Magic and fire, darkness and light, hope and fear, fate and visions, family and love. A story clamoring to be told for more than 15 years as I managed college, wrangle toddlers by day as a teacher, and sell books written by others at night. The Wilde family, what they can do, and what they must do to save their home is an adventure in epic fantasy. A trilogy in the making.Come with me as we follow Brand the fire mage down the road with a crop of his finest smoke apples and the winds of prophecy behind him. He’s been set a task by fate, and he’ll do it so that his sister Edana can do hers.

No matter what the Children of the Dark have in store for him.

THE SETTING

Deep in the Emerald Forest there lives a fire witch of great and terrible power. She will scorch you where you stand with only a look. Cross her temper and your skin and possessions will burn. Please her, and she’ll ensnare you with her magic and leave you trapped in flames of her making for all eternity. People enter her forest at their peril and only at great need, or if they have a desire to see her golden eyes burn before they die. Or so the legends say.

In a world where magic is rare, but accepted, the Wilde family had more than most. Fire and fate ran in their blood. Even so they live a simple life, growing smoke apples in a forest. Contrary to the nearest villager’s belief, it wasn’t Edana the fire witch they feared. She saved them from burning countless times for her power lay in controlling the fire. Brand however, had a short temper and the power of the spark to match. Trespassers, cheats, even the occasional hunter with unfortunate timing had felt the heat of Brand’s temper. Each one only noticed the slip of a girl with hair afire, eyes aglow and arms outstretched to calm Brand’s flame. They never saw the boy curled in on himself, eyes squeezed shut, breathing to calm the spark in his blood.

So the legend of the fire witch grew as years passed, and Brand’s ability remained secret.

THE STORY

“Sparks journey to mountain high, evil there will burn and die.”

So begins the prophecy that sends Brand the fire mage from his forest home and out into the world. For the first time fate calls for him to take the family’s crop of smoke apples to Minian to sell in the autumn market alone. Along the way, strangers become friends, friends become brothers, and enemies burn to ash. With only the vague lines of prophecy to guide him, and a goal of getting to the capital city of Tareath in time to save it from darkness and help his sister to meet her own fate, Brand journeys through mountains, to cities, into fortresses, and even the bowels of the earth. He searches for answers to questions in the prophecy, and for aid. As powerful as he and his sister are together, they cannot beat this evil on their own.

The Children of the Dark are coming out of the earth. Something they haven’t done in centuries. The only thing that can beat back the dark, is light. Luckily for Brand, he’s never been without a steady supply of that. This time though, it’s a different kind of darkness.