Everflame: The Complete Series
by Dylan Lee Peters
Copyright © 2014 Dylan Lee Peters
DEDICATIONS
To my father, my mother, and my sister,
who taught me how to fight my darkness,
and to my Amber,
who gives me a reason to,
every day.
And to the memory of Dean,
whose heart burned like a flame.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
BOOK ONE: EVERFLAME
EARTH
Chapter 1: Of Wolves and Children
Chapter 2: Defiance
Chapter 3: Blood and Fire
Chapter 4: Rumors
Chapter 5: The Ancients
Chapter 6: Lights In The Sky
Chapter 7: For The Kingdom
FIRE
Chapter 8: Regret
Chapter 9: Need
Chapter 10: A Storm
Chapter 11: Darkness and Rage
Chapter 12: Revelation
Chapter 13: Ghosts
Chapter 14: The Messenger
WIND
Chapter 15: A Rite of Passage
Chapter 16: The Plan
Chapter 17: Poor Ale and A Fine Bear
Chapter 18: The Family Floyd
Chapter 19: The Glass Desert
Chapter 20: Who Is Your Leader?
WATER
Chapter 21: Between the Earth and the Sky
Chapter 22: Biding Time
Chapter 23: Hearing Voices
Chapter 24: Taken
Chapter 25: Leverage
Chapter 26: The Witch’s Nightmare
Chapter 27: An Unlikely Pair
Chapter 28: Light in the Darkness
Chapter 29: Into the Blinding White Light
Chapter 30: The Gift of The Wind
Chapter 31: Confusion
Chapter 32: The Cycle
BOOK TWO: THE BURNING MAN
MESSENGER
Chapter 1: A New Purpose
Chapter 2: At the Heart of the Mountain
Chapter 3: Captain Nesbitt’s Galley
Chapter 4: Memories of Fire
Chapter 5: Reservation for Three
Chapter 6: The Rusty Nail
Chapter 7: The Sowing Fields
Chapter 8: The Hunter
Chapter 9: Relics
Chapter 10: The Gate
Chapter 11: A Fallen Beast
Chapter 12: A Bitter Old Dog
LIFE
Chapter 13: Breaking Down Walls
Chapter 14: The Coast of Felaqua
Chapter 15: The Trail of Faith
Chapter 16: Tradition
Chapter 17: Warm and Fuzzy
Chapter 18: The Pale Genie
Chapter 19: Nobody Ever Believes Me
Chapter 20: Poison
Chapter 21: Behind Vacant Eyes
Chapter 22: Father
Chapter 23: His Eyes Go Red
Chapter 24: The White Mouse
JOURNEY
Chapter 25: Caught
Chapter 26: Abandonment
Chapter 27: The Responsibility of Decision
Chapter 28: The Waning Light
Chapter 29: The Plan for Peace
Chapter 30: What We Want to Believe
Chapter 31: The Tale of Strongback
Chapter 32: The Weight of Uncertainty
Chapter 33: The Slip
SHADOW
Chapter 34: A Mother’s Love
Chapter 35: Suffering
Chapter 36: Blister, Crackle and Burn
Chapter 37: Bahknar
Chapter 38: Home
BOOK THREE: WAR CRY
Chapter 1: The Wind
NORTH
Chapter 2: In the Hands of Chaos
Chapter 3: You Can Trust Me
Chapter 4: Around Friends and Family
Chapter 5: Cold Moon
Chapter 6: Taking to the Road
Chapter 7: Judgment and Reason
Chapter 8: Eagle Feathers
Chapter 9: You Are Not a Slave To This
Chapter 10: Blackout
Chapter 11: Catalyst
Chapter 12: Know Me Darkness; Know Me Well
Chapter 13: Visions
Chapter 14: Daughters of the Skyfather
Chapter 15: A Barely Rising Sun
SOUTH
Chapter 16: Man of Metal
Chapter 17: An Old Friend
Chapter 18: The Valley of Morsus
Chapter 19: Disobedient Friends
Chapter 20: Harena
Chapter 21: Unbroken
Chapter 22: Cruel Children
Chapter 23: Dendrata
Chapter 24: Broken
EAST
Chapter 25: An Impossible Situation
Chapter 26: Crude Love
Chapter 27: The Deviant Faith
Chapter 28: Weapons of the Suffering
Chapter 29: The Mystic Mountain
Chapter 30: Sister Chera
Chapter 31: Deep into Aplistia’s Chest
Chapter 32: Pandemonium
Chapter 33: What Do You Believe?
