An Epic and Dark Fantasy Adventure Story!
Now Available At
Amazon.ca Books, Amazon.com Books, (and other Amazon locations)
BARD: Owner Of The Gemstone is an Epic, Deep, Dark fantasy fiction story.
Bran is twelve when he saves a girl from two ghouls.
To thank him she places a silver necklace around his neck.
Attached to the necklace by a dragon claw bail, is a gemstone.
A gemstone that in a few years, will change his world, forever.
This is Bran’s story. From journeying to the Esfinge BARD campus his father once went to; to searching for the rightful owner of the gemstone.
In his search for the owner of the gemstone, Bran travels over the land and across the sea, to a territory ruled by an immortal emperor.
Along the way he meets rogues, a witch, a demon, a giant, and many other fascinating characters; both human and fey.
This is also very much a story about a young man learning to become a bard and a blacksmith.
The book has dark fantasy moments and appropriate for readers fourteen and over. It’s also a deep book, with political and environmental themes.
Review of BARD by Darren Joy, author of the Plague Born series
Against her chest rested a turquoise green gemstone with a vein of white and grey. In the fading light he could just make out a silver dragon’s claw bail that connected the gemstone to a plain silver necklace.
She lifted the necklace over her head and placed it around his neck. His eyes had closed with the feel of her fingers against his skin. Never had he felt so close to someone. Even in that short time, in the silence that she kept him in, he felt as though he were divided in two. He opened his eyes staring into hers. It was as if he was looking into a pond with a reflection of one half of himself staring back.
Her moist lips pressed against his. Blood from the cut on her upper lip slowly trickled into his mouth as she touched the gemstone were it lay against his chest.
“When we are older it will lead you to me,” she said with a mezzo-soprano voice full of determination. She stood up and straightened out her skirt and blouse. “It would have burned you if our destinies were not as one.”
…As he walks back to the chestnut tree he subconsciously grabs a hold of the gemstone. Still holding it he lies down on his cot and falls asleep.
He dreams of standing on a cliff watching a giant orange sphere rise up from below. The higher the sphere rises the bigger it becomes. He can see now that it is made of bone. The sphere moves closer and he realizes that it’s actually elliptical. Two apertures appear half way down it. The sphere is actually a skull with slits for the nose, teeth, and a jaw. It smiles at him. The skull moves back, as if coaxing him to follow. He lifts his right foot. He is about step forward when a sudden pain in his chest causes him to stop.
Bran starts pouring molten silver and copper into a sword cast. In two weeks he will be gone from here; another home lost. Forgetting that Master Kadar is there he sings to himself:
Have you seen the river of your home?
No matter where you go it resides within you
Close up, the water rushes by,
Like your life, it can never be the same
Can you feel the water on your brow?
Swirling in droplets,
Then cascading off in the same way as your thoughts
To the place you originally called home…
His voice trails off. For the rest of the night he concentrates solely on his work. But in the back of his mind he knows something exciting, and something unknown awaits him in fourteen days.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
(see the Creating the cover of BARD)
Thanks to my brother Andy Watt, for believing in the story and editing.
My niece Andraya Watt for editing.
Ms. S. Moffat for reading the original story thirty plus years ago and all her suggestions.
Allen Murray for encouraging me to keep at it.
Melissa Guille (Ravenna) for helping make the story stronger.
George Lamprecht for encouraging me to make the story clearer as it was written over a number of years.
Rowena Samuel for editing during a pandemic.
Social media consultant, actress, and model Victoria Givens for editing and asking questions that made the story even better. Victoria can be reached at: vgivlin@gmail.com; http://victoriagivlin.com/; 226 606 9247.
The Cover
Thanks to Ian Greener for the text and design on the cover and for encouraging me to publish.
My other brother, Alex Watt, for the lute and inside the rose background.
Armstreet for the Flax Green dress: https://armstreet.com/
Creaturre for the Moss-green cloak: https://www.etsy.com/ca/shop/creaturre
Nic the Pixie (Nichameleon) for her willingness to still model after injury, fire, and through a pandemic.
Nic the Pixie
Cover Model
Nic, also known as Nic the Pixie or Nichameleon, is a 26 year old geek who has a passion for pop culture and cosplay.
She is often found working in her cosplay room in her little house in Brisbane Australia, sewing up a storm, covered in hot glue and sequins. She also enjoys aerial arts and spends a lot of time upside down on her Lyra hoop for fitness and fun.
Thanks to the support of her fans, Nic can work on creating cosplays full time and she is keen to expand her skillset to make bigger and better cosplays as well as continuing to connect with fans through social media and live streaming! — Nic
Nicole can be found through these links:
………. Instagram ………. Twitch ………. Patreon ………. Email
Author
DAN WATT has written a number of books in different genres over the years.
He is the author of the fantasy science fiction series Children of the Myth Machine: Queen of Caelum, Sylvia, and Achebe.
The author of the sci-fi Lucy and the Snivel Chair and co-author of the sci-fi story Brackish.
BARD is his first epic fantasy-adventure book.
His websites are caedar-writing-artwork.com
He can also be reached at mythruin@gmail.com.
You must log in to post a comment.