Prophecy's Quest Read online

  Contents

  Title Page

  Back Cover

  Books by AS Hamilton

  Acknowledgements

  Map - Seda-eirra

  Map - Andarea

  The Prophecy

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Book 1: Prophecy's Deception

  Book 3: Prophecy's Diversion

  Glossary

  Elvan Houses

  Prophecy's Quest

  Book 2: Andarean Realms Prophecies

  by AS Hamilton

  Copyright AS Hamilton

  2018

  ISBN-13: 978-1-925765-02-1

  This work is copyright. Apart from any use permitted under the Copyright Act 1968, no part may be reproduced by any process, nor may any other exclusive right be exercised, without the permission of AS Hamilton (who can be contacted via www.ashamilton.com).

  Books by AS Hamilton

  Andarean Realms Prophecies (Fantasy)

  Prophecy's Deception

  Prophecy's Quest

  Prophecy’s Diversion (Coming 2018)

  Empyrean Realms (Paranormal/Fantasy)

  Soul Taker's Redemption (Coming June 2018)

  Soul Taker Reborn (Coming 2019)

  Want more information?

  Check out my web page:

  www.ashamilton.com

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  Acknowledgements

  Special thanks to my husband and my father whose encouragement and support have lifted me over those challenges I might otherwise have seen as barriers.

  I am also thankful for the support of my family and friends- I deeply appreciate your contribution to my success. Thank you, also, to my editor, Craig Cormick (http://craigcormick.com/#!/works/), for contributing his experience, advice and talent. I have also been fortunate enough to work with Robert Crescenzio (https://robertcrescenzio.artstation.com/),whose exceptional artistic talent brought my imaginations into reality.

  World Map - Seda-eirra

  Nation Map - Andarea

  The Prophecy

  A saviour with hair of silver blended with midnight's hue

  He has eyes that are droplets of the ocean's deepest blue

  Upon him the mark of silent death can be found

  Which earns him loyalty that is endlessly bound

  All talents his, from Abbarane's triumph he rides away

  Behind dawn's light, on valiant charger, white with patched grey

  Upon Spring Bloom, he must make the journey to find Soul's Death

  Which can be found within the stone tempered by dragon's breath

  The key to freedom, the hidden one, he must find

  This guardian is found in the eyes of the blind

  To mend the mistakes of the past, he must seek unity

  And forsake the fallen's pleas to fulfil his prophecy.

  Chapter 1

  38 Turns Ago - Night

  Sal-Cirus

  Keysjhon held his breath as he pressed his back hard up against the wall of the alley and wished for the shadows to conceal him from patrolling guards. A murmur brought his attention to the infant bundled inside a backpack worn frontwards so the infant could see his face. He kissed the pale-white temple as he pulled the hood of the blanket about the infant's pointed ears.

  'Please, please, please stay quiet,' he sent to the child's mind.

  Keysjhon had no idea if an infant as young as Brynn could understand the mind-sent words, but he dared not make any noise, and the child had shown an uncanny ability to understand the meaning of mind-sent requests. A feeling of reassurance swept over him. Keysjhon froze, distracted from his situation. That was empath talent from the feel of it. He looked into the slanted, deep-blue eyes of his son, who was sending to him an image of what he saw: Long, straight, pearl-white and silver iridescent hair framed a sharp-featured, pale face. He could see that fear filled his pale-blue eyes. The gems along his raikiwa braids caught the moonlight and Keysjhon found himself pulling his own hood closer about his head as he wondered at the way his son was sending to him. He had heard of infants who were naturally talented being able to communicate with their parents, but to experience it himself…

  Just as all elvan had iridescent hair and eyes, they also had some level of talent. The humans called it magic, but to someone like Keysjhon's father, who was a full mage, or wizard as the humans said, their talent was learned over an apprenticeship of at least a century, longer for those who wanted to achieve higher levels of skill. Their talent was powered by nature and for this reason the elvan society was a considered a strange mix of highly-advanced technology with areas of serious under-development, according to the humans who now controlled their country. The war had started almost ten turns ago, but the occupation had only really been for the last turn — barely that, only three and half seasons had passed since Keldon Abbarane had conquered Andarea.

  He wished his father had warned him about just how heavily-patrolled Sal-Cirus was, Riqu was the leader of the rebel movement, after all. Voices alerted Keysjhon to another patrol passing nearby, and he found himself holding his breath again. Already! One had just passed by minutes before. While he had the forged papers he needed if he encountered a patrol, he was not keen to test them, especially at this time of night when most people, even slaves, were indoors. When Keldon formalised his victory, he had made all elvan slaves. The papers Riqu had given him said he was a sanctioned slave, which meant that, as opposed to regular slaves, he was allowed to travel where the papers specified and that his master had given him permission to carry his child due to illness. It was fortunate that private slave masters, those that used their slaves for domestic duties rather than trading in them as merchants often did, were known to be benevolent in this manner. The ability to move about the city was limited, but better to be caught in an area he was not supposed to be and claim he was lost than be caught without any authority to be out of a slave hold. If they discovered him at night, Riqu had told him to say his master was ill with the same sickness the infant was down with and he was looking for an apothecary to get a remedy. The merchant with whom the rebels had an agreement with for the papers would agree to anything the rebels said as being their reason for business as long as it was a believable story. But in this case, Riqu had warned the merchant so he knew to present himself as feeling poorly if Abbarane authorities came to his home.

