The Cavern

by Lyle Drew

Overview

Andrius of Gratis was an ordinary man… at least he started out that way. Through a twist of fate, he lost his hearing at the end of the 2nd Age of Atlantis. Unable to hear his own words, he chanted a healing spell for his body as a whole. He thought one chant, but his words were different; he didn’t realize until a hundred years passed and he should have been at the end of his life, yet he was as young as when he first graduated as a priest. Andrius didn’t grow old until he was nearly two thousand years of age. Recalling the chant, he rejuvenated his body, beginning the process again, almost immortal
The Priest battled the Titans and their Dark Dragon, eliminating them as a menace to Terra and her people with help from the Olympian gods and Terran humans. With the battle won, he and his wife Nadira settled down to raise a family. Two sons, Adama and Emory, and a daughter, Falon, blessed their lives. After thirty years of raising them with help from the gods which included many adventures, the children set out on their own. Andrius and Nadira felt that it was time to solve a mystery that he recalled witnessing earlier while wandering the jungles of Amazonia.
In the dimension adjoining Terra’s was the Furlin, a feline species, who inhabited the Terra’s sister planet, called Furlina. The Furlin were an inquisitive, peaceful species. Two Furlin named Celka and Finn were both Theoretical Astrophysicists, interested in explaining why they couldn’t account for all the mass that the known universe should’ve had. They stumbled upon the missing mass as alternate dimensions, discovering how to construct a portal to them. They chose to explore the one abutting theirs, finding that Terra was their Furlina, although it and much of the star system looked different. For one thing, the planet’s indigenous, sentient species was human, something rare in their dimension. They set up a site on Terra in a large cavern many hundreds of kilometers below the surface. After nearly five hundred years of studying the human species without ever making contact with one, tragedy struck Furlina in the form of an insectoid species named the Grut. Their plans for the Furlin didn’t include friendship, evident when the insects slaughtered most of the population the first day. Many Furlin escaped to the Terran cavern; they were safe, but what about the rest of their kind? The timid Furlin learned that they could be more when they returned to Furlina to find the remaining thousands of their countrymen imprisoned, although not destined for slavery.
Contact was eventually made with the humans of Terra by the most innocent of the Furlin, a young molly (female), the daughter of Celka and Finn. Her role in the lives of her people would grow because of her inquisitive nature as she overcame her fears, In doing that, she forged lasting friendships with the humans Andrius and Nadira, the Olympian gods, and even the humans living on Terra’s concave surface at the center of the planet, called Edena. Few of the bonds wouldn’t have been formed had the Grut not discovered the alternate dimension and decided to invade Terra where they pursued the Furlin to their cavern and beyond. The final battle appeared to go in favor of the Grut until a senseless death affected the humans. The battle was won when the strangest of allies stepped forward, earning them a place to live in peace, and a little-known place in Terra’s history.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940016373362
Publisher:	Lyle Drew
Publication date:	02/20/2013
Series:	The Priest , #2
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	1 MB

About the Author

L. L. Drew never considered being a writer when he was growing up in Michigan, even though he enjoyed writing assignments when he was in primary school (always, if allowed, his stories turned to science fiction). His primary love at a young age was working on mechanical things around the house, just to understand how they worked. His interest spread to electronics, as he neared the end of high school. Selecting Kellogg Community College to continue his education, he chose electronics for his field of study (the curriculum included vacuum tube circuits only since transistor circuits were still new and integrated circuits weren’t a reality). With a degree in electronics under his belt, Lyle joined the Navy as an Electronics Technician - Radar, but he wanted to return to college. Two years later, the Navy selected him as a candidate for NESEP (Navy Enlisted Scientific Education Program). He returned to college at Marquette University in Milwaukee to study Mechanical Engineering while still on active duty. Drew graduated with a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering (BSME) and returned to the Navy as an Ensign. So where did writing come into his life?
After leaving the Navy in the early 1980’s, Drew read one of several short stories written by his father. One of the stories followed the sci-fi genre, intriguing him. With his father’s blessing, he worked on the story to see if he could expand on it, finding that he easily grew it into a novel (this became the fifth novel in his own series). The problem was that the story developed questions for Drew that needed answered, such as what happened before and after that story—nine additional novels later, he answered those questions.
While working as a Mechanical Engineer, Drew did most of his writing. He decided to try publishing, settling on a vanity press. The novel was lengthy (well over 600 pages), but that didn’t stop people from reading it. The plot excited his readers and many eagerly asked when the next book would be coming out. Drew dropped the publication, though, when work demanded much of his time, and he decided to turn to e books while he continued to write. So far, he has written 21 novels and is in the process of publishing them.
At present, Drew lives in Ohio with his lovely wife/ editing assistant, Rita.