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Table of Contents
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Hailing from war-torn, oppressed Cyraea, Tristys of Paru expected life as he knew it to end after being captured by sex slavers. But a freak natural disaster saves him from the hands of the Spȧlorians, and he wakes up in the Great Island Nation of the Coquels, a mysterious, magical land unknown to Tristys —- and to all people from the mainland. Trapped on these xenophobic islands, Tristys meets Rami, a young man as difficult as he is handsome, and things begin to heat up the more Rami's walls fall down. Tristys's life gets even more complicated when he discovers he can control the native forces of quell, and he is forced to confront (and reconcile) his own conflicting desires about magic, about men, and about his homeland. There is also the slight problem of Rami's girlfriend…
The first novel set in the lands of Palia, <i>Eternity in an Hour</i> introduces its readers not only to the Coquels but also to a new type of fantasy novel, one in which apocalypses are exchanged for first dates and evil wizards for unrequited lovers. A third action, a half romance, and a whole lot of fantasy, <i>Eternity in an Hour</i> blurs the distinction between genres another step in the right direction, appealing to avid fantasy buffs and newcomers to the genre alike.
Inspiration for the Title
The inspiration for Eternity comes almost entirely from the first four lines of this poem. For me, the quatrain has always been about finding magic in the everyday and possibility in the impossible. If Tristys, the main character of Eternity who lands in an entirely new world replete with love and magic, were to read these lines, I think they'd resonate with him in just the same.
Setting
Eternity in an Hour takes place primarily in the Coquels, including visits to all seven islands, although the characters do travel briefly to Spȧlor before the end of the novel.
Characters
Minor Characters
- Telia
- High Priestess Liana
- Salice aś Saltar
- Gawen uś Ratoth
- Tierran uś Gaweth
- Tyspal of Eru
Plot
| Chapter | 1 |
| (Draft) | After being nursed back to health following an attempted abduction, Tristys of Paru finds himself in a strange island nation known as the Coquels. His rescuer is Ramidon eś Harys, a handsome young man with a troubled past that inhibits his present and future. When Tristys begins to commune with the native magic, Rami decides to take Tristys to the Altar of Five Waves, the magic center of the island. |
| Chapter | 2 |
| (Draft) | Traveling across the Quellesian forests, Tristys and Rami slowly open up to each other while dealing with the forces of nature that cross their path. Once they reach the Altar, Rami's girlfriend, Calyssa, surprises both of them. |
| Chapter | 3 |
| (Draft) | Tristys tries to deal with Rami's girlfriend, as well as the venom Rami begins directing at him. In addition, Tristys passes the Trial of Communion, and Calyssa agrees to teach Tristys on the way to Ramidalé in secret, so as not to further anger Rami. |
| Chapter | 4 |
| (Draft) | Tristys begins to gain some fluency over his Water-magic, and Rami apologizes, in his own way, for his previous behavior. When trying to save a monkey's life, Tristys faints, apparently channeling Life-magic. The three then go to Ramidalé, where they spend several days, before departing by boat to Quellos, the island of Life-magic. |
| Chapter | 5 |
| (In-progress) | Things get a little more complicated for Tristys now, when he is arrested by the Coquellian government briefly. This leads not only to his discovery that he is at least part Coquellian but also to his meeting with a Cyraean prisoner, who urges Tristys to take his newly-found powers and rescue his country from their Spȧlorian enemies. |
| Chapter | 6 |
| (Outline) | As the group continues their tour of the Coquels, Tristys's relationship with Rami finally seems to move forward in a way that he likes, and Tristys experiences his first true discomfort in the Coquels when he learns of Death-magic and the town of New Cysal. |
| Chapter | 7 |
| (Outline) | In Zebelli, his relationship with Rami comes to a head when a few secrets are accidentally revealed, but everyone quickly makes up as Tristys and Calyssa head to the Altar of Sole Decay in Quellys. |
| Chapter | 8 |
| (Outline) | At the Altar of Sole Decay, Tristys refuses to commune with Death-magic. He pretends to fail to See, despite the fact he never tried, going so far as to come painfully close to dying during the Trial of Communion. Just as he is recovering from his near-death, he receives an urgent message from the Cyraean in Imidalé, stating that Paru has been completely razed and all its occupants sent to a Spȧlorian town before entering the slave-trade. If he does not act now, his family will be lost forever. She goes on further, explaining that the Spȧlorians are gaining strength and getting closer to marching on the Cyraean capital, but he basically ignores all this. |
| Chapter | 9 |
| (Outline) | After hearing about his family, Tristys decides to take action immediately. His plan, though, does not involve fighting alone. He leaves, with his friends, for Imidalé, with the intent of convincing the seyquel to send forces to help save his family, who are by blood Coquellians. The seyquel refuses, although he does give permission for Tristys to go, with his friends, on the proviso that he returns, with his family, as soon as he saves them. He also gives Tristys an urn, filled with the ashes of Taspyn, finally allowing her to return home to Cyraea. |
