Servant: The Dark God Book One (Volume 1) (54 page)

They began to reminisce about Da and Mother. The Creek Widow added stories Talen had never heard before. Every remembrance seemed to call forth three more, and soon the bittersweet memories came as a flood.

So many memories.

Sugar and Legs woke to the Creek Widow’s laughter, and after being led to view the creature’s body, they joined Talen and River at the fire, drinking tea, and adding the stories of their family. Nettle slept on. But the rest of them talked through the night, the fire crackling at their feet, the stars shining brightly above.

When the eastern sky began to lighten, Blue and Queen joined them, Blue hobbling up the hill on three legs. His hind leg was still worthless, but the injury was healing clean. Eventually the dog found Nettle and licked his face until he woke.

“Blue,” said Nettle in recognition. He turned and looked at the others by the fire. “What have I got to do to get something to eat?”

Talen and River looked at each other. Could the old Nettle have come back?

But then Blue licked his face again, and Nettle began to howl.

Down at the farmstead Prince Conroy began to crow, and as the sun rose, it turned the ripple of thin clouds a breathtaking pink and gold.

“We’ll need to lever that body onto a cart,” said Talen, “and take it home to Uncle Argoth.”

“No,” said River. “I think in this case we shall leave it where it is and build over it a monument of stones.”

Talen nodded. “After that we’ve got a field of barley to mow.”

“I will help,” said Sugar.

“And I,” said Legs, “will dance and sing.”

“Sing while you may,” said the Creek Widow, “because a storm is going to come across that ocean, and when it breaks, it had better find us prepared.”

“Will we be ready?” asked Sugar.

“Only the Six know.”

The End

Terms & People

Political Hierarchy

While there are many variations, the basic power hierarchy in the realms of the Western Glorydoms flows from the Glory down:

Glory

|

Lesser Divines

|

Territory Lords and Warlords

|

District Lords and Village Bailiffs

There are still some small areas of the known world ruled by barbarian kings or chieftains, but almost all these pay tribute to one Glory or another in the form of treasure, slaves, or Fire. The major western glorydoms include Mokad, Koram, Nilliam, Kish, and Urz.

The Six Orders of the Divine

Fire Wizards

Kains

Skir Masters

Guardians

Green Ones

Glories

Infamous Divines include: The Goat King, The Witch of Cath, and Hismayas, the ancient lord of the sleth.

Major Mokaddian Clans with holdings in the New Lands

Birak

Burund

Fir-Noy

Harkon

Jarund

Mithrosh

Seema

Shoka

Vargon

Koramites

Hogan

River

Ke

Talen

Sparrow & Purity

Sugar

Legs

Mokaddians

Argoth - Serah

Nettle

Bosser (Captain of the Vargon clan)

The Creek Widow (Matiga)

Fabbis (Son of a wealthy Fir-Noy lord)

Leaf (The Eye of Rubaloth)

Lumen (The missing Divine of the New Lands)

Rubaloth (Skir Master of Mokad)

Rose (Sister to Argoth, wife of Hogan the Koramite)

Shim (Warlord of the Shoka clan)

The Bailiff of Stag Home

The Crab (Territory Lord with the most holdings of the Fir-Noy clan)

Armsmen

Every clan has various martial orders within it. The ranks of the vast majority of these orders are filled with those who are not full-time soldiers, but farmers, laborers, and craftsmen. However, there are orders in some clans of elite and sometimes professional soldiers. These are the orders of the armsmen.

Bone Faces

Barbarian raiders from the South who have begun striking Mokaddian holdings by sea.

Dreadmen and Fell-maidens

Those without lore who are endowed by Divines with weaves of might. When such weaves are worn, they multiply the wearer’s natural mental and physical abilities. However, the weaves carry a cost: worn too frequently, the body wastes, consuming itself to fuel the magic.

Escrum

A weave that binds the wearer to a master, allowing communication over long distances.

