Rich Donahue
Khangard’s Chronicles is a fantasy adventure more folklore than fairy tale. It tells the story of a shape-shifting deity liberating the spirits of the brave and noble from their mortal remains much as did the Valkyries of Nordic Legend. As such it provides a much welcome backstory to many of the characters introduced in Soyala’s Saga: The Red Queen – Oldest of The Seven Sister Queens; The Emerald Empress – Youngest of The Seven; The Jeweled Skeleton – A young girl whose mortal remains had been adorned with precious metals and stones – and – The Keeper – Caretaker of The Golden Garden whose plants and animals were fashioned of Precious Metals and Glistening Gemstones. The setting is a great banquet hall atop a mountain of razor sharp obsidian – Khangard’s Eyre. Guests have assembled for the telling of tales and several days of feasting with the best story to be awarded a “Prize of Prizes.”We gaze into a magical mirror of orange obsidian glass where people and places come alive and in the telling of their tales are bid entry into the vast hall to take their revered place amongst the banquet guests. We hear the telling of The Nave and of The Stone Flowers – repository of all of the seeds of the world. We hear the tale of The Seed Gathers – brother and sister – who have dedicated their lives to the collection and preservation of seeds salvaged from a ravaged landscape. We hear too the tale of The Keeper of the Garden carver of The Stone Flowers and The Woman who teaches him to nurture and to love.Then we hear the tales of three water spirits: Water Spirit of Rivers – Water Spirit of Lakes – Water Spirit of Fountains and how their mortal lives intersected and collided. We hear the tale of loves and betrayals and the tale of the greatest sailing ship ever built: The Scarlet Queen. So named because of her scarlet sails and her figurehead imbued with the spirit of The Red Queen.We hear the tale of a great battle where the bleached bones of the fallen were spread so wide and layered so deep that the plain was forever more called: The Porcelain Plain. We wander through The Spiderweb Forest so named because those who wish to do her harm are forever lost in her tangle of web like trails and footpaths. We enter The Forest Maze which is constructed much as is a Mandala Circle spiritually transforming one who enters. We listen and watch as The Shrouded Stranger and The Feral Child are transformed by their journey. We enter into The Knot Garden of sights and sounds and smells: Darting Hummingbirds and Fluttering Butterflies – Tanagers and Crickets – Perfumed Roses and Herbs. Then too we see and marvel at The Tree of The Seven Sisters – Seven Trees grown together as one – and – The Love Knot Tree – Two trees grown together as one living heart. Throughout the Chronicles we have tales of: Affairs of the Heart; Coming of Age and Redemption.Truly a journey not to be missed.
