New Space Series Legacy of the Unsworn Sneak Peek! (Prologue)

I have been writing! Finally. I’ve recently had some personal challenges that have really prevented me from doing what I love, but I have started a new series while also at the same time continuing something older and beloved. This new series is about the descendents of my Unboundaried/Unbounded/Avowed/Unsworn. The working series title is Legacy of the Unsworn because at the end of my Unbounded series, it was the Unsworn who bucked the system and helped Erin and her team win the day. Her fifth great granddaughter is having her own adventures in space as goverment alliances begin to fail around them.

Background

I always wanted to write a space opera. I’ve loved watching Star Trek, Star War, Star Gate, Babylon 5, Firefly, and Battlestar Galactica. I love sci-fi books like those by Jack Campbell and others. It seems natural that I should want to write my series set in space. So now, I’m going to do it. Here is the prologue that I wrote mostly to center myself to the backstory. What do you think? Let me know in the comments below. (I’m already on chapter four!)

Prologue

From the Unbounded Earth Histories

They have been known by many names throughout the ages—Avowed, Unboundaried, Unbounded, Renegades, Unsworn, and, much later, Aeternai. Before mortals on Earth were aware of their existence, they were also referred to as vampires, fae, or immortals. Indeed, they were unbounded by time, with a life expectancy of two thousand years that seemed everlasting to mortals, whose relatively short lives burned and flickered out like the flame of the thinnest candle.

They were not, however, immortal, and they could be killed in two ways. The most common method involved the complete severing of the three focus points of mind, heart, and reproductive system. Starvation in a sealed room where they could not absorb the necessary nutrients for life was another way, though this was essentially the same as the first; true death would occur only after a complete breakdown of the focal point connections, which could take decades, after which there was no return.

In their early days on Earth, their advancements in both science and art made them envied and desired, but also endangered, as mortals sought them out in secret to use and control them. Consequently, the Avowed retreated from the surface, shielding their majestic city, Sinalta, and sinking it into the depths of the ocean, where they remained hidden for over three thousand years.

Some chose to remain on the surface, living in secret among mortals after separating centuries earlier from the Avowed. These individuals called themselves Unboundaried or Unbounded. Eventually, the Unbounded split into two groups: the Renegades, who sought to protect mortals, and the Emporium, a mega-corporate conglomerate that preyed upon them. Mortals known as Hunters, originally descended from Unbounded but not gifted with the Change, sought to eradicate all Unbounded. The Renegades ultimately won the war—but only after revealing themselves to the mortal world and forging a temporary truce with the Hunters.

Eventually, Unbounded rediscovered the Avowed and raised Sinalta from the ocean. Over the millennia, the hidden Avowed had also divided into two factions: the Avowed and the Unsworn. The rebellion of the Unsworn, like that of the Renegades before them, aimed to protect innocent mortals born into the Avowed populace. In the ensuing battle to safeguard these mortals, the Unsworn and Unbounded triumphed, ushering in a new peaceful age.

Utilizing a combination of Avowed and Unbounded technologies for shielding and folding space, they constructed ships and finally left Earth in search of their origins, eager to leave behind the mortals who either hunted or worshipped them. Refusing to completely abandon the mortals they had secretly protected for generations, they shared their technology, enabling mortals to follow them into space. There, they discovered other inhabited human worlds, whose histories also mentioned, albeit briefly, long-lived beings. Mortals multiplied and explored until it became logical for the Unbounded to establish the Galactic Unity Alliance to preserve peace and protect both mortals and Unbounded alike.

After several centuries of searching and more than fifty light-years from Earth, Unbounded and Avowed discovered not a world of long-lost relatives, but an uninhabited ancestral planet decimated by civil war. Only the ruins of great cities and records of survivors fleeing the planet in search of new homes remained. The Unbounded rebuilt, creating a system of governance they hoped might, finally, stand the test of time. In honor of what once was, they restored the planet’s ancient name: Aeterna.

Aeterna is now home, a refuge of peace for nearly a thousand years. The Avowed, Unboundaried, and Unbounded—all those whose DNA causes them to Change—have united as Aeternai. Their mortal offspring, which still account for fifty percent of their births despite fertility manipulation, are called Aeternix. Both groups live peacefully on Aeterna, a private people who prefer to remain apart from the rest of humanity while continuing to assist the Galactic Unity Alliance as needed.

Aeternai are revered throughout the galaxy for their wisdom, honored for their history of protection, and often worshipped as near-immortal gods. However, they are also hated and feared—and not without reason. Some mortals, known as Hunters, still pass down the memory of secret grievances and the knowledge of murders committed by the Emporium Unbounded on Earth, who once strayed from their duty.

Few Aeternai choose to leave their new world. But now, whispers of unrest have begun to ripple through the galaxy, and the fragile peace Aeternai have long safeguarded teeters on the brink of collapse. Ancient enemies, once thought vanquished, stir in the shadows, and alliances threaten to crumble under the weight of forgotten grudges and new ambitions. For the first time in centuries, Aeternai must look beyond the serenity of Aeterna’s skies and decide whether to risk the sanctuary they’ve built to preserve the balance of the galaxy—or watch as the flames of discord consume the mortal planets.

Hope you are excited for this new series! Let me know in the comments!

Copyright 2024 Teyla Rachel Branton

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