The First Pages

Here's a sample of my middle-grade fantasy novel, Quercus.



Quercus is doomed. An evil queen wants to swallow the kingdom in darkness and harness the elemental powers. Enter twin sisters, Tia and Tamela.

When Tia and Tamela find a troll poking around in their backyard, they decide to confront him. Only to find themselves falling inside an oak tree and into the kingdom of Quercus, where Queen Cassiopeia will stop at nothing for absolute power.

Soon the sisters are separated. Tia among the trolls and Tamela keeping company with a butter-sprite. Will the sisters find each other and can they keep Queen Cassiopeia from plunging the kingdom into darkness and harnessing the elemental powers?

Part One

The Kingdom of Light and Dark

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

Chapter 1

Prelude to Darkness/Twin Dilemma

A copious oak tree with bark resembling a worn old man’s face stood in the Naylor’s backyard. Deep inside this oak tree was other world. A kingdom called Quercus. For eons, light and dark were equally balanced. Now darkness has tipped the scales in its favor.

A Fortnight ago

The darkness walked through the woods, stretching its long obsidian fingers toward the old castle, where light still remained. A golden-skinned princess shrank from the window, goose bumps populating her bare arms. She hugged herself. “The darkness has crested,” she said to her father, the king. However, her words didn’t touch his ears. King Quasar laid on a bed swimming with various sized pillows. His wife, Queen Cassiopeia, put him in a magic induced coma.
Princess Soleil knelt by her father’s bedside, the tears gathering at the corner of her eyes. She gingerly flicked lint from his thick beard. “Father, I wish I knew how to wake you. The kingdom is unraveling. Mother’s going to make darkness overtake what light remains. And my sister is trying to kill me.” The princess sighed heavily. The tears started to roll. Time was siphoning through the hourglass. “There has to be somebody out there that can help.” Princess Soleil went to the window again. She stared at the impending darkness.
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Tamela slid into the window seat. She placed her messenger bag in the other seat. Tia cleared her throat. “Can you move your bag, please?”
“No.” Tamela didn’t make eye contact with her twin sister. She folded her arms and stared out the window. “No more sitting together,” she said.
Tia flopped down next to her, anyway. “Is this about me making an Aslan sculpture out of the instant potatoes at lunch? You know that stuff isn’t fit for human consumption.” She unzipped her bag, rummaged around for a minute until she found a tattered stick of gum. Quickly she shoved it in her mouth and began to masticate.
Tamela took her eyes from the window. “Tia, could you do me a favor? Could you pretend to be normal when we’re at school?”
Tia stopped chewing her gum as her glasses slid down the bridge of her nose. The girls across from them started to giggle and whisper. Tia stared down her straight laced, starched collar, hair in place; the world is black and white, normal sister.
“What constitutes normal anyways,” she replied loud enough for everyone to hear. She shot a minatory glare at the giggling girls.
Just then, Grayson Miller, the object of Tamela’s aspiration boarded the bus. He looked in their direction before taking the seat behind the bus driver. Tamela relieved herself with a sigh.
“Oh, Tia, most people try their hardest not to be weird. But you on the other hand.”
Tia regarded Tamela for a moment. “Well with any luck maybe I’ll fall down a rabbit hole like Alice and you won’t have to worry about my weirdness.”

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

　

Chapter 2

Sapphire Night

Outside the sky was the bluest hue, like sapphires, and in that gem of night were swirls of pink and tiny stars. Tia could see them from the top bed bunk in the room that she shared with her twin sister. The air wafting in from the open window was crisp and cool, and an owl stood perched on the branch of a large oak tree beside the window, calling into the night. Its eyes were glowing like two mini-moons. Tia listened to the cacophony of her sister’s soft snores, the owl hooting, and the crickets’ chirps. She turned on her side…her sister could sleep through a parade, but Tia was a light sleeper.
Tia sprung upright in her bed, the sprightly burgundy dyed curls bounced atop her head. “If that darn owl don’t shut it. I’ll give it a piece of my mind.” Tia usually spent time in detention for giving someone a piece of her mind. Tia’s slipper clad footfalls made a soft thump as she jumped from the top bunk.
Outside in the shadows, a figure hunched over the moonflowers she helped her mother plant.
Tia raised her window. “Hey,” she yelled.
The creature looked up at her, its face unrecognizable in the dark.
“Tamela, wake up. There’s someone in the backyard.”