Darkness Falls (Legacy of Seven Book 2) SciFi Fantasy by P.J. Flie ➱ Book Tour with Guest Post & Giveaway

 

 

Darkness Falls

Legacy of Seven Book 2

by P.J. Flie

Genre: SciFi Fantasy

A world filled with magic, wizards, enchanted beings … and a construction robot?

The mystical world that has risen out of the ashes of science and technology could soon fall.
While the young wizard Ondreeal has her magic safely under control for now, she is plagued with dreams of a nightmarish future that she can’t recall upon waking, dreams that leave her unsettled all the same. A nagging urgency pulls her back to Bastion—a free city of light and a beacon of hope for all peoples.

There, Sir Francis, the wise wizard of the north, will have the answers that she so desperately needs. But if she returns too late, her mentor may fall into the hands of the dark wizard Zairoc, and Ondreeal will forever lose the only one who can unravel the mystery of her past, and help her to become a true wizard of light.

That would also keep robot CD-45 from completing his mission. He carries a dire warning of an ancient threat that looms in orbit above the planet—a message that only Sir Francis can comprehend.
For good or ill, Ondreeal’s fate will be the fate of the world.

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A Guardian Rises

Legacy of Seven Book 1

A world filled with magic, wizards and, enchanted beings—or the ashes of a highly advanced civilization?
The truth is much more complicated.

Zairoc, a dark wizard

Sir Francis, a benevolent wizard

Trick Mark, captain of the guard

and the construction robot CD-45.

Their destinies will collide at the city of Bastion. But concealed from everyone, a young woman holds the key to each of their fates.

Ondreeal has lived her whole life on the farm with her callous adoptive father. She longs to see the world and witness for herself the magical wonders that fill it—and she’ll soon get her wish, thrust into an adventure that carries her to heights she never dreamed possible, and to the depths of despair and loneliness. Ondreeal can never become the hero the world wants her to be.

But will she become the hero it needs?

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Excerpt from Legacy of Seven: Darkness Falls

By P.J. Flie

Ondreeal gazed at the soaring white bricks of the grand hall, the pristine color like mountain ice, frozen for endless time. Those carved stones taken from the Earth, countless years ago, called to the wizard Ondreeal. You will bring light into the darkest of places. Long rays cast down from towering windows—they revealed the slow dance of specks, golden dust emblazoned by the light before they disappeared into shadow, doomed to quietly float into midnight corners. Those grains looked so much like the sparkling sands upon which she had stood all those months ago in a fight for her freedom and her very life. Lightning from the wand had reached her.... 

Ondreeal pulled out the ebony rod from the brown leather vest that hemmed in her embroidered, white tunic. She slowly turned the rod: flat circles at both ends, sharply cut off the perfectly round circumference in the center. It showed her young face, now eighteen seasons old, with faint hints of her green eyes and long, chestnut hair. The inch-thick, curved instrument appeared flawless and reflected a distorted image of the hall on its polished surface. Suddenly, the wand burst to life in a brilliant blue-white, making those bricks glow like moonlit ice. 

She slipped the rod into her tunic and gazed upon the golden throne, a symbol of power for the great wizard Sir Francis. Ondreeal had trained to wield the wand with a great deal of power herself. She had learned much during her time with the Embertree, who were devoted followers of the God of All: how to fight, but more importantly, some control over the complex magic of the wand. If only Embers Bradai and Doyle had remained by her side, she might have more success to report to Sir Francis. Instead, the two warriors had convened with the Lord of Light upon arriving here, in the capital of Bastion. Of course, what else did she expect Embers to do? They needed to serve their holy leader. She wrung her hands, fidgeting, though never taking her eyes off the golden throne. 

After all these many months, all the tragedy she had endured, and everything she had worked so hard to achieve, Ondreeal had finally returned to her mentor. 

In many ways, she never believed this day would come. The deaths that weighed on her conscience totaled far too many souls. Her use of the wand had been disastrous, killing many around her, not that she had meant to—though it truly didn’t matter; they remained gone. Nothing would change that. Her heart beat like a drum, and with each beat, a different face flashed into her mind. 

Her hands trembled, and her body produced a thin layer of sweat that chilled her until she shivered—a storm vibrating from within. She tried to slow her rapidly beating heart, fighting against dizziness that threatened to pull her to the white stone floor. 

Then Sir Francis strode out of a side door, in flowing white robes that matched with his perfectly long beard; he smiled at Ondreeal, bathing her in the warmth of the sun. “I don’t believe my eyes!” He hurried over to her, cupping her face in his hands. “My dear, I have been looking for you from the very moment that you disappeared. That feels like a thousand years ago!” 

Ondreeal beamed. “I’ve missed you, too.” She clenched her hands. “I spent time with the Embertree. They helped me. Sir Francis, I must confess, after I left here—” 

Sir Francis shook his head, grabbing her shoulders. “Say nothing more. I know the great power of the wand. The tragedy that followed your disappearance is not your fault. If the blame lies anywhere, it’s with me. I shouldn’t have pushed you so hard. If only I had listened to you, given you the time you needed. I was foolish.” 

Ondreeal shook her head. “No. I should have taken my mother’s wand the moment you offered it—not waited until damage had been done. I was so scared. Frozen in fear. What I wouldn’t give to change that moment. Death. All those deaths.” 

Sir Francis sighed. “Only someone with a pure heart can carry such a weight.” 

Ondreeal glanced up at him. Can he free me from this guilt? “Will you teach me so that I can truly control the wand?” 

