Epic Fantasy with Magic

All he wanted was to prove himself a man.

All she wanted was to learn to use her new-found magic.

Neither of them knew the price of their desires.

A rope bound his feet together, and another held his arms at his sides. Each of his fellow captives was secured in the same way. His arms itched where the hemp fibers dug into them. He wiggled trying to reposition, to somehow scratch it.

The slave beside him gave a warning shake of his head. Slave. He’d been taken captive—by a jiddee’adar slaver. Weren’t the jiddee’adar supposed to be Jeeah’s protectors—advisors to kings or chieftains, using their abilities to serve? He shook his head. He’d seen how Olechario used his power.

Fantasy that Questions Your Core Beliefs

What if being who you were meant to be, meant you’d be trafficked, sent half-way around the world, and sold into slavery? Would you be able to see meaning from the despair? Or would you be like Paskal?

As the young girl came to a stop, her eyes widened, and she walked toward Paskal, her hand extended. “You’re a slave?” She reached for his hand and pulled him down to her, then traced the mark on his arm.

He wanted to hide, to have the ground open up and swallow him. Instead of the hatred and disdain that he’d grown accustomed to, though, she placed both hands on his cheeks and turned him to her.

“Jeeah loves you.”

The words struck him harder than the physical blow he’d expected. What did she mean? Of course, he knew about Jeeah, but since he’d woken in Olechario’s care, his faith that the god was good had dwindled. How could Jeeah allow him to be treated like he had?

Like a good slave, he didn’t reply. There was nothing he could say anyway.

Fantasy that Brings Hope from Loss

Paskal only wants to prove himself a man, but when he’s captured by an evil mage and sold down the Inferno Trail, he loses more than he ever thought possible. And yet, through the fire and pain he finds hope.

What would you do if faced with immeasurable loss?

Cover for Paskal’s Hope

Where to Get Paskal’s Hope

Instead of a pre-order on Amazon or other outlets, Paskal’s Hope is being released as a Kickstarter project. It’s currently in pre-launch which means you follow it to get notifications of when it goes live. The more people who follow it, the more Kickstarter promotes it.

Kickstarter is a crowdfunding option that allows you–the reader–to get early access to special edition books. Paskal’s Hope will have four different chapter headers that will correspond to his place in the story. The hardcover outside will match Kristjan’s Rise so the duology will look great on your bookshelf.

If you haven’t already purchased Kristjan’s Rise, you’ll have the opportunity in the Kickstarter to get both books.

But…

Once we’re aware, we then have an option of how to handle it. Last week we talked about remembering the times we’ve made it through. Did it help you? I hope so.

One way to help you remember is journalling. You can write down the events that happen and then go back and read them. But there’s another form of journalling as well.

This is what a chat group called writing for yourself. It’s the writing to understand where you’re at right now. What you’re thinking about a topic, or how you’re feeling. 

This type of journalling can help the mind games by giving you a glimpse into your thoughts. You can see if you’re not thinking right. You can understand what’s going on.

This week, when you find yourself uptight, frustrated, or just plain out of sorts, sit down with some paper or your note app or even a word processor and journal what’s going on.

I’m reminded of how the Rittider put on their armor as they go about their day. Or how Carryl made sure the dragons and riders had armor to fight against the turquoise dragon rider.

Unfortunately, our armor isn’t as cool looking as a leather breastplate. It’s moreso a way of life, a decision each morning as we wake up to gird up our mind to be ready for the attacks that will come that day.

How can we do that? Our first step is remembering.

This week, I was given some shocking news. The position I thought I was going to move into was given to someone else. My current teaching position is up in the air as I wait on insurance to decide on long-term disability. I began to panic. For the past three years, my income has sustained the household. 

At the same time, I knew I’d heard the invitation to come risk with God and pivot in my work focus. But how was that possible?

As I tried to grapple with all of this, I reminded myself that God has always provided. Always! But it took a conscious effort to remind myself.

Mairead goes through this as well in Divided. As she’s taking the crown, she must swear in her cannonsea, or captain of the royal guard.

“Kyeth, Rittider of Muintir, do you pledge your life to Mairead, Queen of Muintir?”

“Aye.” Kyeth blinked back tears, the emotion almost undoing Mairead’s resolve not to cry. “My blade belongs to my queen. My will is hers to command, and my life will be spent in exchange for hers. This I vow with Jeeah as my witness.” He paused before his voice rang out clear and strong: “Chay la Jeeah.”

