Vast primordial forests stretch from pristine beaches and the expansive ocean into the heart of Jyndari where the village of Hwyndarin lies, constructed here millennia ago for good reason.  On the coast, storms can sweep in from the ocean or roll off the heights of the Trynnari Mountains, threatening the stability of essential Light as well as the equally indispensable treasures of learning and artistry collected throughout the ages, but in the heart of the woodland the village is protected.  Peopled by Fey, winged beings who have exceptional gifts such as telepathy, empathic healing, clairvoyance, or the ability to bend light, Jyndari is a divided realm of light, beauty and harmony as well as darkness, cruelty and despair.

Those who revere the Light, tend dutifully to the land and its creatures, and abide harmoniously with each other dwell in Hwyndarin and its surrounding island countries.  These Fey of the Light are fair, noble and industrious; they live together in a communal society and practice magic arts, create beauty and protect the innocent.  Those who venerate Darkness dwell in the Uunglarda, the tainted, corrupt and exceedingly harsh realm of The Reviled.  These Dark Fey are cruel, self-indulgent monsters who use portals to cross into Hwyndarin to destroy beauty, molest the young, and abduct childfey from the Fey of the Light because they are unable to reproduce themselves.

Jyndari is a realm of exceeding beauty and melancholic gloom; of the magical and the horrible; of the Light and the Darkness where tradition is as sacred as the prophecies and ancient texts that guide their lives.  It is a place where hope abides, even in Darkness, and where the strength of Love can achieve the impossible, if those who love are willing to risk the unthinkable. 

The Temple complex of the village of Hwyndarin is a realm unto itself, filled with beautifully constructed sacred sanctuaries, Healing Wards, great libraries for study and meditation, halls for celebrations and ceremonies, barracks and training grounds for the Fey Guard, verdant gardens, orchards and grazing lands, as well as tailors, weavers, smithies, recreational fields and dormitories for all the many inhabitants of the Temple.  Most villagers of Hwyndarin never step within the glimmering golden portals of the Temple and many spend their entire lifespan without ever glimpsing the sanctuary, healing wards or schools of learning inside the surrounding fortified walls.

The Uunglarda, the dark realm of the Reviled Fey, is filled with shadows and despair, mayhem and misery, fear and cruelty.  The uninhabitable landscape is a wasteland of rocky outcroppings and gray, fallow, dusty barrens where nothing grows and water does not flow freely.  Encampments of Reviled Fey are filled with reeking tents of Legionnaires, the soldiers of the Reviled, vast houses for Centurions and Over Lords and shabby, broken-down shacks and hovels for subordinates.  Raucous taverns, sordid brothels and underfurnished camp kitchens crowd together under sulphorous gas lamps and the tyrannical rule of the potentates.  Pain and suffering fills every corner; the choked  and murky air is cold and rank; and want and neglect are the companions of every day. 

Drawing her out of the Chamber of Jollity into the dimly lighted corridor beyond, he sought a secluded corner, pulling her urgently along with him until he came upon a window at the end of the long hallway.  There, in the luminous glow of moonlight, he turned round and embraced her with a deep moan, caressing her with the tips of his wings as their thoughts melded in sighs.  Running his hands along her arms, he grasped her more firmly, pulling her upward against him while he stared hungrily at her; then, he lowered his head to kiss her.

Slowly.

Purposefully.

A Poetic Preview of Standing In Shadows
A Description of the plight of the Childfey

Behind them, where the portal exposed by the Great Gate’s falling melded two opposing realms into one, the shadows beneath the mountain heaved and hissed with the threatening vocalizations of the Reviled. 

Crimson stained arrows shot from the darkness, seeking any who might be unfortunate enough to find themselves in their trajectory, yet these tactics could be little more than intimidation; a warning of the conflict to come when the Light diminished.  The Liberators knew this and stood on either side of the yawning portal, making their presence known by creating a game out of knocking aside with their swords as many arrows as they could and by returning the insidious calls from the presently thwarted Demonfey.  Tauntingly, they issued brash invitations for the Cursed Ones to come forth; fully cognizant of the fact that they could not bear the brilliant Light filling the clearing, yet jeering at their cowardice.

“It is a treacherous game we play.”  Evondair noted as he stood beside Reydan, both malefey wordlessly observing the derisive bantering going on while standing over their fallen comrade in the silently descending flurries that had begun falling.

Read a Behind the Scenes look at how Standing in Shadows was inspired in great part by the terrifying, yet true-life events of the Lord’s Resistance Army or LRA, a rebel militant group in Uganda that has for over 20 years abducted children from their homes.

Celebrae is the ancient, root language of the Fey of the Light.  It is a gentle, elegant language and is often quiet in tone or light in inflection. Its vowel sounds are clear and crisp as well as delicate and lush.

In contrast to the Light, Bright and Beautiful language of the Fey of the Light, the language of The Reviled or Dlalth is filled with guttural vocalizations characterized by harsh and grating sounds.