I learned to throw the curveball
from my father.
Not the slow, sweet looping pitch
schoolboys throw for fun,
but the vicious, spinning vortex
whipped in with bad intent
towards the batter’s head;
a pitch that makes them sweat
as they stand in the box, alone,
back foot planted in pride,
front foot dancing and unsure.
From my father I learned to throw
the curveball past people playing
games.
The world is young, dark, and rough. But the bright light of civilization illuminates the highly advanced Island Nation of Athlan, a country of order, balance, and progress.
However, the world is changing, and what is solid becomes fractured. Amidst this epic era of devolution, the never-ending cosmic battle for control of earth has centered on Athlan. While celestial forces gather, wielding power unimagined, the Marfach Gardai, human defenders of Athlan, ready themselves for the final conflict with the lethal, mindless Armies of the Night. Athlanians, great and small, men and women, will die in bloody droves, incapable of understanding or escaping their fate as Great Athlan destroys itself. Witnessing the battle for her planet, Mother Earth joins the fray with a small but extremely potent cadre of once-women who defend the earth with their lives. In the end, everyone will become a pawn on the empyrean board of life and death, and the game is in doubt . . .