“It is as it should be,” replied Yav’el, “and yet, I would ask a favor of you.”
The bald man nodded, “If it is within my power.”
Yav’el fought to keep tears from welling in his eyes at the thought of what he was about to do. “I would like to leave a message…for when the time is right.”
The other man considered the request silently before nodding curtly. “Agreed. I will see it delivered personally, if necessary.”
After Yav’el had composed the message in his chosen manner, he turned and walked to the door followed at a respectful distance by the bald wizard. The walk to the village took them two hours, and they made the journey in absolute silence.
The crowd which had assembled in the village center was the largest ever seen. They had known that the stranger from distant lands had arrived and that Yav’el was to do battle with him, as he and his ancestors had done battle with all who would threaten the safety of the village.
But even the people gathered around the large square could sense that this was somehow different. There was a look to Yav’el’s face which hushed the once-exuberant crowd that had shown up to see their protector defeat yet another would-be invader, just as he had at least once per year when the various threats to the safety of the village would rear their heads.
“Good people!” began Yav’el as he took his place opposite his grey robe-clad adversary in the village square. “I take up arms in defense of your fair village, in accordance with the agreement struck between my ancestors and your own.”
The crowd erupted into applause and cheering, and Yav’el could hear a tone of defiance in their voices which broke his heart. He knew that this was the end of the freedom they had enjoyed under his line’s protection, but even in the face of certain doom he would not set aside the integrity of his line. He would play his part as he had dozens of times before, even with the certain knowledge that this would be the final act of his life.
Yav’el turned to face his foe, who nodded solemnly as he stood relaxed opposite the black-haired Yav’el. “This man has challenged me for the right to all which belonged to my ancestors, as well as that which I now protect, and I have accepted that challenge. Should I fail in this contest, you must honor my agreement with him!”
A hush came over the crowd as everyone assembled knew what that meant. There was a chorus of whispers which were quickly silenced as the black-haired sorcerer turned to face the bald man.
“Kor devalis unt fira kel,” chanted Yav’el as he cleared his mind and he summoned the power of his first attack. His hands gestured in the air before him, weaving an impossibly complex, invisible pattern which even he could not see. He relied on his memory and years of intense practice sessions to duplicate the gestures required to conjure his line’s mightiest magics.
“Fira devalis jon kel!” he finished as his hands came together at the wrists, with his palms facing forward as they thrust into the air before Yav’el. A massive ball of flame burst into existence in the air in front of him, seemingly driven through the walls of into reality by his bare hands.
The roaring fireball soared across the nearly two hundred feet separating the men in the village square, but the bald wizard stood serenely as the raging inferno approached. He didn’t even flinch when the ball of fire exploded all around him, causing the crowd to once again erupt into a victorious roar.
The fires burned in a fan-shaped area extending past where they had exploded on the grey-robed man, even leaping to a nearby building as a good portion of the fireball carried on past where the bald man had stood.
Yav’el felt a twinge of regret as he looked into the crowd and found a small, innocent face with long, raven-colored hair looking hopefully at him. He knew that he would miss watching her grow into a woman, but he had no choice—the choice had been made for him two centuries earlier by his forebears.
The crowd’s cheering came to a sudden end with a collective gasp as the fires died down, revealing the bald-headed man as he stood in the exact same posture as before the impact of the fireball.
There was a shimmering, dome-shaped field surrounding him which glowed an angry orange color, and it soon became clear to all assembled that the flames had never even penetrated that field.
“Co ti vel, Zar ti vel, I ti vel, Us ti vel, shiza stil,”Yav’el immediately recited, moving his feet in unison with his hands as he swept his entire body sideways in the practiced movements his father had taught him. The sky above began to rumble, and the faces of the assembled crowd turned up to see a thundercloud forming overhead.
“Us’I’Zar’Co, vel ti krakto!” he finished, reaching his hands to the sky before pointing them in unison toward the bald wizard as he finished the incantation.
There was a blinding flash of light, accompanied by the deafening peal of thunder as a lightning bolt crashed down from the sky and erupted against the orange shield surrounding the grey-robed man. The defensive field flared, becoming enveloped by crackling electricity in the seconds following the impact. Despite their collective temporary blindness, again the crowd cheered—this time somewhat more reservedly than their previous outburst.
But once again, when the residual electrical charge had dissipated and their vision returned, the wizard was standing in the same posture as before the spell had struck his defenses. Yav’el knew it was time to safeguard one of the last pieces of his line’s legacy, so he closed his eyes and prepared his next casting.
Yav’el concentrated, recalling another complex series of gestures to his mind. “Fae vendo, Ral vendo, El vendo kel,” he chanted evenly as his hands snaked through the air even faster than the last time, the movements of his arms coinciding precisely with the tempo of his voice. “Vendo rikto, vendo kina, Fae’Ral kel!” he finished, causing a patch of ground between them to split open suddenly with enough force to knock everyone present from their feet, including Yav’el.
Everyone, that is, except the bald man. His features were an unreadable mask as he stood calmly in the same position he had at the outset.