  Keysjhon looked about the alley, it was dark even to advanced elvan sight, so hopefully the human soldiers would not be able to see him if they happened to look down the alley on their way past. He hoped he was in the right place. Riqu had told him someone would collect him just after highest moon, and it was just past that — so where were they?

  As if they had heard his thoughts, a short-statured figure seemed to 'appear' in front of him. For a moment Keysjhon froze in panic, until the enshrouded figured pulled back a hood to reveal a very square-featured face, blue-streaked black hair and silver-flecked, blue eyes. He knew of only one dwarven who had eyes that colour, so even though he could not see her face properly in the dim shadows, he found himself smiling at her.

  'Va-ri-el. I had no idea you were in Sal-Cirus.' His tone was a mix of relief and happiness, for he was worried about whether he could trust whoever i
t was his father had arranged with the rebels to meet him, but he knew Va-ri-el, her loyalty was a solid as a mountain. Unfortunately not all elvan opposed Keldon Abbarane, indeed, that was how they lost the war — two of the very own mages, Colnba and Nisari, had betrayed them.

  'Hurry up, get down here.'

  Keysjhon frowned. 'Get down where?'

  The dwarven pointed at the ground and Keysjhon could see that the round sewer cover had 'disappeared', probably slid open, he guessed — Va-ri-el must have come up from the sewers. He was surprised he had not heard it, but that was possibly because he had been distracted by his son.

  'There's a ladder,' she said as Keysjhon moved away from the security of the wall into the middle of the alley next to her. 'We don't have long before th' next patrol's comin' by.'

  Keysjhon nodded and awkwardly crouched as he tried not to upset the infant in front of him. He then sat with his legs in the hole. He found the ladder easily enough, he could see it once he was close, and started down into the darkness. Va-ri-el climbed in straight after him almost stepping on his hands in her rush to get out of sight.

  'Sorry,' she murmured as she started to put the weight of one boot on his hand and then lifted it off.

  When he reached the bottom, he waited a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dark.

  'Don't speak, yet,' Va-ri-el instructed softly.

  Keysjhon gave her another nod, knowing that her sight was far better in the dark than his. He followed her as she led the way through a series of tunnels. His father had told him there were secret tunnels and hidden rooms beneath most cities. They had been built in the lead up to the war and during the invasion, but Keysjhon had spent most of his time in Ancoulan before the war, which was once the elvan capital, and was not familiar with Sal-Cirus. For the past turn and a half, he had been living at a rebel base that was being built on the edge of the At-hara Desert, and so he had no recent knowledge of any of the cities. They had named the rebel base Caradon in honour of one of the ruling pair who were killed by Keldon Abbarane.

  Finally, Va-ri-el opened a door and led him through it, before closing it and spinning a large round wheel to seal and lock it. As the door locked, a set of soft lights came on, revealing a cylindrical room. Another door opened almost immediately and Keysjhon found himself looking the wrong way down the sight of a crossbow.

  That was another reason the humans criticised the elvan. Why, they asked, have such technology as automated doors, solar heating and cooling, and indoor plumbing and then use swords and bows for weapons and ride horses? Where were the roads, they demanded? The answer was found within Elvan beliefs. But the humans could not understand that just because it was possible to make advanced weapons, the elvan chose not to do so. Taking someone's life should not be easy, the elvan believed. Swords required close contact, they made detachment from the act of killing harder. Yes, bows allowed distance and detachment, but only to a degree. And though they did not want weapons in their culture, they understood that they had to advance their weaponry in line with the cultures around them to deter invasion. It had worked for several centuries. But their loss of the war was not due to lack of advancement in their weapons. Keldon had overwhelmed them with sheer numbers. Besides, the Prophecy of Desolation had predicted not just Keldon's invasion, but his victory. The only reason they had fought at all was to gain time for the evacuation of elvan and other populations that were in the way of Keldon's forces. The lack of roads and similar technology was easier for the humans to understand. Their talent, and subsequently much of their technology, was powered by nature. Ripping down tracts of forest for roads and similar infrastructure would diminish their 'magic' and so they preserved the environment. Yet, barely a turn into his rule, Keldon was deforesting the areas around the cities so he could expand them. The future was looking grim.

  At the other end of the crossbow, a pair of slanted, golden eyes met his and immediately, the elvan holding the weapon pulled back and lowered it. He flicked shoulder-length, mahogany hair with shades of burgundy and gold back, which made the gems all along his waist-length raikiwa braids click softly. Raikiwa was an elvan term that meant 'honourable courage' and the braids represented accomplishments when the wearer 'gave' of themselves. In the case of this elvan, he had risked his life many times to save others and his raikiwa were littered with gems representing those lives.

