Cherie Reich
Fantasy Author
The Fate Challenges is currently unpublished but will return in the future.
Maps of the Kingdom of Amora and the City of Amora, circa 2500 AUC
An extra scene from Reborn
This extra scene takes place between Chapter 33 and Chapter 34 of Reborn.
Along the Southward Road
25 Day of Altheam
Year 2518 AUC
We’d finished our evening meal. Starlight peeked through the clouds, and I shifted closer to our campfire. Would it rain upon us? I hoped not.
Carim and Myrka washed dishes and wrapped up our food.
Fynn had retired for the night. Prince Vespar’s cousin still barely talked to us in the few days we’ve traveled to Zenna. I didn’t trust him. He was either a spy or lacked grand magical powers to help us face the Great Beyonders.
Zendal and Liam tossed dice and played “Gods and Goddesses.” A soft smile curled upon my lips. Liam played with the same dice I’d given him during Illuminarium, the ones that had belonged to my dad. It touched me he treasured them so much.
“It’s nice to see you smiling, Prophetess.” Kyron, the centaur leader, settled beside me. “Are the fairies tickling you?”
“It’s just a peaceful night.” A slight breeze rustled nearby trees. Insects chirruped in the distance. Spring had taken a firm hold upon us and gave me a brief reprieve from my worries of impending war for one evening. “What are fairies?”
His eyes widened, and he swished his reddish-brown tail. “You haven’t heard of fairies?”
I shook my head. We had some strange creatures in Amora, particularly karshiptas, mephinas, and woodwoses, but I’d never come across—or been tickled—by a fairy. As far as I knew.
“Fairies are mischievous creatures. They don’t usually mean any real harm, but they are known to enchant pretty girls, lead handsome men astray, and create a world within our realm.” He gazed toward the sky. “We have them in Sylvian Woods, but they don’t get along too well with us centaurs. We aren’t as gullible as humans.”
“What do they look like?” I shivered at his description of fairies. Mischievous didn’t sound like the best attribute.
“They’re pretty, even the males. The ones I’ve seen have different colored wings. They can fly.” He brushed his fingers against my hair. “The tiny ones like to whisper in ears and hide in hair.”
“They’re really real then?” I didn’t know whether or not to believe him. Kyron was a friend, and I trusted him, but I didn’t know him very well. Our journey north to Zenna was the first time we’d spent together beyond archery training.
“Oh, yes.” His eyes glazed over, as if he saw something beyond our realm. Did I look like that when I had premonitions? He blinked. “When you visit my fellow centaurs one day, you’ll meet them.”
Without another word, he rose and trotted around the camp to take first watch.
I wrapped my arms around myself. What had Kyron seen? When would I be as far away as the Sylvian Woods?
Fairies, who would’ve guessed they existed!
Reborn Extras
On Writing the Novel: Although I had the idea for Reborn back in 2006, I didn't start writing the novel until January 15, 2009, which was the day I started to write seriously for publication in mind. Nine months later on September 15, 2009, I finished that first draft at 96,000 words. Before I started rewriting Reborn in 2012, I cut the draft down to 81,000 words. The final manuscript ended up being 94,500 words, only 1500-words shy of the original draft length. Reborn was just meant to be a long story.
Yssa (pronounced Ees-sah) originated as a Harry Potter character I had created named Clarissa. Clarissa was stillborn and brought back to life, but she obtained the gift of prophecy by doing so. Although they both share the same origins and are linked by their name to some extent (Yssa was named after her great-grandmother Claryssa), their stories and what each character was like diverged from each other. But without the Harry Potter RPG I was on, I don't know if I would've come up with Yssa's story.
One of the most controversial parts of Reborn with some of my early readers is the woodwoses' section since some readers didn't understand the purpose of the woodwoses and why Yssa needed to spend time with them in the middle of the novel. Yssa spends months with the woodwoses, even though Reborn shows only four main chapters with them. If she did not spend this time with them, she would not have discovered Liam's secret or have survived the journey back to the City of Amora. Basically, that section keeps her alive and, to me, is one of the most pivotal parts of the book. To remedy the problem, I hope to add some bonus woodwose scenes in The Fate Challenges boxed set.
