The Woodland Tombs
Of Eliantar
by
Gary Gaugler Jr
The Woodland Tombs of Eliantar
Copyright 2015 by Gary Gaugler Jr.
All rights reserved. Without prior permission from the publisher, this work may not be redistributed, may not be reproduced, may not be copied electronically, and may not be resold in any form.
Gaugler-Libby LLC
P.O. Box 421
Stockertown, PA 18083
For sales, permissions, and all other inquiries, contact:
https://eliantarbooks.wix.com/eliantar
ISBN 978-0-9962820-0-0
Allentown, Pennsylvania
First Edition
Acknowledgments
Thank you to my wonderful family who has not only always been understanding, but also incredibly encouraging. I love you all. Thanks to Dan Mare for his amazing cover design that perfectly reflects my vision. Special thanks also to Scott Cormack for giving Dan a hand! Martene Fay Bruder for her ability to adapt her artistic abilities into cartography. Amber Moschini and Elizabeth K. Rosen for copy editing. Catherine M. Wilson for formatting. Liz Bradbury and Patricia Sullivan for being my first beta readers and a wealth of support during the creative process. A special thanks to all of my other beta readers: Kristen Cremeens, Casey Gaugler, Lenora Dannelke, Nancy Benner, William Benner, Aida Cruz, Pamela Gaugler, and Gary Gaugler Sr. You’ve helped both me and this story grow. None of this would have been possible without the love, support, and persistence of Stephen Libby. Thank you for pushing me to not leave this story sitting on a dusty shelf and thank you for giving my life so many smiles. I love you.
This book is dedicated to Stephen Libby. I’ve long dreamt of other worlds, filled with magic and fantasy. Our life together has served to inspire me even further. Thank you for adding some magic and fantasy to this world.
Prologue
Once Upon a Time there was no Happily Ever After. You see, not all stories from worlds other than ours are glowing tales of princes rescuing princesses from evil dragons and witches and living happily ever after. Not all worlds are beautiful sprawling domains with grassy hills, sparkling streams, and enchanted creatures. Many worlds are black voids where very little life can even exist, and the life that is there is as black and insidious as the realm itself. In worlds like that there can be no happy ending because there was never hope to be found in the beginning.
There are also worlds, however, that are beautiful fairy-tale worlds of splendor that become dark realms of evil over time. These worlds with tales of crumbling majesty are rarely spoken of in nursery rhymes or bed time stories.
Eliantar was one such world, although to have seen it in its glory, one would never suspect the imminent downfall that awaited the celebrated land. What proceeds is the story of Eliantar in its final years. The sad irony was that the waning years for Eliantar, the last decade before its demise, were the best years in the lands long history. However, it is terribly disheartening to begin a story at the end and although Eliantar did not have a Happily Ever After, it of course did have a Once Upon a Time that generations of the world’s inhabitants told to their children.
Once upon a time in a universe far away from any known before, a group of elemental gods came together to create a new world. They all agreed that it should be a paradise, one that would outshine all the other worlds that they had created. And so, summoning all of their strength the group of gods created an enormous flat plain in the black void of space.
They realized at once they had made this planet far too large as their intention had been for a small paradise. It was their belief and their experience that when they tried to make a beautiful thing too large, it didn’t stay beautiful but rather, ate itself from the inside out.
And so in a fluid movement, most of the planet was consumed with raging waters, leaving a still quite large island in the middle. The edges of the new world were ridged with mountains for containment. Following this, they all agreed that they would each take a day for themselves to bring to this world what they envisioned as paradise.
Thus, the gods and goddesses had successfully created another beautiful world. Most of the gods had chosen a section of land along the perimeter of the world to represent the element they controlled, but there was still something missing. All throughout the middle of the land there was nothing but empty fields. The gods often found newly created worlds that didn’t include humans, lacked a certain luster. And so, on that ninth day, humans were brought to rule over the land of Eliantar.
Galaxies away, a much older world was dying. The gods, in their graciousness, took the humans from that world that were good and just and sent them to Eliantar. The people called themselves Elites and brought all of the wonderful things to the world that humans do. Towns were built with libraries and schools, old laws were written again for the new world, and a monarchy was created to uphold the laws, oversee protection from possible threats, and keep the world unified. Arktur the Courageous became the first King of Eliantar and the people rallied behind him as he had bravely settled and established the new domain.
