by Ben Wolf
In the coming weeks, new life sprouted across all of Kanarah. The rivers flowed again. The wells refilled with clean water. The grass and trees and plants regrew and flourished, including the King’s garden, which blossomed with more brilliant colors than ever before.
Even more incredibly, the Valley of the Tri-Lakes went from being a barren wasteland to a verdant paradise loaded with all kinds of fruit trees and bushes, vegetable plants, and more.
Even Gill had to admit he’d been wrong about the storm when he’d remarked that nothing good would come of it. For as long as he lived, he never again had to worry about what he was going to eat.
Perhaps more importantly, he never had to go on a boat ever again, either. Thanks to the storm and the tree, his “fishig” days were solidly behind him, and he spent the rest of his days honing his drawing skills.
He still cannot draw birds.
At Axel’s trial, the people cheered when the King pronounced him guilty on all counts, including sedition, rebellion, and murder. Protests soon followed when the King chose not to execute him for his crimes.
Calum had mixed feelings about the verdict. Axel had been his best friend, once, but he’d strayed far from the path he should’ve been walking and instead dove headfirst into his pursuit for power. In doing so, he’d abandoned his friendships, turned on those who loved him, and killed Condor.
Calum wanted to forgive Axel for all of it, though he doubted Lilly ever could, especially for Condor’s murder. It was something that Calum would struggle with probably for the rest of his life. Perhaps they both would.
Axel didn’t avoid all punishment, though. The destruction of Lumen stripped him of all his dark powers, reducing him to a mere human once again. Further, the King forbade him from entering one of Kanarah’s cities ever again, including Solace.
He was not permitted to establish a permanent home anywhere in Kanarah for any length of time, but rather he was to live a nomadic life, perpetually traveling and living off whatever he could scrounge from the wilderness.
It was the kind of life Axel had once said he wanted to live. Now he would get his chance, whether he still wanted to or not.
The King also put a mark on Axel’s forehead that changed based on who was looking at it. When Calum looked at it, he saw a teardrop shape. Lilly described it as a bloody sword. Magnus said it looked like a pair of fangs to him.
The storm had already repaired Axel’s body, so the King sent Axel away with nothing but the clothes on his back, a rusted steel sword, and a sack full of fruits and vegetables—exactly what he’d brought with him when he’d first fled his family farm.
Many years later, Calum saw Axel traversing Trader’s Pass from high above as he flew overhead. Axel looked as haggard as he’d ever looked, with a long beard now turning gray. He’d come up with some mismatched armor along the line, but he still carried that rusted old sword with him.
Calum considered stopping to speak with him, but he didn’t. He had nothing to say to him.
He never saw Axel again after that day.
With the help of the King’s power, Valerie recovered from her wounds and soon returned to her nebulous role as the King’s smiling advisor. It took Calum almost a week after the final battle to realize Valerie had actually been Gavridel the whole time.
Even then, he still didn’t fully believe it until the King told him it was so. Apparently it was a longstanding safety precaution they’d instituted. If no one knew about Valerie’s true role with regard to her proximity to the King, they wouldn’t see her coming if she needed to intervene as Gavridel.
It seemed like a lot of unnecessary secrecy to Calum, but he’d already resigned himself to not understanding most of what the King had done or why he’d done it, so he just went with it.
Rather than returning to the Desert of the Forgotten—a place which Calum suspected was no longer a desert due to the sprawling environmental changes happening across the land—Riley and Windsor decided to accept the King’s invitation to stay in Solace and rebuild his team of Shadow Wolf assassins.
The King didn’t really need assassins, what with being all-powerful now, but both Riley and Windsor needed a place to belong, and they needed each other, so they all agreed it was a good idea.
Several months later, Windsor would give birth to her first litter of Wolf pups. Much later in life, one of them grew up to be every bit as sarcastic as Riley, which he, of course, found hilarious. Windsor did not agree, and Riley thought that was even funnier.
After some tearful goodbyes, Magnus returned to Reptilius with the surviving Saurians from his original army. He ruled his people with the King’s full and unconditional blessing for hundreds more years, and Calum was fortunate enough to be able to visit his best friend often, exchanging stories and reliving old adventures in their memories.
Under Magnus’s rule, the Saurians thrived more so than under any previous ruler, Praetorius included. He successfully eradicated the last vestiges of the slave trade set up by Kahn, Vandorian, and Oren, and he also committed dozens of Saurians to help with the reconstruction of the city of Aeropolis.
When it came time for Lilly to return to her home in the Sky Realm, the King not only blessed her as the realm’s rightful ruler but also pledged to send funds, resources, and workers to help the Windgales rebuild Aeropolis. She thanked the King for his generosity and support, as did General Balena and General Tolomus.
