Co-written by

Wendi Callaway

And Brian Pugh

The Realm Between Fantasy and Reality

Book One: A Paradisiacal But Forbidden Yearning

Dedicated to

Mother, Father, and Family

Introduction

“Anton, we’re getting close,” whispered Brark.

“Perhaps we should have mentioned to someone that we were coming out here.”

“There was no time, Anton! Someone or something decimated the entire town! We have to figure this out as soon as we can and report back to King Zoris with whatever we find.”

“What do you think could have caused that?”

“I have no idea; I have never seen anything like that before,” said Brark. “I have not seen destruction like that in my lifetime, and I have only heard of it in stories.”

Brark reaches out and moves Anton behind him as they approach a clearing. What was once lush green grass is now burned, desolate wasteland. The trees are singed badly, making the entire area smell of sulfur and burned wood. There are many pieces of corpses lying all over the clearing. The musty stench of rotted flesh lingers in the air. The silence is deafening, and neither man wants to even breathe.

“By the great oracle, this is unlike anything I have ever seen! This is far worse than even the town!” exclaimed Anton.

As they start across the clearing, the grass crunches beneath their feet, adding an ominous sense of foreboding to the men’s already low spirits.

“At least we seem to be on the right track,” declared Brark.

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Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, comes a familiar voice.

“It appears that the lamb has been led to the slaughter, and I am the butcher!”

“It’s Tedra! I should have known this all along; I knew we couldn’t trust him,” declared Brark. Anton grabbed Brark’s arm and pulled him toward a small grove of burnt bushes.

The two men suddenly stop short as the charred bushes ignite into a powerfully hot flame. Tedra chuckles loudly as they start to run back in the direction from which they came. Again, they are stopped, this time by a wall of flames. They turn directly away from the apparent location that the flames came from and jump behind a lone bush, which has not been burnt.

Tedra again laughs loudly, “Now I have you right where I want you!”

Anton turns to Brark and begins to speak, but his words are cut off coldly by a jet-black arrow that pierces his throat. Brark reaches out just in time to catch Anton as he falls into his arms.

A female voice screams out, “Father!”

As Anton’s full weight collapses against Brark, he yells loudly, “Anton! No!”

A moment later, Tedra yells, “Success, at last!”

As Brark kneels, crying, over the limp body of his best friend, the prince, he raises his head and screams, “Tedra, I will kill you for what you have done! This I promise!”