(Introduction to) War for the Forest’s Heart

“How close are we?” Rhea ascended the stairs to the helm of the ship where I stood, the wood creaking under the weight of her greaves.

I clenched one hand around the railing, and shielded my eyes from the sun with the other. “Within the hour, captain.”

I glanced at her before returning my gaze to the glittering ocean ahead of us. All three of our ship’s blood red sails thundered at full capacity, displaying the entire sun-insignia on each one.

“Really, Alex?” Her palms squeaked against her plate armor—blood red, just like the sails—as she adjusted it.

I glanced at her again. “What?”

The circlet of flames that levitated just above her head barely flickered as the wind whooshed by. Even when her long, brunette hair wafted up into it, the fire remained unphased. It just hovered there, no matter what it came in contact with, and burned nothing but itself.

“One of these days I’ll get it through your thick skull that I’m your sister before your captain.” She grinned as she flicked the pointy part of my ear. “Even if the only parent we share is a human one.”

“I’d be setting a bad example for the troops if—”

“Whatever.” She jabbed my shoulder, her fist clonking against my plate armor. “Let me give you a break from standing at the helm. I’d rather—”

“I came with you to honor our father’s last request, not to relive the past.” My body tensed as I inhaled sharply. “I’ll give you the same answer now as I did the past three times you’ve asked on this voyage.”

“But I didn’t even—” She sighed. “Look. I know how you feel about accessing the ‘old you,’ but I tried everything I could. So did Chiros. There’s something she’s not telling us and I worry that, if we don’t find out what it is, something terrible may await us at Sulla’s Scar.”

I remained silent.

“Please, brother,” she pleaded. “We’re at war. No price is too great for victory. If you won’t pay it for humanity—for father—then pay it for me.”

The winds weakened and the rowers picked up their pace. Their chants echoed in unison with the oars that slammed the water.

“Captain!” The boatswain walked up to the base of the stairs to the helm, scratched his hairy chest, then saluted Rhea. “Should we prep the ballistae just in case we encounter resistance before arrival? We’ve just entered enemy territory.”

She nodded at him. “Good idea.”

“Yes ma’am.” He saluted again, then dashed away to the nearest two soldiers, who were cleaning their plate armor with pieces of cloth. They spoke to the boatswain for a moment before dropping their cloths and heaving up the large arrows to load into the ballistae.

“You know what?” She returned her attention to me, nudged me to the side, and took up her position at the helm. “Do as I ask or don’t. As I’ve said before, you’re my brother before anything else, so the choice is yours. Just know that if anything bad happens that could’ve been prevented—if any lives are lost that could’ve been spared—that blood is on your hands.”

I peered at her, but she refused to make eye contact.

Her words were harsh, but they rang true.

“I understand.” I swiped my red-plumed helmet off the bench behind us, slotted it under my arm, then made my way off the helm. “Captain.”

I headed for the bow of the ship and the soldiers saluted me as I passed by them. The sailors simply glanced, as they were preoccupied with loading the ballistae on the port side. The square braziers that lined the center of the vessel had been lit, and some soldiers had started filling the communal quivers strapped to the masts with arrows.

As I arrived at the floor-door to get below deck, I startled a soldier who had just popped it open. He nearly lost his footing on the ladder and his grip slipped on the handle. The wooden board thonked back down onto his helmeted head, but he quickly regained his composure as he pushed the door back up and exited.

“S-sir.” He saluted. “Chiros is waiting for you.”

I held back a chuckle and nodded.

He saluted again, then walked past me to his comrades who polished their sun-crested shields.

“Alexander!” Chiros’ voice boomed from below. “You know I don’t like to be kept waiting!”

“Don’t care!” I called back as I opened the hatch and climbed down the ladder. The rowers stared at me as I descended, and the stench of sweat assaulted my nose as soon as my feet hit the floor. I tried breathing through my mouth to ease the smell, but I still gagged.

