The Making of a Bard : Ciaccona

The Chronicles of Borea, Book IV, The Making of a Bard – Ciaccona; A Grand Epic Sword and Sorcery Fantasy, by Joseph E. Koob II

Magic, Music, and Might

Thistle, now a powerful Wizardess, and Jared, the first healing Bard in centuries, return to Kan’s Palace to destroy the dark demons that now threaten their world. Both discover they are still susceptible to the evil powers that Aberon, the Great Black Druid, gathers once again to crush the Borean fortress at XUR. Meanwhile, Jared’s brother, Ge-or, a renowned warrior, owing a debt to a companion, finds himself deep in the southlands striving as a champion of champions to win back his friend’s leadership role in his tribe. These three find themselves becoming more involved in the powerful underlying currents of the Borean world, where evil seems to be gaining strength, guided by the malevolent forces in the west.

Magic:
Thistle spoke one word.

Suddenly, a powerful wave of pure energy exploded from not just the area about her, but all along the southern wall of the stockade… During the next few moments, the battlefield in front of the stockade’s southern wall was wiped clean of any combatants that were not within twenty feet of the walls. The black priests, Qa-ryks, and battle debris were obliterated. Every living thing, every hole, trench, tree, rock, bush, board, log, and any other matter within three hundred paces of the main gates were gone, leaving only the earth flat and unstained, behind.

Music:
As Jared knelt, he sensed something was different. Through the haze of his anguish, something pushed into his conscious mind, forcing him to pay attention. “It is time. Sing. From your heart… From your heart!”

It was a simple tune, a tune that seemed to evoke the wide-open spaces of a fertile field or the open prairie. As he played, it began to take on different forms, always somehow remaining true to the original melody, though it shifted this way or that, almost as if it reinvented itself at each turning. The tune was soothing, sensual, effervescent. It calmed; it caressed; it eased; and it got deep within, changing each individual. It gave them a strength they did not know they had. It awoke a force to counter what they had to deal with within their own bodies.

Might:
It had dawned on Ge-or that his strength, and it had always been his strength, was fighting with bladed weapons. No matter the size or shape of the weapon, from the short sword to long, Ge-or had never been matched, ever. Now he would wield this cudgel like a blade. This meant his repertoire of strokes had just expanded tremendously, for with a blade one slashed, stabbed, parried and blocked, spun and thrust.

His father had drilled them over and over on a key point about fighting – adjust. It was his way of urging them to find ways to change things up that would surprise an opponent. Manfred had said, “It isn’t sometimes a matter of life and death; treat it like it is always a matter of life and death.” Ge-or had been better than even the best men with a sword because of this.

The Chronicles of Borea is a sweeping fantasy with intriguing plot twists interwoven in a moving fabric of a sensual and powerful writing style. A tale in the true sense of the word – fun to read and captivating from one book to the next.