Sir Francis nodded enthusiastically. “And more. You will be a great guardian of light! One that I’m certain your mother would be very proud of.” 

Her eyes welled with tears. She stepped back to blink them away when the world flashed. Ondreeal and Sir Francis stood in front of the Lumenary. The white stones of the church rose up to meet golden steeples, and its tall windows sparkled with blends of colors, like a kaleidoscope of butterflies. Marring this beauty was a nearby makeshift stage with a plain wooden cross rising out of it. Ondreeal and Sir Francis stared up at it solemnly. 

The world flashed again. Zairoc stood on stage, and looked just like he had the first time Ondreeal fought him—black, polished boots matched his finely- tailored pants and tunic. His dark hair was accented by frost behind his ears, and his icy-blue eyes twinkled at her as he held Sir Francis’s hand up to the wide crossboard of the crucifix. Ondreeal watched in horror as Zairoc ran a nail through her mentor’s palm, then turned back to her with a devilish stare. 

Sir Francis didn’t flinch—he simply stared down at Ondreeal like nothing had happened. “My dear, I am so happy to have you home! There’s so much I want to tell you.” 

Zairoc moved to the other side of Sir Francis, lifting the old wizard’s hand to the cross. 

Ondreeal wanted to take a step, race on stage, and stop Zairoc—but she couldn’t lift her feet. Despite a whirlwind within, her body remained frozen in place. “Sir Francis, can’t you see him? He’s going to hurt you. Zairoc will kill you if you don’t stop him!” 

Sir Francis stared down at her, his eyes finally filled with knowledge. “My dear, I’m not the one who can stop him.” 

Zairoc placed the nail at the center of her mentor’s palm. 

Ondreeal screamed at Zairoc. “Leave him alone! Get away from him! Sir Francis, please, you have to stop him. Please!” 

Zairoc plunged the nail through the old wizard’s palm. Sir Francis wailed in pain. 

Q&A with P.J. Flie

Author of Legacy of Seven: Darkness Falls

Question: Since it’s the second installment in your Legacy of Seven series, what do you want to

remind readers about from A Guardian Rises before they jump into Darkness Falls?

P.J. Flie: At this stage in the story, it’s still up to the reader to decide: is this world one of

science or magic? To remind readers what our primary characters are up to, the young Ondreeal

is still struggling to find her way as a force of good in this new medieval world. Sir Francis, her

mentor and the wise wizard of the north, is haunted by a past where he failed to stop the evil

wizard Zairoc from killing Ondreeals’s mother. Now he fears a premonition in which he soon

loses everything. CD-45, robot with high-functioning emotional capabilities, is trying to make

sense of a strange Earth where everyone sees him as a magical being. He needs to find Sir

Francis and tell him of the armada in orbit that continues to threaten the remnants of humanity.

And, as always, no one is purely a villain or hero; everyone believes that their actions are

justified.

Q: What lessons did you learn from the process of writing Book One that you applied for

Book Two?

Flie: Clarity and precision, but within that—finding ways to let the story remain exciting and

engaging.

Q: Is it fair to say there are more fantasy elements in Book Two? Was that a conscious decision

or something that just developed out of the story?

Flie: There are definitely more fantasy elements. The robot CD-45 is now incorporated into the

‘enchanted creatures’ of this world by the characters—at least for the time being. With the

greater use of the wands, more miraculous elements emerge which naturally lends itself to the

more fantastical. This was both a conscious decision, as I knew that I wanted to continue to

distort the boundary between the scientific and the fantastic, but also an organic and fitting

direction for the plot to go in.

Q: There is a push and pull between magic and reason in this book. Why did you want to explore

those themes?

Flie: There is so much that we don’t know as a species. Sometimes we find answers with

science, and then those answers change over time as we discover more. But sometimes we find

answers within mysticism. We look to a higher power to explain our existence and our place in

the world. I grew up with a mix of people who firmly believed in mysticism or religion, while

others believed solely in scientific fact. Having been raised in this environment, I found myself

firmly planted in-between these ideas. That push and pull has defined my life experience. That’s

something that a lot of people can relate to as they search for their own truth.

Q: The book is set 2,000 years in the future, but the best comparison for the society is medieval.

How did you combine elements of the future and the past to achieve this?

Flie: First, how do you recreate an advanced society once it’s gone? We all know how to use a

lightbulb, but how many of us would know how to make one. That’s the conundrum that faced

Sir Francis, who rebuilt a society from the most primitive state. The current medieval society is

both an expression of his past knowledge, as it is about the breadth of knowledge he possesses.

The future elements fit perfectly into a superstitious society because they are explained away as

magic. Belief is the glue that holds this society together because everything has an explanation

that is accepted as fact.

This is also what traps Sir Francis. How do you change what people believe, especially when it

challenges the foundation of what they believe? Once, people thought that the Earth was the

center of the universe. To accept that the Earth moved around the sun proved difficult for many.

It took time to change people’s minds—that’s the challenge that Sir Francis is faced with.

P.J. Flie is an author and educator passionate about working with the next generation of artists. He holds a BFA in theater and social science, and works in all aspects of theater production from acting coach to director, set builder, lighting designer, and stage manager. He started writing at the age of ten, focusing on honing this craft throughout school and at university. Hailing from Canada, where he currently resides, he continues to create stories. Since the publication of the first leg of the Legacy of Seven series in 2021, Flie has been working on coming up with new stories out of this sci-fi-fantasy universe. Legacy of Seven: Darkness Falls is Flie’s second novel.

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