The Wings Of The Kestrel Trilogy Book 1: The Journey To The Mountains

Prologue

Far away, in a solar system that orbits a star too distant for those of us on Earth to imagine, is a world that, at a glance, appears not unlike Earth how might have been a thousand or so years ago. This world is known to its residents as Falnor. Just like our own, the planet is covered in mostly water, with countries and islands spread across the globe to form seven continents: Akuan, Cunul, Deogand, Eissund, Eomazica, Firoth and Kraurious. The people of the world live in farming or hunting communities, using horses and dogs for work and keeping cows, goats, sheep, chickens and many other common animals as livestock.
But unlike in our world, the snow-capped mountains of Cunul are home to not just snow leopards, but dragons too. Unicorns and centaurs roam hidden in the forests of Deogand and wendigos haunt the North-East of Eomazica. These creatures once lived alongside humans but nowadays, they are more secretive. Some are forgotten entirely. The rest are lost to myth.
There are many stories of how Falnor formed, but the tale told by the people of Deogand is the closest to the truth. They tell of a great bird god named Shirragh, who flew in the shape of the world that they wanted to create, spinning Falnor out of golden magic. Some say that the bird was an eagle, whilst others argue that only a magical bird like a phoenix could have that much power. Only a small few know the truth, that Shirragh took the form of a small falcon common throughout Deogand and Cunul: the kestrel.
Unlike many of the gods we hear stories of, Shirragh was mortal and died before humans had even developed society on Falnor. However, before their death, Shirragh transferred a little of their power to a human boy in Deogand who dreamed of the sky. Because in the North of a small Deogandan country called Espelland, and evil was awakening. A creature called the Liekki, that sought to take all of Falnor for its own. But Shirragh had given the humans a way to fight back. That boy passed on Shirragh's power to his daughter, and she to her son, in the battle to keep the evil at bay. The Liekki has been dormant for at least a century now, but, concealed among the stacks of Northern Espelland where not even seabirds dare to venture, it is stirring. When it wakes, it will stop at nothing to achieve its goal.