"Daggers of Darkness, Book 3, On the Trail of Legends" - Prologue
#1 of Daggers of Darkness book #3, "On the Trail of Legends"
Here's the Prologue for the third book of my sci-fi adventure series, "Daggers of Darkness, Book 3, On the Trail of Legends". (Note: Chapter 1 is in the works and hope to have it posted soon.) This story is set 500 years into the future with some of the descendants of the characters in my novel, "Family Tails". This book begins the physical journey that will ultimately tie together the story lines of "The Sacrifice for Peace", "Family Tails". "Daggers of Darkness", and "Tangled Vines".
The posting of this story on here may not be a fully polished product -- that will come later when I have the story fully edited and published. However, I will try to keep the typos, etc., to a minimum. The main things I would like from those reading this are comments, questions, and suggestions. I only ask that you please keep criticisms constructive and polite.
Story, characters, and related art © 2013-2018 Ronald J. Lebeck (that's me).
Prologue
Their search for the strange artifact known simply as The Heart has led the crews of Nightwing_and the _Chel-Sar Se'nika into a region of the Milky Way galaxy that was once populated and controlled by extremely old races. These so-called Elder Races have either disappeared into the mists of history or have evolved into higher states of being and moved on. Traces may still be found of these ancient civilizations, and stories of those that may still exist are told in hushed voices to willing listeners over their beverage of choice.
The Vey'ani pilot, Rissanivi Salnuano, proved her worth as a guide through this particular part of the galaxy by knowing who they should talk to and who to avoid, places that were reasonably safe and those places that definitely were anything but_safe. Rissanivi was determined to help Lt. (j.g.) Shauna Eriksson, _Nightwing's engineer, find her older brother Cameron. Rissanivi had met Shauna's older brother, his Élendorian mate, Sy'k'rell Hauvri'ahn, and Arlan Schneider, the mate of James' cousin Poppy Daugherty, when they were part of an archaeological team looking for evidence of a mysterious, near mythological race of beings called the First Ones. Rissanivi had learned Terran Standard English from her then new friends, and had traveled with them for a time. Their sudden and unexplained disappearance had bothered Rissanivi and she wanted to help find what happened to them--for her own peace of mind as well as for Shauna's.
Elí and Meyleh, the two young Fansq females that had stowed away on Nightwing continued to learn, work towards conquering their fears, and become more open and relaxed around their new friends. They proved to be curious and adept at learning anything they could, they displayed an unusual talent for growing plants, and singing some of the most moving songs any of the others had ever heard.
The First Ones were maintaining their vigilance against the Dark Bloods, especially after the incidents on Esba'in, Niria, and other worlds. Naoia Anensu'ena and her wolf ship, Char'ena, continued to follow their new young friends, keeping an eye on their progress and watching over them. In due time they would meet--she would make certain of that. They still had to follow the trail left by The Heart to its end, though their journey would not end there. Naoia was determined to take them all the way to the beginning, to where their story ultimately began, by putting them on the trail of legends.