Welcome To The Age of Magic
Restriction, Storm Raiders, Shades of Light, The Arcadian Druid, Dawn of Destiny, Knight’s Creed
CM Raymond
LE Barbant
PT Hylton
Justin Sloan
Amy Hopkins
Candy Crum
PJ Cherubino
Michael Anderle
Welcome To The Age of Magic (this book) is a work of fiction.
All of the characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Sometimes both.
Copyright © 2018 CM Raymond, LE Barbant, PT Hylton, Justin Sloan, Amy Hopkins, Candy Crum, PJ Cherubino, Michael Anderle
Cover by Andrew Dobell, www.creativeedgestudios.co.uk
Cover copyright © LMBPN Publishing
LMBPN Publishing supports the right to free expression and the value of copyright. The purpose of copyright is to encourage writers and artists to produce the creative works that enrich our culture.
The distribution of this book without permission is a theft of the author’s intellectual property. If you would like permission to use material from the book (other than for review purposes), please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your support of the author’s rights.
LMBPN Publishing
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First US edition, November 2018
The Kurtherian Gambit (and what happens within / characters / situations / worlds) are copyright © 2015-2018 by Michael T. Anderle.
Contents
Foreword
Restriction
Storm Raiders
Shades Of Light
The Arcadian Druid
Dawn of Destiny
Knight’s Creed
Foreword
Welcome to The Age of Magic!
Looking for a universe to get absolutely lost in? You’ve come to the right place.
The Age of Magic is a 35 book (and growing) future fantasy franchise with six series (and growing) by seven authors (yes… and growing). While this story-world was written to be enjoyed as a standalone, it is also a part of the greater Kurtherian Gambit Universe, all masterminded by bestselling author Michael Anderle.
This boxed set is a little gift. An introduction of sorts to the world as it currently stands. It includes the series starters for almost all of the lines established at the time of publication. This is a portal. Step on through!
A quick note about reading order and spoilers. First, most of the book ones can be read in any order. We recommend Restriction first, since it is the true beginning of the age. Also, if you read Dawn of Destiny or The Arcadian Druid before reading the three books following Restriction there will be some spoilers. Nothing huge. But be warned.
This project has been exciting and humbling. Working with this team has been nothing if not satisfying.
Time to settle in and explore the Age of Magic!
Cheers,
Chris Raymond
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Restriction
Prologue
The Far Future
Catherine smoothed her white skirt over her slender legs as she prepared to enter the classroom. She was about to give the most important lecture of her life, and she needed to look the part.
Five years working in the Ministry of Education, and she still got butterflies before she walked into the room. She had a great amount of respect for her job as a teacher so some anxiety was natural, but Catherine hoped someday she would feel comfortable amongst the students. She swallowed one last time and stepped through the door.
The classroom buzzed with its normal electricity. The students were curious and even excited to learn. She knew that joy in schooling wasn’t typical for students of this age, but she was lucky to have been given the honor students—the best in New Arcadia. And she also knew that many of them, if she did her job well, would advance far beyond their teacher.
It was not unlike the story she readied herself to tell—the story of the girl who changed the world.
“Take your seats,” Catherine called out over the hubbub in a cheerful tone. “Settle down, everybody!”
After what seemed like an eternity, the students complied.
She stood at the podium and shuffled her notes. Her hands shook slightly. “Good. Right. Who remembers what we were talking about last class?” Catherine asked.
Francis, whose parents were both teachers at the University, raised his hand. She nodded in his direction. “You had just introduced a new topic—the Age of Magic.”
“That’s right, Francis. We had finally finished going over the Age of Madness. Someone give us a quick recap into what the Age of Madness was. Remember,” she looked over her audience, “it will be on the final exam.”
All the students stirred in their seats. He asked the kind of question that was too easy to want to answer, so they all waited for the others.
Finally, Randall, a boy—smarter than most—whose parents were both manual laborers, raised his hand. “The Age of Madness was a time of chaos. Empress Bethany Anne had left Irth to travel the stars some time before. And in her absence war broke out, plunging humanity into the Second Dark Ages.
“After she left that the Kurtherian nanocytes technology affected most of humanity. It took generations, but they changed the world forever. Humans, for the most part, weren’t prepared to handle the mutations introduced by the nanocytes’ programming. In the meantime, Emperor Michael had returned and stopped an effort by several mutated humans from taking over large areas of Irth.
“Bethany Anne came back to Irth to pick up Michael after stopping the M’nassa and other tribes from attacking Earth. She then emplaced the Planetary Orbital Defenses so that we could never be attacked again.”