| Chapter | 10 |
| (Outline) | Tristys has been experiencing signs of Earth communion, and so he must go to Quellas before he goes to Spȧlor. He does this begrudgingly, though he and Rami spend their first night together, consummating their love physically. Tristys attunes to Earth-magic at once, without even the need to meditate, and the fivesome leaves at once for Spȧlor. |
| Chapter | 11 |
| (Outline) | In Spȧlor, Tristys and his friends make quick work of the scant Spȧlorians guarding the new slaves. Tristys finds his family, but there is bad news: his father has died, before the town was razed, and his mother is gravely ill after having contracted some strange plague. Tristys finally gives in and communes with Death-magic to save her, and he leaves with his mother, his brother, and his friends to return to the Coquels. They land on Rami's Point. Telia runs out of her house to join them. They talk about where his family will settle, what they'll do next, and Tristys says he'll go immediately to Quellys to pass the Trial of Communion, and someone comments that they may have to go the Altar of Five Waves, first, pointing at Tristys's brother, who appears to be pulling Water-magic in just the same way as Tristys did at the start. |
Excerpts
1.1
Ramidon eś Harys, his gaze directed to the light blue waves breaking on the lakeshore, nearly tripped over the body of a small, blond boy. The boy appeared to be around the same age as Rami. He lay face down on the sand, a large plank cradled under his chest. He wore only a pair of dark brown breeches, tattered and waterlogged; his shoulders and back were blistered with sunburn. Rami, once he regained his balance after an awkward dance to avoid stepping on the boy, fell to his knees at the boy's side and brushed the blond hair from his face, cupping a hand in front of his mouth. The soft caress of warm air: he was breathing.
"Hello?" Rami said, softly at first. No response led Rami to repeat his greeting, louder than before, still to no avail. Several nudges later, a groan escaped the boy's chapped lips. He began to roll over, but his arms lay underneath the plank on which his chest rested. He coughed, tried to pull his right arm free. Failed and fell back into the sand. His tongue clicked against the roof of his mouth and Rami, snapping out of his shock, held out his right hand and motioned with his fingers as if he were brushing hair: water began to trickle out of the air and into the boy's mouth. As the boy drank greedily, the flow — and Rami's hand motions — matched the boy's thirst.
As he drank, the boy's eyes remained shut, his body as still as the plank on which it wrapped itself. Minutes later, his thirst slaked, the boy's mouth closed and his eyes fluttered, attempting to open. He began to fidget, trying to pull his arms free again, and Rami lifted the plank slightly, high enough for the boy to pull his arms free. Rami lowered the plank. The boy rolled over. A deep intake of breath marked the pain that seared his body as his blisters pushed against the sand, and the boy quickly rolled back onto his stomach. His eyes were no longer closed; Rami had been staring at them since they opened. Within seconds, Rami decided that the entire Greenwood had somehow fell into the boy's left iris and the entire Bluewood into his right. Rami had no other way to explain it; he had never seen eyes of so many colors. Sure, the right was blue and the left was green, but those adjectives weren't enough. The boy's irises employed every shade and every hue of green and blue, and the colors worked on a rotation. Now cerulean, now azure, now cyan. Now emerald, now shamrock, now jade.
"What's your problem?" the boy asked weakly. His voice was deep, more melodic than Rami had expected, and the words seemed to last a second too long, the syllables a tad too big. Rami took a second, but he quickly realized that the words weren't Quellosian but Cyraean. The boy was from Cyraea? "You never stumble across a half-dead boy before?" he asked. A slight smile flickered across his face, and Rami smiled back, about to say something, but the boy's head dropped, his expression melted as quickly as his consciousness, and his face fell into the sand once again.
Across the bay, Rami could see the nearest town in the distance, but the walk would take quite awhile, as the beach curved sharply between him and Lower Ramidalé. Luckily for the boy, neither he nor Rami would have to walk. Carrying the boy, who weighed far too little to be healthy, Rami jogged to the waves. He held out his right hand, cupped his palm, and set the boy softly into the lake. The water sank under his weight; in a few seconds, it had molded to fit his body. Satisfied, Rami lifted his left arm high above his head, held his hand straight out, palm down, and stepped into the water. His shoes went under, but nothing else, and with a forward motion of his hands, he and the boy began speeding toward Lower Ramidalé. During the entire journey, Rami's gaze never left the eyes of the boy to his side, waiting, but they never opened.
Sequel
Unnamed sequel; needs a title that ties into 'eternity' or 'infinity'
Gallery of Images
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More images can be found on the individual character pages of Tristys and Rami.