They chanted in unison with each row, and every now and then the seawater would splash through the oar-holes and soak their bare bodies. Their skin was shiny from sweat, and their hips itchy due to their wet loincloths. As I walked through their ranks and down the center aisle, they continued staring at me until I walked past their line of sight.

“Pick up your pace, boy.” Chiros awaited me at the wide, back end of the ship. “I don’t enjoy wasting my time.”

The centaur towered over me, his head nearly touching the ceiling and his equestrian body blocking my path to the single cell behind him that held the prisoner. His longbow was slung over his shoulder, and his silky hair covered most of the quiver on his back, though some dark red fletching stuck out between the blonde strands.

“But I very much enjoy helping you waste it, old man.” I grinned as I placed my helmet down on the ground. “So I hear you had no luck breaking her?”

He shook his head. “She’s resilient. And stubborn.”

“Your kind usually is.” I folded my arms. “I thought you knew that.”

He glared.

“Aren’t you cramped up down here?” I changed the topic. “Why aren't you topside?”

“The rowers row better when I’m the one monitoring their work.” He scowled. “And now, it is your work I’m here to monitor as well. Get to it.”

He stepped to the side, his hooves clicking on the wood, to reveal the prisoner. She sat at the back of the cage, as far away from the bars as possible, hugging her knees. Her dark green, viney hair hung over her face, and the tree bark skin on her legs blended in with the wood of the ship.

I examined her. “What’s your name, dryad?”

The leaves that covered her upper torso and forearms rustled as she stood. “What do you care?”

“I don’t.” I feigned a frown. “I just thought it would be easier to call you by a name instead of just saying ‘dryad.’ Don’t you think?”

“A feeble attempt at ‘humanizing’ me,” she snarled. “We both know what you humans think of any race but your own. We forest folk are no exception.”

“I’m not here to talk about the divisions of the world.” I stepped closer to the bars. “I’m here to end them.”

“I can see that.” She wiped her hair out of her face to reveal her light green eyes glancing at Chiros.

The centaur reached back to draw his bow but I caught his wrist before he could.

“Don’t let her get you worked up.” I stared into his eyes. “She’s playing your hot headedness to her advantage.”

“I’ll not have my own kind condemn me for a choice they cannot even begin to comprehend.” He yanked his wrist from my grasp and took a deep breath. “I’ll not—”

“Maybe this is why you got nothing out of her.” I extended an open hand to him. “Give me the keys to the cell and go back to monitoring the rowers.”

“Are you mad?” He hissed. “Do you know what she’s capable of?”

“Yes.” I glowered. “And it seems you’ve forgotten what I am capable of.”

He glowered back and reluctantly handed me the key. He then made a wide turn to align his equestrian lower-half with the center aisle between the rowers, and trotted away from us.

The dryad chuckled faintly. “You two are adorable.”

“Did you know….” I removed my armguards, shoulderpads and cuirass, and set them down on the floor next to my helmet. Now, all that covered my torso was a tunic. “That the House of the Sun was originally founded by elven refugees before the humans inherited it?”

“A history lesson?” She rolled her eyes. “Fun.”

“A group of forest elves were banished from their home for their ‘associations with humanity.’” I unlocked the lock, opened the barred door with a creak, stepped inside, and closed it behind me. “They were kicked out by the druidic council, which was, at that time, predominantly occupied by dryads.”

She shrugged. “Cool.”

“These elves made their way to the human volcano-city of Arethor, where they were accepted into society,” I continued as I inched closer to her. “And who would’ve guessed that their magic would adapt to their surroundings?”

“Why are you telling me all of this?”

“To show you that we’re not the bad guys here.” I inched closer again, but she remained motionless. “You are.”

“If you insist,” she sneered.

“Speaking of volcanoes….” I blitzed her, pressing my forearm against her neck as her back hit the wall. “Have you ever been to the top of one?”

“What?” She wheezed as she pulled down on my arm, but I held fast.

