I get asked a lot why I chose Druids for my Dark Sword series.  I find the legend of the Druids fascinating.  There are so many conflicting accounts.  Some records show the Druids to be spiritual leaders who helped heal the sick and gave counsel to kings and other leaders.

The Romans would have us believe they were the basest of humans who routinely sacrificed humans and animals in order to appease their pagan gods.

So who’s right?  I don’t think we’ll ever know.  We all know that whoever writes history controls history, so I think it’s safe to say Rome may have exaggerated a bit.  Or maybe not. ;)

It was the knowledge that the Druids could have been a mixture of any number of things that led me into more research into them.  I find their culture fascinating, especially how it continues to this day.

All the research helped me to develop my own mythology and legend in my basis for the Dark Sword series.  Between the Druids and the primeval gods locked in my Highlanders.

In DARKEST HIGHLANDER (Jan 31 2012), there are two different sects of Druids.  I have the mies, or the good Druids who keep to their pure magic.  They are one with nature.  They heal, share their wisdom, and protect the innocent.

Then there are the droughs.  The droughs are Druids who, upon their eighteenth year, undergo a ceremony where they give their blood and soul to evil thereby forfeiting all the good inside them.  The evil takes over, and in doing so gives them a more powerful magic – black magic.  Of course, the villain, is a drough.

So how can the mies combat the droughs if the droughs have more powerful magic?  That is a good question, and one I visit with every book of this series I write.  In DARKEST HIGHLANDER the heroine has the power to heal with her magic, but she also has the rare magic of communicating with trees.  It’s that magic that has helped Sonya stay alive and out of Deirdre, the villain’s, hands.

The Druids’ magic can help or hinder the power of my Highlanders since each god inside the heroes gives them special powers.  For Broc, his power is to find anyone, anywhere.   Which definitely comes in handy when you need to find someone. J

In the acclaimed Dark Sword series, the darkest, fiercest warriors of Scottish legend finally meet their match—in the brave, fiery hearts of the women they cherish…

HE IS HER SALVATION

For years, Broc has watched over her, protected her—and hidden his love for her. But when his beautiful Sonya finds herself in a hopeless situation, the Highlander flies to her side to save her. Unfortunately, before the Druidess can thank him, Broc is captured by his enemy and destined for eternal pain…

SHE IS HIS DESTINY

Sonya vows to help her noble warrior, though he is imprisoned in a mountain of pure evil—bound in chains of the darkest magic. With Sonya’s own magic fading, she must summon the greatest power of all to save the man she loves. But even if these two hearts are united, will they be strong enough to defeat the heart of darkness? Or will their undying love doom them for all eternity…?

Want to read an excerpt from DARKEST HIGHLANDER, then visit www.donnagrant.com/darkest-highlander.

If you could have magic, what kind would you have?

I’ll be giving away a signed copy of SHADOW HIGHLANDER, the fifth in the series to a commenter.  Happy Reading!

To find out more about me and my books, read more about the Dark Sword series, see pics of the Warriors, take the quiz, download wallpaper, search characters, and watch the book trailers, please visit www.donnagrant.com

Hugs,

D