The Willbreaker (Book 1) (39 page)

Venifera, a beautifully diverse and large planet, provides abundant resources for man and beast. Countless religions within untold kingdoms spread through the ample plains and forests, mountains and caves. Time and distance between the races provide many sub-races of elves, dwarves, and men. Magic and channeling left some of these races immortal, while other’s lives became fragile and short.

In a tiny section of the world, locked away by an imposing and grand mountain range known as the Tusk Mountain Range, a war brewed. An army of women, led by a powerful Gifted, seeks to destroy the neighboring kingdom governed by a kind and generous Lord. This twenty year old war spawned from a hatred and resentment few can understand.

As the rest of world goes about their lives, they are unaware of the blood that will spill when the head of this war comes to birth. Wars rage on elsewhere, fueled by money, religion, and greed. These wars will grow and die but will not have the impact upon the world that the war of Aurora and Reinhold will have. Its outcome will change the lives of everyone on the planet.

If Lord Cedric Reinhold wins the war and overthrows the Empress, then his kingdom will merge with Cloudkeep Kingdom, spreading freedom and prosperity throughout the land. This merger will make the new Karpathos Kingdom the fifth largest nation on the planet. Trade imports and exports will broaden and develop, bringing in needed funds for the growth and expansion of the counties within the kingdom.

There will be a boom in the population, as women of the old kingdom are united with unmarried men of the new kingdom. Marriages and birthrates will increase dramatically, and family becomes a stronghold within the nation. New cities are born, creating new jobs, and life thrives with never before seen vibrancy.

As the new empire grows, the battle-hardened women of Aurora’s army will join the ranks of the new United Legion of the Red Lion, becoming a powerful force used to defend its boundaries from invaders. They create the Arcanum of Unified Magic, which becomes a world leader in discoveries of knowledge and artifact restoration.

Lord Cedric Reinhold will marry a young Gifted, previously a trainee within Aurora’s Flame Legion. They will be happy and have three children, two boys and a girl. The eldest boy, Oscar, becomes head general of the armies of the Red Lion. Their daughter, Payna, will be born a class four Alterator, with the ability to dilute her body’s density, allowing her to walk through walls and become virtually transparent.

The world will benefit from these occurrences. Nations outside the kingdom will expand and grow from the increased and broadened trades. Magic evolves within the lands, bringing forth a new age of creation and discovery. All will be well, but this is only one possibility of the future. This is only one outcome of many possible futures.

If Empress Aurora wins this battle, then she will stand as the sole leader of two kingdoms. She will walk upon the plain in front of her capital city where the remains of Lord Cedric Reinhold’s army awaits, all forced down to a knee, and she will tell them that their efforts are in vain. She will tell them how they fought for a cause destined for failure and that she has been waiting for the fall of their fearless leader for many years. She will smile from the thought of it. Her dreams will come true, and she will rub it into their wounds with relentless fervor.

She will tell them all to ask, to beg, for her forgiveness while reminding them of their families and friends back in Karpathos Kingdom. She will emphasize the fates of their families if they do not comply. Men will spill tears, break down, and wail at the loss of their ruler and their kingdom. All hope will die for them.

Aurora will walk around them, standing tall, and remind them of her power. In thinking of their families, they will ask for her forgiveness. The few men that shout about staying strong and never surrendering to a murderer will be made examples of, murdered in cold blood by the army of maidens at the ready. She will force the group to beg for forgiveness.

She will smile as they ask and with a simple nod of her head, her maidens and Kella’Dune Guardians will swarm the group of men and stab and bash them to death. The men, beheaded, will be left in piles as a grizzly reminder of what happens to those who do not succumb to the wishes of the queen.

She will gather her troops and personally lead them north through Karpathos Kingdom where she will order the death of all males, men and boys alike. She will spare a few of the youngest ones though, sending them back to Orlimay for Lash Lord training. All women who can use the gift will be gathered up and taken through the rest of the kingdom with Aurora’s Gifted.

With her growing army, Aurora will visit each city within Reinhold’s unthroned kingdom and announce her rulership of the lands. When she leaves each city, she will order groups of Blade Maidens to stay and reconstruct their government and clear away the burning bodies of men left behind.

It will take months for Aurora to return to her capital city. When she returns, her beautiful capital will be restored to its pre-war beauty. She will enter the capital with twice as many people as she left with.

Aurora will order the immediate training and obedience of all new recruits. She will form a new gifted army, The Daughters of Light, which will be the driving force behind the expansion of her Kingdom, now the fifth largest kingdom in the world. Two foreign dignitaries will visit her after hearing word of the increasing power of her kingdom. They seek an alliance with Aurora, and in return, they will allow her access to valuable trade routes outside of the Tusk Mountain Range. Taken as an insult, Aurora will have the men beheaded and will send their heads back to their homeland.

This action starts will spark a war between Cloudkeep Kingdom and the Nation of Hoonar. Aurora will send out her Daughters of Light who decimate their enemies. This victory will set in motion the War of a Hundred Years, pushed by Aurora and her legion of ruthless champions. Her shadow will cover the world as men perish and burn, and it will become women’s turn to rule the world.

This also is but one glimpse of a possible future. The weight of this war will affect many and its outcome will change the world forever.

There are other possibilities as well, but these alternate futures cannot be foretold, because they may only be determined based from the choices of one man, a man whose fate intertwines through time and destiny. He is unaware of the choices he will face and unsure of the decisions he will make when those choices come to birth. Each decision he makes will affect the entire world.

The man travels southward down the Paraline River with an old man, a young woman, and a towering six-armed beast. They move towards the heart of a world-changing war and when it ends, it will change everything.

