Revelation (Seeds of Humanity: The Cobalt Heresy) (54 page)

BOOK: Revelation (Seeds of Humanity: The Cobalt Heresy)

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“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