Dancers of Light and Darkness Trilogy / Series, by Stan Sudan

C. L. Schneider
3 hours ago
5 min read

Blurb

Sisters of Light, Dancers of Light, and Medicine Riders begin the Dancers of Light and Darkness Series as a complete trilogy. Dancers of Light and Darkness is, in its fullest scope, classical fantasy romance. The books are full of adventure, life, death, love, hate and redemption.

The starting trilogy is replete with experiences that readers most expect in romantic fantasy: from a second world full of light-filled beings striving to overcome darkness, to timeless magic and ancient medicine, to a convoluted love triangle—or maybe it's a quadrangle, or a quintangle—which consistently struggles and far-too-often demands to be resolved.

The series continues as an epic journey of heroines and heroes in subsequent novels, Brothers of Light, Dreamwalkers, Ring of Starstone, and Star-Child. The books continue the saga, and introduce us to new characters, all fervently engaged in the story, all wholeheartedly joining the light-seeking quests of the protagonists.

Excerpt

Dancers of Light: Book 2

Dancers of Light and Darkness

Excerpt From Chapter 6 – Nothing But Desire

Sweet-Star stood up and dusted dried bits of grass and dirt from the knees of her blue-jeans. Gracefully turning, she slapped more dirt from her buttocks, then brushed off her t-shirt. Then she ran her fingers through her long, silken-black hair as she nonchalantly turned away.

"Where are you going?" Iya asked as she sat up.

Te'o-Hai pouted out her lip as she cocked her hip, her curled hand resting against her waist as she twisted, and coyly looked back over her shoulder. "Cowboy hunting, I guess," Sweet-Star spoke with a bit of a forced drawl as she tartly flipped her hair over her shoulder. "And to see if I can find a purple truck."

Tah-Nak-Te'o-Hai paused as she stared at Iya. The long-foretold return of Star-Man to the Mountain of the Ancestors was indeed really, really happening.

Sweet-Star glanced down at her trembling hands before she tucked them into her hip pockets. O'hai Na'a-Ka'o's Legend-foretold return was imminent. And even though she had refused to ever meet Shatwa Hei in person, and had kept herself sequestered on the Mountain until he actually had a first-Awakening and his up-Mountain legacy was actually confirmed, she truly believed that Shatwa Hei had to be Star-Man. And if she could somehow help that return...

Te'o-Hai shook her head as she filled her lungs with the sweetness of the early evening air. Now, more than ever, she understood why Iya had called her. And it was possible that her sister-cousin didn't even realize why. But Sweet-Star did.

Moon Woman's apprentice shrugged. "Maybe together," she coyly tossed her chin toward her up-Mountain sister-cousin, "we can eke an up-Mountain destiny out of this wanna-be Star-Man of yours." Pulling her hands out of her pockets, Sweet-Star quickly spun on her heels, and began to run down the steeply sloped meadow in the direction of the corral. Laughing in surprise, the Daughter of the Mountain jumped up to pursue her near-identical-looking Medicine-sister.

"You really want to meet him?" Iya called out.

Glancing back to see Iya chasing after her, Te'o-Hai giggled. "No!" Sweet-Star shouted as she raced ahead. "I've always been afraid to meet him! I didn't want to be disappointed!"

The two Medicine-sisters' waist-long tresses flew out behind them, flapping like two pairs of night-dark wings as the intrepid, Legends-seeking sister-cousins raced each other downslope toward the barn.

"Then," Iya stooped, and snagged, then flung a dried pinecone at her sister-cousin, "why are you running?"

"Because," Te'o-Hai ducked, and then laughed. She stepped aside, then dodged Iya's hand as her favorite sister-cousin tried to grab her.

Both Medicine-sisters were winded by the time they made it to the bottom of the hill. The startled Horses in the corral had galloped to the other side of the split-wood-rail enclosure where they now stood bunched together, peering with unsettled wariness at the two out-of-breath Medicine-sisters who momentarily rested their arms on the fence. With nimble, Shadow-infused grace, Sweet-Star placed her foot on the lowest of the triple-hung, thick-wooden rails, deftly swung her foot upward toward the topmost pole, then easily leapt over the fence and into the corral. Without looking back, she ran straight toward the graying, wood-sided barn.

