The Apocalypse Script (50 page)

It was a haunted house ride, as
was made clear by the large sign affixed to one of the castle’s
turrets that promised in amateurishly painted gothic letters
The Beast Awaits Within!

In the foreground of the
photograph was Ridley in his yellow robe, a “costume” that would
not have earned him a second glance on Halloween. For once, he
wasn’t smiling. His face was solemn, his expression omniscient, as
if he were looking past the camera and the photographer and
directly at the man in the vault now holding the
photograph.

The scribe’s hands were on the
shoulders of the two children, a boy and girl, both perhaps ten or
eleven years old. The boy, dressed as a generic superhero, his cape
bellowing gently behind him, faced the girl, and the girl, a
glistening toy tiara resting on her golden locks, faced the
boy.

The girl was bashfully holding an object out to the
boy, and the boy, looking bewildered, was reluctantly extending his
hand to accept it.

Ben had recognized the object
immediately. He had seen it before, only days ago.

A golden cup.

###

THE END

The adventure
continues in Book 2 of the Nisirtu:

The Ardoon King

(Available October 2015)

The Seven Kingdoms of the Nisirtu have destroyed the
modern world. There are no more nations or cities. The era of
automobiles, telephones, computers, electricity and running water
is now a thing of fond memory. The few humans who survived the
Nisirtu’s wrath are in a constant battle against famine, plague,
and anarchy.

But the kings and queens of the Seven Kingdoms did
not know that a force of even greater power had ensnared them in
their own trap. Now six of those kingdoms have fallen, too. Only
the Fifth Kingdom remains, but even that once mighty power has been
reduced to a single fortress, Steepleguard, hidden in the mountains
above the ruins of Denver.

The Fifth Kingdom’s plans to rebuild civilization
are barely underway when Ben Mitchell, the reluctant king, is
trapped in a distant land, and Steepleguard faces a coup staged by
a plotting duke from the east. Lilian faces imprisonment and her
champion, Lord Disparthian, finds himself in exile. Lilian's
sister, Fiela, has her own problems, having led a dwindling army to
the wastelands to combat a seemingly indestructible enemy.

And yet it is the unseen enemy that is the kingdom’s
greatest threat…”

I hope you’ve enjoyed the book and I always welcome
reader comments!

Feel free to contact me at:

[email protected]

Please support this series by providing reviews at
your favorite bookseller’s website and at book review sites. The
Nisirtu have some rather spectacular secrets to reveal, but only to
those who care to listen…

Thank you,

Sam Fort

***

Discover other titles by Samuel Fort

Cult of the Great Eleven

(Warning – contains spoilers)

Agati [uh-got’-ee]: Modern version of
Akkadian, but influenced heavily by Greek, Latin, English, Spanish,
Chinese, and various ancient languages. Bears little similarity to
the ancient language of Akkadian. One feature of the language is
that there are no plural forms of words. Plurality is conveyed by
the context of the sentence.

Annasa [uh-nah’-suh]: Queen

Anax [ae’-noks]: King

Ardoon [ar’-doon]: Anyone who is not a
member of the Nisirtu. In Agati, the term means “slave.”

Asatu [uh-sah’-too]: Wife

The Code: The modern day version of the Code
of Hammurabi. The body of all laws that govern the Nisirtu.

Consort: An official mistress to a king.

Cuneiform Nouveau: Modern version of
cuneiform often referred to as simply cuneiform or nouveau by
Nisirtu.

Channel: Monumental, traumatic events in
world history designed to make the population malleable and that
ensure the success of required scripts.

Fetch: An Ardoon personal servant and
assistant to a member of the Nisirtu, responsible for ensuring his
or her master is provided anything requested.

Family: A royal family and its subjects, to
include a sizeable percentage of the human population. Synonymous
with “kingdom” and “House” within Nisirtu parlance.

House: A royal family and its subjects, to
include a sizable percentage of the human population. Synonymous
with “kingdom” and “Family” within Nisirtu parlance.

Kingdom: A royal family and its subjects, to
include a sizeable percentage of the human population. Synonymous
with “House” and “Family” within Nisirtu parlance.

Empyrean Glossa: The universal language,
aka, “The Language of the Heavens” or “The Angelic Tongue.” The
“primal” language of all sentient beings.

Legion: Within the Peth-Allati, a force
consisting of 1,000 Peth warriors commanded by a Praetor. Each Peth
Lord has at his disposal 5 legions.

Lord of the Peth-Allati: Within a kingdom,
the highest-ranking officer of the Peth-Allati.

Madihee: Nomadic couriers operating 5,000+
years ago in the vicinity of modern-day Iraq, Syria, and Iran.

Maqtu [mok’-too]: Rebel. A member of the
three kingdoms that rebelled against the other seven when the
decision was made to end civilization.

Mutu [moo’-too]: Husband.

Nisirtu [ni-sur'-too]: The Hidden Ones, or
Secret Treasure. The society that has controlled the world for
5,000 years. Descendents of the Madihee

Nocte Sicarius [nok’-tay sick-air'-ee-us]:
Night Assassin. A specialized Peth-Allati.

Peth-Allati [peth-uh-lot’-ee]: Literally,
“Shadow Horseman.” In modern usage, any member of the Nisirtu
warrior class, or group of members. Often referred to as merely
“Peth.”

Praetor [pree’-tor]: Commander of a single
legion who reports to a Lord of the Peth-Allati.

Sage: A scribe of the highest rank.

Scenario: A collection of scripts
interconnected to achieve a single purpose. Often simply referred
to as a script, that is not technically correct.

Scribe: An intellectual charged with writing
the scripts, scenarios, channels, etc., that guide humanity. The
scripts of scribes are directed by their respective regents.

Scribes are typically addressed as
“Scriptus.”

Script: A blueprint for a future world event
at its most elemental level.

Scriptus: Formal title of a scribe.

Sereti: A female Nisirtu groomed from birth
to serve as Asatu or Serretu to a nobleman, with expertise in court
protocols, ceremonies, oversight of fetches, and other high level
domestic duties.

Serretu: Wife, but of lower stature/rank
than the Asatu.

The Seven: The seven dominant kingdoms of
the Nisirtu. At war with the Maqtu.

Supreme Lord of the Peth-Allati: Senior Peth
of the Nisirtu and Commander of all Peth Lords.

Ziggurat: Regional conferences of Nisirtu
nobles. Locations vary each lunar month.