Heir to a Lost Sun: A Caverns of Stelemia Novel

by Riley Morrison

  The only thing in the burial chamber was a plain stone sarcophagus in the center of the room. Semira limped over to it and found the lid cracked with age. Using her mangled hands, she pushed the stone slab until it fell to the floor and shattered into dust. When the dust settled, she saw a set of intricate black armor laid in six pieces inside.

  My armor. After all this time. Now, my love, you will be mine.

  Piece by piece, Semira put the armor on. It was heavy and cold, but fitted perfectly. The final segment was the helmet. When she lowered it onto her head, sharp metallic barbs shot into her back and dug their way into her spinal cord.

  The pain was excruciating.

  The man, now in control, walked her from the crypt into the beam of sunlight. It was under that light he finally let her scream.

  So she did, long and hard, letting all her rage, guilt, pain and sorrow out until her voice broke. By the end of it, her consciousness had faded to almost nothing, having been replaced by the ancient male presence now made whole by the armor.

  “I make one final demand of you, my sweet,” he said with the voice that once belonged to her. “Say my name.”

  He looked up so Semira could see the light of the Lost Sun. You’re Dwaycar, the Betrayer, she whispered in his mind.

  “Betrayer!” he roared. “It was I who was betrayed. Go to the light of your Lost Sun, and be gone. I no longer have need of you.”

  Dwaycar let her soul float up the beam, toward the blessed light. She was halfway up when something stopped her ascent.

  The light of the Lost Sun flickered once, then died, plunging Semira into darkness.

  THE END

  BOOK 2

  DAWN OF A LOST SUN

  COMING DECEMBER 2017

  READ ON FOR MY SPECIAL OFFER!

  Want to learn more about Wrynric, Semira and Kara’s father, Arden? Want to see the visiondream that started everything? Want glimpses of the future of the series? Then sign up to my newsletter and receive your free exclusive ebook Fall of a Lost Sun and get access to other free content!

  Signup here: http://rileymorrisonauthor.com/lp

  About The Author

  Riley Morrison is an Australian writer who primarily writes in the fantasy, science fiction and post apocalyptic genres. Because it is hard for him to write in only one genre, it would be easier to say he writes Speculative Fiction.

  An avid reader of all things doom and gloom, Riley enjoys reading about how our civilization is close to collapse and how we are all going to have to get used to living in caves again. A dull and gloomy cave with no Internet, Twitter or cats.

  Other things Riley likes include history, bush walking, cats, vegetable gardening, procrastinating, oddball slapstick comedies (Bruce Campbell FTW!), video games, and countless other things. And cats.

  Riley is old enough to have written some semblance of a story on a Commodore Amiga 500 but not old enough to have used a typewriter. Sadly, it has taken him around 25 years from writing his first story to sit down and actually finish something. While hardly unique in this, Riley can at least boast he has actually finished writing something.

  Take that crazy ex first flat mate!

  Riley’s website: rileymorrisonauthor.com

  Riley’s Face Book Page: @rileymorrisonauthor

  Riley on Twitter: @RileyMauthor

  Author Note

  First, I want to say, THANK YOU so much for reading Heir to a Lost Sun. I honestly hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it. And thank you for reading these notes too!

  I have always loved fantasy, and grew up reading and playing fantasy stories. My favorite books are the Lone Wolf Books by Joe Dever (kudos to those of you who have read them) and they certainly influenced my writing and love of fantasy, as I grew older. Here is a link to a blog post I did on these books and how you can read them for free: CLICK HERE

  As to the Lost Sun series, I was finally inspired to write something like these books after playing Arx Fatalus a few years ago. This game is a largely obscure classic by the same company who would later go on to make Dishonored and Prey. I loved the atmosphere of the game, the oppressive world, the feeling that no matter what you do, it will all be meaningless in the end, as the world is dying, and with it, every living thing. You should totally play that game if you haven’t!

  But, I’ve always loved caves and caving and the idea of exploring every passage and chamber of them. I spent too many hours doing this in games like Minecraft. Also, when I have been down caves, I love thinking of the movie the Descent, just to freak myself out.