“Magma is quite flexible.” I raised my other hand and gestured at her to look at it. “It flows wherever it goes, that is, if it doesn’t burn through its constraints first.”

The skin on my hand peeled away to display a layer of molten rock. My veins flowed with lava to match it. Mirages filled the air immediately around, and the dryad started to sweat.

“What if I told you,” I continued. “That I could make the magma flow through your veins, as well as mine.”

She spat in my face. “You’re a monster.”

“Indeed, I’ve discarded my morals once before.” I brought my hand closer to her head and she squirmed. “And I’ve been called on to do so yet again, for the sake of the greater good.”

She turned her head away from the heat, and refusing to make eye contact, her gaze landed right on my short, pointy ears. “No…. It can’t be.”

“You recognize me?”

“By your ears, halfbreed.” She lurched forward and I shoved her back into the wall. “You’re the Grand Inquisitor. You’re the one who—”

“I did what I was told.”

“My brother….” The green light in her eyes dimmed for a split second, before reigniting with fury. “You destroyed his body so utterly that his soul was barely recognizable when it returned to us!”

“I am sorry.” I sighed. “But the survival of the many comes before the survival of any one soul, especially my own. I sacrificed my humanity so that others wouldn’t have to. I hoped to reclaim it after the end of the First Conflict, for there is nothing I want more in this world. But your kin decided to start yet another war. So here we are.”

“We started another war?!” She snapped. “Funny how you humans contort the narrative to your advantage.”

“Alright. How ’bout this.” I pressed my thumb onto her bicep and her skin sizzled, sending up some steam. “In about one minute the magma from my veins will seep into yours and start flowing through you alongside your blood. The burning sensation will not kill you, but it will not end either. Tell me what awaits my sister’s fleet at Sulla’s Scar, and I will spare you the agony of what I just described.”

“Shove it up your—”

I pressed my thumb down harder and she cried out.

“Alexander!” Chiros blared from the other side of the ship. “Corpses can’t tell us anything!”

Her hyperventilated breathing turned ragged as beads of sweat dripped from her forehead and nose. Her face turned red, but a smirk managed to find itself along her mouth.

“Something funny?” I tilted my head at her. “We’ll see if you’re still laughing after this.”

My thumb sunk into her arm and when I removed it, a small lava-filled hole was left behind. It bubbled for a moment, then fused into her exposed muscle.

“You’ve brought this upon yourself.” I removed my forearm from her neck and stepped back as she stumbled to her knees, panting.

“As have you.” Her smirk vanished as she wailed. She peeled over, hugging herself and rolling back and forth on the floor as she convulsed.

“Oh?” I squatted down to her eye level. “Care to elaborate?”

Her head jolted up, swinging her viney hair behind her with the movement. The molten liquid had reached her neck, crawling up her veins until it reached her eyes, painting her sclera bright red. The light green that highlighted her irides flickered as the magma eclipsed it.

“Alexander!” Chiros’ hooves clicked behind me. “What have you done?”

I turned around to face him. “What’s necessary to—”

“How human of you.”

“There’s no room for compassion in war,” I retorted. “You should know—”

The ship jerked sideways, sending some rowers flying out of their seats and into their comrades. Chiros and I stumbled, but we quickly regained our footing. The dryad, on the other hand, went flying into the steel bars of the cell and hit her head, knocking herself out.

“All hands on deck!” Rhea shouted. “IMMEDIATELY!”

Chiros and I exchanged looks, then bolted towards the floor door. Once we arrived, his equestrian legs whisked away in a cloud of smoke, and the haze disappeared to reveal two human legs. The two of us then climbed up the ladder to be met with panic. Our ship was nearing landfall, but on our starboard side towered a massive treant, thigh-deep in the water. A couple dozen arrows, their points still aflame, were embedded all over its body, and several ironclad ballistae arrows were lodged in its torso.

“Sir.” One of the soldiers acknowledged me with a glance as he dipped three arrow tips into a brazier, notched them in his bow, and fired them. “Am I happy to see you.”

