Tag: Sword & Sorcery

Hello again! I know, I know… Still waiting. But rest assured, it is getting closer. I have completed the first major milestone: the first rough draft is complete. 64,000 words so far with 30+ Chapters and 228 pages. After editing and rewrites, it will be probably closer to 68k.

Here is another excerpt to wet your appetite. Enjoy!

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PEHSHE SEAS, ABOARD THE CORRTA DA’EALE

A throbbing sensation pulsed in his side, but Rivyen ignored it as he held Lyndasia’s right hand in both of his. A few hours ago, the Menders had been forced to induce her into a coma.  And though, she slept soundly, it was not restful. Unconsciously, she pressed her left hand to her hip. The inflamed wound beneath continued to cause her great pain even in this deep state.

A soft rap at the door came from behind him.

“Yes. Come in,” he answered.

Master Tal Crowan stepped in. Rivyen gave him a quick glance over his shoulder. The monk was clean-shaven, forgoing his usual long silver goatee. His hair was slicked back and cut short. In his hands, he carried several parcels of parchment. His face was set in a frown, and he was biting at his bottom lip.

“I have not seen that expression often on your face. When I have, it accompanies bad or very concerning news. Which one is it tonight?” Rivyen asked sounding exhausted. His shoulders were slumped and his face was drawn from stress and exertion.

“Unfortunately, your observations are correct. I do have upsetting news. A few days ago, I sent some inquiries to the Tower of Toma Tova. I received word back an hour ago and I am troubled. Very troubled indeed. Has Lyndasia’s condition improved or has the wound accepted the mending treatments at all?”

Rivyen shook his head no as he placed a damp wet cloth over her forehead.

“Her symptoms are not isolated, Rivyen. Reports and findings all over the globe are describing many wounded soldiers who are experiencing the same. Their wounds will not heal and resist all efforts. The only common factor is that they all suffered wounds caused by the Cult’s weapons. The Beleardea have crafted something, a poison perhaps that can be used to taint their blades.”

“By the Gods,” Rivyen whispered. His injuries had not fully healed yet, but that was due to the extent and amount of them he received while dragged by horseback up the mountain on Risa. The very fact that he was surpassing her in his recovery was horrifying.  He met Tal’s eyes.

“Do not fret too much yet. The Tower stated that there are a lot of different clergy and Mending specialists looking into the matter. So, I am sure something will be discovered soon which can counter this.”

Both men stopped and studied the pale, feverish woman before them.

“Last night, I slipped a dose of Llanthe Flower into her cup of Brulla. I had to. Not only has she had bouts of cramping and pain during the day, but she screams often with night terrors. How can her body recover from all this?”

Tal placed a hand on the man’s shoulder. “The Ebon Queen has made significant progress into Alevada and has found a foothold on the Keliada coastline. The winter appears to be the only obstacle at this point from her capturing more or taking some of the Alliance neighboring countries. If the Ebon Queen’s armies can debilitate the wounded and keep them from recovering, it could mean a landslide victory for her in the spring.”

“What you are saying is that we are not the only ones getting desperate and running out of time.”

“The library sent me some of the latest findings on Veseo—“

“Veseo?” Rivyen interrupted, somewhat still distracted by watching his love descending deeper.

“That is the alternate plane where the prophecy says we can find Shei Goldenaar. It is where I need you to go and track her down. We will need her to fulfill her part in stopping the God of Rot,” Tal said. “I am sending young Rhenden to assist you.”

“I assume Magemaster Beross will help us get there?”

“Indeed. The problem you face the most is that land is sparse, it is mostly an ocean planet. And of course, the inhabitants will likely be protective of their resources so you’ll have to rely on that charm of yours,” he joked.

Rivyen shook his head. “I cannot leave her now, Master Tal. She is so weak and getting worse. How can you expect me to? You know what I have already lost! I will not lose her too.”

“I have no choice. Besides if the God of Rot wins this, what will it matter? Her life and everyone’s life will already be forfeit. You cannot afford to sit this battle out.”