  Speaking of that movie, it was another thing that inspired me to write this book. As was City of Ember and a book I read as a young teen about a boy who became trapped in a video game world. That book was almost LitRPG before that was even a thing! Also, I love the whole mash up of advanced technology and more outdated tech like swords, spears and maces.

  Another inspiration for me to write this was the Dark Souls series of games. And if you can pick the tiny references to those games in this book, then email me and tell me!

  When I started thinking of this book, Kara and Aemon were both the first things I thought of other than a vague idea of medieval kingdoms underground. The book changed a lot from how I originally envisioned it, but these two characters stayed the same. It is their world, their story and they totally guided me through it. Aemon showed me the sites and told me the history of them, while Kara constantly reminded me that there were more pressing things to be doing and that we needed to keep moving.

  Overall, as I wrote this book, I felt like I was climbing Mount Everest. It was nearly two years worth of work. The first draft was complete in January 2016 and I thought I’d have it out by about June that year. Boy, was I wrong. Not that that’s something unusual or anything!

  Working with my editor Allison E Wright has taught me a HUGE amount about writing. And I thank her for her much valued advice and feedback. With her mentoring, I feel I have come a long way as a writer and have been able to put out the best book I possibly could.

  I think the world and characters truly came alive after she came into the picture.

  On this note, I also like to thank a local Perth writer and publisher named Rebecca Laffar Smith, who has taught me a lot about various aspects of self publishing over the last few years. I’d also like to thank her for all the work she puts into organizing and planning local writing events. She is much valued to the Perth writing community!

  And I’d like to thank my cover artist, who did a wonderful job in creating the covers for a book that steps foot in so many different genres. Each cover, in my mind, is a work of art unto itself.

  Please, if you enjoyed this book, give it a rating on Amazon. Whatever you think it is worth.

  Your kind words and encouragements are worth the world to authors, including me. I will continue writing the series no matter if you provide an outstanding review or not, but I am sure with kind words and encouragement, the series will be finished sooner rather than later!

  SPECIAL OFFER

  This offer is aimed at people who loved Heir to a Lost Sun and would like to help in the development of this series.

  I am looking for beta readers for book 3 and later book 4. Once book 2 is out, and you have read it (so you’re up to date with what is happening), would you be interested in beta reading the third book? Basically, a beta reader reads an unfinished copy of the book and tells the author what they like or don’t like about it, what parts are slow, this part doesn’t make sense etc. I will provide you with some questions to keep in mind while reading the book to make this easier.

  Book 2 will come out roughly a month after book 1, and I hope book 3 will come out a few months after that (Around feb-March 2018)

  IN RETURN for being a beta reader, I will give you the book for free when it comes out and a personal thank you!

  Also, I will include your name in the credits of book 3 if you would like it included.

  Now for the good
part. For beta readers who provide me detailed feedback or help me most of all, I would love to include your name (or another name if you prefer) into book 3 in some way. Most likely, this inclusion will be your violent, bloody death at the hands of some hideous monster or the ancient enemy. There are named characters that die, which are only placeholder names. They could easily be replaced with yours, if you help me!

  If I get too many beta readers all providing detailed feedback, then I will try to reward you in some other way. I can’t name fifty minor characters who die in the book, after all. Maybe there could be a list of casualties at the end and how they died with your name included.

  Eg: John: Death by beheading and impalement on a stalagmite. Beth: Death by disembowelment.

  Also, I’d love to have a section of my website where the deaths of beta readers are displayed. A sort of digital cemetery, as it were.

  If you’re interested in this, please email me at: mail@rileymorrisonauthor.com

  Thanks for reading!

  EXCERPT FROM BOOK 2

  KARA

  Blinding light pierced Kara's eyes and a cold wind tousled her hair. Grunting, she covered her face with her hands. What... what happened? Where am I?

  Slowly, her eyes adjusted to the light and she uncovered them. A frozen city lay before her, stretching far into the distance in every direction. Like stalagmites rising from a cave floor, a cluster of tall skyscrapers towered over the buildings around them. Behind the giant structures, loomed a colossal statue of a woman dressed in white armor with a bird on her shoulder, her gaze on Kara.

  Imogen.

  Kara scanned her surroundings. She stood at the top of a hill on an alter shrouded by a grove of dead trees. Flakes of snow fell from the gray sky, the sun peeking out through the cloudy haze.

