The Seekers: The Children of Darkness (Dystopian Sci-Fi - Book 1) (27 page)

Spring finally arrived. The seekers’ bulletins had been read
by thousands, and within weeks, thousands turned to tens of thousands. The
rebellion had spread like wildfire, exactly as Orah had planned.

Thomas had muddled through the winter while elders from
surrounding towns convened. As a seeker of the truth, he was obliged to attend
these meetings, but at last the agony had ended.

Today, the people of the Ponds
celebrated a new holiday, the festival of freedom, and tomorrow, the best of
the region, led by Orah and Nathaniel, would embark on their initial expedition
to the keep.

He didn’t know if he wanted to go.

On this, the first mild day of the season, the trees
prepared to spread their seeds to the world. He sat on a log and dangled his
feet in the pond until he barely felt his toes, and then swung them out to
warm. Sunlight filtered through the branches, causing ripples on the ground as
they swayed with the breeze. Overhead, cream-colored pods from a honey locust
floated down like snow.

December had been filled with bickering, demands from the
people and righteous indignation from the Temple, until everyone agreed on conditions
for the meeting. Adamsville was designated as the site. Nathaniel’s father was
chosen to represent the rebels, and the arch vicar would lead the clerics.

January consisted of posturing and pomp, with a plentiful
smattering of sermons about the darkness. Eventually, necessity drove everyone together.
The Temple had no means of support without the people. The people needed the
medicine the Temple provided, and perhaps missed its spiritual ministrations as
well. Most of all, after a thousand years, neither side had an appetite for
violence.

In the midst of negotiations, the grand vicar passed to the
light. The Temple council offered the position to the arch vicar. He declined
at first, but when no one else wanted the job, they declared the old man the
human embodiment of light on this Earth by default.

After long days fraught with ill will, the parties reached
the terms of a truce. The practice of teachings would end. The people would
accept ministrations from the vicars and continue to tithe. In exchange, the
Temple would provide medicine and, most importantly, safe passage to the keep.

Orah worried that each day brought the keep closer to
extinction. Practical as always, she proposed inviting the gray friars to
accompany them, hoping they might use their skill to take over maintenance.

The council of priors had agreed at
once. The brothers, it seemed, had more interest in tinkering with devices than
arguing about the darkness.

This led Nathaniel to suggest a delegation of vicars come along.
Their guidance might help avoid the mistakes of the past, and the gesture might
ease the rift with the clergy. An outraged Orah accused him of dreaming again.
Allowing the vicars near the keep seemed absurd to Thomas, but experience made
him reluctant to doubt Nathaniel. Stranger things had happened.

His feet had warmed in the sun, and he swung them back to
the pond. As the tingling spread to his ankles, he slowly shook his head. No, he’d
pass on the trip. Once to the keep was enough, and he had better things to do.

That afternoon his newly formed group of musicians, a modest
five with a drum and four flutes, would meet for their first session. He’d
composed a tune for them but believed it needed a string instrument. While he’d
heard many in the keep, he never bothered to study their construction, so now
he sat on the log and tried out his newest creation.

He had chosen a backing of rosewood for the teardrop shape
and, after some testing, had settled on spruce for the sounding board. He’d lovingly
sanded the wood through the winter, until he could sense the grain with his
fingertips. Then he’d tap the side with his thumb and gauge the vibrations,
shake his head and sand some more.

Across the hole in the center, he’d strung catgut, which
would produce different tones depending on how tightly he stretched them. To
allow for adjustment, he’d wrapped them around pegs inserted into a short neck.
For now, the instrument had five strings, but for next freedom festival, he
might add a sixth. He twisted the knob to tighten the final string and plucked
them in sequence. The first three sounded perfect, but the others needed
tuning.

He remained undaunted. He’d call his new instrument a lute,
after a similar one found in the keep. He might even name it a Bradford lute,
since his had a unique tone, though not yet ideal.

But he knew he could make it better.

---THE END---

From start to finish, a novel is an enormous effort and
would not be possible without a great team. It starts with my beta readers,
including the members of my writing group, The Steeple Scholars from the Cape
Cod Writers Center, and continues with Lane Diamond, Dave King, and John
Anthony Allen. It finishes with the wonderful formatting and cover art of Mallory
Rock. Through it all, the encouragement of others kept me going, my friends and
family, including my dear wife, who has put up with my writing aspiration
through the good and bad years.

I borrowed the quote engraved on the steps of the Temple of
Truth from Robert Kennedy. The full text is: “The greatest truth must be
recognition that in every man, in every child is the potential for greatness.”