Calum was all set to accompany her when the King called him forward.
“Calum the Deliverer,” the King said from his throne. “Calum the Unifier.”
Calum knelt before him with his head bowed. “I’m not worthy of such titles, Your Majesty.”
“But you are, truly,” the King countered. “You came to know the truth, and ultimately, it was the truth that set you free.”
Calum kept his head bowed. He didn’t know what to say to that.
“That is why I have decided to make you an Imperator in my kingdom,” the King continued.
Now Calum looked up. He’d secretly hoped for an opportunity like this ever since he’d seen Matthios withstand Lumen’s attacks during their first fight.
But he already knew he couldn’t accept. Doing so would mean he’d be separated from Lilly. It just wouldn’t work.
“Thank you for your generous offer, Your Majesty,” Calum said. “But I have to decline.”
“I was not asking,” the King uttered.
Calum swallowed the lump in his throat. Even though he’d joined the King’s side, he couldn’t help but revere the man and respect his endless power. If Calum were honest with himself, it frightened him more than a little. How could he refuse an all-powerful King?
“Your Majesty,” Calum began, “please try to understand… I’ve committed myself to the Premieress. We’re due to be wed as soon as we return to the Sky Realm so we can spend our lives together. I can’t serve as an Imperator and be a good husband to her. So, respectfully, I have to decline.”
Valerie stood next to the King, smiling. Maybe it was because of Calum’s boldness, or maybe it was because she was pleased that Calum and Lilly had committed to each other. Or maybe it was that she just liked to smile all the time.
The King twirled the hair in his dark beard and stared at Calum with his vibrant green eyes. His voice hardened a bit, and he leaned forward. “Perhaps I was not clear. You will serve as my Imperator.”
Calum closed his eyes. He couldn’t lose Lilly… not after everything they’d gone through. He wanted to serve the King, but… his heart would be torn either way.
The King sat back in his throne. “I need someone I can trust, after all. Someone loyal. Someone who can personally oversee the funds, resources, and manpower I am sending to the Sky Realm to help rebuild the fine city of Aeropolis.”
Calum’s eyes popped open, and he gawked at the King.
“I can think of no one more trustworthy, capable, or qualified than you,” the King said. “After all, you have extensive experience
in working with all sorts of stone, do you not?”
Calum beamed. “Yes, Your Majesty. As you know, I worked in a quarry for a long time.”
“Then you will prove an invaluable asset as Aeropolis is rebuilt to its former grandeur.” Now the King was smiling as well.
It wasn’t the first time Calum had seen him smile since the war ended, but he could count the number of times it had happened on one hand.
“And once that project is complete, you will continue to serve as my Imperator and representative in Western Kanarah for a long as you shall live.”
Calum bowed again. “Yes, Your Majesty. Of course. And thank you very much!”
“Step forward that I may grant you the full measure of an Imperator’s power.”
Calum obeyed, and the King rose from his throne and placed his huge hand on Calum’s head. A rush of power cascaded throughout Calum’s entire body, amplifying the power of the light inside his heart—the light left over from Lumen.
The whole process only took a few seconds, and then it was done. When Calum looked down, his hands radiated brilliant white light. He looked up at the King, confused.
“Calum, I hereby dub you Calum the Imperator, the General of Light,” the King said. “There is no one more worthy to replace that which we have lost. May you truly shine as a beacon of light in the darkness, as hope for the hopeless, in our world.”
Calum bowed again. It was a lot of bowing, but this was the King of all Kanarah, after all. And after everything that had happened, the King deserved that and much more.
“Thank you, Your Majesty. I will serve you well,” Calum said.
The crowd around them applauded briefly, and then the King spoke again.
“Now, please do not let me hold you up. You have a wedding to plan, do you not?” The King gave both Calum and Lilly a wink.
Calum nodded and turned back to Lilly. He wrapped her up in a huge hug and kissed her again, just because he could.
They left Solace that afternoon, and so began the rest of their lives together.
The End
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Lilly closed her copy of The Ghost Plague and passed it to Calum, who sat next to her in their bed inside the Sky Fortress.
“I know you’ve been eager to read this,” she said. “Perhaps now that we’re married and have some time to relax before the King’s workers and resources arrive, you can finish it.”
Calum grinned at her. He’d already finished the first two books in the series, but with the war and all, he’d hardly had time to think, let alone get lost in a great book.
“Thanks,” he said. “After the way the second book ended, I’ve been pretty desperate to see how it would all resolve.”
“It’s pretty phenomenal,” she said. “My head is reeling from it all.”