Chapter 34: Awaken, Mighty One
Chapter 35: Collision
Chapter 36: Aella
WEST
Chapter 37: Heavy Metal
Chapter 38: A New Leader
Chapter 39: A Dying Wish
Chapter 40: The Final Test
Chapter 41: Beyond Reason
Chapter 42: Dust
Chapter 43: War Cry
BOOK FOUR: AS THE DARKNESS WAITS
Chapter 1: One Hundred and Fifty Years After
TOMAS THE EAGLE
Chapter 2: One Deliberate and Purposeful Step
Chapter 3: A Place of Honor
Chapter 4: Reconcile
Chapter 5: Search for Blue
Chapter 6: Distance Between the Sun and the Moon
Chapter 7: Riddles in the Dark
Chapter 8: Waiting for the Sun
Chapter 9: The Hand of a God
BEN THE GIANT
Chapter 10: Perspective
Chapter 11: A New Wind
Chapter 12: The Master’s Game
Chapter 13: A Wonderful Red Dress
Chapter 14: Evil Tyrants Should Beware
Chapter 15: Overcome by Darkness
Chapter 16: Stronger with You
Chapter 17: The Thread of the Bombyx Mori
IOLANA THE BEAVER
Chapter 18: On a Beach
Chapter 19: Demons of War
Chapter 20: The Wife of the Warrior Gen D’hisi
ANNIE THE BUFFALO
Chapter 21: Upon the Snowy Plateau
Chapter 22: The Great Destroyer
Chapter 23: A Last Laugh
Chapter 24: Upon The Breaker’s Crest
Chapter 25: Fate of the Worm
RIVERPAW THE TURTLE
Chapter 26: The Truth of a Nation
Chapter 27: The Welcome in Nefas
Chapter 28: Into the Fray
Chapter 29: Love, Darkness and the Electric Hum
Chapter 30: Battle in the Streets of Nefas
Chapter 31: In the Tower
Chapter 32: A Deal is Struck
EVERCLOUD THE BEAR
Chapter 33: At the Heart of the Everflame
Chapter 34: In Judgment of the Light
Chapter 35: Unforgiven
Chapter 36: The Way That Cannot Be Seen
Chapter 37: The Light of the Everflame
DENSA THE WOLF
Chapter 38: The Falls
BOOK ONE
EVERFLAME
EARTH
Chapter 1: Of Wolves and Children
“Fath
er, why am I called Evercloud?”
“You are a mystery, my son, like a cloud that continues forever. No one can see through to what lies on the other side.”
King Eveneye sat next to his son and looked at him pensively. He did not know how old his son was, but he was beginning to grow as large as some of the humans the king had seen outside of his kingdom. Eveneye was King of Bears, and as he gazed down at the human boy he called son, his mind wandered back to that fateful night, before he were king. He wondered, as he always did, if he had made the right decision.
• • •
The night was humid and fireflies danced between the pines as Eveneye fished with Whiteclaw, both of them standing in a stream. The Kingdom of Bears slept peacefully in their caves, a couple of miles away from the stream. It was not common for bears to fish at night in the land of Ephanlarea, at least, not for most bears. Eveneye and Whiteclaw were among the exceptions. Both bears were full-grown and large; they were not brothers by birth, but still very close to each other. The two were often mistaken as siblings, given that they were such good friends and that they looked so much like each other. They were of the same build and had the same black fur. The only difference to someone that did not know them well, was that the fur on Whiteclaw’s front, right paw was colored white, hence his name. Both of the bears held jobs in the Kingdom as prominent members of the King’s advisors. The two friends had the same likes and dislikes, even the same hobbies. They counted fishing as their favorite. In fact, they were the best fishers in the Kingdom.
It was very difficult to fish at night, yet the lack of competition produced the most bountiful catches. The difficulty in night fishing was that you could not see what was happening in the water. Due to this, hearing, touch and instinct were the primary tools of making a catch.
Eveneye stood in the stream, feeling the water pass through his fur, eyes closed, and listening to the rush of the water. Whiteclaw stood in the very same fashion, six feet to the right of Eveneye. Together they were a fish-catching team, creating a gate in the stream that the fish must pass through. Their reflexes were unparalleled. The blink of an eye might miss a catch. They were flawless in their execution, standing like meditating statues, attune to everything around them. A wolf howled in the distance. A squirrel ran through some brush. The water rushed. Whiteclaw’s arm darted to the left and came up with the first catch of the night. He threw it to the shore. Neither bear made a sound. The water rushed. There was a movement on the surface of the water. Eveneye darted to his left and came up with his first catch. He threw it ashore, returned to position, and the fishing continued. They went along this way until they had caught twenty fish apiece.
“I’m hungry,” stated Whiteclaw.
“Yes. Let’s be done,” returned Eveneye.
They waded out of the water and began to gather their catch into sacks they had brought with them. Some of the fish never made it into the sacks, as the bears snatched a few of the larger fish and devoured them. Whiteclaw smacked his lips with pleasure and grunted in satisfaction. The moon was pale in the sky and dark clouds were beginning to move across it. A rustling was heard throughout the forest as the wind suddenly picked up.
“Rain comes,” said Eveneye.
“Yes,” said Whiteclaw.
They fastened the sacks around their necks and began to make their way back home. Again, a wolf howled in the distance, closer though. Twigs and branches snapped under the bears’ paws and the wind whipped through their fur. It became harder and harder to see where they were going as the moonlight became obscured by rainclouds. Fortunately, Eveneye and Whiteclaw could have walked the path home with their eyes closed.