"Now you know...that I'm right..." Te'o-Hai laughed, "...about Star-Man coming to the Mountain. Because..." she continued with earnest, heartfelt conviction"...the Shadow-wilded Mare that Joe found...she has to be O'hai-Po'a," Star-Horse. "And," Sweet-Star called out as she ran, "she's come looking for that long-lost warrior of Legend!"

Iya, who was not about to be bested by her sister-cousin, neither in playful sport, nor in their timeless search for Star-Man, quickly sped after Te'o-Hai.

"So, what if she is Star-Horse?" Iya called out to Moon Woman's Legends-chasing apprentice. "That doesn't mean anything. Not by itself!" With a deft push of Ca-ha'ya into her legs, the Daughter of the Mountain sprinted toward her Medicine-wise, far-too-pretty, most-trusted of all Sisters.

"And so what if Shatwa Hei does drive a red-purple truck? And what if he does wear a black hat...and somehow, eventually, has a white-socked, bay-colored Mare for a Star-Horse? What will that prove?"

Sweet-Star laughed. With a taunting shout over her shoulder, Te'o-Hai continued to run.

"Prove?" Sweet-Star guffawed. "That even if he's some lame, good-for-nothing Outsider...and can't even re-Awaken his ancient skills...that he's still Star-Man!" Te'o-Hai giggled. "It has to be the truth. Because there's no way anyone could ever make up such a crazy-assed story like this from Legend. Especially me!"

And...if indeed...it's true...well, then...Sweet-Star raised her hand, and signed back using that most-common of all up-Mountain expressions as she simultaneously raised her voice, "Mantah koh Mantah!" So be it!

Iya laughed, calling out to Te'o-Hai as she signed the second half of that up-Mountain saying. "E'a ta'ih-eh-ta'ih che-bak-ta-tah-pe'a-hai!" And forever-always will it be!

The Daughter of the Mountain exhaled a deep, giggling sigh as she caught up to Tah-Nak-Te'o-Hai and wrapped her arms around her dearest sister-cousin. The weight she had been carrying for weeks finally had melted away. "I knew I needed you here," the ways-burdened Sister of Light exhaled.

After all, Iya's chest heaved as she silently thought, wouldn't it be a perfect ending? To a Legend that has no ending? If, that is, the Daughter of the Mountain furrowed her brow, this wilded, up-Mountain Mare that showed up truly is Star-Horse?

"And tomorrow..." Sweet-Star promised with a playful laugh as she returned the heartfelt hug from her cherished sister-cousin, "...after you tell your stories to the Ah-nah hai'a," children. "Then I'll go with you to visit the Elder-sisters. And we'll make them face their friggin' up-Mountain dreams, Iya-'ta. The ones we both know they've been having—just like you and I have both been dreaming about Shatwa Hei being Star-Man. And then together..." Te'o-Hai paused with her hand on the oversized latch to the barn door.

"...once they admit not having believed us in the first place, we can tell them what a worthless clutch of slap-bitches they've always-and-forever been."

About the Author

As an avid reader of science fiction, the springboard for Stan's writing career began at 12 years old when he won a Read Magazine writing award for a science fiction short story. And yes, even then it was fantasy romance—quite piquantly announced as such to the entire class by his 6th grade teacher! From that moment on, he never stopped writing. Prior to being a fulltime author, Stan has taught elementary school, has served nationally as an educational consultant for private schools, and is a certified Systemic and Family Constellation facilitator.

Appreciating that he has finally achieved in retirement the long-sought-after luxury of being able to write fulltime, he also helps his wife garden, occasionally takes walks around a nearby lake, rides his bike when he can unbury it from the mound of "stuff" that lives in their garage, and takes great enjoyment in watching the sun set to the west in all its cloud-draped, Rocky-Mountain splendor.