The boy paused, then continued. “But, Bethany Anne and Michael left without understanding the issues surrounding the changes to humanity. So instead of giving humans the gift that the Kurtherian Tribe Essiehkor had envisioned—allowing people the ability to tap into the Etheric—the nanocytes transformed many of them into monsters. Creatures who looked like humans, but lacked logic and empathy.
“The Mad, as those creatures were called, desired only to consume human blood to get Etheric energy it imparted. Their ravages significantly decreased an already low population and plunged the world from the Second Dark Ages into the Age of Madness.”
“Good,” Catherine said. “And how did the Age of Madness come to an end?” she asked.
Melissa, a girl with short, dark hair and intense eyes, in the front row, looked up and spoke without raising her hand. “The Founder appeared. He was a man of great power who could cure humanity of the Madness. He taught them how to control the desires within them, and in doing so, he showed them how to tap into the Etheric and produce magic.”
Catherine felt a chill run down her spine upon hearing her student’s words. She had taught them well, and they were now ready to push into harder lessons.
“That’s right. And today, we pick up where that story ends. The Founder was only the beginning of the Age of Magic. He had an important role to play, but his gift was just the genesis of our world. In the end, he would not be nearly as important as the one who came after him.”
All the students leaned in. She was blessed to have such a hungry group. They’d been waiting all year
for the good stuff. It was time for Catherine to give it to them.
And that was exactly what she intended to do.
“I’m sure all of you have heard the legends, but today we are going to learn the true story of the Heroine of Magic. How she rose from nothing to become the most powerful magician the world had ever known, and, more importantly, how she used that magic to vanquish evil from our land. She led us out of Darkness into the time of peace.
“It is time to tell you the truth about Hannah.”
1
Hannah didn’t know it, but in just a few more minutes her life would be changed.
Forever.
And how could she have known? It was a day like any other. She and her brother William were on their way to the park in uptown Arcadia, the one clean place they could enjoy themselves in this crowded, sweaty city. Their weekly trip to the grounds was the only thing she had to look forward to in her long, hard days.
Being with her brother was in many ways the only time she truly felt human. He was five years younger than she, and William gave her purpose. All that she did day-to-day was for him.
Turning the corner onto the Street of the Patriarch, William stopped in his tracks.
Hannah turned, allowing a little impatience to color her voice. “Let’s go, Will. There’s not much time.”
Her brother stared into the distance, his small face ashen, sweat breaking out on his forehead. “Go ahead, Hannah. I…I don’t feel so good. I’ll catch up. I think I might need some—”
Her brother dropped to the ground mid-sentence. Hannah scrambled back to his side. His eyes rolled back in his head and he started to tremble.
“William?” As she checked over his body, her voice rushed out, “Will, this isn’t funny.”
His trembling turned to shaking, which transformed into full-body spasms. William’s arms tightened against his chest, and his legs kicked like wild beasts. Drool leaked from the side of his mouth.
“Will? William!”
But her screams accomplished nothing. His ashen color started to turn, not back to his usual pink, but to blue.
Heart pounding in her ears, Hannah fought back fear and tried to think. Pulling him into her arms, rocking him, she desperately whispered, “Breathe, William, breathe!”
She looked around frantically. “Help me. Somebody help me!” All around the bustling square, the early evening market goers streamed right by them noticing nothing amiss. It didn’t surprise her—this city had little room to care for people like them—but their indifference made her angry nonetheless.
Unable to hold herself together, Hannah shouted into the empty sky. Anger swept through her body, electrifying her hands as people continued stepping around her and her shuddering brother.
Sweat broke out across her forehead and spread across her limbs as her body grew hot. Hannah felt like there was something inside her desperate to escape the confines of her skin. She looked down at her brother, but then a slight movement caught her attention.
A tiny white lizard crawled out from behind a vendor’s barrel. It walked over, scrambled up her brother’s arm, and sat on top of her brother’s convulsing shoulder. The creature stared her in the face and cocked its head.
Her brother lay dying in her arms and all she could focus on was this damned lizard!
As she watched the slimy little reptile, the pent-up fear and panic rushed out of her; every muscle in her body tensed and then released at once. Green light emanated from her, and in that moment the lizard grew ten times its size. Tiny spikes pushed through its skin, and it turned from white to dark green.
It blinked at her twice, then scurried out of sight.
What the hell?
Hannah looked down at her brother lying quietly in her arms, his breathing less erratic.
Thank the Matriarch and the Patriarch!
“What happened?” he asked. His color returned to normal, and his breathing fell back to a regular pace.
