SCI/FI FANTASY SATURDAY: Julie Ayers is a normal fifteen year old living in the quiet town of Sunset, Ohio. Her world is turned upside down by the arrival of the school’s new teacher, Marcus Campbell. JOURNEY TO SERAS BY JOE EVENER

Title:The Heart of Seras: Journey to Seras

Author: Joe Evener

Email: j.r.evener@gmail.com

Genre: Fantasy

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Book Heat Level: 1

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Julie Ayers is a normal fifteen year old living in the quiet town of Sunset, Ohio. Her world is turned upside down by the arrival of the school’s new teacher, Marcus Campbell.

Marcus Campbell has a secret. He is a warrior from a medieval dimension searching for the mythical "Heart"-a hero given to the people of Seras to rid their world of impending evil. Marcus’s quest is challenged when he realizes that the "Heart" is the vibrant teenage girl. Now, against his better judgment, he must try convincing Julie to go to his world and begin preparation to face whatever evil lies ahead.

Journey to Seras is the first book in the five part The Heart of Seras fantasy series. It begins the adventures of the two unlikely heroes as they battle the dark forces of Seras.

EXCERPT

Five are the Elders with their gifts born in the black of night.

Five are the Elder's gifts hidden to set Seras right.

Five Elders pitted beneath an angry sun.

Blood will flow. Flesh and blade become one.

The blood is given to ease time;

The breath known to free men's minds;

The bones to merge distance and space;

The body a destined warrior, the Solia Custor, out of place,

forged in battle with one true oath–

protect Tolth's final gift, the Heart of Seras, our final hope."

~ Ancient Seras Prophecy

Prologue

"Why did that naked man look at me like that?" Julie Ayers thought to herself. At the time Julie was a thirteen-year old girl with vivid, curious, brown eyes the color of honey with flecks of gold, wavy brown hair, and a round face. Her friends would pick on her about how easy her creamy mocha skin easily tanned when kissed by the summer sun.

"I'm so glad we could have one day without cheerleading practice or basketball camps," Julie's mother, Michelle, had said from the front seat of her husband's newest purchase, a royal blue 1976 Chevy Nova.

"Me too," Julie answered. She nudged her older brother, Patrick, with her elbow. He was sitting quietly, listening to music through his earplugs, which annoyed Julie.

She began singing a song from the musical Oklahoma as she watched wave after wave of cornfields that stood up on both sides of the road like a wall of skinny green soldiers. Her mother joined in the show tune serenade.

"Dad!" Julie reprimanded her father when he came to a stop sign and played with the gas pedal just to hear the engine growl, distracting the mother-daughter duet.

"Phil," Julie's mother said, giving a disapproving stare.

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself," he weakly defended himself with a hint of humor.

Steam rose from the faded asphalt as the family outing continued toward the stone pebbled bridge that crossed over Cedar Creek. Cedar Creek served as the unofficial border to the western side of the town of Sunset, Ohio and wound its way behind the school that also acquired its name.

"Oh my god!" Julie screamed when a bright flash of light sent a crackle into the air directly in front of them, and the image of a naked man appeared out of nowhere on the edge of the bridge less than ten feet from the car.

Her shaken father blasted his horn as he swerved dangerously to avoid hitting the tall unkempt brown-haired man standing exposed on the side of the road. The disoriented stranger paused briefly. Julie's first thought, "Gross!" Then the unwelcomed visitor locked eyes with her, sending a wave of panic through her young body.

"What in the hell was that?" Julie's father shouted and jumped out of the driver seat.

Julie looked out of the passenger window to the tree line adjacent to the creek. The man was gone.

"He must've scrambled into woods," Phillip Ayers said, climbing back into his seat. "Is everyone all right? Julie?"

Julie refocused her attention to her father and nodded in silence. Why did that naked man look at me like that?

"It's okay, honey." Her mother tried to comfort her, reaching back and patting her leg. "He's gone." She turned to her husband. "Phil, we have to call the police."

"Already on it," he said, dialing his cell phone with one hand.

Julie heard her mother say, "Let's go home," through the mental fog enveloping her head. She pulled her knees to her chest and wiped the moisture from her eyes.