Rumble…
The rain increased its intensity and pounded down as if the gods were beating the survivors in anger, large chunks of ice rattling against her armour. She heard screaming in the distance, a familiar voice escaping the almost deafening cries of the dying.
“We have to find cover and get out of this rain!” shouted Trisa, her voice strained and dry.
“And what of the thousands of wounded? We can’t just leave them all here to die!” said Helenia, grunting as she gently nursed her agonising shoulder.
Rumble…
Another flash of lightning revealed the devastation surrounding them.
By the gods, thought Andrielle, as the shock of an endless battlefield of dead and dying overwhelmed her senses.
Dryden spoke resolutely. “I will do what I can for them, but there is no way we can save them all. There are only a handful of us left alive, and the dragons have already retreated to Trahoterra. If only we could move the queen’s armour… but it’s too heavy. Only the gods know how she had the strength to fight with all that weight."
Rumble…
Yet another flash of lightning revealed Andrielle standing and limping slowly towards them.
“Mother, you’re awake! Are you all right?” asked Helenia. She ran to her mother’s side, put her mother's arm over her shoulder and led her to the shelter of a tree.
“I am pretty far from all right, but I will live. Where is Vartan?” asked Andrielle, looking around in vain.
Dryden's face hardened. “Karven and the dragons took him to the only place where nobody would dare follow,” he said grimly. “They took him back with them to Trahoterra, along with their queen’s body."
Rumble…
The queen's eyes widened and she swallowed hard before asking, “What happened? Is Kassina alive?”
“Trisa stabbed that walking horror through the heart. As far as I know, that usually means the end of any vampire, sorceress or not,” replied Dryden.
“Then we can only hope that she will never return,” said Andrielle, “and that this was all worth the cost. We have paid dearly for this victory.”
“I understand, my Queen. What do we do from here? Do you have any orders?” asked Dryden.
Andrielle pushed her helm open and looked him in the eyes. “There – that is much better. Orders? Help me tend to the wounded and we will do whatever we can for them. Helenia, I need you to go back into Veldrenn, and start rebuilding the city with whatever survivors can follow you. When we are ready, we will have to make the long journey out of the forest to Greenhaven; we can only hope it was left undefended."
Dryden nodded, stretching his neck and looking skyward. He scrunched his eyebrows as he stared at the moon, and then turned back to his queen with a pale face.
“That’s strange, the moon looks different tonight,” he said, beginning his walk towards the dying. “I have never seen it like this.”
Andrielle paused, fighting her urge to look up with all of her strength until she could take it no more. She laid her saddened eyes on the moon, now covered by a shade of burgundy.
“Damn the gods! I can't believe this. The Blood Red Moon prophecy has already begun to be fulfilled, even after all of our efforts,” she screamed, tightening her fists and kicking the tree.
Nymira’s body lay lifelessly in a pool of cold water on the cavern floor. Karven lay beside her with his neck placed gently on hers. Sparkly streaks of tears had dried on his scaly face.
“Is Karven going to be all right?” asked Trisa, preparing the healing potion for Vartan’s shivering body.
“Don't worry about Karven. He has been through much worse than this, but he needs to grieve the loss of his love,” replied Finn. “You should be more concerned about Vartan. I do not sense his presence, but his body lives on. Can you really save him?”
Trisa sighed as she put the ingredients down and turned to face the dragon with watery eyes. She spoke softly. “I honestly don’t know. I have never experienced something like this before, but I will do everything I can for him. It’s really cold in here, and his body is shivering. I wish there was something we could do to warm him up."
Finn nodded and made his way to a corner of the cavern, where he picked up a wooden crate with his teeth. He returned and placed the crate near them, torching it with his breath until it caught fire. The flames cast an almost pleasant light over them, warming the frail human bodies.
"Will that do it?" he asked, smiling.
“Thank you, Finn. You are a kind soul. I only wish I had known you in your human form,” she smiled.
Vartan stirred, mumbling under his breath in an incomprehensible language.
"You know... I never knew what it felt like for Vartan, that day in the woods where I was killed in my human form. I know now," said Finn.
Trisa's eyes widened as she stared at the dragon in disbelief. "I think you have some stories to tell me, young dragon... And we have nothing but plenty of time."
She lay down beside Vartan and held his body close to keep him warm, stroking his head gently. “Shh, it’s okay, Vartan,” she whispered softly in his ear. “You are safe now. Come back to us.”
In a realm far from Marithia, Vartan heard her voice.
The underworld was filled with bloodcurdling screams as Shindar viciously tore through the bodies of his slaves, his fury fuelling an anger that was seemingly unquenchable. A trail of blood and destruction was left in his path as his slaves attempted to flee their bonds.
