The Comet Riders: Book Five of Seeds of a Fallen Empire

by Anne Spackman

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  As the Seishinna’s main shuttle descended through the quick rush of thin, vaporous clouds, the planet's landscape appeared below. The city they had seen in the broadcasted transmissions was located in the middle of wide, rolling green plains and rugged hills, some covered by short dark green vegetation, others near a vast stretch of water only open white sand plains dotted by small plants. In the distance, they could see vast expanses of white-capped mountains and verdant foothills, the predominant feature of the surrounding landscape.

  Lier found himself speechless as he absorbed the sight of the planet, nothing like the familiar terrain of Seynorynael with its pale green and silvery lyra trees, emerald shiyar-inn trees and its indigo flower fields. This world was a collage of deep greens in the fields and trees with swatches of purple, rose, blue, peach, yellow, and white; yet it had a unique beauty to it. He wondered if perhaps Seynorynael might have developed more like this world, if Valeria had not been a bluish-white star.

  The captain’s shuttle from Seishinna landed on the plains outside the city and waited for the alien emissaries.