Aria Wilder has a secret… One she promised not to tell. But when her mother goes missing and she winds up in an ancient world inhabited by powerful Elementals, and danger lurking around every tree-guardian - everything changes. Joined by her friend Ethan, Aria embarks on an action-packed quest and discovers her true destiny—to fulfill the legacy of the Earth Keepers Legend. But with a new enemy waiting in the shadows, and his sinister plans to stop her… Will she be ready for what lies ahead?
Many billions of years ago when the earth was still newly forming, four great powers took part in its creation, known as the elemental forces - air, water, fire and earth... Together these elemental beings pulled forth the mountains and carved out the rivers... Back then the rivers ran pure and the lands were lush and evergreen. For many, many years, all existed in harmony.
But something dark began to seep into the waters... and the Elemental races were forced to flee and take refuge along the remote edges of the Earth Plane; a hidden land beyond a protective veil. They called this land Muria. As the years went by, and time forgot the lands that had existed before and its races, a legend was written... One that foretold of those in generations to come that would possess the power of the earth and stars combined... powerful enough to shift even the hands of planterary time, and end all darkness. The moment of that beginning, is now!
Available in 5 x 8 inch perfect-bound paperback and eBook editions.
ISBN: 978-0993395499
— Earth Keepers Legend, The Secret Trail
Some stories are like old friends and companions - accompanying us through life - memories of the adventures we have lived to tell. Others are visions that arrive unexpectedly, and their meaning is only revealed as we immerse ourselves within their uncharted shores; this was Earth Keepers Legend. The whispers of something ancient and forgotten, but somehow important for our future.
While much of this book's landscape was inspired by my childhood adventures in nature and along wild riverbanks (see here for Wild Riverbanks the nature-memoir), once I began writing, a vision of an ancient land inhabited by forgotten creatures and beings, became fully formed... The "Librarian" with his white bushy beard and tiny spectacles perched upon his nose, the formidable "Fire Elders" whose intense flame-wrapped presence would be enough to make even a grown man gulp, the giant "Ubellium" in unity for an age with their humorous dialogue befitting of any several thousand-year-old elders permanently stuck together, and "Ethan" - Aria's best friend and adventure partner - without whom the quest could never have succeeded.
I sketched some of the story's scenes which helped to bring this incredible world of mythical forests and creatures, floating islands with huge waterfalls, and tree guardians the size of giants, to life. While story-scene drafts, who knows, these may one day become part of a future edition of the book. The map I also drew is part of the story - an aide that the main characters discover... It is from viewing this map that it dawns on them suddenly - Muria is a hidden world. The map sktehced in black ink is now included in the book.
In some ways, Muria is a vision of what an advanced Earth and race living in harmony with nature, lands free of pollution, could look like. Its inhabitants possessing the ability to work with energy and the natural currents of the Earth; boats that navigate themselves along watery ley lines, telepathy as a normal form of communication etc... "Murians", as we might call them, are masters of the ancient and pioneers of the future. The name Muria was inspired by ancient Lemuria (also known as MU), a legendary race and age that preceded Atlantis, and was thought by some (and still to this day) to have been located in Polynesia - home of my ancestors. And while my knowledge of the ancient has since expanded... This book is a story about friendship and love, and self-discovery; an adventure filled with fantastical realms, challenges and twists, and triumphs!
I wonder, could you be an Earth Keeper?
~ Gabriel Godfrey
~ Helen Clark
— Emma Peak
— Becky Geldart Steele
— Helen Hardy
— Roxana C
— Karla Sanders