Falling Ashes

A lonely adolescent shepherd boy, a vagabond without a home, an orphan nobody wants, and on whom none depends, spurned for his poverty, consumed by his delusional obsession over a village girl- can he overcome the odds and rise above his outcast status to fulfill the dreams she has lit in his heart, of becoming a prince with a flaming sword, who lives in a palace with unbelievable riches, who will kill a thousand wicked men and win kingdoms for her? "You are not cruel enough," she...
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A lonely adolescent shepherd boy, a vagabond without a home, an orphan nobody wants, and on whom none depends, spurned for his poverty, consumed by his delusional obsession over a village girl- can he overcome the odds and rise above his outcast status to fulfill the dreams she has lit in his heart, of becoming a prince with a flaming sword, who lives in a palace with unbelievable riches, who will kill a thousand wicked men and win kingdoms for her? "You are not cruel enough," she taunts him, and he is compelled to prove her wrong.Despite his friend's dire warning that a life is a terrible thing to waste chasing after another's stars, the boy embarks on a life-changing adventure. He sets sail with idealistic fantasies of becoming an anonymous benefactor and winning her over, but his reality takes him to other places he had never even imagined. He is capable, and strong, but will others let him achieve his dreams? More importantly, will his own fears let him? And if he achieves them, will he survive the path he took? For, as one of the characters point out, "You cannot survive neglect and abuse and hope to emerge whole. You emerge in pieces, and you stitch yourself together as best as you can. And you live with the constant fear that one of these days, you will pull that loose thread and unravel the lot."This is the story of that boy, and the man he becomes, who attempts, against all odds, to grasp a future wilder than his wildest dreams, and discovers himself along the way. A story of love, and heartbreaks, and pain and discovery. A story of first kisses and first betrayals. A story of hope and disenchantment. A story of true love and its opposite. A story of swashbuckling warriors, and beautiful women, and wars, and intrigues set in a landscape of blurred lines between the good and the bad, the real and the unreal, the true and the false.