I thought about the Eldest I had killed. I thought about Andahar. And I thought about my mother. And how the many solstices I had been away from Axyum had changed everything. How the Elders had changed my life as well as of those that I cared about.
I looked back at Cestia. “No,” I replied, “it will only end when we put an end to the wrong leaders.” There were two cadavers on the ground close to us, one Yellow and one Black. “Look at them,” I said, kneeling. I gently removed their masks. “Do they look that different to you? Which one is the peaceful shepherd and which one is the ruthless warrior?”
She turned cold. “All I know is that the Blacks caused all this, not the Red, not the Yellow or Blue, Violet, Green or Orange.”
“The Black Elders caused this,” I corrected her.
“And they will do it again, unless we stop them,” she said. “We need to attack them, right in the heart of Axyum, just like they did with Samaris. Make them fear us.”
I rose to my feet. “Yes, but it is also time to unite the territories, Cestia. And tell the truth about chromes, once and for all. Truth will be our most effective weapon”
“We shall do this with you, Harlequin.” It was Ddeko. He was holding Sitria’s hand. The Orange sister added: “Sister Cestia is right. They will come back… unless we attack them first.”
I was surprised to hear these words. The victory had changed the Yellow and Orange. It was as if the sheep had turned into wolves.
Cestia removed her mask and threw it in one of the fires. “If we are to be messengers of truth we might as well begin with ourselves.” She came close to me and took my hand. I squeezed it tight.
Sitria then went up to the fire and removed her mask and threw it in. We looked at Ddeko, waiting for his response. He finally nodded and did the same.
I looked down the length of the valley. The sky dimmed and the wind began to blow strong. It would be a long night… before the new dawn.
Don’t miss A New Dawn, the fourth book in Asheva’s quest to unite the Territories! On sale now!
Book 4 A New Dawn
In Book Four, the war to end all wars has begun. Chromes of different colors need to unite and overcome their differences. In the mean time, the love between Asheva and Cestia is put to the test and the outcome is anything but certain…
Life, death, friendship, freedom…they all merge into a new, breathtaking journey into the territories, where a new dawn has just begun.
And if you enjoyed the series so far and want to help other readers discover it, there is no better way than by posting a review on Amazon. Your opinion really does mean a lot, to me and to other readers. Thank you!
- Roberto
About the Author
Roberto Ricci is a fiction writer of short stories, novels and screenplays. He has been amongst other things a journalist, an officer in the Italian Army and a Senior Executive in a children’s entertainment company. He has attended NYU and the European Business School and has lived in Tokyo, New York, Rome, Milan, Paris and London. He is represented by the Koko Media Agency in London.
You can follow him on Amazon at:
www.amazon.com/author/robertoricci
The following eBooks are also available from the same author:
2016 – Stories From The Near Future
A collection of short stories all based in the year 2016 including Parablu and Sweet Dreams Inc.
Parablu : Jimmy, an 8 year old boy, suffers from terrible headaches due to an innovative virtual school program sponsored by Anamast, a leading Search Engine Corporation. The cure seems to be an unusual liquid called Parablu…
Sweet Dreams Inc.: Sweet Dreams Inc. is the market leader for “virtual transfers”, consisting in the physical termination of human beings and transfer of their existence onto the company’s servers, making their customers virtually yours…forever. That is also the case of Sam Jacobsen’s wife, Deirdre, who decides to become a Sweet Dreams customer despite Sam’s will. Yet, unexpectedly, once the transfer occurs, Sam becomes quite happy with his new virtual spouse until a small, minor detail makes him suspicious…
Game Theory
John Di Garda, an American residing in London, has just lost his investment banking job. Reading through the paper, he is intrigued by a curious ad about a real life, alternate reality game. As he soon discovers, the game he will play is one between life and death. From a bomb scare near Buckingham Palace, for which he will be the prime suspect, to the kidnapping of his girlfriend, John begins to unfold a surreal world which seems to rotate all around him.
The Return
Daniel is an American expat living in Italy. After a business deal gone sour, he loses himself in the Italian Summer where he will confront his past and find the way to make amends with his present. The Return takes the reader on an emotional road trip from Milan to Florence to Spoleto through the critical and passionate eye of its author.
Copyright
© 2014 Roberto Ricci
Published by Pantomimus Media Ltd.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. Any unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Cover art and illustrations by Pascal Demure - www.pascaldemure.fr
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