"She is gone!” he growled between blows. “Was this how the prophecy was to be fulfilled? Why do the gods continue to take away what is dear to me?"
Amidst the chaos, a group of dark monks ran up behind him. One of them screamed, "My lord, please, stop this madness."
Shindar turned with eyes that pierced through the soul. "How dare you tell me what to do?!"
As he was about to kill the monk, he dropped his sword and came face to face with him. "I sense that you have good news, so tell me... now."
The monk dropped his shaking hands and his voice wavered as he answered. "We detected the use of one of our forbidden spells, and the energy originates from Greenhaven. Queen Kassina may still be alive."
The queen growled with annoyance as she caught up to a busy Dryden and began tending to a young elf’s bleeding wounds. She muttered something in Elven under her breath and Dryden heard her mention the Elven word for moon, which he had learned in his time at Veldrenn.
“My Queen, what does this new moon mean?” asked Dryden.
Queen Andrielle sighed loudly and stared up at the moon with narrowed eyes. “It means that this war is far from over,” she said. “Vartan may already be dead, and we have a lot of hard work ahead of us to prepare for who is coming. This is not the end of anything, but the beginning of everything."
Epilogue: The Blood Red Moon
“One universal lesson can be learned from any world among the stars. True evil can indeed be defeated, but it can never be completely eradicated. Even if you destroy every dark soul that comes your way, others will rise up to replace them.
The passage of time does deliver us surprises, but also repeats itself as events tumble together to lead down the same road. Then again, we hold the power to change the path that lies ahead of us, and find new alternate realities for the future.”
(Makya, She’Ma’Ryn trader)
Dark clouds gathered in the purple sky blanketing Greenhaven, and the sun began to disappear into the horizon as the red moon rose higher in the distance. The people of the city fled for shelter as heavy rain plummeted from above and lightning crashed violently onto the lands. Scattered trees surrounding the restored fort were set alight by the lightning strikes, and the forest was wildly shaken by the winds.
A knight smashed his fist into the wall as he leaned his face up against it, dust exploding from the wall’s surface. He slid his helm onto the rough skin on his weary head so that only the fury in his eyes were visible beneath the armour and drew a
deep dusty breath into his lungs.
He marched out to the city’s defensive wall to look over the lands and called out in a gruff voice, “Mount up! The time we were waiting for has come."
The city’s knights had already suited up in full armour and proudly wore Greenhaven’s new colours: green, red and blue interwoven patches, representing human, elf and dragon united. They waited behind the lowered main gate for orders, ready for battle.
Andrielle approached the knight, already in her own suit of armour and holding her helm close to her side. She bore a nasty battle scar down the side of her face and a few grey hairs shone through. She stood straight, in a display of strength, to prove that her age was not going to stop her from engaging in battle.
“How dare any of you stand in my way? Bow to me as your new god!” boomed a dark voice from the distant forest, sending birds scattering from Greenhaven’s surrounding lands.
Queen Andrielle grimaced and growled, “Raise the bridge and ready the archers!”
“Of course, my Queen,” answered the knight. He turned to approach the many groups of archers and ordered them to ready themselves. Thousands of men and elves ran to the walls of the great city and got into their firing positions.
He moved toward Greenhaven's gate and shouted, “Raise the bridge!”
The mechanical, rhythmic melody of metal chains escaped the city as the bridge was raised. A heavy shudder ran through the city to accompany the finality of the gate being lowered.
“And what of the dragons?” asked the knight.
Andrielle raised her face to the skies and breathed, “They are already here."
Lightning struck the walls of Greenhaven and a few elven archers were set on fire. They screamed as they rolled on the ground.
“Use the water, quickly!” ordered Helenia from the eastern wall.
Andrielle leaned down from the catapult and shouted, “Catapult crew?”
“Ready!” came the response.
Karven and Finn landed atop two of Greenhaven’s tallest turrets with a loud tremor, while the other dragons circled above the clouds. The dragons’ eyes narrowed as they stared straight ahead at the monumental figure of Shindar marching into the open from the trail leading through the forest.
Shindar grimaced through the black mouthpiece of his helm and spat on the ground in their direction before turning back and raising a fist high. The sound of horns filled the air, and battle drums beat in unison. The city rumbled with the sounds of the Forces of Darkness approaching through the forest path.
“Steady! Not yet!” ordered Andrielle, her hand raised up, signalling for the archers and catapults to hold their fire.
