The Sea of Valour -The Ocracidia Series 1

The Sea of
Valour

Ocracidia Series
1

By

Lottie F. Yinka

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line at
www.lottieyinka.com

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Cover images ©
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Copyright © L.F. Yinka
August 2015

Copyright 

This book is copyright
2015 Lottie F. Yinka

All rights reserved. No
part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, by
any means (electronic, photocopying, recording, or otherwise)
without the prior written permission of the author.

Contents

Chapter
1
–Time Before

Chapter
2
– Deception

Chapter
3
– Zedia

Chapter
4
– The Volunteer

Chapter
5
– Zedia’s Ring

Chapter
6
– Leaving

Chapter
7
-The Sea of Valour

Chapter
8
–The Challenge

Chapter
9
–Clawrion

Chapter
10
- Adonijah

Chapter
11
-Freedom

Chapter
12
– Gills and a Fish Tail

Chapter
13
– One Eyed Monsters

Chapter
14
– Kantang

Chapter
15
– On My Way

Chapter 1 - Zedia

Three years had passed since
Diagus; the god of war attacked the Land of Ocracidia and took the
goddess Zedia captive.

Zedia was now imprisoned in the
darkest dungeon of the land of Goreloth; a dark, evil land formed
deep within the abyss. The key to which was hidden in the belly of
the evil beast of Goreloth.

Most of the houses in Ocracidia
had been burnt by thunder and lightning leaving only black, sooth
filled, half collapsed structures. But one building stood tall and
untouched amongst the ruins. It was the Temple of the goddess Zedia
- an enormous, gorgeous building decorated in red and gold precious
stones and interlaced with medium sized white and purple orchid
flowers. It stood firmly balanced on twelve tall purple and white
stony beams a stunning and compelling presence to all that entered
into or left the land of Ocracidia.

Most said the temple of Zedia
had been left untouched because Diagus wanted it to be the last
thing in the land that he destroyed; but others claimed that it was
because the power of Zedia still lived in the temple and was too
great for Diagus to overcome.

Diagus’ evil spirit soldiers
still paraded the land; they were dark, ferocious, shape changing
spirits which deceived anyone they could into captivity. They took
on forms both of humans and animal and sometimes even birds and
struck the people with terror and fright so much so, that the
people of Ocracidia hid underground and only came up to gather food
and water.

It was during such a time that
a young boy named Cezar emerged to secretly do some fishing. Cezar
loved being near the sea because he loved to fish. He had not been
allowed out since the land had been attacked because his parents
told him it was not safe for him to be. They warned him to stay
away from open land but on this day, his parents were away at a
meeting of the elders to discuss strategies to defeat Diagus, and
Cezar felt he would sneak away, do some fishing and return before
his parents got back.

Cezar was very careful to avoid
Diagus evil spirit soldiers; he stayed in the shadows but as he
approached the blue green sands of the shore, his fingers tingled
with excitement at being so close to the water. He glanced up at
the Temple of Zedia and was amazed by how alive the temple seemed
to be today. Cezar walked forward and touched one of the beams
holding the temple up; it felt warm and smooth.

The lower part of each beam had
the soft beautiful face of the goddess Zedia deeply etched into it.
Cezar stared at the face of Zedia; he felt an energy he couldn’t
explain pull him closer.

He had been to Zedia’s temple
many times, but today something was different and he couldn’t put
his finger on. He began to walk away from the temple when a strong
energy field surrounded him. Cezar looked back at the etched face
of Zedia.

The eyes of the carved face of
the goddess narrowed and blinked at him, a smile formed around the
mouth of the carved face and then the face signalled him in the
direction of the temple.

The face is
alive? It can't be!
Cezar thought to
himself. He shook his head to get rid of the image before him. ‘I
must be imagining things.’ he said and blinked. The face smiled and
blinked back at him.

This time Cezar knew he was not
dreaming. The face motioned him towards the entrance of Zedia's
temple, again without speaking any words.

But Cezar had not been invited
to the Elders meeting which was taking place there and he wondered
how his father the high priest of the goddess Zedia would react if
he suddenly walked into the meeting. He knew his father would not
be happy; Cezar turned and began to walk away from the temple. He
had fishes to catch.

After taking only three steps a
warm, sweet, female voice stopped him.

‘
The temple
is the other way,’ the voice said.

Cezar immediately turned
towards the etched face but he saw no one. A few moments later, a
bright shining light appeared before him. It sparkled and shone in
red and gold - the colours of Zedia and though the light was very
bright it didn't hurt Cezar’s eyes.

Cezar watched the light
expectantly. For moments nothing happened then a soothing feeling
came out of the light; it enveloped and caressed him all over.
Reminding him of times when he was upset and his mother would sooth
his fears away.