“Status report.” Chiros’ lower half transformed back into a horse as he drew his own bow and arrows.

“We’re trying to set it on fire with the flaming arrows.” The soldier continued firing. “But it’s not enough since they’re literally fighting in the water.”

The treant lifted both its arms up and smashed the starboard side, sending the portside ballistae, and most of the sailors who hid there, airborne. They either flew straight into the monster, or past it, landing in the water and beginning their swim to shore.

I clutched the foremast. “This ship’s going down!”

I scanned the scene for my sister to find her at the helm of the ship with her flaming sword drawn. She sprinted forward, jumped up to the railing, and leapt right at the treant with her weapon in reverse grip. She pierced its right shoulder and it roared in pain, releasing its hold on the ship but tearing through the center mast in the process.

“Hold on!” I yelled.

Rhea’s sword was stuck in the treant’s bark, and she held onto it for dear life. At the same time, the weapon’s flames began spreading outwards.

I searched the deck, found a bow and arrow, and picked them up. I pressed the steel of the tip in between my fingers and it sizzled, turning into molten lava.

“Aim for its right eye.” I glanced at Chiros who had already notched his bow.

He nodded and we let our arrows fly. They found their targets, though mine sailed clean through its head, leaving flames smouldering within its eye socket. The treant teetered in the water as it roared.

“Come on….” I watched as Rhea pulled at her sword until she finally tugged it free, pushing off the monster and landing back on our ship.

“Exhilarating.” She waited for her blade’s flames to burn off the rest of the tree sap that stained it before sheathing it. “I’d say that went pretty well.”

“Abandon ship!” Chiros bellowed as he galloped straight off the vessel.

The remaining soldiers and sailors followed suit, and as soon as I noticed the treant falling in our direction, I snatched Rhea’s hand and yanked her off her ship with me. We made it off just as the monster cleaved the vessel in half with its dying act.

“They knew we were coming,” Rhea growled. “It was an ambush.”

On the beach of Sulla’s Scar, rows of centaurs with notched bows lined the shoreline. Behind them, in the ashen, desolate ground of the Scar itself, stood a horde of dryads, along with a dozen more treants with boulders in hand ready to be thrown.

“It was a massacre,” she lamented. “And it’s my fault…”

“It’s mine.” I followed her gaze to the rest of her fleet behind our sunken flagship. One to two treants assaulted each vessel, tearing the sails, breaking the masts, and plucking soldiers and sailors from their ships. Most were flung away, but some treants decided to crush the men and women they grabbed in their hands, soaking their bark with blood and guts.

“Come on.” I shook her shoulders as I treaded water. “We gotta swim to shore. The entire fleet is going down and there’s nowhere else to go.”

“All those souls….” She blinked a few times and snapped out of her own trance. “You’re right. Let’s go.”

The two of us swam the remaining distance to shore. Scowling centaurs—with green warpaint streaking their human skin, and brown warpaint, their equestrian skin—greeted us with drawn bows. Vines were coiled around the lower and upper limbs of their weapons, and the tips of the arrows were amber.

“Disarm yourselves,” one of them growled.

Rhea unsheathed her sword and set it on the sand.

“No weapons on me.” I patted down my soaked tunic, and found that my greaves had come loose in the water, leaving my lower half protected only by trousers.

Two centaurs approached me and patted me down as well, and I examined my surroundings as they did. In addition to the dryads, treants, and present company, scattered amongst the treetops on either side of the Scar—where healthy forest still stood—were elves. They wore dark green jerkins to blend in with the leaves, and wielded mini crossbows in each hand, loaded with arrows likely tipped with amber instead of steel like their equestrian kin.

“Traitor!” A voice rang out to my right and I instinctively glanced over to see several centaurs beating on Chiros. He had made it ashore along with some other soldiers, though they laid dead and bloody on the sand.

“He did nothing wrong,” I said calmly.

