Book Title: The Rise of Xosha
Series: Legend of Xosha 0.5
Genre: Fantasy, Paranormal
Author: S. Cu’Anam Policar
Cover Art: J.E.Haldeman
Release Date: September 06, 2013
S.Cu'Anam Policar was born in Brooklyn, NY, but now lives in Washington State. The Mother of three she makes time to write, usually late at night.
An avid reader, she not only writes but helps promote other authors with blog tours and reviews of their books.
She is Pagan but respects all religions and believes everyone should celebrate their similarities and not care about their differences.
When she has the time, she enjoys playing video games, horseback riding, singing, and writing things other than her Legend of Xosha Series.
She absolutely loves to make new friends so don't be afraid to come by and hi on facebook!
I have often been asked “Why Xosha” and now that the story is finally ready to be told, I figured it’s time to answer that question..
I have been writing for as long as I can remember. The first thing I ever wrote was a poem called “Valentine Bee” which was about one of my favorite small toys. I was either four or five when I wrote it and remember every word to it nearly thirty years later. Around that time I also wrote a Pagan Children’s Prayer because I was so scared to sleep in my room so I would say my little handwritten prayer and hoped the gods heard it.
The first time I saw Xosha I was six years old. It was the backdrop for the most vivid and real dreams I have ever had. I had never read about anything that looked like Xosha before, and since I was not allowed to watch anything except pbs growing up, I most certainly never saw anything like it before. I remember waking up with a huge smile on my face and grabbing my dream journal and writing down every minute detail I could remember of that place I wished I lived in.
Xosha refused to leave me. As I got older, Xosha became a frequent theme in my dreams. I found that there, I could go anywhere I wanted with no problem. My first “flying” dream happened when I was seven. Until then, the only exploring of this wondrous dream world was what would later be named Caprae. When I was eight, I met Macayla who would later become detrimental part to Xosha’s history. She was who taught me to fly. As we flew over this amazing landscape, she gave me the names of all the places we saw. When I woke up I added those in my dream journal too.
Macayla became my teacher when I slept, every night for years I was taught more and more about Xosha. In the summer of 1988, Macayla told me to write the story. I knew this was a hard task, I was only seven and while my reading skills were top notch, my writing was a whole other ballgame. She wouldn’t take “no” or “I can’t” for an answer.
In the summer, I spent a lot of time at my grandparents’ house. I told my grandmother about the dream and she immediately sent my grandfather out to buy me a notebook. In her eyes, this was the perfect way to practice my writing. Thus the Rise of Xosha was born.
By the time I was twelve, the entire series was handwritten, though when I looked it over, it seemed something was missing, and that’s when the rewrites began to happen. I was missing something and I had no idea what it was.
Over the course of the next twenty years I wrote and rewrote the story. I moved around a lot once my late teen years hit and the manuscript got lost more than once. Though the story stayed in my head refusing to leave. Finally settling where I am now, I took out what I had left of the original, the forty page work that was to be the prologue for the start of the series. With the help of memories and dreams, I extended that on msword and made it a short history lesson in the story.
Even at thirty two, I still dream of Xosha and still talk to Macayla and the others I have met over the years there. When I wake now, it’s with a heavy heart since obviously I can never
really see Xosha, it will forever be a place in my dreams that pulls at my heart strings.
I welcome you into my little sanctuary. I hope despite all the troubles and turmoil you found there that you will see what I have seen for the last twenty five years almost every night in my dreams. I hope you fall in love with Xosha just like I did…
A tale of epic proportions.
The Rise of Xosha tells the tale of Xosha's beginnings.
Where Anjyls are mortal pawns,
Dragons rule the skies,
Wolves and elves roam the forests,
and demons lurk below the surface.
Oceanus, the leader of the last hord of dragons in the realms must find his people a new home.
Going only on the word of the odd colored white dragon, Rose, he leads the horde far from their home, over waters that seem to have no end.
Pyre, Oceanus' younger, rebellious brother must come to terms with the fact that Oceanus will never see him as anything more than a welp too young to be of any use.
Jade the youngest of the three has her own thoughts and inner demons to contend with.