At that moment Cezar felt
happy, at peace and without a care in the world; he didn’t want the
feeling to stop. But then an image stepped out of the light and
though Cezar had never seen the goddess Zedia in the flesh before,
he knew the moment the image appeared before him, that it was
her.

She wore of a flowing grey
robe, her hair was bright red like fire and around her head she
wore an onyx crown which had dazzling precious stones and shinning
pearls; her eyes were blue-green like the colour of the sand on the
shores of Ocracidia and she smiled the most beautiful smile. In her
left hand she carried a long red and gold trident.

Zedia took a couple of steps
towards Cezar leaving behind her was a trail of purple and white
orchid flowers. Cezar was certain it was the goddess; he felt
apprehensive not because he was afraid but because he knew that it
was something important when a god or goddess appeared to a human.
Aside from his father Oscar, Cezar had never before heard of Zedia
appearing to anyone.

Cezar took a number of steps
back and almost tripped but Zedia stretched out her hand and caught
him. Her hand was warm, light as a feather and her fingers felt
very delicate. Zedia helped Cezar gain his balance, she steadied
him then let him go.

‘
Thank you,’
Cezar said.

Zedia smiled. She touched his
forehead right between his brows and a tingling feeling travelled
down Cezar’s spine and into his fingers and toes. His head felt
light and his whole body burnt with an excitement he had never
before experienced as each part of his body came alive. It was as
if all his senses had come alive. His eyes became clearer as he saw
how beautiful the goddess was. His ears heard the gentle rustle of
her gown on the ground and her scent which was gentle, surrounded
and filled him with a feeling of love. Cezar felt a strong surge of
power in his head which he felt came from Zedia’s trident. It made
his eyes widen with delight and left a sweet taste in his mouth.
His palms and feet felt a little warm and he felt fuzzy. Cezar’s
eyes twitched and for a moment he closed his eyes; when he opened
them, Zedia was gone and on the ground before him was one purple
and white orchid flower where the goddess Zedia had stood.

Cezar realised he had just had
a visitation from the goddess Zedia; he picked up the orchid
flower, put it in his pocket, and ran towards the doors of the
temple; convinced he had to be in the meeting.

Chapter - 2 The volunteer

The temple was horse-shoe
shaped with dark onyx marble stone steps all around that doubled as
seats; the walls were the colour of the blue green sands on the
shores of Ocracidia.

Twelve fire torches hung from
the walls and two huge marble structures of the beautiful goddess
Zedia stood beside a pulpit from which Oscar, Cezar's father spoke.
Everything in the temple was beautiful. Though Cezar had been
visiting the temple all his life, it was as if this was the very
first time he was seeing the place because he saw everything in a
new light.

Still trembling from the
encounter with goddess Zedia, Cezar sat down at the back of the
temple gathering. He did not want to call attention to himself nor
did he want his father to see that he was present.

He was convinced that Zedia
only wanted him to listen, after all what contribution could a
thirteen year old boy make to an elders’ meeting about fighting or
defeating a god.

Oscar's voice was loud and
clear.

‘
The only way
we are to save our land, is to break Diagus' spell and free Zedia
from the land of Goreloth,' Oscar said. He took two steps forward
stopped and looked at the elders sitting in the front row of the
temple with piercing grey eyes before he continued. 'She is the
only god whose power can defeat that of Diagus.'

‘
Aye.’ echoed
all the elders.

Oscar was a six foot tall man,
with huge shoulders and strong muscles, his presence filled the
room as his spoke. His long blue green hair was held high in a bun
at the top of his head, and he wore a long, dark brown tunic over
his clothes. He took more steps towards the fifty seated elders who
sat listening to him.

Cezar shifted uneasily where he
sat fearing that his father would notice him but Oscar did not seem
to.

'Everything in Ocracidia has
changed since Zedia was captured,' Oscar said. 'And that is because
her spirit no longer feeds the land.' Oscar turned and pointed to
the two marble structures of Zedia. 'We must free the goddess,' he
urged emphatically.

Cezar looked to the two marble
structures of Zedia wondering if they too would come alive.

Cezar knew Oscar spoke the
truth. Everything in Ocracidia had changed since Diagus came down
under the pretence of a visit and captured the goddess Zedia. The
atmosphere in Ocracidia was now cold, dark and horrible. Everything
and anything warm, bright, lovely or beautiful had left the land or
been destroyed by Diagus' spell.

Cezar thought about the
beautiful fairies that had once taught him how to fly by making
wings from tree leaves and tying them to his back as they lifted
him into the air. He reminisced over old times, and bit his lip in
regret wishing he could see the fairies again.