Mairead fought for control. How could she do this? Lugh squeezed her shoulder, and she remembered Jeeah. Taking a deep breath, she stated the words she’d memorized at the jiddee’adar’s prompting. 

Our daily battles might not be as big as facing an evil mage, but our enemy is just as determined. The mind games are real. Will you remember how you’ve come through hard times in the past? Remember that you did get through them. That bad times pass, even if it feels like they won’t.

What memory do you need to recall? I’d love to hear how you got through a bad time–if you feel comfortable sharing.

That’s not what I have in mind. I’m talking about the mind games we play with ourselves on a daily basis.

Mind Games We Play

These are the ways we convince ourselves:

• our life is great–or not.
• the pain’s not too bad–or it’s terrible.
• others have better friends than me–or not.
• other kids behave like angels while mine are hellions–or not.

Focus is the Key

I’m coming to understand Lysander from Divided more and more. I never wanted to relate to an antagonist–someone who’s willing to do anything to get his end goal, even if it means hurting others. But as I’m coming up on two years of living with nerve pain, it’s starting to make more and more sense.

Yet, even Lysander had a choice, as do you and I.

He sighed and closed his eyes. “You have no idea how wonderful it is to not feel a thing. No pain, no aches, not even discomfort.” He opened his eyes. “Thank you, Mairead. I don’t deserve this.”

“Aye, you do. No one should live in pain.”

“Tell that to Jeeah.” He twisted the name as if it left a sour taste.

Her power receded as if recoiling, pulling back into herself.

“Why do you say that?”

He snorted. “He’s the only one capable of providing relief, and look at me. Every step, all I know is pain. Either I did something terrible to deserve this, or he has no feelings, doesn’t care a wit about what happens to me.”

“Nay, that can’t be. Jeeah cares.”

“Then why?” He lifted his chin. “Why doesn’t he show me he cares?”

She had no answer for that, but the empty space where a reply should have been made it feel like she’d committed a betrayal. She’d felt Jeeah’s nearness, his comfort. Why hadn’t Lysander?

Lysander chose to focus on his pain instead of on the solace Mairead found in Jeeah.

Your Mind Games

Your mind games might not be pain. They may be about your life circumstances, your family, or even friends. Whatever it is, know it is possible to win these mind games. We’ll dive in more next week.

These are the points where our heroes think all is lost. There is no hope. You might as well give up and go home. Even Samwise is ready to quit.

When Hope Seems Lost

These moments of dark are what make the light all the more bright!

The same though is true of us in our everyday lives. We see the darkness and give up.

A pinched nerve that never relents.
A tumor that won’t shrink.
A weak heart.
Your child suffering from leukemia–again!
Bills piling up without a job.
No food in the cupboard and no money to buy any.
The things you trusted in for your future fall through.
The love of your life has walked out.
Your friend who promised he’d be there isn’t.
The person who said they’d vouch for you, lies about you.

Darkest Moments Lead to Hope

Yet, it’s these moments that help us see the light all the more.

Without knowing pain, you don’t treasure pain-free days.
Without food and money, you don’t remember that box that showed up to provide your next meal.
Without betrayal, your apreciation for love isn’t complete.

Hope and Story

Think about it.

Narnia

Lucy and Susan walk with Aslan who tells them to wait. They watch as the White Witch drives her knife through Aslan’s heart. The evil horde rushes past their hiding spot, leaving them in darkness. When they dare crawl up to Aslan, he’s dead. They know this, saw it, and yet, they cry on his beloved face. They even are ready to send mice away until they realize the little creatures are trying to gnaw the ropes away.

Cold, mourning, and in despair, Susan and Lucy turn to leave to tell the boys all’s lost.

Against that backdrop of despair, what do we have? One of the most cinematically pleasing moments. The rumble of stone, and they turn to see dawn has come, and stepping into that light is none other than Aslan!

Two Towers

The night of fighting the orcs has left the Rohirrim descimated. Their women and children are huddled in caves, and their old men and young boys have died fighting. Aragorn rallies King Theoden for one final muster of the men of Rohan.

But why does Aragorn know to fight one final time? Because Gandalf told him, “Hold out. Look to the east. At dawn, look to the east.”

And there, reinforcements come riding down the hill, and blocking the main escape are the wild trees.

The Greatest Hope

Today, we remember the greatest story ever told. The one where despair ruled.

The man that they’d walked with, seen provide food to feed thousands, healed the sick, and even raised the dead was handed over to his enemies. Who’d even think that such a one could gain enemies, but he did.