Rivyen grew quiet and did not respond for several moments. “I am not a good swimmer, and I do not have a boat…”

“Ama’yen has graced us with a resolution: her eagle, Jomma.”

That surprised Rivyen who did finally turn away from Lyndasia this time to look back at Master Tal. “You serious?”

“She will give you some riding lessons before she herself returns to Aberrisc. I am having her return and retrieve Khedarr and his daughter Vii.”

“Do you think Khedarr will have some ideas on how to get Queen Letandra back?”

“I truly hope so,” Tal replied. “I will be going too to Brealtosh to find Ayreth Ryenoc. From what I have learned, Brealtosh has the opposite problem. They have little water. A lot of harsh wide open deserts.”

“What is the game plan then? Retrieve the descendants of these ancient paladins. Their lineage. Then what?”

“From the words of Taliah’s prophecy, if we obtain the Etohlosii artifacts we can use them to defeat and absorb the God of Rot—“

“Wait! That would mean first we have to defeat the current Etohlosii then allow the God of Rot to be released and reborn!”

“These are treacherous times. I do not relish the thought of the God of Rot walking our lands again. Hopefully, LLasher can find the Sage’s Notes and get us some ideas on how to stop the Etohlosii. If we have control of the cursed artifacts, he will never be unified.”

“Last night, I could not sleep. A question came to mind. There were five names connected to the Lineage. Taliah said five. Yet there are only four Etohlosii.”

Tal frowned and shrugged, but remained silent.

Rivyen sighed and then said, “Taliah’s words have yet to let us down. I have been quite the fool in all this. I did not trust her. Hells! I called her a traitor to her face. Yet through it all she has saved us many times over. I need to make things right with her.”

Tal nodded. “That may be very true, but it will have to be when you return.”

“I think it is time for you to reach out to King Jehah and the Keliada Alliance. We will need help!”

Suddenly Lyndasia gripped his arm, her fingernails digging into his skin. Her body bucked and spasmed. Tal shouted for the Menders, but they had already heard the commotion and were breaking into the room. One bumped Rivyen hard off his stool.

Tal helped him to his feet as he ushered him back into the doorway. “We need to give them space to do their work.”

The woman’s skin glistened from fever sweat. She writhed and moaned in agony as her healers tried to cast spells and apply cold compresses to her forehead and neck.

Her body abruptly went rigid. Lyndasia’s eyes popped wide open and glazed over, staring at the ceiling above her. She shrieked, “Our time is short! Stop wasting time! You must do more. Fight for your future. Fight for all the innocents of this world and the countless other worlds!” The words poured from her mouth but were not said in her voice. Neither man recognized the speaker.

Then as quick as it began, the shaking stopped, and her body relaxed. Lyndasia closed her eyes and dropped back into a calm slumber. The Menders continued to give her care, but it was obvious the crisis was over for the moment.

“I will stay tonight with her, but I will start those riding lessons with Ama’yen in the morning.” Rivyen was pale as he looked wearily at Master Tal. “We are running out of time.”

****

After the last mender left the room and closed the door, a patch of shadow in the southern corner of the room slid down the wall.  It separated and stood over Lyndasia’s prone body. Red eyes blinked open inside the mass.

The Deity Staff slowly studied the ill woman.  It was not here to do harm as sorely it was tempted to. Instead, it was here following orders to observe, gather information, and see how their enemies’ numbers fared. 

From all it heard, the Khestal Ezan Order was teetering on the brink. The so-called executive officers were all going in opposite directions or were recovering from injuries like this one.

The Deity Staff’s interests were piqued when it heard the words Plane of  Brealtosh. It had been there before and it left a heavy mark on the people there but that was generations ago. 

It decided it would report to Amaxiulus about the trips for these “lineage” individuals. However, the entity would personally travel to Brealtosh after Master Tal. It wanted to see the main world there again and it wanted revenge upon this insolent man. The entity would prevent them from finding Ayreth and kill the leader once and for all.

