by K. M. Raya
Contents
Map
Copyright
Creature Guide
Prologue
Princess Sera Draegan
Sera
Sera
Sera
Sera
Sera
Sera
Tainted Waters
Sera
Sera
Sera
DorEthe
Sera
Sephrian
Sera
Sera
Epilogue
The End
Map
Kindred (Into the Darklands): Copyright © 2019: K.M. Raya. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used simply for the purpose of furthering the storyline and do not represent the institutions or places of business in any way. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental or used for fictional purposes.
Creature Guide
Mage: A human with the ability to wield elemental magic.
Elf: An ancient race of beings with long pointed ears, silver or black hair and eyes. Known for their longevity, healing magic and affinity for the natural world.
Shadow Drac: Humanoid creatures with the ability to shift into large black scaled Dragons. Known for their longevity and battle magic. Their scales are impenetrable like armor.
Wraiths: Kin of the Shadow Drac without the ability to take human form. Often used in times of war as a means of transportation.
Marsh Hags (The Horde): An Ancient race of witches, made from soil and magic. Persecuted for their monstrous appearance. Found among the marshes of the Darklands.
Giants (The Troupe): Massive beings made of stone and moss that stand as tall as trees. Giants are legendary warriors and are known for their ability to construct warships.
Necromancer: A human or being who dabbles in death magic.
Storm Saber: A lizard like creature the size of a horse. They slither through the soil of the Darklands during thunderstorms to hunt for small animals. Storm Sabers are often hunted by the Elves for their scales which make an ideal armor.
Marsh Saber: Much the same as a Storm Saber, only regionally different. Often utilized by Marsh Hags as a means of transportation, Marsh Sabers are also blind, using smell and hearing to guide them.
Grendel: Golems made of mud and magic, created to do the bidding of the Marsh Hags.
Prologue
Sephrian
He watched the skies as predator birds swirled above his army, salivating over the feast to come. The repetitive boom and thuds of drac wings snapped through the silence as he and the rest of the rebellion waited impatiently on the edge of the kingswood.
Close to two thousand fighters awaited his orders—but what they lacked in numbers, they made up for in magic, anger and the element of surprise. King Draegan was much too comfortable on that golden throne of his—lazing about while his necromancers whispered in his ears day in and day out. Sephrian couldn’t suppress the maniacal glee that spread through his body like a fire—raging hot and wild. He didn’t want to suppress it; he wanted that rage and that excitement to fuel him. He needed it to lead him towards the victory that awaited him in the next few moments.
Looking to his left, he nodded at Soran, his youngest brother—though not built for combat, he’d been a strategist since the day he’d figured out how to read a map. Soran locked eyes with Sephrian, a thousand words passing between them with only a look before he turned his horse around and skirted the line of soldiers—sword held high and chin held higher. Soran would lead them around the back of the castle through the trader’s gate and into the servant’s tunnels, effectively blocking access to the docks.
Magnus, his middle brother waited at his right—a full two heads taller than Sephrian and Soran and wider than a tree. Magnus was a warrior, built like a giant, but dumb as an ox. Sephrian couldn’t have asked for a better weapon to wield as he liked. Magnus thirsted for a good fight, but Sephrian never feared his own life at the hands of his brother. No, Magnus did only what he was told and no more. At least, for now.
“Brothers and sisters!” Sephrian shouted as he sat up proudly, back straight and sword drawn before his army of Kindred—the ones who chose to follow him out of the Darklands. They were not soldiers—not all of them. Most were just angry and forgotten. Many of them had been farmers, traders, craftsmen...they’d been betrayed by their king and left to rot all those years ago. But no more. “You know what awaits you behind those walls—” He pointed his sword towards the castle just past the tree line. “I cannot promise you your life from this point on, but I can promise you your freedom one way or the next!” Cheers rose up around him, angry and determined. These people thirsted for Draegan blood and he knew they would burn the kingdom to the ground until every last one of King Seth’s brood was eliminated.
He caught the eyes of the fighters before him, each one looking to him for guidance—so filled with fear and longing. They wanted their homes back, their lands and their legacies. Many would die tonight, he knew this. Not a single battle had ever been won without heavy loss of life, but it was a sacrifice he was willing and able to make a thousand times over if that’s what it took...
Princess Sera Draegan
Castle Karn continues to blaze as I do nothing but stare into the undulating fire with hopelessness and awe.
My family never made it out, and while my heart cracks and fissures down the middle, my eyes remain strangely dry. In truth, I might be the worst daughter there ever was, because it isn’t for my mother and father, the king and queen that I mourn—not even my eldest brother, Forrest, whom I’ve steadily detested since before I can remember. I can’t seem to muster an ounce of grief for them, but the loss of my middle brother, Gavriel is almost enough to shatter my resolve to flee. I can see him in my mind’s eye riding through those gates just after sunrise with his red hair shining under a woven crown of gold. I’d watched him and his men parade into the palace courtyard like kings, all the while my father watched him with contemplative—calculating eyes. It was the last time I saw my brother alive.