“He did everything wrong.” One of the centaurs who just finished patting me down seized my chin and turned my face to his. “And you will speak only when spoken to, filth.”

“In war, it’s customary to show respect to your adversaries.”

“Respect?!” His nose flared as he snorted. “Where was your ‘respect’ when one of your generals set this very forest ablaze, creating the Scar we stand before this very day?! Where was your ‘respect’ when you tortured my brethren to the brink of severing their souls?!”

“Get off your ‘high horse,’ beast.” I heard Chiros yelp but forced myself to keep my gaze on the centaur before me. “You treat humans with the same lack of mercy as I do my prisoners. Only difference is, I do so begrudgingly, while you do so with enjoyment.”

“Silence!” He turned around and back-kicked me with his rear legs, sending me back into shallow water. I landed on a bed of seashells. Stinging pain embraced my entire back as my skin turned warm from the blood.

“Stop it!” Rhea pleaded, and the next thing I knew, a centaur lifted me up by my hair and tossed me back on the fluffy sand. I thudded face first onto it.

“Enough of this!” A feminine voice scoffed in front of me. “Men….”

I lifted myself up to my knees and came face to face with an elf. She wore dark green robes inscribed with elven runes and wielded a simple wooden walking stick with similar symbols etched all over it. Amber earrings adorned her pointy ears, which stuck out from her long, red hair, and a bipartite leaf was tattooed on her forehead. Each identical leaf was positioned over each of her eyebrows, while the stem extended down the bridge of her nose.

I suppressed a cough. “You’re a druid.”

“And you’re the Grand Inquisitor himself.” The elf gingerly lifted my chin up with the tip of her staff so I could meet her stare. One of her eyes was light green, and the other, amber. “There was a rumor the humans had put you on this mission. I do ask that you forgive Boros for his temper, though. He doesn’t know the proper way to treat prisoners of war. Even if you didn’t do as such for your own captives.”

I pointed behind me. “Are there any other survivors?”

“No.” She shook her head. “Are you the leader of this expedition?

“I am.”

“Alex!” Rhea hissed. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Fulfilling my promise to father.”

“You can’t—”

“I must.”

The druid smacked her lips together. “How noble. I suppose this selflessness is rooted in your elven heritage. I wouldn’t expect such an act from a human.”

“A true leader should be willing to give his life so that those who serve him do not have to.” I raised my hands to her. “I’m ready.”

“Ready for what?” My sister reached for her discarded sword but stopped as some centaurs drew back their bows.

“You should be more grateful.” The druid addressed Rhea as she bound my wrists with vines, then turned to the centaurs. “Imprison the girl with the traitor. As for the Inquisitor, he has accepted his punishment. Prepare the pool.”

A pair of centaurs slung their bows over their shoulders and arrested Rhea, dragging her off to the right where Chiros was being detained.

“I swear to the gods, Alex!” My sister roared as they took her away. “If you die I’m gonna kill you! You hear me?! I’ll kill you!”

Two dryads stepped through the rows of centaurs and approached me. They grabbed my arms, and led by the druid who cleared a path for us, escorted me through the ranks of the forest folk.

Everyone glared at me as I shambled along. We finally arrived at the treants at the rear of the army, no longer on the Scar but on grassland, which was smoother on my bare feet. At the center of the twelve behemoths stood four dryads, each wearing the same green robes and accessorizing the same bipartite leaf tattoo as the elf, indicating their druidic statuses.

“How long?” I muttered.

“A year for every life you’ve tortured.” The elf spoke without turning around. “You can do the math yourself.”

“Will you torture my sister?”

“No,” she answered. “As long as I reign as chief of the druidic council, she will not be touched, no matter how badly the dryads want to rip her to shreds.”

“I take it you mean that literally.”

“Very much so.”