Calum raised an eyebrow at her. “It’s that good?”
“I can’t think of a better way to end the trilogy. I hope Ben Wolf writes more in the series later on.”
“I heard he’s thinking about it.” Calum popped open the book and began reading the first page, but he stopped. “Did you start the Blood Mercenaries series yet?”
Lilly held up a copy of Blood Mercenaries Origins. “After you and Riley recommended it so highly, how could I not?”
“The whole series is amazing. It’s gonna be ten books long by the time it’s done.”
“That sounds wonderful,” Lilly said.
“It is,” Calum said. “Or at least, it will be. I managed to get a sneak peek at some of his other upcoming books, and they’re all pretty great.”
“Upcoming books?” Lilly eyed him. “What does that mean?”
“I mean they’re not published yet,” Calum explained.
“How in the world did you manage that?”
“I’m one of Ben Wolf’s Advance Reader Copy (ARC) readers. He sometimes sends manuscripts out early, and I read them really fast and then tell him what I think.”
Lilly set her book down. “How is it you have time to read advance copies of books during a war, but not the ones that are actually published?”
“I’m… sneaky?” Calum ventured.
Now it was Lilly’s turn to raise her eyebrow.
“What?” Calum shrugged. “I learned it from Riley.”
“You boys.” Lilly rolled her eyes. “By the way, if you’re a real Ben Wolf fan, you’re writing reviews for his books, right?”
“Always. It helps authors out a ton when readers post reviews of their books on Amazon—whatever that is,” Calum said.
“I think it’s a river.” Lilly touched her chin with her forefinger. “But that doesn’t really make sense, now that I think about it.”
“The folks reading this will probably know,” Calum said. “Anyway, go ahead and write a review for this and all the other Ben Wolf books you’ve read. Good or bad, it doesn’t matter—just post the review, and it’ll help.”
“You know, it’s getting late.” Lilly nudged Calum. “Maybe we should call it a night?”
Calum glanced between her and the book. “I’m kind of hooked already. One chapter?”
A smirk curled Lilly’s lips into a grin. “I was thinking the same thing.”
“Alright, but only one, right?” Calum insisted.
“Of course!” Lilly agreed. “I can stop at any time.”
Then together—predictably—they read until the first rays of dawn broke the horizon.
And they did not regret it… at least not until that afternoon when their fatigue finally caught up with them.
If you enjoyed this series, you’ll love my Blood Mercenaries series.
Contact me directly to order signed copies at [email protected],
or you can grab them on Amazon.com in either print or ebook form.
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Acknowledgments
I started this series twelve years ago (in Feb. of 2009) because of a map I saw in a dream, much like Calum did. At the time, I was working in Brooks Brothers as a sales guy, and jotting down this story helped me pass the time in an otherwise mindless, miserable job.
Like Calum, I felt I was meant for something more, but I didn’t know how to get out of my day-to-day rut. It wasn’t until seven months later that I would attend my first writers conference—one that changed my life forever.
Now this book has not only been published, but someone—you—chose to pick it up and read it. So thank YOU for reading.
First and foremost, thank you to Jesus Christ for changing my life (and the world) forever. You ARE the One True King.
Second, thanks to my parents for believing in me from an early age and for helping to support my dreams and my growth. I love you both.
Thanks to my all-star beta readers, Daniel Kuhnley, Luke Messa, and Paige Guido, for your excellent feedback, encouragement, and for having my back.
Thanks also to my mastermind group. It’s a secret group, but you all know who you are. (insert evil laugh)
Thank you to Andrew Winch and Davis Bunn, who both critiqued early, horrible versions of this book for me. Your input helped me out so much.
Hannah Sternjakob, you are a genius. The cover is exactly what I had envisioned (only better). Thank you for your long-suffering patience with me.
Dirty Mike Hueser and the BJJ boys, thanks for keeping me frosty.
And thank you to all of my readers! Without you, I wouldn’t be doing this.
Last of all, thank you especially to my intelligent, beautiful, thoughtful, and ultra-supportive wife, Charis Crowe. Your flexibility with my weird writing schedule for this book made all the difference in me getting it done.
I love you.
About Ben Wolf
In 7th grade, I saw the movie Congo. It was so bad, I wrote a parody of it set in Australia that featured killer kangaroos. So began my writing career.
I’ve spoken at 50+ writers conferences and multiple comic cons nationwide. When not writing, I occasionally choke people
in Brazilian jiujitsu. I live in the midwest with my gorgeous wife, our kids, and our cats Marco and Ivy.
Order more books from me directly at [email protected] or on Amazon.com.
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