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Cover & Excerpt

The Stone of the Tenth Realm
by Eva Gordon
Realms Trilogy Book One

A young woman who escapes a Nazi concentration camp and stumbles into a parallel world.

Sophie Katz, a Jewish chemistry student, harrowingly escapes a Nazi concentration camp. By way of Prague and with the help of a golem and a magic stone, she is transported into the Tenth Realm, a magical dimension that parallels the world she left behind.

Logan MacLeod, a Scottish warrior, hunted for a crime he did not mean to commit, flees to the Bestiary, a forest so dangerous no man dares enter. Drawn by the haunting sound of his bagpipes, Sophie and Logan meet.

Even as love ensues, the dark evil of the Third Reich threatens the Tenth Realm, led by Gustaf Hissler, Adolph Hitler’s doppelganger.

Together they must join the forces against Hissler in the Tenth Realm and help stop Hitler from world domination in Sophie’s realm. Will they be able to stop the Third Reich before its evil conquers all of the realms?
Originally published in 2008, this has been converted from British English to US English, re-edited, and given a new cover

Genre: Paranormal Fantasy
Content/Theme(s): Alchemy, Golem, Sorcery, Magic, Shifters, Werewolves, Parallel universes, Historical, WWII, Romance
Release Date: April 15, 2015
Publisher: Indie

Excerpt & More

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Excerpt:
This time, instead of wearing his fine suit and trimmed beard, her grandfather looked just like the other prisoners: dirty, old and in poor health.

“Zayde, what happened?”

“This is my true appearance. What you saw before was an illusion of how you remembered me. You look like a princess.” He sighed. “Although quite a thin one.”

Sophie stared at her fresh clothes. “And is what I’m wearing an illusion? Will it be only temporary?”

“No, Katerina found everything here in the sorting station. Her spirit was in physical form during the time it took to find everything.”

“I don’t know why, but I believe you. I mean, how could I not after all that has happened? I physically touched Katerina. How can that not be real? And Ruth, she said all along that I would soon be visited by an angel.” Her voice trembled. “Zayde, are you…”

“Sha, sha, I’m no angel. Now take the box with the two gemstones and this parchment to awaken Yossel.”

“Why don’t you come with me? If you can conjure a spell for me to leave Terezin, why can’t you do one for yourself?”

He raised a brow, perhaps in offence. “First of all, this is not a spell, and second, I’m destined to soon join the world to come. My only purpose now is to see that you are safely taken from this pit.”

“I see.” She lowered her chin to her chest.

He hugged her and held her tight. “Now, always remember an old man’s dying wish to see his granddaughter live. Once I know you are safe, I can die in peace.”

“But…” she said, sniffing back more tears.

He let go of her and wiped her tears with a rag. “Come with me. A man with a horse and wagon is waiting for you.”

They walked up the stairs and stepped out into the crisp cold night. An unusual thick layer of fog made it hard to see the buildings.

She huddled into her new high quality wool coat, grateful for its warmth. “Besides placing the parchment in Yossel’s mouth, is there anything else I must do?”

He whispered. “Once the golem is activated, you must remain safe in the Altneushul for a while. Yossel will go out and get food and drink. He has the power of invisibility. If you are discovered, then you must allow Yossel to use a mystic stone to cast you into another realm.”

Sophie followed him into an alleyway, stopped, and handed him the box. “Which realm?”

He opened the box. “You must choose between the Ninth and the Tenth.”

“But which stone is which, and how will I know which one is best?”

“The Ninth Realm is represented by this grey gemstone. Your parents and perhaps you would enjoy this realm.” He displayed the shiny silver stone in his trembling fingers. “It is the world of rationality, but at the cost of no spirituality.”

“Really, how so?”

“The Ninth Realm parallels our world, only they followed the path of pure science and rational thought. There was never a Hitler, nor camps. In this world, there are no religions, no spiritualism, no Judaism, for all Jews long ago became part of this ultra secular society,” he scoffed with distain. “In the ninth realm, people are on the verge of traveling to the stars. They will eventually become a society bred for logical thought. As time passes, there will be a loss of human emotions. As a scientist, you might find this realm appealing, but eventually you will realize it leaves you cold and without a soul. It is the ultimate materialistic world. There will be no hate and no love.”

“No hatred of Jews?” Perhaps in this realm, she could work on chemistry, a better world.

“Perhaps, you would rather consider the Tenth Realm. I know less about it, except that your great great-grandfather Saul once escaped to this realm and was never heard from again. Then again, some thought he drowned in the river while on a business trip. Who knows? He was one of the best scholars of the Kabbalistic texts the Sefer Yetzirah and the Zohar.”

“Does their world accept Jews?”

He shrugged. “No one really knows. It’s a world completely of magic. It never developed industry. In the Tenth Realm, you would have no need for science or industrialization. Instead of being a chemist, you would be an alchemist creating gold out of simple stone.” He handed her back the two stones and the box.

Sophie placed the grey stone back and then ran her thumb across the black stone’s smooth surface. “Tell me about the black stone.”

“Its energy emanates from the world of magic. It is obsidian and used for astral travel.”

Sophie quickly placed the black stone back in the box. “I think I would do much better in the rational world and not the magical one.”

“Well, you have time to think about it. If Yossel sends you off, you must command him to remove the parchment from his mouth. This will put him to sleep, and he will turn into a lifeless pile of mud. Last time I saw him, I left the aleph on his head so that he may be called on when needed.”

Ghosts, magical stones, and the golem? She drew in a breath and released it. The scientist in her clouded her mind with doubts. There had to be a logical explanation for his and her delusions. The wine might have caused her to imagine Katerina. Or maybe it was an act to get her to safety? Perhaps her grandfather had bribed someone to take her to the safety of the Altneushul, which the Germans had mysteriously not touched.

He gently hurried her along by pulling on her sleeve. “We must leave now for it is past midnight and there is no moon.”

“Just search lights and dogs,” she said sarcastically.

They walked to the outskirts of the hospital. The guards and dogs patrolled as usual; however, they calmly walked past them as he had instructed her. None of the guards noticed. It seemed she and her grandfather were invisible. The usually vicious dogs sensed them and looked up. Instead of snarling, they simply wagged their tails as any pet dog would.

“This way,” signaled her grandfather.

Sophie followed him out into a small pasture behind the ghetto hospital. The distant murmur of the German guards talking amongst themselves broke the silence.

When she turned back to look, she stood beyond the gates. Her eyes widened. But the gate remained closed.

Her grandfather waved at a peasant waiting for Sophie with his horse and wagon.

“Please, Zayde, come with me.”

“I can’t. You must hurry now.”

“But it will take at least three days to get to Prague. I’ll get caught,” she said, still doubting.

“No, he will deliver you to Prague long before sunrise. Just listen to the sound of the violinist Dalibor. He will guide you to the secret opening of the Altneushul Synagogue.”

Sophie remembered the story of the ghost violinist of Prague and shivered.

The man on the wagon stepped down and signaled with a tilt of his head to come. She boarded the back of the wagon and teary-eyed glanced back at her zayde.

“Now go, and choose wisely, Sophia Marjeta.”

“I shall,” she promised.

Her grandfather walked away and disappeared into the shadows.

Sophie took one last look at her prison. In the thick fog of the cold evening, she could no longer make out the camp. The rhythmic movement of the wagon and her full stomach soon lulled her into a deep sleep.
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