Ascendant: The Revelations of Oriceran (The Kacy Chronicles Book 2)

by A. L. Knorr

  Eohne's brows pinched together. "Are you sure that's a good idea?"

  Jordan huffed and nodded vigorously. She raised a finger to make a point as to why it was a good idea, then paused. The sound of Ashley unsheathing his blade as he carried her over the rock slabs in the driving rain rang in her memory. Her nod turned into a headshake.

  "Nope.”

  Jordan focused on her friend. The fact that Eohne was standing in front of her, in the flesh, and that Toth was sleeping in the next room, in the flesh, finally sank in. She put her finger down. "What are you doing here, Eohne?"

  Eohne nodded. "Yes. It's time we had that chat, isn't it?" She moved toward the door. "Let's go wake Toth."

  ***

  "You have reason to believe WHAT?" Jordan leapt to her feet, knocking the table with her hip and sending their breakfast sliding.

  Eohne and Toth snatched at the plates of eggs and feroth bacon and put them back in place. They shared a look that said they had expected a freak out.

  Jordan's heart was pounding and her eyes blazed. Her hands flew to her mouth as she muffled a stream of curse words.

  "That's why we're here," Toth reminded her. "Sit down. You can't think properly if you're panicking."

  Jordan sat like a mechanical doll. "The messenger bugs let him in? That seems like a pretty big design flaw, no?"

  Eohne nodded. "It's not part of the desired outcome, certainly."

  Jordan put her elbows on the table and dropped her forehead into her hands. "Please tell me you know where he is? Tell me he is okay?"

  "I had reason to believe he'd been taken to Vischer. I was there tracking him when Toth found you. Vischer is on the coast, where the Saour Desert meets the Rodanian Sea. It's nothing but an outpost, really."

  "And?" Jordan wrung her hands. "I'm guessing he wasn't there, or he'd be with you."

  "The gypsies handed him over to a warden. There was probably some sort of sham trial. Wardens get paid to convict, so they tend to…" Eohne tilted her chin down guiltily before she finished her sentence, "fast-track through the formalities."

  "And then?" Jordan asked, hoarsely.

  "He was put on a ship to Trevilsom."

  "Wait, I know that name." Jordan's eyes widened and her throat moved as she swallowed. Sol had mentioned Trevilsom. "It's a prison."

  Eohne and Toth both nodded soberly, their eyes glued to her face.

  "Are you telling me my father is in some miserable Oriceran jail?" The words came out in a horrified whisper.

  "Yes, but we're going to get him out." Toth said quietly, putting a hand over Jordan's. Her fingers clutched at his and reached for Eohne's. The three of them clenched hands. Jordan squeezed her eyes shut as her stomach swam. Her breakfast threatened to come up. The warm fingers entwining her own were the only anchors holding her down in a world where she felt otherwise completely adrift.

  Jordan felt a big, soft, punching glove full of gratitude thump her in the chest and she opened her eyes, which shone with unshed tears. "That's why you both came? To help me save my dad?" Her lower lip wobbled.

  "Of course," said Eohne. She looked uncomfortable and withdrew her hand to shift the straps of her bag to a better place on her shoulder. "I'm at least partially responsible for it happening," she said miserably. "If not fully."

  Jordan shook her head. "That's not true. You warned me there were risks."

  "Let's focus on next steps," interjected Toth, preferring proactivity to rumination.

  Jordan nodded vigorously. "Yes. Okay, so where is Trevilsom?"

  Eohne pulled a soft scroll with shredded edges from her bag. She unrolled it and laid it on the table in front of them, using their plates to hold down the edges.

  "What, no holographic 3D map?" said Jordan.

  "Give me a few weeks, and sure," Eohne replied, looking enthusiastic at the idea. "For now, we have this traditional and ever-trusty paper scroll, which is about a hundred years old and completely out of whack." She laid her hands on the map and peered at it. "But it'll give you a general idea."

  Jordan's eyes ran over the image. A curved coastline in the northeast corner showed a large body of water, which was labelled ‘Rodanian Sea,’ running off the edge of the map. There were several islands scattered throughout, including a three-tiered city titled ‘Rodania’. Each point on the map had a hand-drawn icon, such as a kind of fruit, or a pod of leaping fish, or the cartoon heads of beasts. "There's The Conca," Jordan pointed out the long, lightning shaped crevasse on the west side of the map. "Where is your home?" she asked Toth.

  "It's not on here. The map is too old for that."

  Jordan saw what Eohne meant about the map being out of perspective. The Rodanian islands were much bigger and squatter than the illustration showed.

  "Here is Trevilsom," said Toth, pointing a blunt finger directly east of Rodania. The illustration was of sharp, thrusting rocks jutting from the ocean, like some monster's lower jaw, and a figure trapped behind them, bent over and clutching his head with claws for hands.

  "Oh, dear," said Jordan, her mouth dry. "How accurate do you think that representation is?"

  Eohne and Toth shared a look. "It's probably what you'd expect from a prison," said Eohne.

