by Marc Secchia
Zara’s voice rose. “Alexander James Murray, the ice is thin.”
He grinned. “No, the ice is non-existent. That is why Yolanda, the good Doctor and I are going to start training for Equinox. Whiz?”
“Go boyfriend!” Sanu put in.
She tickled Alex’s knee. “You’re awesome.”
Whiz produced from somewhere about his person a box about the size and width of a flute case, but twice as long. Zaranna’s eyebrows jumped. Where had he been hiding that? And was she now to miss out on that kiss? To the doghouse, Alex! But he was training for Equinox. Mentally, she whisked him back out of penitentiary. Instant promotion to Best Man.
Gramps passed the box to Christi. “Would you do the honours, mia carissima?”
She rose from her seat. “Sanu, we three would prefer not to be baggage when it comes to the time we will enter Equinox. Therefore, we have found the finest blades from our world to replace what you are so clearly missing.” She handed Sanu the box with a formal bow. “Would you be willing to train us in martial arts and swordplay?”
“Yes. Yes, of course.” The girl took the beautiful wood-carved box curiously. “This is a scabbard?”
Whiz said, “No. Just a box made of sandalwood. Wearing weapons openly is frowned on in most parts of Earth.”
Sanu blurted out, “What a barbaric culture! Sorry.”
Gramps chuckled, “Here. The clasps open like this.”
Sanu sighed as the box’s contents came into view. “Oh, Ancestors save me. These are too fine. I cannot accept – a king’s weapons, surely?”
“As Christi said, these are the finest swords of our world, created for the finest warriors in history – the Japanese Samurai,” Whiz explained. “The longer blade is called a katana. The shorter companion blade is the wakizashi, the blade said to be closest to a warrior’s soul. I’ve an old friend here in Cape Town who would be willing to explain the history and use and warrior-forms of these particular blades, for I’m no expert in the martial arts. But I am assured these are original Goro Masamune Samurai blades, well over six hundred years old, of incomparable craftsmanship.”
Yolanda asked, “What are they worth?”
Whiz shook his head sternly. “You will not ask that question. It is dishonourable in the culture of the giver. His instructions are to give these weapons to a warrior of peerless skill and pure heart. He is a very old man and has no children. There would be no greater gift to him than to see these blades treasured and used with honour. And, he knows about Equinox.”
Sanu shut the box with trembling hands and held it out to Luxian, aka the High Wizard. “I cannot touch them until I have spoken to the giver and know how to honour such a treasure. It is beyond … I’m a simple Obsidian Highlands girl, Whiz. I don’t know about such … about …”
Whiz pressed her hands gently about the box. “You will therefore cherish this gift the more. I insist. Wild horses, if you’d excuse the pun, could not change my mind.”
She pressed her left hand to her mouth, stifling a sob. “Thank you.”
* * * *
How the Dreamer wished she could return to Equinox arm in arm with her beloved.
In her dream, Alex walked her to the top of a lighthouse on the Cape Town coastline, at Kommetjie. He sat her on the edge of the wall near the revolving light. It was night, and a storm gathered over the ocean in the distance. An amethyst storm. The scent of jasmine drifted to her nostrils upon a freshening breeze, and the waves lapped restlessly at the foam-fringed shoreline.
Alex stood right behind her, his arms clasped about her waist, his chin resting upon her right shoulder and his face pressed against her hair. He said, “Yes. So changed from that girl I found. I’ve never been more grateful that I made that decision to break the speed limit for you, Zaranna.”
“You smashed the limit.”
“I know you’ll go there again, Zars. To Equinox.” His deep voice vibrated through her body, speaking to her soul, it seemed. “And I want you to know how much I’m longing to enter that experience with you. I want to be as ready as I can be. I’ll run and train and learn and grow …”
“Alex, you’re more than I could ever have wished for. You are my Dream.”
“I’m dating a girl who’s literally out of this world. That’s a dream.”
She laid her hand on his, and sighed.
“I’m in love with an alien.”
“Alex!”
“I missed out on a kiss earlier, otherworldly girl. Devastated about that.”
“Me too. Besides, from my perspective, I get to call you Alien Boy. Depends which shoes you’re in – or if you have shoes at all, I guess. But I do love you. Long and short, simple or complex, across the Universe and back … I love you, Alex Murray.”