Finally, I want to acknowledge my readers, who are, after
all, the reason I write, and especially for prodding me to make this book the
first in a trilogy. So many of you wanted to know what happened to my
characters after this book ends, that I was compelled to give them life once
more. Orah and Nathaniel are grateful.

The urge to write first struck when working on a newsletter
at a youth encampment in the woods of northern Maine. It may have been the
night when lightning flashed at sunset followed by northern lights rippling
after dark. Or maybe it was the newsletter’s editor, a girl with eyes the color
of the ocean. But I was inspired to write about the blurry line between reality
and the fantastic.

Using two fingers and lots of white-out, I religiously typed
five pages a day throughout college and well into my twenties. Then life
intervened. I paused to raise two sons and pursue a career, in the process
becoming a well-known entrepreneur in the software industry, founding several
successful companies. When I found time again to daydream, the urge to write
returned.

My wife and I split our time between Cape Cod, Florida and
anywhere else that catches our fancy. I no longer limit myself to five pages a
day and am thankful every keystroke for the invention of the word processor.

You can find me at my website (
www.DavidLitwack.com
), where I blog about writing and post updates on my current works. I’m also on
Twitter ( @DavidLitwack ) and Facebook (
https://www.facebook.com/david.litwack.author
). If you’d like
quarterly updates with news about my books, my works in progress, and my
thoughts on the universe, please sign up for my
newsletter
.

THE STUFF OF STARS

(The Seekers – Book 2)

By David Litwack

Watch for the second novel in this dystopian sci-fi series,
coming November 2015. For more information on this book, please visit the
Evolved
Publishing
website.

~~~~~

But what are we without dreams?

Against all odds, Orah and Nathaniel have found the keep and
revealed the truth about the darkness, initiating what they hoped would be a
new age of enlightenment. But the people were more set in their ways than
anticipated, and a faction of vicars whispered in their ears, urging a return
to traditional ways.

Desperate to keep their movement alive, Orah and Nathaniel
cross the ocean to seek the living descendants of the keepmasters’ kin. Those
they find on the distant shore are both more and less advanced than expected.

The seekers become caught between the two sides, and face
the challenge of bringing them together to make a better world. The prize: a
chance to bring home miracles and a more promising future for their people. But
if they fail this time, they risk not a stoning but losing themselves in the
twilight of a never-ending dream.

THE DAUGHTER OF THE SEA AND THE SKY

This literary, speculative novel is now available. For
more information on this book, please visit the
Evolved
Publishing
website.

~~~~~

A world divided, a mysterious girl--a boat where none
should be.

After centuries of religiously motivated war, the world has
been split in two. Now the Blessed Lands are ruled by pure faith, while in the
Republic, reason is the guiding light-two different realms, kept apart and at
peace by a treaty and an ocean.

Children of the Republic, Helena and Jason were inseparable
in their youth, until fate sent them down different paths. Grief and duty
sidetracked Helena’s plans, and Jason came to detest the hollowness of his
ambitions.

These two damaged souls are reunited when a tiny boat from
the Blessed Lands crashes onto the rocks near Helena’s home after an impossible
journey across the forbidden ocean. On board is a single passenger, a
nine-year-old girl named Kailani, who calls herself 
The Daughter of the
Sea and the Sky
. A new and perilous purpose binds Jason and Helena together
again, as they vow to protect the lost innocent from the wrath of the
authorities, no matter the risk to their future and freedom.

But is the mysterious child simply a troubled little girl
longing to return home? Or is she a powerful prophet sent to unravel the fabric
of a godless Republic, as the outlaw leader of an illegal religious sect would
have them believe? Whatever the answer, it will change them all forever... and
perhaps their world as well.

~~~~~

Praise for
The Daughter of the Sea and the Sky
:

“...a fully imagined, gripping read....” -
Kirkus Reviews

“Author David Litwack gracefully weaves together his message
with alternating threads of the fantastic and the realistic... The reader will
find wisdom and grace in this beautifully written story...” -
San Francisco
Review Book Review

“... an enthralling look at an alternative world...
thought-provoking, beautifully written and highly entertaining.” -
Jack
Magnus for Readers’ Favorite

“David Litwack’s sweeping novel The Daughter of the Sea and
the Sky is a powerful story that follows the journey of a mysterious but
charming little girl whose mere presence seems to have changed the lives of
those people around her... Superbly imagined with a tense plot which makes it
difficult to put down...” - 
the GreatReads!