I’ve never held much love for either of my parents. They’re vile people and utterly loathed throughout the kingdom and they know it. Father’s been steadily losing his sanity as the years pass and more and more of our people have fled Karn in fear of catching his wrath. They whisper in secret, plotting their escape from Karn, all the while my father plots their deaths. I don’t know where they’re going, but a part of me hopes they followed the thousands before them into the Darklands and away from any place our king has under his thumb. At least, that’s what I try to tell myself. In reality they’re probably dead by now. Father doesn’t take kindly to deserters who support the rebellion.
I should say he didn’t take kindly—because he’s dead now.
‘Dead...’
The word sounds foreign even in my mind. The thought of the great tyrant king no longer existing is unthinkable, but I saw it happen with my own eyes. King Seth Draegan was swallowed up by mage fire until his body turned to ash right there between my fingers. My nose twitches as I remember coughing through the grey cloud of ash—my mind denying the reality that over five decades of power and cruelty has been reduced to smoke filtering through my lungs as I’d scrambled across the throne room in search of an exit. Even now, my dress is covered in a fine layer of ash. I refuse to think on it more because
right now I need to keep my wits about me. I no longer have Gavriel to watch over my well being. His steady presence beside me is empty—making me feel a touch helpless for the first time in my seventeen years. He’d been the one to teach me how to use a knife, to swing a sword and shoot an arrow—all the while Forrest mocked me along with my mother who seemed to hate everything I ever did or said or thought.
All my life I’ve been treated as an unwanted stain on my family name, all the while they turn a blind eye to the fact that their people despise them. The queen is shrewd, cold and unfeeling while the king is just a madman. I’m glad they’re gone. The kingdom will no doubt be better for it and I wonder if it makes me a bad person to feel this way. In a single evening I’ve lost my entire family—everyone I’ve ever known, but all I can feel is disgust at the fact that it hadn’t happened sooner.
Anya sits beside me on her dark grey horse named Caspar, watching the flames with tears streaming freely down her soot covered face. Her brother, Wesley succumbed to the same magic that took my family. I choke down a sob as I picture his dark brown eyes and shaggy hair in my mind’s eye. He looked so scared, and yet ready to defend us until his last breath as the rebels burst through the throne room doors. The last thing I saw before they overtook him and cast the room ablaze was a flash of hopelessness on his face that chills my soul. Though he was a stable hand and far below my station, he was my best friend and one of the few people in my life I can truly say I trust aside from Anya. I’d gone back into the halls of the burning structure to search for him, but eventually the smoke and flame swept through every corridor, forcing me out with tears in my eyes.
“We need to move before they realize I’m gone,” I urge my handmaiden and very best friend.
Anya’s eyes widen. “W—we can’t just leave him,” she sniffles, eyes tracking one of the higher towers as it begins to crumble down. The sky is raining fire now as a drac swirls overhead. I can’t actually see it for myself, but I don’t miss its shadow as it swoops above the clouds. Never having laid eyes on one, I pictured them much smaller.
A sob rips from my throat as I swipe at a lone tear that trails down my cheek. I sniffle and face my friend. “He’s gone, Anya. Wesley’s gone.” I hate the words and they taste foul on my tongue.
It takes a moment, but Anya looks to me in resignation and nods her head a single time before tucking her long russet braid inside the hood of her cloak. I do the same with my fiery crimson locks, careful to conceal the wild mass. The rebellion would be able to spot the too bright color even from a distance.
I click my teeth and circle my mare, Patch around until we’re making our way behind the castle and into the kingswood that surrounds it. I was harsh with Anya, but right now our lives are still in danger. A single arrow though these dense trees could mean death at any moment. Our horses carry us down an old overgrown traders’ route that I’d become familiar with as a young girl. Gavriel used to take me on hunting trips before mother put a stop to it. We pass the old healer’s cottage—nestled in the dense foliage, forgotten and abandoned. Anya, Wesley and I played there as children and I have to force myself to look away.
I know that somewhere up ahead is a cave system, just below a trickling waterfall in a cliffside. It’s a place only Gavriel and I knew of to the best of my knowledge. My heart twists in my chest, remembering those long rides with my older brother—how he taught me to fend for myself and live off the land. Gavriel was more of a father to me than the king had ever attempted to be.
Anya and I managed to get out of the castle unseen, but navigating the wood is dangerous for two untrained seventeen-year-old girls. If Sephrian and his brothers have trackers among them, we might not make it past nightfall. We were lucky to get out unscathed given the amount of mage fire that ripped through the stone halls of my home. Mage fire is near impossible to put out outside of magical means, and since my family is human, we’d been blindsided. My father’s mancers attempted to fight back, but in the end the attack had been too unforeseen and the cowards must have run.