Four walls of erected Earth in the shape of a square stood in the middle of the four dryads. They chanted as they danced around it, moving their arms about them as if entranced. Once they finished, they thrust their hands upwards, and from the cloudless sky, four bolts of light green lightning shot down into them. It crackled about their bodies, though they seemed unphased, and their green eyes glowed brighter.

“This is truly fascinating to watch.” I let out a deep sighed. “Even if I’ve seen this ritual dozens of times before.”

“And even if it is meant for you?” The elf inquired.

“Mother Nature is eternally captivating.” I managed a chuckle. “No matter what Her intentions are for me.”

Each dryad set their hands on a wall. The lightning flowed from their arms and into the slabs of Earth, etching the same rune on all four sides: the tree of life. The symbols pulsated like a heartbeat—

Like my heartbeat.

“It is time.” The elf spread her arms and turned around to face me, then leaned in to whisper. “I know you took the fall for your sister. I’m no fool. But you’re not doing this for her. I know what you’re truly after, and it’s going to take a lot more than a thousand years of penance to restore what you’ve lost.”

“You’re right.” I clenched my fists. “But I need to start somewhere. I need to reclaim my humanity. I can’t live as a monster anymore.”

“The fact that you can come to that realization on your own proves some of that humanity still remains within you.” She stepped back from me. “Take comfort in that.”

The dryads released their hold on my biceps. I plodded forward, receiving glares from all the forest folk who watched. Upon reaching the Earthen wall closest to me, I climbed over it and positioned myself at the center of the square.

I closed my eyes—

Deep breath…

Then opened them before lying down on my back.

“Aspious! Lindorous!” The elf spoke up again. “Proceed.”

The ground rumbled as the two treants lumbered over to me. They extended their arms over my prison, and four arrows whizzed by, cutting open their wrists. Sap spurted out for a couple seconds before gushing forth.

The liquid pooled around me, the stickiness quickly wearing off as it felt more like oil soothing my skin. The sap continued to rise, and once I became completely submerged, the tree of life symbols on all four walls sizzled. I knew holding my breath was pointless, but my brain forced me to.

My pulse throbbed against my neck.

My heartrate weakened.

Lightheadedness overcame me.

Just before my body gave out, my eyes burst open and I found myself unable to breathe, but not needing to either. As long as the tree of life runes lived, so too would I. The next thing I knew, the arms of the two treants vanished from my sight and a strong heat inundated the liquid. The sap slowly solidified, encasing me in amber.

My skin numbed.

I couldn’t move.

I couldn’t even close my eyes.

“We will release you when your sentence has been served in full.” The muffled voice of the elven druid echoed above me. “Consider this your penance, Inquisitor, for it is one that you’ve undoubtedly earned.”

Another slab of Earth sealed my prison, blocking out the shining sun and leaving me in the company of nothing but darkness.

_____________________________________________________________________

“This is a terrible idea,” a faint voice appeared to my right.

“Oh, c’mon sis,” another voice answered. “You got a better one?

“No.” She sighed. “We really this desperate?”

“What do you think?”

The grinding of stone on stone rumbled above me to reveal the sun. I instinctively tried to shield my eyes from its brilliance, when I remembered I was frozen in amber. I then tried to bring my lids down, but they were fixed open.

Two faces popped up above me, blocking the rays of light. Their features were darkened by shadow, but one thing was clear: pointy ears.

“Are you sure this’ll work?” The mouth of the right one moved.

“I’m like…,” the left one replied. “Ninety-nine percent sure.”

“And if it goes the way of the other one percent?”

“We join him in the amber.”

“Yay.”

The two of them climbed to the top of my encasement—revealing their dark brown and green tunics—and got down on all-fours. They muttered something in unison, and emerald light gleamed within their eyes. The same emerald magic sparkled on their palms in response. The amber underneath their hands bubbled, then started to melt as they pushed down.They grabbed either of my wrists—

Oh, to feel another’s skin again—

And gradually pulled me up. Once my fingertips breached the surface a tingling sensation surged straight up my arms, and once my head reached the top—

I inhaled a massive gulp of air as I squeezed my eyes shut—tears swelling at the corners—then opened them back up. My stiff eyelids resisted less and less which each and every blink.