Frights

Not completely of the world of flesh, frights feed on Fire. They most often prey on the sick and dying, attaching themselves like great leeches.

Godsweed

An herb with properties said to repel some creatures such as frights and the souls of the dead. The smoke from one thin braid can rid a house of an infestation for many weeks. But its effect does not discriminate between frights, ancestors, or even the servants of the Creators. Hence the saying: take care to appease those you’ve chased with smoke.

King’s Collar

A weave wrought by a special order of Divines called Kains. Such collars not only prevent a person from working magic, but also weaken the wearer, making those captured more easy to handle.

Skir

Orders of beings that inhabit the heavens as well as the deep places of the earth and sea. While invisible to the naked eye, many do exert power in the visible world and can be harnessed by those knowing the secrets. But not all are useful to man. Many orders of smaller Skir are deemed insignificant, while other powers are so dreadful none dare summon them.

Stone-wights

A vanished race whose ruins are found in the New Lands. Some claim plague or war took them. Others find evidence they were destroyed by the Six themselves.

The Six

Seven creators fashioned the earth and all life therein. However, upon seeing the flaws in what he and the other six Creators had wrought, the seventh, called Regret, wanted to destroy the work and begin again. The remaining Six, whose names are sacred, refused, but they were not able to overcome Regret. And so it is that the powers of both creation and dissolution still struggle on the earth.

Sleth

Another term for “soul-eaters.” In Urzarian tongue it literally means “The East Wind,” which dries and kills life. Applied to those who, in rebellion of the Glories, use an unsanctioned form of the lore of the Divines. They are beings and orders of beings supposedly twisted by their polluted draws. Said to have gotten their lore from Regret, one of the seven Creators who, having once seen the creation, realized its flaws and wanted to destroy it.

The Three Vitalities

All life is made up of one or more of the three vital powers. There are many names for these life forces. The most common terms in the western glorydoms are Fire (sometimes called Spirit), Body, and Soul. There are rumors, among those who know the lore, of lost vitalities: powers that have passed out of human ken.

Weaves

Objects of power. Some can only be quickened and handled by lore masters. Others, wild weaves, are independent of a master and can be used by those who do not possess any lore. Weaves may be made of almost any material; however, gold is used most often for the wild weaves given to dreadmen.

Woodikin

Creatures that live in great families beyond the gap in the wilds of the New Lands. About half the size of a man, they are ferocious and spilled much blood in the battles fought with the early settlers. Although rare, single woodikin are sometimes seen in human lands.

Acknowledgements

I GREW UP with a father and grandfather who were florists and pugilists and a mother and grandmother who were literary nuts.

The men taught me to prize both the beauty of a Japanese lily arrangement and a blow that could lay a man’s nose to the side of his face.

My mother made sure our annual family vacations were spent at the Shakespearian Festival in Cedar City, Utah. Despite the many things at the festival that forever dangled above my comprehension, I was caught up in the spectacle, considered myself a bard’s man, and enjoyed the ubiquitous tarts (pastries, my friends, not painted women).

With such an upbringing, I think it was impossible for some literary production not to bubble forth from my brain, even if there was no guarantee that emanation would ever be anything as grand as, say, a limerick. Luckily, you hold in your hands something that is, if not more grand, at least a bit longer.

Many helpful souls read early versions of the manuscript. The accurate reporting of their reader experience changed the story. These folks include
Christine Mehring
,
David Walton
,
Dean Wesley Smith
and the May 2006 novel workshop group,
Diana Chamberlain
,
Elaine Isaak
,
Eric Allen
,
Gary Eifert
,
Isaac Stewart
,
James Maxey
,
Jared Smith
,
Mette Ivie Harrison
,
Miles Pinter
,
Trisha Eifert
,
Stacy Hague-Hill
and
David Hartwell
(my editors who worked with me on a previous version of this tale) as well as my agent
Caitlin Blasdell
. A monster thank you goes to
Jason Smith
, a writing buddy whose friendship helped keep my creative flame alive through a number of difficult years. Another monster thanks goes to
Alex
and
Amy Lamborn
—two awesome friends with smarts (and goats).

