Return to Now, Book One: the Infant Prince

First volume in the Return to Now series of fantasy adventure books for young adult readers by author Brian Shepp Wherein is chronicled: Jack's first contact with the fox-shifter Tija'l; the attack of the korvidai; his journey on the back of the silver dragon; Jack's vision of the prophecy of Avalani'ra; the reappearance of his childhood invisible friend, the wyvern, Orange; Jack's experience of the horrors of Kra'akal and its cursed citizens; the repayment of an old debt; and Jack's decision about journeying to the Now. Bullied middleschooler Jack Grayson has always felt like an outsider, as though he doesn't really belong in this world. As it turns out, he's right. He is actually from a magical otherworld called the Now. Eleven years ago, he was hidden in this ordinary world, switched with a human baby, to protect him from the fairling sourceweaver who killed his parents. And now, he is told, he must return to the land of his birth to save the Now from a living abomination that, even now, oozes its way across the realm, corrupting the land and enslaving its people. Now, normally, Jack wouldn't believe such a fairytale kind of tale. But it wasn't just anyone who told him; it was a telepathic white fox who suddenly shape-shifted into a human boy with the strangest amber eyes Jack had ever seen. And frankly, whether Jack believes it or not is irrelevant, because malign forces know it to be true. The boyling has been found, after all these years. And everything he once knew about what is "real" is about to be turned upside-down. 'Return to Now' is author Brian Shepp's first foray into the field of fantasy fiction. In the past, he has been a painter and fine artist, an award-winning indie filmmaker, screenwriter, and children's theater actor. He intends to be many other things in the future.