The two bears had encountered far worse than rain and darkness in these woods. When they were younger, they had been caught in the woods during a blizzard and were forced to take shelter as it passed. They had made their shelter from fallen trees, and huddled underneath them for fifteen hours before the storm had finally passed. When they had emerged again, they recognized nothing of the forest and it had taken them almost two days to find their way home. There had also been a time when human hunters had ambushed the two bears on their trail home. Eveneye and Whiteclaw were fully-grown bears and they had dispatched the humans rather quickly, but not before suffering wounds from the humans’ spears. They could spend a night telling tales of their forays into the forest and often did.
The woods were dense and had a thick layer of underbrush, not found in all forests. The canopy was high and wide; it was a very old forest. It was said, in the lore of the bear, that the elder bears did not choose this forest to build their kingdom, but that the forest chose them to be its protectors. This was passed down as birthright to all bears. Respect the forest; protect the forest. It was mother to them all.
Lightning flashed, thunder rumbled and it began to rain. Whiteclaw grumbled and Eveneye chuckled.
“What’s the matter? We were already wet from the stream.”
“That was by choice,” replied Whiteclaw.
Both bears laughed heartily as lightning flashed across the night sky. Eveneye stopped laughing and perked his ears.
“Do you hear that?”
“Hear what? The rain?”
“No, it sounds like a human child, crying.”
Both bears began turning their heads from side to side, trying to hear better. Contact with humans was a rarity for the bears, but it had happened enough to adult bears that they would be able to recognize the sobs of a human child. This was, in fact, the third time Eveneye had heard a child cry. The first time had been during a rite of passage that young, male bears impose upon each other. The adults disapprove of it, yet it still continues, mostly without their knowledge. During the tenth year of a male bear’s life, he is expected to wake the humans in a nearby village by running through the village, roaring and causing general havoc. Eveneye had done nothing horrible during his own rampage. Yet he had still heard the cries of many children, scared at seeing a large bear charging through their village. The second time had been when he had stumbled upon a family of humans camping in the forest. Again, the crying of the child had only come from the fear of seeing him.
The cries Eveneye heard now seemed different, but he could not place how. After a moment of listening, both bears agreed that the sound was coming just west of their location.
“Should we investigate?” asked Eveneye.
“Why? We will only put ourselves in a bad situation when we encounter the adults that the child is with,” said Whiteclaw incredulously.
“I don’t hear other humans. It sounds as if the child is alone.”
“What do you imagine yourself doing, Eveneye? Consoling the child? Coddling it until its parents return and try to attack you? They’ll be a bit braver than usual if they see you around their child.”
Just then, the crying became more intense and sounds of growling could be heard from the same direction. Wolves, thought Eveneye.
“I’m going,” he said. Eveneye dropped his fish and ran off in the direction of the sobs.
“You fool!” barked Whiteclaw, dropping his fish as well, and then running after Eveneye.
Eveneye moved as fast as he could through the forest, though it was difficult in the dark and rain. He didn’t know why he felt so compelled to come to the child’s aid. He had never done anything like this in his life, though something inside of him told him to move on. Something inside of him knew it would be wrong to ignore the cries of the child. The rain beat against Eveneye’s face and mud caked his paws, his breathing grew heavy and his muscles began to ache. The cries were getting louder and louder, tearing against his consciousness. It kept him driving forward. He must save the child. Terrible visions of what he might find flashed through Eveneye’s mind. The cries intensified, intermingling with the growls of the wolves and the sound of rain. Eveneye felt that he were in a nightmare he would never escape from, running toward a goal he would never reach, chilled by the rain and the screaming of a child.
He was upon the pack before they knew he was there. Eveneye rose into the air, roaring with fury, and then came crashing down with his massive paws upon the first black beast, crushing its skull. The wolves were stunned and Eveneye took the opportunity to attack again. He lunged toward the closest wolf, catching its neck in his maw. The bear rose on his hind legs and shook the wolf, trapped between his jaws, biting down as hard as he could. The wolf’s neck snapped and Eveneye dropped its filthy corpse to the forest floor.
The remaining wolves had again gained their composure, and now it was Eveneye’s turn to be caught unaware. The wolves pounced, seemingly at once, and sunk their yellow teeth into the bear’s hide. Eveneye spun and one of the wolves was shaken loose from its hold. Momentarily forgetting the other teeth sunk into his flesh, Eveneye swiped at the dislodged wolf, sending it crashing into a tree at the edge of the clearing. Searing pain returned Eveneye’s attention to the two wolves, still tearing at him. He tried to shake them off, but it was no use. The wolves had gained strong holds in areas that were difficult for Eveneye to reach. One wolf was directly on top of his back, with its teeth sunk in his neck, and the other was on the right side of the bear, just below his ribs. He tried a few swipes but could not hit the wolves with enough strength to dislodge them. Then an idea struck him. Eveneye tilted his body to the right and then jumped into the air, allowing all of his weight to come down upon the wolf at his ribs. He felt the body of the wolf crush under his weight, and the hold it had on him relinquished as the life left its body.
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