About the Characters and World: Apenth (pronounced Ah-penth) is the number one god in Yssa's life. He brought her back to life, and he's the one who has a place in most of the books at some point. A god of prophecy, wisdom, healing, and music, he seems like he can do it all, but he has his enemies too.
Woodwoses are the wild men of the forest. They can be similar to satyrs or fawn, although a bit more humanoid than a mixture of human/animal. The woodwoses of Waldbaum Forest are not native to Amora. They used to live beyond the Great Mountains in Norvadia. They were forced south, away from their homeland, and settled in Amora and gave the name Waldbaum to the forest. They enjoy celebrating and converse with nature.
The Great Beyonders, or Norvadians, come from beyond the Great Mountains. They are descended from the mating of humans and elves. Great Beyonders have magical abilities. Their skin is blue in color, and they are known by their white-blond hair and pale blue eyes. The idea of the Great Beyonders comes from my love of Norse mythology, yet their skin tone comes from two places: the blue people of Kentucky and a guy calling me a blueblood. In Biology, I was fascinated that there were actual people who had blue skin (blue people of Kentucky). This genetic deformity stuck with me. Then, I had a guy call me a blueblood. My skin is very fair, so sections of it almost look blue from my veins. When I thought of a people who live where the sun rarely shines and how fair they would be, I was led to the Great Beyonders and what they would look like.
Beyond sending messages via human messengers, Amorans employ the use of karshiptas, a falcon-like bird that can talk. Gods and Royals are known to use the sacred mephinas, a woman with two heads (one male and one female). Two heads really are better than one when it comes to relaying a message.
Although there have been six Phoenix Prophetesses by Yssa’s time in Amora’s history (Yssa included), there were only five Phoenix Guards. The god Apenth looked over the first two Phoenix Prophetesses. He fell in love with Phoenix-Queen Amora and produced two children with her. He was good friends with Phoenix Prophetess Gwendolith, but the Council of the Gods decided only mortal men should look after the Phoenix Prophetesses and be tied to them. Phoenix-Queen Deliah and her Phoenix Guard San hated each other. The only reason he protected Deliah was because he valued his own life. Phoenix Prophetess Carys never knew her Phoenix Guard because he never revealed his secret. Phoenix Prophetess Brinlynn did not know her Phoenix Guard Rufus until he saved her at an Illuminarium celebration. The two had a rocky friendship, which eventually became more like a brother-sister relationship. And Yssa finally met her Phoenix Guard in Reborn.
Royals are descended from Phoenix-Queen Amora and the god Apenth’s joining. These people have magical powers, but they don’t have access to these abilities until their eighteenth birthdays. In Luquiry, all new eighteen-year-old Royals attend Magna’s School of Sorcery, where they learn how to control and use their magic. The school was founded in 1750 by Queen Magna and was one of the queen’s first acts at taking over the throne from her deceased mother Queen Vyvian.
The Prophecy of Sólfœra comes from the Norvadians (Great Beyonders) and was one of the last world-building aspects I added to Reborn during the final edit and has taken a life of its own. More about the prophecy will be addressed in Marked, Book 1.5 of The Fate Challenges.
During my revisions and edits, I delved further into the world of the Kingdom of Amora and its people and culture. One of the things I added were slang terms. Yssa and other people from the Island of Guntas use the term “golden” as their form of “cool.” It is an older term that was popular in the City of Amora twenty years ago. The current teens of Amora use the newer term “maj,” which stands for “majestic.”
In order to keep track on when things happened in Reborn, I created new names for the months based on the gods and goddesses. Mephetry (January), Genary (February), Bellam (March), Altheam (April), Inasham (May), Kisam (June), Theanry (July), Vestiam (August), Luquiry (September), Tammanry (October), Apenthry (November), and Hupogaim (December).
The year in the Kingdom of Amora starts from Phoenix-Queen Amora’s birth. Yssa was born in 2500 AUC (ab urbe condita = Latin for “from the founding of the city”), and the main action of The Fate Challenges takes place from 2517 AUC – 2519 AUC.
Amorans tell time using hourglasses. They would have terms like hours and moments, but I knew they wouldn’t use “seconds” to denote time. So what words could I use to denote “seconds” but make it sound like their world? “Sand grains” popped into my head since sand runs through an hour glass.