My eyes were red and swollen from the down pour of tears that I had tried to stop from falling but was unsuccessful. I sniffled and wiped the salty wet from my cheeks as I stared out over the surrounding forests of my new home. Twigs snapped behind me, causing me to jump and turn to see who was approaching. A young girl with emerald eyes, and long blonde braids walked up to me. She took a seat on the cold ground beside me.
She sat silently, staring out into oblivion, as I had been doing for more than a few hours now.
Turning my attention from this strange girl, I focused on a patch of trees in the distance as snow began to fall, covering the ground in a blanket of white. Birds flew through the icy flakes, making their way back to their nests to settle in for the coming storm.
A winter fowl, no larger than an apple, settled in a tree above me. I watched as it nestled down into the mess of twigs and leaves it had used to build its nest. The girl looked up at the bird and smiled as a single tear flowed down her cheek. She began to whistle an old familiar tune that I hadn’t heard since before my mother fell ill and ascended. The winter fowl joined in and sang his song to accompany her.
The sadness I had been feeling, and the tears that wouldn’t stop falling, faded away as she whistled into the sky. As the song ended, I looked out over the horizon and watched the sliver of the setting light that had yet to hide behind the mountain’s face. The girl reached over, placed her hand on my shoulder, and lightly patted my back, giving me solace in an uncomfortable and unfamiliar world.
—-An excerpt from Forsaken: Book Two of the Sanctorian Series—-
The excerpt above is from one of my favorite chapters in Forsaken. Joel is one of my favorite characters. He loses the love of his life and is thrust into the center of the war among the races of Sanctoria. He is in a conflicting situation. Torn between his loyalty to his people and his hatred for the Commander, whom he once called brother.
Joel’s story is unique. I am not quite sure what will happen to him in the future. In Forbidden, he followed Lyla out into the Terran world. In Forsaken, he withdraws himself from all others (after Angel’s ascension) and places his loyalty solely on Lyla. In Forgotten, Joel will undergo a trial, testing his loyalty towards Lyla. Who knows what will happen to Joel in Forgiven and Forever.