The two elves finished hauling me out and I tumbled over the side, thudding onto the grass. I relished in the warmth as I stared up at the sun with a smile on my face.

Freedom.

Finally.

“Hate to rain on your parade.” The male elf offered me his hand. “But we need to leave.”

“What’s going on?” I took his hand and anxiety swept over me as I stood up. “Wait. Rhea. Is she—?”

“Who?” He grimaced. “It’s been two centuries since your imprisonment. We know about you because Vynia—”

“Vynia?”

“The elf that had you imprisoned in the first place.” He glanced away. “My mother. She sent us your way right before a dryad slit her throat.”

“I’m….” A lump formed in my throat. “I’m sorry.”

“The dryads usurped the druidic council by force moments ago.” He nodded at his sister and she darted towards the beach. “They’ve just begun purging the forest of elves and human prisoners of war.”

“I….”

“I know it’s a lot to process—that makes two of us—but we don’t have time to loiter.” He shook my shoulders. “The dryads are coming for you now. My cousin is prepping our ship to sail. We gotta move.”

“But what about Rhea?”

“Sorry, but I don’t know who that is.” He began jogging toward his sister. “Let’s go!”

I followed him onto the scar, the desolate soil rough under my feet.

“Why are you helping me?” I asked. “And what's your name?”

“I’m Tasar, and my sister is Edea, in case you were wondering.” His tone was cold, but determined. “And I’m helping you because my mother asked me to.”

“What about the rest of the House of the Sun?” My breathing became labored as we reached the beach. Two centuries in amber probably got me out of shape. “Couldn’t you appeal to them for aid?”

“About that.” He stopped running and turned around to look me in the eyes. “The humans lost the war. Both human and elven kind are being hunted down by forest folk. And you, my new friend, are at the top of their list.”

Title: (Introduction to) War for the Forest's Heart

Genre: Fantasy

Target Audience: YA, so pretty much Teen-Adult

Word Count: 5136 words

Author: Shane Martin

Good fit: Why am I a good fit? This is always a tough one. Aside from my awesome personality, (I'm humble, I swear), I hope that both my sample and the requested information below answers that question.

The Hook: Ever taken a nap for 200 years and woken up to a full out war? Meet Alexander, otherwise known as the Grand Inquisitor, who has just found himself stuck in a renewed conflict that was started by his ancestors.

Synopsis: The book is unwritten at this point (just lots of notes on google docs), but the introduction I've written here gives a pretty clear set up for the story: the main character, Alexander, is broken out of an amber-stasis prison two centuries after his imprisonment, and awakens to a world bereft by another massive war, kickstarted by the forest folk. Said forest folk (dryads, centaurs, treants, to name a few) seek vengeance upon humans and elves for the crimes they committed against them in the past.

Author Bio/Hobbies/Education: I grew up on books, T.V. and video games, struggling to fit all three of these things into each and every day. A pianist, mixed martial artist, and tennis player on the side, I've always got something to do when not gaming or netflixing (or writing, of course). I received a Bachelor of Arts Degree in both Philosophy and History at Lehman College, and first started pursuing my English Minor in Creative Writing there half way through undergraduate school. I'm now pursuing a Master of Arts in Interdisciplinary Studies at New York University, focusing heavily on how I can enhance my writing with various elements of history, philosophy, and more.

Writing Style: I Simply put, my writing style is 100% influenced by my hobbies. So, all the T.V. I watch, books I read, and (most importantly) video games I play work together to give me a constant and consistent drive to create my own characters and worlds to put them in. That said, I try my best to stay away from heavy exposition/internal monolgue, only using these as last resorts, and prefer first person narration. I prefer my readers to be as close to the main character/narrator as possible, and to be shown things through their eyes, rather than through an omniscient "god."