The Great Darkening (Epic of Haven Trilogy)

THE EPIC OF HAVEN

TRILOGY

BY R.G. TRIPLETT

BOOK ONE

THE GREAT DARKENING

BOOK TWO

THE RAVENOUS SIEGE

BOOK THREE

THE COMING DAWN

THE

GREAT

DARKENING

R.G. Triplett

Story by R.G. Triplett and Brandon Hyde

Edited by Melody Farrell

THIS BOOK IS PUBLISHED BY LOST POET PRESS

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

Text copyright © 2013, 2014 by Robert G Triplett

Jacket art by Rob Stainback copyright © 2014 by Lost Poet Press

Map art by Rob Stainback copyright © 2014 by Lost Poet Press

Illustrations by Amanda Farrell copyright © 2014 by Lost Poet Press

All rights reserved.

Published in the United States by Lost Poet Press

First eBook edition.

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrival system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission from the publisher.

www.epicofhaven.com

www.lostpoetpress.com

ISBN 978-0-9914489-1-3

Library of Congress Control Number:

2014901064

Printed in the U.S.A.

Lost Poet Press first edition eBook, February 2014

To my fellow lost poets...

may you always find your place.

Foreword

T
ruth
is a tricky thing sometimes. We can dissect it, quantify it, and fit it into our neat and clean doctrines. We can theorize and organize it while we annotate and regulate every single step of our process, and if we are not careful, we will find ourselves murderers of the very thing we set out to understand.

But if we approach it differently, something mysterious can, and hopefully does, happen to it; something that, if I am honest, I do not claim to completely understand.

We might never be able to systemize something as seemingly elusive and enigmatic as truth. We can, however, muse about it; we can wonder and revel in its complexities. We can let its multi-faceted flavors roll over the palate of our souls, and we can take its heartbeat, its rhythm, and set it in a whole other creature altogether; a new world of myth and song and story. We might find that the very thing we longed to study in the sterile, nonsense-free environments of fact and reason might only be truly understood, or at the very least wholly felt, in the messiness of a story. In doing this, we just might find that it is not so unfathomable as it first seemed, and perhaps we might discover something that was never really hidden to begin with.

This Epic is my small attempt to shine a fresh light on the mysteries of this world of ours. The last thing that I want to do is to create a new doctrine, or attempt to prove an old one. My aim is not to line my walls with pinned and cataloged corpses of magic or religion; to do so would be a wasteful endeavor indeed. But I believe that when the heart is moved by wonder, something ancient echoes there in its red, beating chambers; something true, something holy, something … gloriously original.

And that … well, that is what I want. Much of what I know about life, about God, hope, magic, and faith, I did not find in the textbooks or laboratories. Rather, I found it in fantastic, imaginative, poetic tales where truth was tasted, where tension was felt, and where the rise and fall of man’s journey reflected the unfailing image of a truth that we all long to return to.

Perhaps somewhere amongst these pages and pen points, you might peel back the layers of myth and magic and find the truth that lives, really lives. Or, if nothing else, you might at least trace its path, you might feel its spirit walking around in between ink and page; perhaps you may feel it resonate in the cadence and strains of the unfolding story.

Whatever the case, I pray that you enjoy the journey. I pray that you feel the gravity of greater stories echoing in the allegory and adventure, and I pray that we will travel well and long together.

Humbly and gratefully,

R.G. (Bobby)

Pronunciation Guide

PLACES/LANDMARKS

Aiénor (ahy-NOR)

Bay of Eurwen (YOOR-wihn)

Black Mountains of Cair (CAH-er)

Dardanos (DAR-dah-nohs)

Falls of Sarangrael (Ser-ahn-grey-EL)

Hilgari (hihl-GAR-ee) Mountains

Isle Dušana (doo-SAH-nah)

Islwyn (IH-sehl-wihn)

Kalein (kah-LEEN)

Maris (MAH-rihs)

Mount Aureole (AH-rohl)

Pool of Eiluned (ahy-LU-nihd)

Petros (PEH-trohs)

River Abonris (AB-ohn-rihs)

Talfryn (TAL-frihn) Pass

Terriah (TAIR-ah)

CHARACTERS

Ádhamh (AH-dahm)

Ardghal (AHRD-gahl)

Arthfael (ARTH-fay-el)

Azrael (AS-ray-el)

Basajuan (bah-shah-ZHOHN)

Brádách (BRA-dak)

Branwen (BRAN-wehn)

Caedmon (CAYD-mohn)

Calarmindon (cal-ahr-MIN-duhn)

Captain Tahd (TAWD)

Captain Seig (SEEG)

Chancellor Chaiphus (KAHY-fus)

Clivesis (CLAHYV-zees)

Deryn (DAIR-ehn)

Edur (ee-DOOR)

Eógan (YOU-gahn)

Evande (eh-VAN-day)

Faolan (FAY-ow-lan)

Farran (FAIR-ahn)

Gaereld (GER-uhld)

Goran (GOR-an)

Haizea (Hi-ZAY-ah)

Iolanthe (ee-oh-LAN-thay)

Keily (KAHY-lee)

King Cascarie (KAS-kah-ree)

King Faramund (FAIR-ah-muhnd)

King Illium (IHL-ee-uhm)

King Kaestor (KAY-stohr)

Klieo (KLEE-oh)

Lieutenant Armas (AR-mahs)

Linnaea (LIHN-ee-ah)

Llinos (LEE-nos)

Marigeld (MAR-ih-gehld)

Meledae (MEL-eh-day)

Moa (MOH-ah)

Morana (mohr-AH-nah)

Nancwen (NANS-wehn)

Niniané (nih-nee-AH-nay)

Nogcwren (NOCK-ren)

Oskar (OH-scar)

Oweles (OOLS)

Pichan (PEE-shun)

Pyrrhus (PAHY-ruhs)

Remiel (Reh-mee-EL)

Rónán (ROH-nahn)

Ruarc (Roo-ARK)

Šárka (SAR-kah)

Shameus (SHEY-mus)

Wielund (WAHY-lund)

Yasen (YEAH-sehn)

Zigor (ZEE-gor)

Preface

Breathed into the hearts of men at our first birth are the silent whispers of myths that echo with the resounding feel of would-be legend. Somehow these grand incantations are bound and chained from within, hidden in a chasm of doubt and duty and distraction. They wait for one who would liberate their power and bring purpose to the captive heart in which they reside, making man fully alive for the second time.

In every generation, hopeful stories are told of a chosen few who find their chains fallen limp, and in turn their hearts free. Their voices sing with heroic melodies, and their eyes burn with a fierce understanding. Theirs is the task that strikes fear in the hearts of the unawakened; their mission is perilous and their quest daunting, by which the enslaved hearts of men hold to the faintest hope of freedom.