I wanted to share with you a little more of my upcoming novel, Beyond The Barrier of Storms (Wyvernshield #5). This is the finale of that epic tale and I have challenged myself to complete at least 500 words a day to see this novel completed and brought to you this year. I am a quarter through the book already, but it is highly likely to reach 70,000 words or more before it’s finished.

It is a labor of love to finish this as this series was my first and many of the characters have been in my head since 2015. They want their stories to be told and have been pushing hard for me to get it all written.

I do hope you enjoy the climatic end to this thrilling series. Here’s another sneak peek snippet… Enjoy!

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“We were able to move that E’llux object back here in the cargo hold. It is surprisingly heavy,” Scars said as he led the young couple deeper into the ship.

“I do not know what we will do if it grows any larger,” Rhenden remarked.

“I would say that it must be important if that being, The Deity Staff, wanted it so bad. We can better hide and protect it down here.” the veteran Flohki said.

They stopped abruptly as they saw a strange light coming from further down the hall. A glowing tallow light, similar to a candle radiated out around a door at the end of the hall. The light moved, then flowed, pulled back then wavered as if it had a mind of its own. All three of them stopped in awe. The sight transfixed them. Vibrations thrummed through their leather boots from the wooden floorboards.

“What is it doing?” Kaedaa whispered.

“It was not doing anything when we left it,” Scars assured them. He hesitated before he pulled open the door. “It never did anything like this before?”

They shook their heads. He twisted the knob and let the door swing inward. As they predicted, the E’llux was the source of the light after all. The entire room was brilliant and stung their eyes. 

The artifact had grown again and filled the majority of the corner where they had placed a nest of blankets. Now the unique stone art piece stood eight feet high and approximately eighteen feet wide. Within the layers of colors at the center of the magical stone, they could hear and see two spots emitting a rhythmic flutter. A dueling pair of heartbeats.

The outer layer of the stony surface had grown completely transparent and glassy. A set of incandescent orange and russet-brown eyes peered out at them from behind the ribbons of color. The eyes tracked their movements and were self-aware.

“Unbelievable,” Rhenden murmured. He glanced at Kaedaa who was quietly weeping, her eyes filled with joy.

“I knew! I knew it was right to protect it. I knew!” she exclaimed, trembling with her emotions.

On the right side of it, the Balshazra lizard, Akuem, lay there, his eyes closed, and one paw placed upon the surface.

Thin, faint lines were cut into the glass-like exterior layer, running slowly down the sides toward the bottom.  Contrasting orange-amber light pulsed out from the striations. Suddenly as one, the glass layers peeled away like a blossoming flower. The glass pedals pulled back to reveal a large animal body huddled inside. Wet, coarse, black-and-white fur covered its canine-like back end. A bushy tail curled up by one leg, ended with long purplish barbs. The torso covered in a combination of white feathers and brown patches of fur had three avian legs and feet with very long and sharp silver claws. The incandescent orange eyes now stared back at them from above a large wolfen snout. Twin long, tufted ears stood out from the head and twitched at any sounds.

“By the gods, I have never…” Scars murmured.

Massive black wings unfurled and flapped, encompassing the rest of the cargo hold. Dust blew up in choking clouds. The wings were marvels of color and shimmering flashes. The E’llux pulled them back and gathered the wings upon its back. 

It made no noise or any further movement. It studied them as they investigated it.

Akuem approached them and extended its arm for them to all take.

This is O Majestic E’llux. She is not a threat to you. She is a natural… phenomenon. A supernatural being called forth only in dire times such as what we face. In-Between is her home and defends against any threats to it. 

The E’llux had turned her stare and regarded the Duradramyn girl directly.  A loving warmth filled her large eyes. Akuem stopped and looked first at Rhenden then Kaedaa.

She wishes to extend her thanks to each of you for protecting her during her manifestation, her most vulnerable time, Akeum relayed to them.

Kaedaa dropped Akuem’s arm and cautiously approached the canine-avian beast. She raised her hands and with a ginger touch, stroked the drying fur on its head. In response, the E’llux purred which was in the form of vibrating auras. 

The three males watched in silence and remained awestruck at the majestic guardian that had been born before them.