“Karven! You cowardly reptile, it appears that we meet once again,” boomed Shindar’s voice over the lands. “I promise you, this time you will not catch me unawares. You might have destroyed my greatest creation, but do not mistake your little victory for what it is not. Kassina’s death brought me back into this world, and set the wheels of the prophecy in motion. This world will still be mine!”
“Hold!” cried Andrielle again.
The vast Dark Army entered their view as if a new horizon was created.
“By the gods!” exclaimed Andrielle under her breath, as the front ranks of armoured skeleton warriors filled the surrounding land as far as the eye could see.
Shindar stopped and shook his fist. The army ceased their advance and remained still as they awaited Shindar’s orders.
“This is your last chance. Lower your gate, bow at my feet and swear allegiance to me. Then you all shall live!” yelled Shindar. He drew his black sword and held it ready at his side. “Or prepare to die!”
A few quiet moments passed as the gods above observed the events below with great anticipation. Only the sound of rain and the rumbles of the thunderstorm were heard.
“We will send you back to the darkness from which you came!” responded Andrielle. “All forces – fire!”
Karven and Finn breathed out a steady stream of fire that created a tunnel of flames. Thousands of arrows and catapult missiles were launched into the air and caught fire as they passed through the dragons’ combined breath. The weapons flew through the rain-speckled air, lighting up the darkened skies.
Shindar stood his ground and withdrew an intimidating shield from his back, which bore metallic fangs in a skull on its surface. His voice bellowed, “Shields!”, as he knelt and dug the bottom of his shield into the ground. His front lines followed suit and a red glow emanated from the Dark Lord’s fist, before he twisted to his side and howled with the release of his power. The red orb of light erupted in a short distance on front of him before bursting into a glowing net that covered his entire front lines. Catapult missiles were caught in the net and fell uselessly to the ground, whilst many of the arrows rained down on their shields, very few managed to dispatch a small number of his warriors.
Rising to his feet, Shindar pointed toward Greenhaven and yelled, “Prepare to die!”
Vartan stirred and cried out, “Shindar!”, startling a sleeping Finn and Trisa before his body calmed again. Finn breathed loudly and frowned as he realised that his brother was not awake.
“What do you think they are? Nightmares? I haven’t seen his body react like that before,” asked Trisa.
Finn shook his head and sighed, “A reaction like that is usually from a vision.”
To Be Continued
Peter Koevari is a writer that holds fantasy dearly close to his heart. From an early age, he was immersed in all media of fantasy that he could get his hands on. Memories of movies such as The Dark Crystal, Labyrinth, Star Wars, Conan, The Last Starfighter, The Princess Bride, and many more are cherished memories of fantasy nostalgia.
Peter’s hunger for storytelling was growing from a young age. Feeding off movies, video games, and books, the hunger had never been quenched. There was a yearning for something, as if he was enchanted by a spell and did not know how to release it.
The worlds held inside his imagination had to be shared with readers of the world.
It took over 10 long years to unlock the doors to worlds such as Marithia, and to pen them into books to share with anyone willing to travel to his worlds, but once he found the key and began to write… everything made sense.
Peter’s writing will surprise you, may shock you and take your emotions by its talons, but will transport your mind into a world of fantasy like you have never read before.
www.peterkoevari.com
Meet the artist: Claudia Bartoli-McKinney (www.phatpuppyart.com)
American professional digital artist specializing in book covers for best selling authors. 130+ covers to date in Amazon, Nook, Kindle and booksellers worldwide.
Meet the artist: Nicola McIntosh (www.nicolamcintosh.com)
A Brisbane-based freelance Graphic Designer / Artist
Meet the artist: Holly J Fox (http://shadowness.com/shackledfae)
A Canadian-based artist who specializes in paintings
Meet the artist: Guido Leber (http://goor.deviantart.com/)
A Germany-based artist who specializes in digital artwork
Table of Contents
Chapter 1: Marithia
Chapter 2: Humble Beginnings
Chapter 3: Darkness Falls
Chapter 4: The Aftermath
Chapter 5: Old Blood
Chapter 6: In Love and War
Chapter 7: Cat and Mouse
Chapter 8: How I Wonder
Chapter 9: An Unlikely Duo
Chapter 10: Darkness Respects No Boundaries
Chapter 11: Fool’s Courage
Chapter 12: The Calm Before the Storm
Chapter 13: Rise and Fall
Chapter 14: Rain of Fire
Chapter 15: Homecoming
Chapter 16: A Time to Live, A Time to Die
Chapter 17: Death from Above
Chapter 18: Rise from the Flames
Chapter 19: The Battle of the Elven Woods
Chapter 20: Ash
es to Ashes
Legends of Marithia: Book 1 - Prophecies Awakening: Uncut and Extended Second Edition Page 19