  "Can your magic break him out of there and zap him onto Rodania?"

  "It can help," said Eohne, "But I'm afraid it won't be that easy. Trevilsom was built on this island for a reason. It has a magic of its own, which tends to warp foreign magic in unexpected ways." She hesitated. "It also tends to affect the prisoners over time."

  "How? What do you mean?" Jordan's eyes roamed her friends face for clues.

  "I'm told that it slowly erodes logic, but it affects each species differently, so it’s unpredictable."

  Jordan stared at Eohne with horror. " ‘Erodes logic’? That sounds like a fancy way of saying that it drives people insane."

  "Yes," replied Eohne simply. “But I have reason to believe it doesn’t have this affect on humans, only on magical species.”

  Jordan let out a short sigh of relief. “Well that’s a small mercy.”

  Eohne and Toth shared a look, and Jordan caught it.

  “What?” She stared at Eohne.

  “It has a different affect on humans.”

  “For heaven’s sake, just spit it out!” Jordan cried. “Stop trying to cushion me and just be honest!”

  “It puts them into a sort of coma.”

  Jordan closed her eyes in horror. Toth’s forearms prickled just looking at her.

  “Jordan?” Eohne said, gently.

  Jordan's teal eyes snapped open. "How much time do we have?"

  "We don't know," said Toth, leaning forward. "Trevilsom acts quickly with some inmates and slowly with others. That's why we need to act fast."

  "Yes, let's go," barked Jordan, getting to her feet.

  "Easy," said Eohne. "We need a plan. We can't just sail into the mouth of the beast without being prepared. We too will be susceptible to Trevilsom's magic if we're not careful."

  Jordan sat down, but perched on the edge of her seat. "What do you suggest?"

  The two Strix and the Elf bent their heads and began to form a plan, while outside, the sun moved across the sky and the water beat endlessly against ships’ hulls.

  FINIS

  Author Notes - A.L. Knorr

  Written September 3, 2017

  So here we are again, clinging to the edge of a cliff, looks over, nods. Sorry about this. I didn’t actually plan for every installment of The Kacy Chronicles to leave you biting your lip (and possibly flipping me the bird), but sometimes you don’t ride art, it rides you. Seems to be the case here, as Jordan, Sol, Allan, Eohne and Toth whisper their story in my ear – I am but a conduit trying to keep up my typing speed. It’s funny how stories take on a life of their own. By now these characters seem as real to me as my own friends are, which is a sobering thought. One can only be left hoping that the line between fantasy and reality won’t become too blurred. Or maybe its too late for
that.

  I am assuming, since you’re here, reading this, that you made it through both Descendant and Ascendant and you’re enjoying the story. WUEEEE, as me and my cohorts in the Oriceran universe have taken to saying. I have ploughed into book 3, which is to be called COMBATANT. I’m sure you’ll have some idea of the goings on of this upcoming installment purely on the title alone. Yes, it promises to be an exciting one.

  As this universe is growing, I am finding such companionship and camaraderie within the circle of authors, readers, and publishing team. I’m rather over the moon about it. So, thank you for being here, thank you for your emails and messages and reviews. They mean the world to this little writer, pecking away on her laptop (which desperately needs a spray and a q-tip, but I’ll spare you the grisly details) in various haunts throughout the world. Today’s haunt is the loft of a 1935 craftsman style schoolhouse (recently renovated by said writers parents) in the middle of a windy Canadian prairie. Shortly, I’ll be on a plane to Italy, which is where Combatant shall take shape. I hope to catch you on the other side of that story too. Until then…

  Thank you to the ‘Just-in-time’ team of proofreaders, and thank you to the publishing team at LMBPN. Thank you to my beta readers, my street team, my parents and brothers, and to my endlessly supportive circle of friends. I wouldn’t be doing this without your magical support. And it is magic, make no mistake. I know magic when I see it.

  Author Notes - Martha Carr

  Written October 6, 2017

  Some day when I grow up I hope to be just like Abs (that’s short for Abby-Lynn or A.L.). Every time I talk to her she’s back from a bike ride with friends or taking off for Italy. Or she’s mapped out an amazing marketing plan on a spread sheet with costs, dates, places and effectiveness. Frankly, I have a secret envy for anyone who can lay out a pretty spreadsheet. The more complicated the spreadsheet the more I admire you…

  On top of all that Abs writes a beautiful, magical and complicated story that draws me in and leaves me wanting more. And Abs manages to do it all without swearing! I may not ever figure that one out…

  That’s the cool thing about dreams coming true and watching other author’s grow into their vision of the good life. There’s room for a million different versions and when I see someone blossoming into their dreams, it inspires me to more fully grow into mine. That’s reflected in this series full of determination, love and a search for something better that you just know has got to be there. Hang on readers… it’s just getting good.

  Publisher Notes - Michael Anderle

  Written October 5, 2017

  Thank you, I cannot express my appreciation enough that not only did you pick up the second book, but you read it all the way to the end and NOW, you’re reading these Publisher notes as well.

