Glimmer in the Maelstrom: Shadow Through Time 3 (44 page)

Then there was a white-hot tearing and suddenly he was out, gone from the bright light Glimmer had exuded, and the slip from agony into death was like opening his eyes from a nightmare and seeing Petra smiling down at him.

Hey there, big boy. Been waiting for you …

G
limmer blinked as warm sunshine extinguished her light. Her arms, no longer clutching her brother, continued their momentum and ended up hugging her own shoulders. Vandal was gone, she hoped to a better place.

The others, who had been huddled around her, stepped back in confusion, but Glimmer was not confused. She took a deep breath and found the air fragrant with the scents of nature and alive with the sound of insects at work. A lamb bleated for its mother nearby and Glimmer smiled to herself. It was just as her memories had shown her it would be. Velvet green grass framed the delicate pastel hues of the flowers around her feet — bare feet, bare legs. Her gaze rose, and with it came the realisation that she was naked. In the tree before her curled a large snake with familiar red eyes.

Behind her, Khatrene asked, ‘Where are we?’

‘And what is going on?’ Pagan added.

Talis and Lae were silent, as though in shock.

‘Vandal gave up his life to buy us this reprieve,’ Glimmer said, and she calmly reached forward to grasp the snake behind its head, her fingers closing firmly around its sleek scales. She squeezed, watching dispassionately as its eyes bulged and its fanged mouth gaped. Leaves rustled and a choking sound came from above, then the snake stopped struggling and Kert fell through the branches of the tree to lie naked and gasping on the lush grass below.

When Glimmer was quite sure the serpent was dead, she threw it aside. ‘Don’t you love a happy beginning?’ she said. ‘Although now I do have an inordinately long wait to fulfil my destiny.’

‘Where are we?’ her mother repeated. ‘Is this the One World? Or are we somewhere else?’

‘Magoria,’ Glimmer replied. ‘But the question shouldn’t really be where, as much as
when.
’ She plucked an apple from the tree and took a bite of it. Sweet. Then she smiled reassurance at Kert before turning to face her fellow progenitors.

Pagan covered himself quickly with his hands.

‘Welcome to the Garden of Eden,’ she said. Then, ‘Fig leaf anyone?’

Ennae is a parallel world joined to our own world by the Sacred Pool, a portal that can only be opened by one with the Guardian blood running through their veins. It is through this watery gateway that Khatrene leaves her modern-day life behind forever, drawn into a quest that will take her into the depths of the unknown.

Khatrene must first fulfil her destiny as The Light, the woman whose child will unite the four elemental worlds. At each turn there are real and imagined enemies who will do everything in their power to prevent her from fulfilling the prophecy, including the ethereal and erotic shadow woman, the enigmatic tattooed man, even her beloved Mihale.

Talis, her appointed Guardian, must help her through the dangerous terrain of Ennae, sacrificing everything to ensure her safety in a land where magic prevails and nothing is as it seems.

This is the first book in the thrilling Shadow Through Time trilogy. Beautifully crafted and written,
Destiny of the Light
combines intrigue, magic and horror to create a reality that is out of this world.

The child of the Light, Glimmer, is taken from her mother’s arms and forced into exile on Magoria, the Waterworld. Her only connection with her native land is Pagan, her Champion and Guardian, who must use his wits and powers to protect Glimmer from detection and hide the evidence of her true destiny.

Meanwhile on Atheyre (the Airworld), Princess Khatrene and her lover Talis watch on helplessly, unable to protect Glimmer from the dangerous and bloody power play that is taking place. Kraal, the evil God of Haddash, and Djahr, the Lord of The Dark, are plotting the violent death of baby Glimmer so that they can gain total control of the four elemental worlds.

But the universe is rebelling. Ever so slowly the Maelstrom is building momentum, threatening to obliterate the four worlds and all who inhabit them. Glimmer must return to the land of her birth and fight the fiercest battle of her young life to right the terrible wrongs of the past, defeat the enemies who threaten to destroy her and restore peace.

Once again, Louise Cusack weaves an intricate web of intrigue, magic, erotica and horror to create a tale of pure fantasy.

My first and most fervent thanks will always to go my family, my brothers Peter and Frank, my sister Christine, and particularly to my two children, Jake and Rachel whose love is like oxygen to me. I’d also like to thank my mother for letting me grow up a dreamer, and trusting that it would all work out okay.

My friend and fellow author Kim Wilkins has been right there with me throughout the writing of this trilogy, advising and offering unstinting support. My two writer’s support groups have also kept me sane: the physical one on the Gold Coast, and the other — Project Muse — located in the fantasy world of www (linked to my website).

I’d like to thank my brilliant editor for the series, Julia Stiles, proofreaders Ron Buck and Ian Tonkin, illustrators Vivien Kubbos and Neal Armstrong, and friend and fellow writer Deb Soukup who helped me with continuity and inspired me with her own persistence.

And last but by no means least, Selwa Anthony, a remarkable and inspiring woman whom I hope to be still bragging about as
My Agent
many years into the future.