Hannah slumped, pulling her brother against her body. Life in Arcadia without him would be pointless.
“Hell if I know,” Hannah said, looking at him. “You OK?”
“I think—” he started to answer.
A commotion across the street cut her brother’s response short.
A street vendor talked to a man with a head the size of an ox and a body to match. The vendor stopped arguing and pointed in Hannah’s direction. The large man stared right at her, yelling, “Get her!” Two smaller men followed as he pushed people out of his way, heading toward her and her brother.
Hannah’s eyes widened. Their chests were emblazoned with the sign of the Hunter; they were mercenaries hired to kill or capture anyone using magic unlawfully within the walls of Arcadia. They were licensed to use magic themselves, and while many in the community held them in high esteem, folks from Hannah’s quarter generally despised the preferential treatment they were given.
All they had to do was flex their magical muscles and people would scramble to accommodate them. What choice did they have? Hunters could wield their magic with impunity. But while these men were a terror for the Unlawfuls, they had little to do with Hannah’s world.
She was just a common girl.
Hannah glanced behind her looking for their target—an Unlawful brave enough to use magic in the market square. Her face scrunched up in confusion; there was no one there. A sick realization fell over the young woman, her eyes opening in fear.
The green light. The strange lizard, she thought. The Hunters were heading straight for William and her.
She was their target.
Scrambling up, she yanked William to his feet. She pushed him in the direction of their home, his safety her only concern.
“Go. Run!” she hissed at him.
Sweat beaded on her forehead again, and her stomach flipped. Holding her ground, she waited for the men until they were a few yards off.
She reached into her cloak. The men froze, eyes wide. If they thought she was some sort of magician, caution would be called for. After all, she could be preparing some sort of a spell. She slowly pulled out her middle finger and waved it like a wand. “Screw you, douche nuggets!” Hannah yelled, a smirk on her face as she turned and ran for the nearest alley.
She had given William time to make his escape, and that was all that mattered.
“Humph,” Ezekiel snorted, leaning on his staff in front of Jones’, his old favorite watering hole. The boards across its windows and door were rotted, indicating how long it had been closed. The sight of the abandoned pub soured even further what had turned out to be an altogether disorienting homecoming.
The old man had been absent for nearly half a century, but it seemed as if he had been gone an eternity.
He looked around, scratching his bearded cheek. Apparently, a lot could happen to a city Arcadia’s size in four decades. His city had been transformed into a bustling trade center; the heart, and some would say soul, of Irth. He turned from the abandoned bar and ambled on, taking in the few places which had stayed the same and the many that were as different as a lifetime could afford. But each cobblestone still felt familiar under his feet.
Rounding the corner, he was nearly knocked over by a shirtless man covered in body art. The tattooed man rode a contraption that looked like a cart cut in half down the middle. The rider cut close as he zoomed past. Ezekiel tripped and fell on his ass as he stepped back.
Mumbling under his breath, he noticed a hand extend into his view, offering to help him up. Ezekiel took the hand, which belonged to a kid with a smile that reminded him of the old days; proof that there was still good in Arcadia.
“OK, pops?” the kid asked.
Forcing a grin through his beard, Ezekiel nodded as the boy pulled him to his feet. “Will be. Not as agile as I once was.”
“Well, those damn magitech speeders are a danger to all of us. Mostly just the rich ride them. Not sure how that guy got one.” He nodded down the road in the direction the vehicle had gone, musin
g to himself, “Probably stolen.”
“What’s a—”
Shouts from a block away cut him short. A young woman, with a convulsing boy in her lap, screamed and looked in every direction. Zeke’s eyes widened as he saw the green light flow from her into a tiny lizard. His jaw dropped as the creature suddenly grew.
It was magic, there was no doubt about it. But that power was unlike anything he had ever witnessed. Following the disappearance of the green light, the boy’s tremors ceased, and color came back to his face.
A toothy grin cut across the kid’s face, which lasted until a group of men rushed the boy and the woman. In a beat, they were running in opposite directions.
“What the hell was that all about?” Ezekiel pointed at the action down the block.
The young man’s eyes stayed on the commotion. “Hell’s got nothing to do with it. They’re Hunters. If they catch her, they get a bounty. Pretty lucrative position if you can get it.”
“Hunters?”
“Sure. To catch the illegal magic users; unrestricted use of magic is outlawed here. Hunters bring in the Unlawfuls, dead or alive.”
“That’s monstrous,” the old man’s eyes narrowed, a flicker of anger flashed across his face. When he had left Arcadia, anyone with the will to handle magic was free to use it. Although one needed a mentor to tame their powers, of course.
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