Brandon, Edward, Jasmine, and Blue traveled two days into Cloudkeep Kingdom down the Paraline River. In the distance, they could see the hills that shelter Footman’s Hold. Three days of riding past the Hold and they would arrive at Orlimay, Empress Aurora’s capital city. Brandon knew Reinhold would be waiting there. The inevitable war approached fast and Brandon had only one thought: he had to be there.

He tried to think of what he would say to Aurora if they met face to face. A hundred different times he came up with speeches and each time different outcomes came of them. He wanted to see what she looked like, face to face. He wanted to see his real mother. He wondered if he would stop and stare at her in awe, or if he would not be affected by her at all.

Brandon rode in the lead, behind him Edward and Jasmine. Blue walked off to Brandon’s right. Brandon noticed a thin swirl of smoke coming from ahead, probably from a campfire. Edward spoke up as he pulled in his power.

“Brandon, we are in danger here. My teeth are aching.” The feeling of danger amongst Sensors always differed. With Edward, his teeth ached as if he chewed on a piece of metal.

As he finished his sentence, Blue rushed ahead of Brandon and planted his feet, hands clenched in tight fists as he roared violently into the air.

A group of armored Blade Maidens came from a thin patch of trees by the mountain edge. They stood from the underbrush and approached the group with weapons drawn. As Blue roared, the women quickly dropped their polearms into battle position and formed into a semi-circle.

The maiden in the lead looked fierce, and she spoke first.

“What are you doing here? You are in violation of Empress Aurora’s Invader Laws, a crime punishable by death.”             

Blue roared again and the intimidation showed on the faces of the women ahead of him. Brandon peered around the Guardian. There were eight maidens. He debated on what he should say. He did not want to engage in battle this early.

Before he could speak, a strange but familiar voice grew from behind him. The cold-as-death tone in the woman’s voice struck at Brandon’s heart, making it skip a beat in fear.

“They are with me, Maidens. Stand down immediately, or I will watch as the Guardian tears you to pieces.” Brandon whipped backward, seeing the strangest look on Edward’s Face. Edward’s waist twisted like a rope as he stared back at the woman riding Baby. Ivy Arclight sat there, shoulders broad and proud. The sun shimmered off her brilliant red hair. Brandon instantly pulled at his power, arming his defenses. The sounds of the Blade Maidens dropping to their knees caught Brandon’s attention. Ivy looked at Brandon, and winked.

Jasmine! She shape-shifted! Wow! She looks amazing.
Brandon stared at her, trying to find anything that exposed her as an imposter. His mouth opened as he gawked at her. The only thing he found that differed between the two women: Jasmine did not wear Ivy’s robes.

Jasmine dismounted and walked confidently towards the Blade Maidens. She not only sounded like Ivy, she acted like her; self-assured, in charge, and powerful. Brandon had never seen anything like it.

She approached the maidens; all of them stared at the ground in a deep bow. One of the women wanted to look at the men on the horses, obvious by her twitching head, as she attempted to get sneak peeks of Brandon and Edward. The maiden trembled as Jasmine stood above her.

“Milady, may I speak freely?” Although she stared at the ground, Brandon could hear she spoke through gritted teeth.

Jasmine stood in silence. After a moment, she said, “Speak.”

The maiden raised her head and motioned towards Brandon and Edward. Her face turned red with rage. “What are those men doing here?”

Ivy’s face, Jasmine’s face, turned to fire. She looked down at the maiden next to the questioning women, hit her on the shoulder and in a solid voice she said, “Kill her. Now.” Both maidens stood up, weapons drawn and engaged each other in combat.

Jasmine yelled, “How dare you question me!”

The defending woman stood no chance against the superior officer. After three fluid swings, the other maiden dropped to her knees, blood spilling out from the exposed wounds between the plates of her armor. She breathed deep, eyes open wide, as she fell face first into the dirt. The Blade Maiden that dispatched her bowed to Jasmine and then dropped back down into a bow.

“Well done. Does anyone else wish to question my actions?” Silence filled the air.

“Good. Stand, and at ease.” The maidens shot to their feet, crossed their hands behind their backs, and spread their legs. They moved in perfect unison and stood like mirror images of each other.
Perfection.

“How many more Maidens does my sister have stationed between here and Orlimay?”

The lead maiden, without hesitating, stated, “Only the wandering units, Milady. While you were away, the Empress requested all battalions back to the capital. Reinhold and his army are moving south for another attack.”

“How soon before Reinhold arrives?”

“No more than three or four days, Milady.”

“Good. I shall return to deal with the situation, with my sister. Stay here. Keep your eyes open.”

The maiden nodded with a “Yes, Milady,” and stayed bowing until Brandon and his crew had travelled out of sight.

It did not take long before they reached Footman’s Hold, although not much remained of the camp when they arrived. Abandoned and overturned, the makeshift chairs and benches lay broken on the ground and broken travel crates littered the outer area of the camp. Brandon kept them moving, but as they passed, all of the riders studied the camp with curiosity.

A few minutes after leaving Footman’s Hold, Brandon looked over at Edward and Jasmine. Jasmine’s featureless and smooth face seemed to shimmer in the sunlight as she looked over at him. A small smile split her lips.

“That was very impressive back there, Jasmine. I have never seen anything like that.”

She looked downward, blushing. Edward turned his head towards her.

“Fascinating! I was not even aware of your change. And the mannerisms… you pulled that off so well!” Brandon nodded his head in agreement.

“It comes in handy, sometimes,” she said, shyly. “When I let my magic overtake my physical body, it changes my view on things, somewhat. It is hard to explain, but it is easy for me to take on their persona. It has got me out of trouble once or twice when I was little.”

“Well, we owe you thanks. You did very well and turned a sticky situation into nothing more than a passing moment. I am honored to have you with us; you are truly amazing,” Brandon said, smiling.