The gods also worked together to pack the lands with lesser creatures. They filled the forests, the lakes, and deserts. There were even rare species that were willing to live on the highest mountains or in the hottest environments. The world was almost finished and they could sense it. Eliantar was nearing the perfect harmony that they had envisioned days ago. The gods were very pleased with themselves until they noticed one small problem.
Eliantar was a very small world. But, then again this is what they had wanted. It seems that gods, especially these gods, were terribly indecisive. And why shouldn’t they be? After all, humans were modeled after the gods and they were terribly indecisive creatures. In any case, no matter who was to blame, Eliantar (though a paradise) was far too small.
To add to that fact the realms that the gods had created were, for the most part uninhabitable for humans, which left them even less space. They knew they’d have to figure out a way to make this new planet exist without overpopulating it in a few decades. After hours of discussion they only had one clear alternative.
Homosexuality was a naturally occurring phenomenon in the human race. Even when the gods had tried to find ways around it on other planets, after a few hundred years homosexuals would emerge in the human race at about a one to ten ratio. So, to control the population the gods increased the homosexual demographic and in mere moments, nine out of ten people on Eliantar were homosexual and it would stay this way until the end of the planet’s time. Not all of the higher powers were huge supporters of this proposal, but it seemed their hands were tied.
There was one final change made to the Elites of Eliantar. The gods were so thrilled with how well they had done. They had never put so much of themselves into a world before that they held this planet above all others in their minds. To illustrate this, they granted the humans special powers. It was nothing, of course, that could ever compare them with gods, but powers of survival and strength that would aid them along with their superior intelligence. Surely this land would flourish and all would be virtuous. It seemed infallible.
The factor that the gods always managed to forget is that no land is completely good. Something can be made beautiful and superb, but that does not make it invincible to darkness. Sooner
or later good and evil must both exist in the same space and then the fight begins to bring balance between the two. As long as both good and evil exist, one cannot survive without the other. Even though worlds that rule with goodness may seem better, it can be rest assured that they also are tinged with hints of evil. If a world has no evil, than there is no cause to be good. Therefore the ones that would be good are corrupted by evil themselves and thus a new group must use the light to stop them. It’s a terribly depressing point but an unavoidable one. It was a point that the gods had once again forgotten, for evil did eventually find its way to Eliantar.
It came in the form of Skarsend, the god of death and destruction. Though his role was necessary to maintain the balance of all things, Skarsend was hungry for more than just balance. It was in his nature to crave chaos and he was furious over the beauty that his brothers and sisters had created. Transforming into a scaly, winged monster, he flew across the land terrorizing all and killing whatever he could. The gods rallied as did the Elites under King Arktur. The beast, severely weakened, attempted to return home. He found, however, that he was no longer welcome, for the others had finally grown tired of his maliciousness. He was stripped of what powers they could take and cast back to Eliantar for the Elites to judge as they saw fit.
The monster that was Skarsend was locked away and doomed to spend all of eternity in a place that only few knew of. He swore to return and bring more onslaught than before, but he was paid no mind and left to rot and be forgotten.
The only remnant of Skarsend's memory came in the form of King Arktur's advisor who, with her gift of foresight, was able to see that Skarsend would not remain bound forever. She ranted and warned of the apocalypse he would bring with him when he broke his seal.
There is a light at the end of every tunnel of darkness. You see, as dark and unsettling as it is to read about heroes dying, picturesque lands being ravaged, and evil triumphing one must always remember that this, too, is not forever. Bad things may happen and heroes may fall, but eventually one day, in one way, death finds everyone. The wicked are not immune to deaths cold grip. It is easy to forget that fact…as bad things start to happen.
Towards the end of her life, she asked her friend, the King, to construct a great monument that would serve as a reminder of her warnings. Before the massive cathedral, the seer gave her last prophecy. She told of a great hero who would one day come and challenge Skarsend for the fate of Eliantar. Her words were inscribed on a pedestal, before the cathedral. They served as a beacon of hope for the next 2,000 years.
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