From the crack in the earth came an alien creature in the shape of a tall, naked woman. However, this particular creature had wings sprouting from its back like a butterfly’s, with every color of the rainbow glittering in beautiful patterns across their surface. The creature’s eyes were huge, green and multifaceted like an insect’s, and each three-fingered hand ended in needle-sharp, curved, silver talons nearly two feet long.
It was the last of its kind, and it called its race ‘Fae’Ral.’ It was the most powerful creature with which Yav’el’s ancestors had entered into compact, and this was only the second time Yav’el had ever summoned the terrible creature. Long ago, this particular Fae’Ral had agreed to serve his family’s line for all time after receiving a payment agreed to by his great, great grandfather. Yav’el actually held a sliver of hope that the creature might defeat the grey-robed man…and in so doing prevent Yav’el from delving into the darkest, foulest magics his family had learned over the last two centuries.
The Fae’Ral’s eyes turned toward the bald man, flicked its talons in anticipation as her wings beat too quickly for the human eye to see, and then flew straight toward the bald man’s position in a blur of motion. The creature began to rain blows down on the surface of the orange shield surrounding him with its long, silver talons. The shield flashed with each impact, and after a few short seconds it appeared to be having some success as the dome-shaped field’s shape began to distort and deflect.
But before the field had failed, the bald man produced a grey staff with a huge gemstone affixed to its tip, and from that tip sprang a grey tendril of energy. He had not held the staff even a moment earlier, and Yav’el’s stomach began to twist at the unflappable look on his adversary’s face.
The Fae’Ral flew into the air to escape the beam, and the flying creature’s movements were only perceptible by the faint trail of glittering particles which followed it. For a moment it appeared that it might outrun the slow, smo
ky tendril of grey energy.
But that tendril surged upward with a sudden burst of speed and encircled the Fae’Ral’s naked body, obscuring it from view as the winged creature was slowly brought back toward the ground between the two spellcasters.
The bald man held his staff easily in one hand, directing the movement of the Fae’Ral’s trapped body with a sharp flick of the eldritch device. When the Fae’Ral was suspended a few feet above the ground, the grey-robed man snapped his staff back and the imprisoned creature was pulled into the staff’s tip, disappearing entirely along with the grey tendril of energy almost instantly.
The bald man struck the butt of his staff against the ground emphatically, causing the crack in the ground from which the Fae’Ral had sprung to slowly close. When it had done so, he gestured beckoningly, clearly inviting Yav’el’s next move.
Yav’el only had one remaining option, and it was one he was loathe to attempt. He knew the terrible price he would pay, but he had an obligation to his ancestors and to the people of the village.
“Nec dizel, nec silon—“ he began as he gestured with his fingers in the air before him, but was interrupted when he felt his body lift from the ground and hurtle forward with incredible speed.
Yav’el smashed into a hard surface with enough force to break a dozen ribs, and he lost his breath immediately. His legs were numb, and his eyes opened reflexively when his chest erupted in pure agony. He looked down to see that he had struck against the bald man’s defense fields.
“No, good man,” said the grey-robed wizard with a shake of his head. Yav’el saw a tear run down the bald wizard’s cheek as he continued, “I will not allow you to defile yourself thus.”
Yav’el tried to struggle against the invisible force which pinned him against the angry, orange shield, but he quickly realized it was useless and relaxed.
“I beg of you,” Yav’el pleaded, “look after what little remains of our legacy.”
The grey-robed man nodded gravely, “I swear it to you.”
Yav’el nodded with resignation. “Thank you, Antolin,” he breathed in little more than a whisper as he struggled against the pain of his ruined chest, “end it quickly, for her sake.”
Antolin raised his staff, lifting Yav’el’s battered body as he did so. “As you wish,” he agreed, bringing the staff’s tip down quickly.
Yav’el never even felt the impact as he was killed instantly, crushed against the shields of the most powerful wizard he had ever known.
The little girl had made eye contact with her uncle just before he had called the lightning bolt from the strange cloud that had appeared in the sky. He had told her that one day this might come, and that when it did she was to be strong.
So when Uncle Yav’el’s second spell had failed to destroy the evil, bald man, she feared the worst. But when the Fae’Ral had appeared from the ground—just like in the pictures in her uncle’s house—she knew Uncle Yav’el would win.
But the man with no hair used his magic staff, and he killed the Fae’Ral. When it happened, she felt a kind of pain like nothing she had ever known deep within her, but she couldn’t tell where it was. It hurt, but not badly enough to make her cry.
She kept her eyes on the battle, and saw Uncle Yav’el begin to cast another spell when he was hurled through the air and smashed into the evil man’s shield the color of fire.
“Uncle Yav’el!” she screamed, but her voice was drowned out by the screams of the crowd as their defender struck the bald man’s shield.
After a few seconds, the evil wizard with his grey staff lifted her uncle into the air without even touching him, and smashed him into the orange shield protecting him.
