Sci-Fi / Fantasy
Date Published: 06-08-2021
Publisher: Sandpaper Press
Three thousand years ago the three races of Vinge, Human, Dak’or, and Fingalin, fled into space at the destruction of their planet. Now The Alliance between the three governments is at its breaking point. Between racial tensions caused by the elitist and wealthy Fingal trying to claim a divine right to rule, a deadly new quarantine-resistant plague that is sweeping through the primarily Drak’or outer colonies, and lack of funding and success in terraforming efforts, the treaty seems to be at an end. As people begin to turn to religion to save them, The Descendents, a powerful religious sect worshiping the Goddess Vyanna, readily fill the void.
Now the crew of a small mercenary vessel, captained by a man calling himself the devil, are on a relief mission to replace equipment for Deep Space Initiative Station 3122’s failed life support. Lieutenant Commander James Aiunys, the newest member, and tactical officer of the legendary crew is shocked when they are unexpectedly pulled out of hyperspace, and informed that the quarantine zone has been expanded to include the station. The mysterious Drak’or captain is undeterred. In a feat that seems more like magic than science, he turns the battle on its head, defeating one of the most powerful warships in the galaxy, leaving it paralyzed in space.
Upon their arrival however, the station is not what they had expected. The crew becomes concerned when they discover the station empty, an eerie resemblance to another station they had visited at the bequest of strange women with silver hair who smelled of apple blossoms.
When the power core fails during their investigation, The Captain is once again forced to do the impossible, leaving James with more questions than answers. With the government collapsing into chaos, the crew of The Shade find themselves on the run, caught in the middle of a sinister plot that will change the galaxy forever.
But there are darker shadows than the machinations of mortals lurking in the far corners of civilization. Brought face to face with their own humanity in a conflict older than the concepts of good and evil. They are forced to question everything they understood about themselves, religion, and even the very fabric of reality.
He stood on a
long empty beach, white sand filling in the spaces between his toes, warm
against the arches of his feet. A massive object, larger than the moon, with
wings swiping out as if a menacing beast across the horizon, casting a shadow
in the deep reds of Sunset.
The ocean began to pull back, until the
rocky floor was exposed for more than eighty feet. The wall of water hung
suspended in the air, a great wave waiting for a release that would never come.
Light from the sun grew more intense, burning his exposed skin. The air became
dry and bri le in his lungs, like sheets of ash blown from a fire. Breathing
was painful.
“We have to find shelter.” He could not
identify the owner of the voice, it was distant, indistinct.
A bright flash lit up the sky, drowning
out the shadow cast by the ship, growing brighter as it hurtled across the
expanse of space. He looked on in horror as four seconds later the plasma beam
struck the atmosphere. Flames crawled through the sky as the beam racked from
one horizon to the other, spreading outwards until the entire world was
engulfed in an inferno. Molten rock spayed upwards from the impact, spraying
lava thousands of feet into the sky. Screams filled the air as one after
another streaks of plasma rocketed to the planet, followed by explosions of
liquefied earth.
He spun around to gaze upon the demonic
ship which had summoned such destruction.
But met only blackness. Red eyes glowed
like embers out of the emptiness. The scent of ash heavy in the air.
A sound, barely a whisper, like an echo
drifting in the nothingness,
“Zymo.”
“Dreku,” the voice was ethereal, it felt
fuzzy in his ears, like an illusion you can’t make sense of.
“Seph,” electricity wrapped around his
nerves and crawled through his body, something ancient and powerful awakening
inside him.
“Zhemarah.” The word exploded in his
mind, like a large rock being dropped into a still pool, consumed by the
silence that followed.
About the Author
Ezra Sandborn got his start writing fiction as a dungeon master in online role-playing games . He draws on inspiration from his childhood, sitting under the trampoline and inventing new worlds and characters. Ezra became an author by accident, during a particularly difficult period of his life he was suddenly struck by inspiration for a short story. After sharing the story with friends and family everyone wanted to read more, and so he continued writing. In less than a month as the result of that novel accident Seph – The Reflection of Divinity was created. Ezra’s writing is defined by his complex characters, deep immersive worlds, and unique stories that challenge the conventional narrative, while exploring the deeper truth of human nature.
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