Book Excerpt
Drakon
Book II: Uncarved BOOK EXCERPT 2 FROM
CHAPTER “SILENT, HOLY NIGHT”
…
Hear now, men, the most
sacred of the Stories of the Tribe.
This
is the Story of time before yesterday, of the world before the Earth, of the
Sky before the stars, and of the Goddess before the birth of man. It is the
breath before the breast, countless winters before the cold. An age when the
only meadow, the whole world, was a thick slime, black and shiny. No solid
earth or wavy sea existed, only the mud boiling hotter than the sun and colder
than ice, a sludge that neither light, nor hope, nor even time itself could
penetrate.
There in the slimy,
shining darkness lived an eternal Demon, alone, the only breathing thing, the
ancient, eternal, immortal Snake, Darhul with the nine heads, each dressed in a
different skin of black. Ravenfeather, Woodtar, Charcoal, Onyx, Blackberry,
Ebonetree, Stormcloud, Nightsky, and Despair were the nine shades of black and
the names of the heads of Darhul with the even darker soul.
Then, in that Yesterday—endless
for man but only a heartbeat for the Immortal Goddess—as the heads of Darhul
fought among themselves, Despair ripped out Charcoal’s glimmering red eye. The
eye rolled down from the Demon’s head, covered in crystal tears, into the
radiant black muck. A smoldering coal, the orphan red eye drank its own tears,
and in the heat and cold of the mud, it transformed.
It became Light.
And thus, the First
Light was born, and it took the form of a beautiful maiden, her bareness
covered only with a blinding cloud of hope. And she was the Only Goddess,
Enaka.
Enaka stormed on
Despair, the most loathsome of Darhul’s heads, and from that moment, the First
and Final War between the Goddess of Light and the Eternal Demon began. The
fiery rays from the Goddess’s quiver and the icy tongues of Darhul fought until
the dark slime that made up the entire world split in half. The one baked into
life and became the golden earth of the steppe, and the other half melted as
death and became the black sea.
The war had no end. No
one could prevail. On one side, Darhul spewed black clouds from his nine
doubled nostrils, and from the other side, Enaka threw screaming lightning
bolts from her chariot.
Then one night, Enaka
turned her milk-white winged horse, Pelor, who drew her chariot in the Unending
Sky, into a brave, black-haired man and lay with him. From their love, she bore
seven sons, the Seven Suns to light the entire world and burn Darhul, defeating
the Darkness forever. A new world was born, and it would soon be ready to give
birth to men.
Almost
defeated forevermore, Darhul spat out his dying revenge. He cut off with his
nine jaws his own nine heads and dipped them into his belly, steeping them in
poison, making them deadly arrows. The arrows fell upon the Goddess’s newborn
Suns, killing all but one. Six heads.
About the Books
Book I “The Sieve” is Book I of the epic fantasy novel Drakon.
“I
am here to redeem the lives of my wife and daughter. I’ve brought the
offering.” Da-Ren, an infidel barbarian, arrives at the Castlemonastery,
his only offering a jar of honey. Baagh, the Cross Sorcerer, follows
him there under orders of the Emperor, demanding from the monks to
transcribe the warrior’s story. Book I chronicles Da-Ren’s early years,
growing up in a tribe of archer riders and pagan witches, camped north
of the Blackvein River. He enters the Sieve, the forty-day initiation
trial that determines the fate of every boy and girl. Many of his
comrades will fall, the strong will join the warriors, and an elite few
will be marked for leadership. Da-Ren learns to endure the elements, to
obey the Truths, to keep standing when all hope is lost. He swallows the
legends of the OunaMa witches, learns to hate all other tribes, and
conquers fear. And yet there is one trial that will bring him to his
knees. The Goddess’s favorite daughter. “Brown-haired, brown-eyed. Brown
was the first color of the day.” The journey begins for the man who
will become the First Blade of the Devil. A brutal, poetic,
first-person narrative of war, death, and love. Book II
“Uncarved” is Book II of the epic fantasy novel Drakon.
“How
do the Uncarved die? They bleed to death. Always.” Fourteen-winter-old
Da-Ren joins the Uncarved, the chosen few destined to lead the Tribe.
More than forty children train and compete for the next five springs;
only one will become Khun and fulfill the Tribe’s destiny. Da-Ren’s
ambition and strength will keep him alive but can he overcome his most
powerful and cunning adversary, the one favored by witches and men? The
Goddess and the Ouna-Mas will try to nest in his heart, but is he
prepared for the one woman he is brought up to hate? As war and hunger
strangle the Tribe, the stakes of love, duty, and betrayal are higher
than ever. A young man’s first kill. A young man’s first kiss. A
coming-of-age tale with non-stop action.Author Bio
C.A. Caskabel started writing Drakon in 2013 and completed the
350,000-word epic series in 2016. He plans to release the books
gradually in 2016 and 2017 while he researches and writes his next
series. He also works with a passionate small team that publishes
primarily children’s fiction and fantasy fiction.
Prior to 2013, Chris was a serial technology entrepreneur. He has founded and led a number of start-ups in businesses such as digital marketing and renewable energy. He has led creative departments, marketing, and software product organizations in New York, San Francisco, London, and Athens.
He holds a BSc and a BA from Brown University and a PhD in Engineering from Boston University.
Prior to 2013, Chris was a serial technology entrepreneur. He has founded and led a number of start-ups in businesses such as digital marketing and renewable energy. He has led creative departments, marketing, and software product organizations in New York, San Francisco, London, and Athens.
He holds a BSc and a BA from Brown University and a PhD in Engineering from Boston University.
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