And like in every good story, the enemy was larger than our hero’s party. They rallied men who lied about their friend in a court of law, gaining a conviction. Not only a conviction but a death sentence!

The darkest day of their lives was the day they watched as this man they’d hoped would bring light, healing, and set everything to rights died. They watched–well some of them. Most of them ran and hid. They’d be next! After all, they were friends with now public enemy number one.

They spent three long days and nights wondering, waiting, trying to decide what to do, how to go back to life as normal after three and a half years of following this guy. Oh… and mourning.

Think of his mom! She watched her son be executed! She was there when he was buried, and because it was a holiday, there wasn’t a funeral and the burrial was quick and efficient.

And so, on the morning before dawn, the women went to finish the burrial procedures. To say a final farewell.

But…

When they got there, the body was gone! The tomb empty! And besides that, there were men in white who reminded them of their hero’s words.

He’s not here for he has risen as he said.

Hope Beyond Story

Without the greatest story every told, we wouldn’t have hope in our darkest moments. There’d be no reassurances. It’d be as some claim: a wives tale, good for sissies and no more.

But you see, every good (western-minded) story ends with a happy ending. We expect that.

That’s probably why when hard times come, we expect them to end quickly. But often, they drag on, making us wonder if it’ll ever turn for good.

The problem is that the greatest story every told is book one of a series–a long series. So far it’s gone on for over two thousand years! But like a good series, we know that the middle of the series is always bad. But… if book one ended on a good note, we know the series will end happily.

Think of it. The Lord of the Rings, Star Wars (okay I’ll be biased and say 4-6), Harry Potter, Star Wars: Heir of the Empire, and more all end on good. The hero wins, as do his friends. Not all may make it to the final pages, but their deaths are for a greater good.

This is the same with us. Book one was the greatest story ever told. We’re the characters of the rest of the series, and the final book won’t be written until our Hero returns to claim the throne. But when he does, you can be assured that all the dark moments will be the backdrop that will display his light in all its glory!

As you face your week, may you remember the hope at the end of the series. May you trust the author of life to see you through, and if need be, put on the armor to fight.

Resolutions only make a difference if you know you can keep them. A word for the year is only as good as the person with insight into the new year. And really, will your circumstances change just because the year on our date changes?

I’ve been there and done that, but this year, I’m instead looking to the one who holds time in his hands. The one who filters every heartache, hardship, and happiness through his fingers. And like in 2021, I’m reaching my hand up to Daddy’s and asking him to hold me through this new year.

A song that has been dear to my hear this week is this one. I woke up yesterday morning instead of singing “He will hold me fast” I had the words, “He will hold my hand” going through my mind.

Not sure what I meant by 2021 and holding Daddy’s hand? You can check out my piece “Daddy’s Girl” in Finding God in Anime: vol 2. (Just click the image).

1. Remember

Remember what? Remember the good that’s happened before. Remember how you’ve made it through trials before. Remember that God is in control.

2. Create a Journal

This is an outworking of #1. One way to remember what’s happened is through a journal. You can write down the things you’ve gone through and how you’ve made it through. 

I used to have a daily journal, but it’s moved to more of a listing of things that have happened. I still need to be better at this.

You can use a regular composition notebook like I have, or Annie Douglass Lima has a coloring book and journal designed for this.

3. Reminders

Another outworking of #1 is to have physical items that remind you of the good times and bad.

Each morning I pick up three leather keychains. Each one has a message on them.

•  Lead me where my trust is without borders.
• And if not, he is still good.
• Forever your little girl.

Each one of these came from Realm Makers conferences in 2021, 2023, and 2024. They provide me with a physical reminder of what I learned each of those years.

The Jewish people set up what were called Standing Stones, and some think that was what Stonehenge was for. A reminder of something. 

When you have a memento or other item, it will remind you to be grateful.

4. Positive Outlook

This can be difficult, especially when chaos swirls around you. When kids are nagging at you, when they’re complaining or not listening, when health issues burden you down, it’s easy to think “woe is me.”

Instead, turn your mindset around.

• The kids are nagging–for now. 
• The kids are complaining, but it’s not forever.
• The kids will eventually listen.
• This health issue will bring me in contact with people I’d never have met before.
• This health issue gives me compassion and understanding for others in the same boat.

See how that makes a difference? Try it.

5. Say Thank You

Make it a habit to say thank you–whether verbally or in writing. We’ve gotten away from handwritten cards, but the very act of sitting down and writing can bring relief and gratitude.

May your living spill over into thanksgiving.