Another Very Nice Review

"An excellent read. In just 200 pages, the author weaves a fascinating (and unpredictable) fable filled with richly textured characters, breathtaking landscapes and everything you'd expect in a solid action-adventure/fantasy-type story. But the book also has a lot more depth than your typical Dungeons-n-Dragons tale. The cast of characters is truly unique, as are their relationships with each other. And you KNOW there's gonna be a sequel because the backdrop of the story is just so rich it's begging to be fleshed out and explored some more. If you dig the work of C.S.Lewis, George Lucas or J.R.R. Tolkien, you'll dig this. Pick this one up." [-Ric]

The Second Searcher - The Prequel to The Three Feathers

Day 1

For a long time there was darkness. Thoughts of comfort and warmth enveloped her, telling her of things she did not yet understand. The one who thought to her was never absent for long from her mind. And after a while she reached out as well, first brushing against the other’s mind with hers, then staying longer until there was a bond between them. There, in the mind of her mother, she saw images of a world beyond the darkness. It was a world bright and green and vast. Slowly she became aware of voices outside. They were softly spoken, far and close but never distant. One in particular spoke to her always. There was excitement. Laughter. Then a melody, sung to her quietly at times and loud at others. And when her mind reached out to the one who spoke and sang to her, it embraced hers within it instantly.

Then suddenly there was pressure on her body. The voices outside became louder, more urgent. Her heart rate increased until her mother’s thoughts reminded her, assured her silently that all was well. The light came; flickering at first, breaking through the dark and creating patterns inside her eyelids. She welcomed the cool air and took her first breath willingly, inhaling deeply the scent of it. When she opened her eyes, she could not focus on anything at first. But for a moment she saw the darkened shape of her mother’s head against the window and she thought it the most beautiful thing there was. Then the brightness of it all made her close her eyes again. Her mother’s nose nudged her, began to lick her face until it was clean. Experienced hands began to rub down her body. The sun that came through a gap in the wood planks of the stall illuminated them as they worked, as they dried her fur and removed the water bag. She recognized two of the hands, smaller than the others, as belonging to the one who had sung and spoken to her. She felt her joy as they went very methodically up and down her spine and over her head cleaning it from any remaining residue of her birth.

When she stood up, the girl wanted to help her but the old man gently held her back so that she could get on her feet by herself. She had to sit back down several times before she could stand. And when she stood she swayed back and forth, adjusting her hooves on the floor trying to hold her balance. After a while she took an uncertain step. Then another and yet another after that. Her ivory coat began to dry and her mouth found her mother’s belly and she stilled her hunger. And throughout it all she heard her mother say one word in her thoughts over and over again. She did not know what it meant and she would not hear it again until much later, until almost a full year had passed. But at that moment she heard it and she knew it was her name. And her name was Wind.