We ride for hours until the sun starts to dip behind the mountains far off on the horizon. My legs are chapped and my back twinges painfully—too unaccustomed to riding for this long. As princess of Karn, my royal duties never involved horseback riding—not like my brothers. I’ve been bitter about it since childhood. As a girl, I never understood why I had to be raised differently than Gav and Forrest. I hate wearing dresses and jewels. I loathe etiquette lessons, dancing lessons and the mindless droning of my tutors attempting to teach me how to be a lady. I’d much rather be out on the training grounds with my father’s soldiers, but my shrew of a mother wouldn’t hear of it. I’d watch from my window as a young girl—envious of my tall, strong brothers training with the other soldiers. I cheered Gavriel on silently from the shadows as he sparred with his men and worked his way up until becoming a commander of his own fleet. He’d eventually moved to the stronghold in Zegrath by the sea—leaving me in Karn with the king and queen and hating life every day.
As we race through the trees until the sun begins to set, dodging their branches and roots as we flee for our lives, my body comes alive. The wind whips my hood back off my head, but I can’t stop to adjust it. I just keep moving forward until soon, I spot a body of water up ahead, rippling around the outpouring of a large waterfall. If you didn’t know exactly where to look, you’d assume a sheer face of rock lay beneath the water rather than a vast cave system.
"Straight through the falls, Anya—you’ll go right through!” I call ahead. I know she hears me because she veers Caspar directly towards the pond.
I follow closely behind, hoping Patch won’t spook and refuse to take me into the water. My beautiful grey spotted mare isn’t built for long journeys or war and panic. She’s been pampered all her life as I have. She surprises me though, as we slice through the water on Caspar’s tail and disappear beneath the falls without any hesitation. Just inside, the red rock opens into a narrow cave. Very little light peeks in through the falling water, and by the time the sun sets fully, we’ll be bathed in safe darkness.
We slide off our horses and leave them to rest. Anya walks close to the water, cupping handfuls of it and gulping it down greedily before rinsing the ash and soot off her face. I do the same until both of us are too tired to stand.
“Are we safe here?” she asks as she drops to the cave floor and brings her knees up to her chest for warmth. I walk close to the end of the cave, gazing into the dark abyss and hoping there aren’t any surprises waiting for us in its depths.
“As safe as we can be for now. We need to lay low until sunrise, the rebels will backtrack eventually.” I drop down next to Anya who shivers in her wet cloak and muddy dress. I let out a long, tired breath, pulling a small dagger from my boot—thankful to Gavriel for teaching me to use it.
Fear brightens Anya’s brown eyes and she watches me twist the blade between my fingers. “They’ll be after you, Sera. When they don’t find your remains in the castle, they’ll hunt you.” Her voice shakes as she tells me what I already know.
I shrug. “They might assume I turned to ash from the fire. And besides, Sephrian’s probably too busy planning his coronation by now to notice,” I grumble bitterly.
In truth, I’d always sort of admired Sephrian. His brothers too. They’d led a fierce rebellion against my father for as long as I’ve been alive, and though I’d never have admitted it to anyone else, I wanted them to win. Just...not like this.
The three mage brothers have been leaders since the beginning of the purge. When father’s sanity slipped past the point of return, he and his necromancers banished the Kindred and killed hundreds in a single night without warning. It’s the only way a human could out maneuver and outmatch a Kindred. The three brothers were once some of the finest soldiers in father’s army and he turned his back on them. They’d shed blood for their king and he returned the kindness by dubbing them second class citizens.
“Where do we go now?” Anya
asks in a small, shaking voice. “The kingdom isn’t safe anymore and you’ll be recognized.”
I know she’s right. In Karn, only a handful of people have my flaming red hair—all of them nobles from my ancestors country across the sea. I’ll be a target with the highest bounty on my head. “That’s why we’re leaving the kingdom—”
“Leaving where?” she interrupts. “The sea isn’t an option and the roads are too dangerous…” She throws her face in her hands as quiet sobs wrack her body.
Unclasping my cloak, I let the wet garment fall to the ground before crawling over to my friend. I wrap an arm around her heaving shoulders and squeeze. “Do you trust me?”
Her sniffles cut off and she raises her tear streaked face to mine. I hate seeing her this way. Anya is such a sweet girl with a caring heart, she doesn’t deserve any of this. She’s not ready for what we’re about to face. “You know I do, but this isn’t about trusting you. You know I’d follow you anywhere, but we’ll die out here because neither one of us has any training, what do we do when bandits realize who you are?”
I wish I had the right answer for her, but I’m as scared as she is. I don’t have answers, I don’t even really have a plan. I just know we need to leave this place before anyone realizes I’m still alive.
I’ve already made up my mind. “We’re going to the Darklands,” I whisper and her eyes widen.
“Sera...we don’t know what’s really out there. I know we like to play pretend, but the Kindred might want you dead even more than Sephrian. There’s nobody here to protect you anymore.”
Once again, she’s right. The Kindred—all manner of magical, non-human folk probably do want me dead. As a Draegan heiress, I’m next in line for the throne that once harbored a tyrant—the same tyrant that killed their kind by the hundreds and banished the rest.
“We don’t have a choice. The Darklands are vast enough that if we’re smart, we can figure something out, but we need to get out of Karn while there’s still panic.”
