Hey all! Lee here, and this is my first ever snippet (I hope they like it, I hope they like it, I hope they like it). As I’m sitting here writing this, my cat (named Cat) is crawling all over me. I think that means that he’s excited to read it-though he’s usually pretty picky. Let me (and Cat) know what you think!
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Prologue
The Far Future…Irth (Earth)
Catherine smoothed her white skirt over her long, slender legs as she prepared to enter the classroom. She was about to give the most important lecture of her life, and she needed to look the part.
Five years working in the Ministry of Education, and she still got butterflies before she walked into the room. Having a great amount of respect for the vocation of teacher, some anxiety was natural, but Catherine hoped that someday she would feel comfortable amongst the students. She swallowed one last time and stepped through the door.
The classroom was abuzz with its normal electricity. The students were curious and even excited to learn. She knew that joy in schooling wasn’t typical for students of this age, but she was lucky to have been given the honor students—the best in New Arcadia. And she also knew that many of them, if she did her job well, would advance far beyond their teacher.
It was not unlike the story she was about to tell—the story of the girl who changed the world.
“Take your seats,” Catherine called out over the hubbub with a cheerful tone. “Settle down everybody!”
After what seemed like an eternity, the students complied.
She stood at the podium and shuffled her notes. “Good. Right. Who remembers what we were talking about last class?” Catherine asked.
Francis, whose parents were both teachers at the University, raised his hand. She nodded in his direction. “You had just introduced a new topic—the Age of Magic.”
“That’s right, Francis. We had finally finished going over the Age of Madness. Someone give us a quick recap into what the Age of Madness was. Remember,” she looked over those looking back at her, “it will be on the final exam.”
All the students stirred in their seats. It was the kind of question that was too easy to want to answer, so they all waited for the others.
Finally, Randall, a boy whose parents were both manual laborers, raised his hand. “The Age of Madness was a time of chaos. Empress Bethany Anne had left the earth to travel the stars some time before. And in her absence, war had broken out dropping humanity into the Second Dark Ages.
“It was after her leaving that the Kurtherian nanocytes had affected most of humanity over generations, changing the world forever. Humans, for the most part, weren’t prepared to handle the mutations in the programming. Michael had returned and stopped an effort by several mutated humans from taking over large areas of Earth.
“She had come back to Earth to pick Michael up after stopping the M’nassa and other tribes from attacking Earth and placing the Orbital Defenses around so that we could never be attacked again.”
The boy paused, then continued. “However, they left without understanding the issues with the changes to humanity. So, instead of giving humans a gift that the Kurtherian Tribe Essiehkor had envisioned—instead of allowing people the ability to tap into the etheric—the nanocytes transformed many into monsters. Ravenous creatures who looked like humans, but who lacked logic or sense of affection.
“The Mad had no love for anything but their desire to consume human blood to get at the Etheric energy the blood imparted. It significantly decreased an already lower population and plunged the world from the Second Dark Ages into the Age of Madness.”
“Good,” Catherine said. “And how did the Age of Madness come to an end?” she asked.
Melissa, a girl in the front row, looked up and spoke without raising her hand. “The Founder appeared. He was a man of great power and could cure humanity of the Madness. He taught them how to control the desires within them. And in doing so, he showed them how to tap into the etheric and produce magic.”
Catherine felt a chill run down her spine upon hearing her student’s words. She had taught them well, and they were now ready to push into harder lessons.
“That’s right. And today, we pick up where that story ends. The Founder was only the beginning of the Age of Magic. He had an important role to play, but his gift was but the Genesis of our world. In the end, he would not be nearly as important as the one who came after him.”
All the students leaned in. She was blessed to have such a hungry group. They’d been waiting all year for the good stuff, and it was time for Catherine to give it to them.
This is exactly what she was ready to do.
“I’m sure all of you have heard the legends, but today we are going to learn the true story of the Hero of Magic. How she rose from nothing to become the most powerful magician the world had ever known to that point and—more importantly—how she used that magic to vanquish evil from our land. She led us out of the darkness and into the time of peace that we all now know.
“It is time to tell you the truth… about her.”
CHAPTER ONE
Hannah didn’t know it, but in a few more minutes, her future would be changed.
Forever.
And how could she have known? It was a day like any other. She and her brother William were on their way to the park in uptown Arcadia, the one clean place they could enjoy themselves in this crowded, sweaty city. Their weekly trip to the beautiful lawn was the only thing in her long, hard days she had to look forward to.
Being with her fifteen-year-old brother was, in ways, the only time she truly felt human.
Turning the corner onto the Street of the Patriarch, William suddenly stopped.
Hannah turned, allowing a little impatience to color her voice. “Let’s go, Will. We don’t have much time.”
Her brother stared off into the distance, his small face ashen, sweat breaking out on his forehead. “Go ahead, Hannah. I… I don’t feel so good. I’ll catch up. I think I might need some—”
Mid-sentence, her brother dropped to the ground. Hannah scrambled back to his side. Eyes rolled back into his head. Her brother, five years younger, started to tremble.
“William?” She checked over his body, her voice rushed out, “Will, this isn’t funny.” The words rushed out at the end.
His trembling turned to shaking, which transformed into full-body spasms. William’s arms tightened against his chest, and his legs kicked like wild beasts. Drool leaked from the side of his mouth.
Someone was screaming his name, repeatedly, “William, WILLIAM!”
But, her screams were accomplishing nothing. His ashen color started to turn, not back to his usual pink, but blue.
Her heart pounding in her ears, Hannah fought back fear and tried to think. Pulling him into her arms, rocking him, she whispered desperately, “Breathe, William, breathe, breathe!”
She looked around, frantically. “Help me. Somebody help me!” All around the bustling square, the early evening market goers streamed right by them noticing nothing amiss. Hannah wasn’t surprised—this city had little room to care for people like them—but their indifference made her angry nonetheless.
Unable to hold herself together, Hannah shouted upwards into the empty sky. Anger swept through her body, electrifying the ends of her arms as people continued stepping around her and her convulsing brother.
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Hey, everyone! Chris here, and I get to drop a note at the end of the snippet.
Right now I’m sitting in a hotel room in Asheville, NC. My legs are aching from a six mile hike up the side of a mountain. I spent the day chasing my wife to the top and then back down again. I’ve been chasing her for 13 years!
Given much of the hike was in silence, I had plenty of time to take in the natural landscape while also thinking about Hannah, her brother, and the fight for Irth!
I also just kept thinking about how excited we are to get this novel out into the world.
We hope you enjoy this first snippet and will check out Restriction: Rise of Magic, Book 1. Read snippet two here.
Don’t miss this release or any others by the boys at Smoke and Steel! Sign up here for news.
Cheers,
Chris
PS, are you a whale reader and need to get your paws on some other books while you wait for The Rise of Magic? Check our other books here. They’re all on Kindle Unlimited, so read away!
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