  I have to admit, writing Publisher notes is still (for me) kind of strange. When I dreamt up the Oriceran concepts, and before I reached out to my co-creator Martha Carr on this Universe, I just had a dream.

  A dream of something definitely more Urban Fantasy, but with a twist. I wanted to build something where magic wasn’t magic, exactly. I wanted it to be a force of energy and a reason for so much of our history that seems to be hinted at by our present archeology digs, but one which mainstream archeologists wave their hands and say, “Nahhh…”

  I was raised Southern Baptist, and in the Southern Baptist tradition, there is a LOT of singing in the beginning of the church service. (Which bored my active imagination to tears) and Bible reading. So, whenever I could, I’d skip the singing and read my Bible.

  Lot’s and LOT’S of Bible reading. (That’s important, here.)

  You see, there is a fair amount in the Old Testament that isn’t explained all too well.

  For example: If Angels are all around us, why can’t we see them?

  Now, there are suggestions, but let’s make the assumption there are scientific reasons and we start getting to a few interesting potential conclusions.

  Such as: Angels exist of light we cannot see (wavelengths we can’t see.)

  In the Kurtherian Gambit, we talk about how you can create matter (either solid, or gaseous etc.) out of light, which is energy.

  Have enough Energy, you have Magic.

  Stick this information together, and we can see how scientifically, you could have a being made of light, transform into a corporal (physical) body. Mind you, I haven’t figured out the mechanics of the Faith needed to transform from physical to light, but scientifically it is possible to explain this happening.

  Here in the Oriceran Universe, we have an energy from the Oriceran world which we have named Magic because we understand that term.

  But, is it? Also, we start dealing with the concepts of manipulating this energy to do our will. However, in Martha Carr’s book Rule of Magic, we see that Magic can be engaged and allowed to do the best for you, if you let it.

  This presumes that Magic has a form of sentience. Now, Martha and I didn’t speak on this aspect of creating the magic in Oriceran, so her building it this way was from her own conscious and subconscious. However, I can perceive that we have a very religious text, going back thousands of years, which we can say “See, we aren’t that far off of how the Bible talks about this stuff.”

  If you are willing to just merge what science knows, with those stories over three thousand or more years old we start to wonder…’What if…’

  (Don’t get me started on the miracles of Moses. We could chat about that for a long time. Remember, the Pharaoh’s magicians accomplished mighty feats and you start wondering if they knew something we don’t.)

  Anyway, all I was trying to do was point out that as a Universe creator, one never knows where the basics of the ‘magic’ you create comes from. Sometimes, small parts that go to make up the whole come from the places few would suspect.

  I hope you enjoy our Universe, and the characters we have created within. It is amazing where the human mind will go, when you allow and encourage it to use the creativity housed between our ears.

  Ad Aeternitatem,

  Michael Anderle

  Want more from Oriceran

  Join the email list here:

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  https://www.facebook.com/OriceranUniverse/

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  https://www.pinterest.com/lmbpn/pins/

  The email list will be a way to share upcoming news and let you know about giveaways and other fun stuff. The Facebook group is a way for us to connect faster – in other words, a chat, plus a way to share new spy tools, ways to keep your information safe, and other cool information and stories. Plus, from time to time I’ll share other great indie authors’ upcoming worlds of magic and adventure. Signing up for the email list is an easy way to ensure you receive all of the big news and make sure you don’t miss any major releases or updates.

  Enjoy the new adventure!

  A.L. Knorr and Martha Carr 2017

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  Books from A.L. Knorr

  The Elemental Origins Series

  Born of Water (including novella The Wreck of Sybellen)

  Born of Fire

  Born of Earth

  Born of Aether

  Born of Air (Oct 2017)

  The Kacy Chronicles

  * with with Martha Carr *

  Descendant (1)

  Ascendant (2)

  Other
books and Stories

  Pyro (including the novella Heat)

  Returning Episode I

  Returning Episode II

  Books by Martha Carr

  The Revelations of Oriceran

  The Leira Chronicles

  * with Michael Anderle *

  Quest for Magic (0)

  Waking Magic (1)

  Release of Magic (2)

  Protection of Magic (3)

  Rule of Magic (4)

  The Kacy Chronicles

  * with A.L. Knorr *

  Descendant (1)

  Ascendant (2)

  The Soul Stone Mage Series

  * with Sarah Noffke *

  House of Enchanted (1)

  The Dark Forest (2)

  The Midwest Magic Chronicles

  * with Flint Maxwell *

  The Midwest Witch (1)

  The Fairhaven Chronicles

  * with S.M. Boyce *

  GLOW (1)

  Michael Anderle

  Kurtherian Gambit Series Titles Include:

  First Arc

  Death Becomes Her (01) - Queen Bitch (02) - Love Lost (03) - Bite This (04)

  Never Forsaken (05) - Under My Heel (06) - Kneel Or Die (07)