by May Sage
Reluctantly, Nalini gave a shot to the neko when he was of age. She also finally named him. He was called Evil. It fit.
Satisfied with nothing short of excellence, Elia was still working on the serum, trying to find a way to make their immortality inherent, hereditary. She’d manage to change their genetic makeup within two hundred years, changing the face of the entire galaxy.
Kai was always worried, with good reason, knowing the Imperials had their eyes on them. They feared them, but fear was a weakness that, left unchecked, could cause a fair bit of devastation.
The inhabitants of their sector were the first to truly make themselves immortal.
He only grew more worried with time.
Their race didn’t like to be associated with the Imperials. They were different in many ways. There was magic in their blood. Within a few generations, practically each one of their families had at least one mage. Their very nature made them wilder, needing that exchange of power to feed their magic. But they were also smarter. Faster. One of them was worth ten Imperials.
“Enlightened,” Kronos proposed one day, when he’d returned from his training on Tejen, a grown male with a lot of tricks up his sleeve.
He was lethal. His favorite weapon was manipulating time, because no one else managed to do so.
“We could be called Enlightened.”
“That’s pretty bigheaded,” Nalini had to say.
Kai shrugged. “Maybe, but it fits.”
And so, they were renamed.
The year Nalini gave birth to their twins, they made the decision that created a brand-new world.
Kai held Gaia in his arms, her little fingers wrapped around his thumb, as Nalini nursed Uranos. Daddy’s girl and Mommy’s boy. Twins.
Gaia wasn’t just Kai’s little treasure, though. She also was Kronos’s. He picked her up as soon as someone put her down on her bed, ensuring that she’d be the most spoiled little thing in the world.
In a few hundred years, he’d marry her.
“We need to protect them. The children. Our children’s children. Those that come after. One day, the Empire will attack.”
“And we will win,” Nalini replied, but that didn’t appease Kai.
They’d probably win. Probably wasn’t enough now that he was a father.
“This galaxy is vast. There’s a whole lot of unknown territory, and we both know the Imperials have stopped searching since they encountered the EndsDay.” A territory from which no one came back, marking the start of the unknown universe.
“You want to explore the unknown?”
One nod. Stiff.
“It’s too dangerous.”
She was no coward, but sending their subjects to their doom didn’t appeal to her. “Volunteers only.” He shrugged. “Some might dare it.”
Nalini looked down at little Uranos.
“Volunteers only,” she repeated, not expecting that once they were of age, both of her firstborns would wish to go.
The End
Next in Strands of Starfire: Hart’s story, Diplomacy.
If you enjoyed this book, please leave a review. Book two will be scheduled if the ratings and number of reviews show enough interest.
Stay tuned for an excerpt of the Illustrated Companion to Strands of Starfire.
Acknowledgments
I don’t usually write these. No author is an island, I have an incredible team working with me, but, honestly, normally I just name them in my “credits” and that’s it.
However, this is my longest, most complex, and, arguably, best book to date. It came about thanks to various people I truly wish to thank.
Firstly, thank you, JC Andrijeski, for listening to all my gushing about Joseph Campbell’s Hero’s Journey and watching video theories with me. You made this a blast.
Secondly, thank you, Daniel Arenson. After creating the word Starfire, I was scratching my head (and occasionally banging it against a wall) trying to find just the right title. And you handed it to me on a silver platter sprinkled with unicorn dust, so, you’re the best.
Finally, I truly wish to thank every single member from my Pack for your encouragement, your critiques, and your patience. You ALWAYS (I know, I know. Me doing caps in a book! I must mean it) help me. Always. But Starfire was a journey I couldn’t have taken without you.
Edited by Hot Tree Editing
Proofread by Susan Currin and Lisa Bing
Illustration by Jeremy Chong
Typography by Rebecca Frank
Strands of Starfire: Lineage
Unedited excerpt
She came down the space ship alone. She’d never needed an escort of bodyguards; today was no exception, although she entered enemy territory.
Her mate, her advisors, and her friends had offered to come.
Not today.
There was nothing to fear. Nalini Krane Lor told herself that over and over as she walked the paved avenue separating the landing platform from the royal palace of Itri, home to the Nova, lords of the Var.
They’d assembled a welcoming committee. Hundreds of civilians, bowing to her as she passed them by, her head high, not sparing them a glance.
She couldn’t look at them. Wouldn’t.
They were treating her like she truly was the princess of this stinking hole, and for that reason, she wanted to yell, kick, and protest.
Some wounds never healed.
The palace’s doors opened before she’d reached them. A still-beautiful, elegant female with raven hair burst out and held her hand up to her open mouth.
“Nalini,” her mother whispered.
“Moa.”
Her tone was entirely void of intonation. Of that, she was proud.
“I didn’t think you’d truly come yourself.”
There was so much feeling in her trembling voice. So much regret.
Nalini smiled. “Therein lays the difference between you and I, Moa. I don’t turn my back on my blood. Where is my sister?”
Illustrated Glossary - excerpt
The Black Lotus
Kai’s ship, a customized Battria-X7 created by the Imperials, is a luxury light transport. Only two other models were sold in the Galaxy: the Emperor’s, and Xera Krane’s.
Sky
At two years of age, Sky killed her father, the previous Alpha of her pack, who took pleasure at eating pack-flesh.
When she met Kai in the winter, he was nothing more than an easy meal, until he communicated with her. Then, he became a strange, furless member of the pack.
His dominance level makes him a perfect Alpha, and that’s just fine with her. She would never have taken the power if she hadn’t needed to protect her wolves.
The Whistle
Nalini’s ship, a Cn-1771 built in 1002 bought used, used to be part of a transport fleet dismantled sixty years later. They were deemed too slow and large. Less than a thousand of them were made, and only seven are currently operational.
The Whistle was extensively modified to make her faster than her peers.
More in the 150+ page illustrated glossary available on glossy hardback this spring! It includes illustrations of each term, character sketches, anecdotes and more.
Author’s note
I truly hope that you loved Starfire, not only because I am absolutely in love with every aspect of this world, but because it explains a lot.
Strands of Starfire is an origin story to every single one of my series. In a few centuries, Kai and Nalini’s children, along with other familiar names, will be leaving for Earth and my other worlds. I’ll also write their journey at a later date.
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