Then there's Rose, The dragon with an amazing gift no one will acknowledge. The outcast of her people simply because she's the only one of her color.
Will these four ever come to terms with why they had to leave their home?
And what strange new beings will they encounter in their new territory?
Find out when you read The Rise of Xosha; The story that started the legend.
One to lead...One to see...One to protect...One to Deceive.
The Rise of Xosha; The story that started the legend.
"not all allies are friends, not all friends are true, and some enemies will in turn be your greatest allies."
***ADVISORY***
This book contains mild to moderate violence, the concept of death, insinuated sexual contact... Not Recommended for Readers under the age of 16.
Obsidian's reverie was cut short as she realized her own grave error. “Pyre watch out!” She yelled.
Pyre snapped his head in the direction of Obsidian's frantic yell, but indeed he had been too late. A flurry of white feathers slammed into his right flank sending him spiraling out of the sky.
His talons ripped into the side of the feathered beast, which returned the gesture in kind as their forms, a ball of red scale and white feather continued their less than graceful dive.
“This ends now dragon!” the feathered one hissed in a feminine voice as her talons dug into Pyre's flank.
Pyre growled low in his throat as he finally shook the Anjyl off. “Why are you doing this?! Your kind and mine are practically cousins. Why turn on us like this?”
A laugh akin to the tinkling of bells left the feathered dragon, her gray depths burned into the dragon's with malice.
“Your kind is thorn in our sides. We cannot fully control the 'God' fearing creatures with you around.”
Pyre had heard enough, he flew at the Anjyl and gripped her left wing in with his front taloned paws, his back ones came to land on the feathered female's underside where his talons dug deeply in. His back legs gave a sharp kick outward as his front legs pulled the wing toward his own body.
The Anjyl's eyes widened. Her sleek feathered head shook vigorously back and forth causing the thick standalone whiskers on either side of her muzzle to dance in the wind. Then, she gave out of a blood curdling screech of pain as the sound of popping bone, tissue, and feathered flesh broke through the howl of the rushing wind.
A smirk crossed Pyre's maw as he released the now useless wing. “Your kind will never be better than us Anjyl. If you survive, tell your Oni we will not fall prey to you... Hunt us again and it will be the Anjyl's that become the prey!”
He kicked out once more letting his wings unfurl to catch the upward current of the wind. His talons mucked with feathers, flesh, and gore, he gave a shrug knowing he had wasted his breath. Even as he watched, his wings giving the occasional flap to keep himself aloft, The Anjyl was falling. When she hit the water head first and did not resurface he knew it had been an wasted effort.
Above him, where the rest of the fighting sectors of the horde were, he heard growls and the clash of talons. Angling himself he began his ascent back to his brother's side, dodging the many breaths of acid, and the falling of Anjyls.
“I'm glad you're okay Pyre.” Oceanus grunted as Pyre came up beside him.
Pyre latched his maw on the neck of the large Anjyl male that was trying very much in vain to knock Oceanus from the sky. “I told you I can take care of myself.” Was the muffled reply as the male went limp in Pyre's jaw.
Pyre let the Anjyl drop to join his kin in the bottom of the ocean. Pyre's amber depths noted the purple hue to the once blue water and had to wonder to himself if it would ever return to normal after this fight.
As the last Anjyl fell to its final resting place, Oceanus let out a strong bellow. The children, Rose, and the others lifted from the small island to rejoin the ranks of the horde. Oceanus knew the browns were a bit miffed at being left out of the fight, He also knew that Rose's Xosha required every brown dragon there to be found.
“We no longer have time and distance on our side. I'm sure that horde were not the only ones. Their leader was not among their numbers. We must make haste to our new home now. We cannot afford another battle. Many of you are injured now and the will to carry on is diminished, but you must continue forward! We all seek the freedom and peace of Rose's Xosha, we must stay together to achieve it!” Oceanus' voice was strong, though as he looked over his small band of dragons his heart grew heavy. They had lost at least three in that fight., they could not afford to lose any more.
September 13 –
Ravenz Reviews (Promo/Spotlight, Review, Author Interview)