Though she was only eight years old, she knew that her uncle was dead when he fell to the ground and didn’t move. She had seen the same thing happen to animals before they were turned into food, and Uncle Yav’el had said the same thing happened to her daddy when she was very young.
The evil, bald man stepped past her uncle’s body and walked purposefully toward her. As he approached, the crowd around her fell back in fear, but she refused to move. Her auntie held her hand tightly, but the little girl looked up at the evil wizard with eyes full of pure, righteous fury. She promised herself in that moment that she would kill this man one day.
The bald man looked down at her and they stared at each other in silence for many minutes while the assembled crowd looked on, until even her auntie tried to pull her away as the older woman began to whimper in fear.
But the little raven-haired girl pulled her hand free from her auntie’s, refusing to back down from this man. She balled her little hands into fists and felt her nails bite into her palms.
“Good,” said the man’s hard, unyielding voice, and the crowd took a reflexive step back at the sound of his words, “you shall need that strength for what lies before you.”
“I hate you,” she spat, “I’m going to kill you for what you did!”
He nodded his evil, bald head as he leaned down, using his staff for support as he came to rest on one knee in front of her. “If that is what you wish,” he began seriously, “then you must do precisely as I say, and one day you may find the strength to make good on that threat.”
The wizard stood and locked eyes with her auntie. “Prepare the child to be transferred into my custody immediately,” he instructed. “I return home in the morning.”
Her auntie, having regained some of her composure, stepped forward tentatively. “I will accompany her,” she insisted in a trembling voice.
The wizard shook his evil, bald head emphatically. “No,” he replied, “the Imperial City is no place for your kind, and Gilai’el must enter her new family alone, for that is the promise I made to her forebears. Say your farewells tonight, for we depart at dawn’s first light.”
His body became wreathed in an orange light and before her auntie could protest, the bald man shot into the air and quickly disappeared, traveling in the direction of Uncle Yav’el’s home.
Be sure to join the Seeds of Humanity Facebook Group if you’d like to download the rest of this novella for free!
A word (actually…519 of them, not counting this line) from the author:
Thank you for reading Revelation, Book I of The Cobalt Heresy! I sincerely hope you enjoyed this first entry in what I can assure you is…well, let’s just say the opening line of this book says it better than anything else I can come up with. I hope that it’s as much fun to read as it has been to create.
Revelation was my first full-length novel, which I finished writing and making major revisions to about a year and three months prior to e-publishing the version you’ve just read. I had originally intended to release the four books of The Cobalt Heresy jointly, along with all of the companion material, but I’ve since decided that it would be best to release the material I’ve already completed. That body of material, at the latest tally, is almost four full novels’ worth going by word count. Book II, Reunion, is already complete and awaiting a final, pre-launch editing pass, so you can expect it to be out just a couple weeks after this book was put up on Amazon, and as of initial e-publishing of Revelation I’m about half finished with Book III, Retribution.
My original vision for this series has remained totally intact since the beginning of the process, and one of the key components for its intended structure was for me to provide several novella-length additions which feed, either directly or indirectly, into Aaron’s main story but are told from wholly different perspectives. My purpose in doing this is to keep the mainline books from getting bogged down with what some consider superfluous details or ‘world building,’ while still providing those of us who appreciate that aspect of the experience the opportunity to satisfy our appetites.
With the release of each novel, I will be providing free access to these novellas for a limited time via outlets like Facebook, and my website, Pacificcrestpublishing.com. During this period, the latest batch of ‘Seeds’ (my chosen label for the novellas
in this particular series) will be available completely free to those who sign up for the website or join the Facebook group, but after the period has elapsed I’ll be posting them to Amazon.com and possibly other outlets as well in novel-sized collections with clear indications for when I think it might be best to read them. Some of these novellas are backstories, and some are parallel events which happen ‘off-camera,’ so if you come to a particular plot point that seems under-explained, the odds are it’s been explored in one of the Seeds. On that note, if you have any requests for a character’s backstory, or to flesh out something a little more fully, the Facebook Group is a great place to do that!
And, as you might have expected, I must humbly suggest — in as gentle a fashion possible — that you leave a review on Amazon, Goodreads, Shelfari or anywhere else you frequent if you enjoyed the book. It is truly amazing the impact that just a few words and the click of a mouse can have on a book like this, especially in its earliest stages of existence.
Table of Contents
Chapter I: The Siege
Chapter II: Reflections
Chapter III: Aftermath and Reluctant Allies
Chapter IV: Politics
Chapter V: Departure
Chapter VI: On the Road Again
Chapter VII: A Puzzle
Chapter VIII: Into the Breach
Chapter IX: Reflections and Foreboding
Chapter X: Formal Introductions
Chapter XI: Negotiations
Chapter XII: The Whole Nine Yards
Chapter XIII: Surveying the Damage
Chapter XIV: One Door Closes…
Chapter XV: Bitter Memories and Guarded Secrets
Chapter XVI: Return to Coldetz and Hard Goodbyes
Revelation (Seeds of Humanity: The Cobalt Heresy) Page 42