The following provided expert input.
Chad Floyd
gave me an invaluable view into the world of the blind. The ranchers of Rich County, Utah unknowingly gave me the main seed of this story. Special recognition goes to
Robert, LaRue,
and
Lenn Johnson
for letting a city boy play rancher, vet, and manure man, and to
Kent Johnson
,
Stuart Wamsley
, and
Burdette Weston
for fascinating cowboy insights.

Two authors have helped me in significant ways.
Orson Scott Card
conducted a literary boot camp that saved my literary bucket.
David Farland
started me on the path to writing for publication and offered inspiration, advice, coconut korma, and encouragement along the way.

Cover art plays a special role with epic fantasies. We fantasy readers love our art! And the following folks helped on the cover for
Servant
in significant ways.
Dixon Leavitt
provided key guidance and insight into illustration as well as specific feedback on the gorgeous cover that graces the book. He also created an awesome illustration of Hunger that can be found on my website.
Amber Argyle
offered insights into art direction at a critical juncture.
Isaac Stewart
provided encouragement, insight, and the killer map of the New Lands.
Devon Dorrity
offered insights into human proportion that only a sculptor can, and shared his graphic design skills. And, of course, a big thank you goes to
Victor Minguez
, the talented and flexible illustrator who was so fabulous to work with.

Special thanks goes to my four girls
Alexandria, Kassandra, Lilia,
and
Ellianna
for their hand in this tale, not only in providing feedback and wearing tee-shirts which proclaim they are servants of a dark god, but also for clamoring after bedtime stories in the first place, some of which found their way here.

Finally, and most importantly, a lion’s share of the credit goes to my wife
Nellie
, who read every word, listened to every hope and fear, and didn’t go mad. She’s a rock, and, I am sure, has already earned a plot of ground in that part of heaven reserved for the spouses of those who write.

Dear Reader

WORD OF MOUTH is crucial for any author to succeed.
If you enjoyed
Servant
, please consider leaving a review at Amazon or another favorite bookseller’s website,
even if it’s only a line or two. Taking just a moment would make all the difference and fill the air with many a loud and cheerful huzzah.

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Also by John Brown

JOHN BROWN WRITES action-packed thrillers, adventures, epic fantasies, and other dramas.

Epic Fantasies

Servant: The Dark God Book One

Curse: The Dark God Book Two
(coming soon)

Thrillers

Bad Penny

Awful Intent
(coming soon)

Shorter Works

Bright Waters (historical colonial frontier)

Loose in the Wires (contemporary fantasy)

The Scent of Desire (contemporary fantasy)

From the Clay of His Heart (historical fantasy in medieval Croatia)

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About the Author

JOHN BROWN IS an award-winning short story writer and novelist. He lives with his wife and four daughters in the hinterlands of Utah where one encounters much fresh air, many good-hearted ranchers, and the occasional wolf.

Please feel free to connect with John. He is very active on his blog at
johndbrown.com
where he reviews and writes about whatever takes his fancy
. He enjoys it when readers drop by to say hello. You may also feel free to send him an email at
[email protected]

SERVANT: The Dark God Book One

Copyright © 2013 by John Brown

All rights reserved

Published by Blacksword Enterprises, LLC

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, organizations, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. Except in the case of brief quotation embodied in critical articles and reviews, no part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from John Brown. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.

A previous version of this novel was published by Tor Books as
Servant of a Dark God.

Illustration copyright © 2013 Victor Minguez

Map copyright © 2008 Isaac Stewart

Cover design by Mythic Studios

ISBN 13: 978-1-940427-04-1
ISBN 10: 1940427045

First edition: November, 2013