  'Keysjhon!' he welcomed.

  'Archer.' Keysjhon gave the elvan a deep nod of respect.

  'Come now, blade-master, such formality,' the other elvan chided, handing his crossbow to Va-ri-el as he crossed to embrace Keysjhon.

  Relaxing into the hug, Keysjhon felt some of his tension ebb. He was amongst friends. While he was not exactly safe, he felt better.

  Realising Keysjhon wore his backpack the wrong way around, the archer stepped back, giving the pack a bemused look. Then he worked out Keysjhon was carrying a child. 'Who do we have here?'

  'My son.'

  'Let him get inside, Sarre,' Va-ri-el said gruffly to the archer, holding his crossbow out to him.

  'Forgive me,' Sarre said, stepping aside to allow Keysjhon past. Then he said, 'A son — has it really been that long? Belon was still pregnant when I last saw you.'

  'She gave birth early. Linuk put it down to stress. He was a bit underweight, but healthy and…' Keysjhon trailed off.

  'Give him a chance to sit and rest,' Va-ri-el reiterated as she gestured for Keysjhon to do that.

  Keysjhon did not sit though. He lifted the backpack off and carefully pulled the infant out. Sarre moved over so he could see the child. Keysjhon pushed back the blanket forming a hood about his son's head, revealing ebony hair streaked with silver.

  Sarre's eyes widened. 'By Fate's hand! It's the prophecised one, the Saviour.'

  Tears slid down Keysjhon's cheeks.

  Sarre gave his friend a sympathetic look, he understood Keysjhon's sadness, their child would have no childhood for he carried the hope of his nation to one day be free. 'That is why you need to see Toormeena…'

  Keysjhon nodded.

  Sarre spoke of a renown seer from the House of Toorian. Keldon had captured her and imprisoned her in Sal-Cirus. Although all elvan seers had seen the Prophecy of Desolation, which predicted Keldon's invasion and the fall of Andarea, one seer had seen it rise — Toormeena.

  Toormeena paced restlessly in front of the windows along the balcony side of her room. Room? Prison cell. For although it had a curtained bed and a divan and chairs and small tables, she could not leave this room. Armed guards watched the only door leading to the rest of the building and, being nine levels up, escaping by the balcony was not exactly an easy option. Not with the guards posted all around the building and the patrols that circled it every quarter hour.

  After several more moments of pacing, the seer made herself sit. She only succeeded in keeping still for just a few moments and then found herself rising and pacing. Something was in the air, some event was taking place, she was sure of it. She could not access the future paths though, Colnba and Nisari monitored them, preventing Toormeena from viewing any visions in private. So she blocked them, resisted them as best her training allowed. Colnba and Nisari were elvan, but they had aligned themselves with Keldon Abbarane. No. It was worse than that, they were once Heirs to the Crown, they had been selected to take over from Diannra and Caradon once their term of rulership ended. The country had entrusted their future to them. Their betrayal had led to the murder of the ruling crown and many thousands of elvan.

  The worst thing for Toormeena was that in addition to being fully-trained mages, Colnba and Nisari had undergone the binding ritual elvan undertook when they became life partners, or rahn. It made them doubly powerful and doubly dangerous.

  Toormeena came to a sudden stop and whirled about to look out onto the balcony. The shadows in the far corner seemed to have grown. She frowned, her heartbeat quickening. The only person she could think of who might 'appear' on her balcony was a rebel.

  No! />
  It was far too dangerous.

  The shadow moved, breaking away from the deeper shadows and becoming the silhouette of a person. Toormeena's heart ached at the thought of the danger this mysterious benefactor put themselves in. She had warned the last rebel who had attempted to extract her not to come back and not to let any others come. Nisari had woven talented wards about Toormeena so thickly, no one could attempt to free her without Keldon's pet mages knowing. Why had they not listened?

  The shadow opened the balcony door and stepped in.

  'Sarre!' Toormeena made the exclamation in a horrified whisper. Not Sarre. Not mischievous, impetuous, and over-confident, but soft-hearted, Sarre. 'You must leav—'

  Sarre held his hand up. 'No one is attempting to free you, Toormeena. Linuk is hiding us from Abbarane mages, so we know we cannot stay long as the energy it requires is demanding.'

  We?

  Another shadow landed on the balcony ledge, having jumped from the one across from it. The jump was not wide, but if the jumper made a miscalculation, the fall would be fatal.

  An elvan taller than Sarre stepped into the room and as he moved into the soft light Toormeena became instantly still — if Keldon's mages detected the presence of Keysjhon of the House of Brynn-a-kai, he would execute him immediately. Not only was he a key rebel organiser, he was considered one of the most formidable sword fighters in Andarea.

  Keysjhon read her expression and said, 'I have someone important to talk to you about. Someone you know already, but have yet to meet.'

  That intrigued her, who could she 'know' but not have met?

  'I… we do not know what is the best thing to do,' Keysjhon said. 'We need your advice on how to keep him safe.'