The lighthouse beamed its message out there across the dark, rippling waters, over and over. I am light. Here is danger. Be safe, be safe. In that powerful light, two shadows merged into one.
Alex lifted his hand to her chin, and stroked her cheek with a delicate fingertip touch. He said, “I love this Equinox-forged soul-beauty, Zaranna Inglewood.”
And then at last, he kissed her, and her heart turned to butterflies and winged away over waters and storms, to the stars and beyond.
To Equinox.
About the Authors
www.marcsecchia.com
Marc is the bestselling author of over twenty fantasy books and is published in three languages. Born in South Africa, he lives and works in Ethiopia with his wife and 4 children, 2 dogs, a rabbit, and a variable number of marabou storks that roost on the acacia trees out back. On a good night you can also hear hyenas prowling along the back fence.
When he’s not writing about Africa or dragons, Marc can be found travelling to remote locations. He thinks there’s nothing better than standing on a mountaintop wondering what lies over the next horizon.
S. J. is an 11 year-old girl with a passion for horses and a sparkling imagination. When she isn’t reading, she’s dreaming about books. Dreams, yes. That’s how this book began.
If you enjoyed this story, please consider leaving a review on Amazon.com. Every review matters and I read them all!
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Twitter: @marcauthor
Email: [email protected]
Other Books by Marc Secchia
Shapeshifter Dragons: (Young Adult and older readers) Three allied series of bestselling Dragon adventures. Prepare to wing away to a unique world of mighty Dragons and volcanic Islands above the deadly Cloudlands!
In chronological order (Island-World timeline):
Dragonfriend series: Dragonfriend, Dragonlove, Dragonsoul and Dragonstar coming in 2017
Shapeshifter Dragon Legends series: The Pygmy Dragon and The Onyx Dragon
Shapeshifter Dragons series: Aranya, Shadow Dragon, Song of the Storm Dragon and Volume #4 coming in 2017
Standalone Book: Dragon Thief
Set in the same world as the Shapeshifter Dragons series, join Zhialeiana in an oceanic adventure with Whales and Sea-Dragons:
IsleSong series: The Girl who Sang with Whales, The Girl who Loved the Whales, The Girl who Swam with Whales
Whisper Series (Teen and older readers)
Conjured by the sadistic Warlock Sanfuri, Whisper faces a stark choice. Run with his message, or die. Bound by the Warlock’s unbreakable magical imperative, Whisper is forced to navigate the tortuous pathways of a labyrinth twenty miles deep, riven by Dragon-infested canyons and scorched by sunstrike. An extraordinary legend is born.
Whisper Alive
The Equinox Cycle: (Young Adult and older readers)
Trapped in a car wreck, crushed by a train. In seconds, Zaranna’s world is torn apart and she must start life anew, as a survivor. A double amputee. Yet why does this promising equestrienne remember a flash of sulphurous fire, and a crimson paw hurling her mother’s car onto the train
tracks? Why does a tide of beguiling butterflies flood her increasingly chaotic dreams?
As Zaranna Inglewood adjusts to life minus legs, plus gorgeous Alex, the paramedic who cut her body from the wreckage, she learns the terror of being hunted. Relentless and inimical, the enemy lures her to a world where dreams shape reality. Equinox. A world of equinoctial storms; lashed by titanic forces of magic, dominated by the Pegasi and their centuries-old enmity with Human Wizards and the Dragons. This is a world where a girl can Dream her destiny. Where her soul can fly, or be chained forever.
She is Zaranna, the Horse Dreamer. Survivor. Fighter. A girl who doesn’t need legs to kick an evil fate in the teeth. All she needs is courage – the courage to Dream.
The Horse Dreamer (Equinox Cycle Book 1)
The Shioni of Sheba series: (Middle Grades and older readers) Unique African historical fantasy adventures set among the myths and legends of ancient Ethiopia.
Shioni of Sheba #1: The Enchanted Castle
Shioni of Sheba #2: The King's Horse
Shioni of Sheba #3: The Mad Giant
Shioni of Sheba #4: The Sacred Lake
Shioni of Sheba #5: The Fiuri Realms
Shioni of Sheba #6 – The Night of the Hyenas
Shioni of Sheba Box Set – Books 1-5
Epic fantasy (New Adult and Adult readers) Epic length tales of unique worlds and powers.
Feynard
The Legend of El Shashi