I had an entire book occur to me while driving to work today (which is not my normal process at all). Usually, I'm lucky if I know a little bit of the middle and the characters, and everything else develops as I write. Not this one. I saw the beginning, watched it develop to the middle, and all the way till the end. I've got a lot on my plate right now writing wise, but I wanted to get the beginning down on paper.
I'd love some feedback on the opening to see if there's interest in having the whole story laid out. For you Frostbite fans, its going to tell the story of Jadim Cartarssi, whose quotes grace the section heads in Modern Knights. Let me know what you think, good or bad.

I am known as Kiara, Priestess of Testament, Guardian of the Sage’s Gate, Savior of the World. I don’t deserve most of those titles, though I suppose the point of this tale is to let the reader decide for themselves what part I really played in a series of remarkable events. The story has become so famous that there are any number of legends and myths that have sprung up concerning myself and my compatriots. Not long before I sat down to write this, a woman brought her dying daughter to Gatetown, hoping that just by having her near me she would be healed. I wish everything they said was true, but it isn’t.
I’ll tell the truth in this, but I know not everyone will believe it. Some times everyone prefers their pretty little lies that make them feel safe, secure, and happy. I don’t want to take those hopes away from anyone, but I do want to make sure that if anyone ever needed to know what really happened when the Sage’s Gate opened, there was an accurate record. It doesn’t help that the most outspoken member of our group had a very loose association with the truth under the best of circumstances. There were times it felt like every word Jadim ever spoke to me was a lie, except for his last words to me. I choose to believe he told the truth in the end.
I’m getting ahead of myself, though, to mention Jadim. He wasn’t there in the beginning. Speaking of beginning, a little backstory is in order. This is the one part of my story that I cannot personally verify. Many generations ago, the seven exalted dragons brought our ancestors from a place called Earth to their world, known as Haven. Why this happened is unclear, but it is generally believed that Earth was no longer livable due to a ravenous monster, Technologia, The Mother of All Terrors. The dragons could not defeat Technologia, but pitied the human race and each dragon selected a handful of people with characteristics that dragon valued to bring home with them, for Technologia had not yet mastered planar travel.
Humanity thrived on Haven, for the other races that were here before us did not have such a keen intellect and struggled with the deeper arcane arts. Each dragon taught those they choose magic as they saw fit and it did not take long before humanity began to twist what was learned to invent new magics. One of these applications was the rise of the priestesses, drawing strength from ancient human myths to fuel potent magics. My particular line of priestess can trace its lineage back to one of the oldest gods of Earth, Testament. There was once another group of priestesses that claimed there was a new god of Testament, but to the best of my knowledge they are extinct now.
Testament believed in a number of things: Justice, Art, and Sages. Justice meant that we should do what was right, punish those who did wrong, and provide a clear law that everyone could tell the difference between the two. Art meant that it was a sacred duty to promote creative endeavors that built up others, especially writing, painting, and music. Sages meant that the wisdom of the dragons was to be treasured and should be enshrined in both law and creative acts. One of the most sacred duties to the priestesses of Testament was the protection of the Shrine of the Dragon Sages. Within that hallowed structure rested a mystic gem of fantastic power named the Gem of the Dragon Sages. While I love the priestesses of Testament, we were never particularly good at naming things.
By the time I was appointed to my turn to guard the Shrine of the Dragon Sages, I was already a renowned healer and accomplished priestess. Like the priestess I relieved, I did not know what the Gem of the Dragon Sages did. I knew it was important to make sure that it never fell into wrong hands, but I could not tell you why. And while it was an important job, it was also largely a ceremonial one, one last tour of duty before retirement to the Halls of Exodus. No one had ever tried to steal the Gem of the Dragon Sages and it was hard to imagine any wrong hands who might try to get it.
I do not want anyone to think that I viewed the world through rose colored glasses. I was well aware that there were many humans and lesser races that voluntarily did bad things. A person can be nasty, brutish, and mean, even when they are trying to do what they perceive as the right thing. The seven dragon clans of mankind had grown exponentially since their arrival on Haven and war was not unknown to me. Worse, because of our proficiency in healing, myself and other priestesses often saw the worst of the carnage, the aftermath of violence. I knew there was evil… but I did not think that evil had any use for wisdom. A thing named the Gem of the Dragon Sages, had to be related to the quest for knowledge, right?
The other heroes employed by the kingdom of Exodus for the guarding of the temple were not as accomplished as me, perhaps, but they were not green amateurs, either. Xeros, the Banespear, and leader of their band had distinguished himself in war against the Kingdom of Nirvana against their elite Foo Fighter brigade. He had been the head guardian of the temple for five years before I ever arrived. He was brash, outspoken, and rude… but he was also unbeaten in the local arena for a record one hundred and seventy nine matches. His skill with the great spear was the stuff of legend and I saw it up close enough times to admit that his ability merited the myth. It is harder for me to admit that I was actually attracted to him for a time.