewer and fewer. 10 years later, in March 2020, Richard moved to Penwortham, near Preston to have a fresh start with Autism Initiative. The timing couldn't have been fortunate, because when Covid-19 struck, Richard was confined within his new home, but unlike his last home, he had a garden and space in the countryside to move about. The elements were now just right for writing Now.Here, and thanks to a college friend who had published his own books with the publisher Pag-e-nation, Richard had his first book published by them, Kiona the Gardenian on 12th October (Now.Here Day). A second, The Retanian Twins, was also in the works for the following year, until complications to the publisher had it delayed and them shutting up shop. After a lot of searching, Richard decided to publish his books through Kindle Direct Publishing in March 2022, merging the first two books into one to create the Kiona the Gardenian book that is now available, with the first half of the story renamed to The Eve of the Heart, while the second half still kept The Retanian Twins name. Richard had also written four more books, which he merged together to become two more books, The Maid of the Heart, and Rubecula & Nascha. Since 2023, his works had already received critical acclaim from Autism Initiative and Blog Preston. His first book, Kiona the Gardenian has been given a 5 - Star rating by Reader' Favorite and Authors Reading. From his childhood dream, to the first drawings of the five girls in 2005, Richard had came a long way of finally fulfilling it in the form of a book saga.

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NOW.HERE

Copyright © 2020 - 2024 Richard Haslam

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or used in any manner without the copyright owner’s permission of this book and series.

All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, inspiration or references to both fiction and non-fiction are coincidental or fictitious trivialities.

First Edition published in 2020, Second Edition Published in 2022, Third Edition Published in 2024

Written and Illustrated by Richard Haslam

Edited and Proofread by Jaris Ash

Independently Published

ISBN: 978-1-7384936-0-9

E-ISBN: 978-1-7384936-5-4

www.youarenow-here.co.uk

CONTENTS

The Eve of the Heart

The Journey

The Discovery

The Rescue

Kiona’s Heart

The Forest Trial

The Retanian Twins

The Snow Angel

A Day Out

The Kitayto of Akari

Kiona and Isonash

Levtiqvah and Hasinaw

The Eve of the Heart

Sunday, 19th September 332 (1734)

The Journey

Twilight glinted for that short frame of the day within the vast and dense Forest Territory as Kiona, a Gardenian from the town of Shenandoah, was travelling eastwards through trees that were getting ready for the long cold nights ahead; passing the hidden stone structures that were overgrown and somehow possessing a sort of familiar likeness in the fading light.

Ancient bones, like sticks, blended well beneath the fallen leaves and tangled tree roots, as if some burial mounds had been pushed upwards by the long passages of time. Beginning to get hungry, the hunting instinct of her ancestors kicked in, so, wearing her leaf-like cloak and being armed with crossbows on her gauntlets, Kiona stealthily snuck up and sniped a long-eared fanglop which had been busy feasting on a bird it had brought down. After skinning and gutting her catch, she lit a friendly fire on which to cook her meal, and before long, she was tucking into the tender meat.

As she was finishing off the last piece of flesh from the thighbone, the green stones on her crossbows that were vital for the sniping and fire began to flash rapidly in an alarming way. Understanding what it meant, she damped down the fire and quickly jumped into a hollow oak before it shuttered its door-like lid.

A while later, as Kiona was getting ready to sleep, a tremendous storm surged across the forest. This storm had an unnatural feel, and it was fortunate for Kiona that she was within the safety of the hollow oak; for if anyone were to be caught within its violence, then that poor person would most likely die from just breathing the air in, or, if that person somehow manages to survive through it, suffer a long and painful death. That is why this is called a curse storm.

As the sound of tinny and crackling thunder echoed outside, it did not deter Kiona’s concerns and determination as she rested her head on the soft bed of leaves.

The air regained its freshness by the following morning. Long after the curse storm had passed and, after catching another fanglop for breakfast, Kiona continued her journey with her heart filled with courage and her faith set on her main goal. After carefully passing through a hidden glade where a leaf-horned eyetler grazed, she stumbled across a broad, muddy trackway that improved her navigation.

Not long after she began following the trackway did she feel a slight tremor in the ground. That tremor then turned into a rumble, and then a clatter, as a large goods tracker came chugging up behind her, pulling a lengthy line