  Was this another visiondream or was she dead? She sifted through her memories. The last thing she remembered was... an army of metal men and battling Imogen for control of her body. Falling to her knees on the stone altar, Kara bowed her head. After all I have lost, all I have suffered. Imogen defeated me and now I'm banished to this frozen world. How could it have come to this? She raised her head and gazed out over the city, the crushing weight of desperation clawing at her heart. The Prophecy will be fulfilled and the human race will die—and it will be my fault. I should have found a way to stop Imogen. I should have known what was inside me. I should—

  No. She could not blame herself for everything. There was plenty of that to go around. After all, this had all been forced upon her by Arden and Wrynric. Had the old man never given her the passkey, none of this would've happened.

  A chill wind blew along the side of the hill, ruffling her hair but not chilling her to the bone. She brushed back her bangs and peered down at herself. Like in the other visiondreams, she wore her courtesan gown and yet the cold barely seemed to touch her. Almost like she was insulated from it by some inner fire burning within.

  Kara caught her breath. The passkey was gone. It no longer hung from her neck.

  She'd been shackled to the wretched thing for what seemed like forever. But she could feel no elation at being rid of it, for Imogen could be doing anything with her body back in Stelemia.

  Aemon...

  Her heart fluttered as she remembered her loyal friend. He'd stood by her to the very end. And all his loyalty did was help Imogen reach the Metal Man.

  Was he still alive? The last Kara had seen of him was on the monitor back in Annbar. He'd been speeding down a tunnel with Minard and Erinie. Run, all of you, and keep running and don't stop until you are far beyond Imogen and her mad plan.

  Kara straightened and felt the crushing desperation ease. If Aemon were still alive, she couldn't give up, for he hadn't given up on her and had lost so much because of it. I have to find a way out of this world and back to my body. Imogen must be stopped. But how?

  After a minute of contemplation, Kara decided the first step would be to find the ghost woman who'd spoken to her in her other visiondreams of the surface. But where to begin? The ghost woman had always come to Kara in the past. Does she even know I'm here?

  The sun slowly descended toward the horizon. In several hours time, darkness would fall, and Kara would need to find shelter for the night. Standing, she hopped off the altar expecting a wave of pain from her injuries. It never came. She drew open the top of her bodice to check her javelin and bite wounds. They were still there, still healing, and yet there was neither pain nor sign of infection. She felt a little stronger too, her mind clearer than it had been for what seemed like half a lifetime.

  So there was hope. If her body could heal, perhaps her mind could too and she would remember all the memories she'd lost.

  Taking a deep breath through her nose, Kara let it out slowly. The air felt fresh and crisp, without the stench of smoke that permeated the air of the caverns. She carefully picked her way down the snow covered hill. Dead tree trunks shadowed her, and frozen briars scratched at her legs as she made her way to the edge of the city. Large buildings with frozen glass windows towered before Kara, their shadows creeping toward her, as the sun slowly set behind them. She stopped at the edge of a road and took in the details of the alien ruin.

  To her surprise, she could name almost everything, though she'd never seen these things with her own eyes nor heard their names spoken. Cars and busses sat frozen on the road, and a line of bikes stood chained against a metal railing. A sign with a dark-skinned woman on it advertised a mechanical cleaning assistant who stood beside her. It had a striking resemblance to the metal men Kara had seen in Annbar, but without the human body parts.

  Was the cleaning aide one of Imogen's Steel Children?

  Dozens of other once mundane objects and advertisements were spread around her. To Kara, they were all new, but to someone who had lived in the ancient world, they were as normal as stalagmites and glowing bacteria was to a Stelemian.

  Kara had been able to name things back in Annbar too. Perhaps the knowledge of these things came from Imogen and had carried over to Kara somehow. Did that mean Imogen would know everything Kara did?

  Something fell to the street from one of the buildings, shattering on top of the roof of a car. Kara hid behind an electrical charging station and listened for danger. I should've been more careful. What was I thinking standing out in the open like that? Scanning the skies, she was relieved to see no sign of the Great Shadow that hunted the visiondream.

  Peeking around the corner, she scanned the buildings across the street. A gust of wind stirred the air, causing a nearby metal sign to wobble, its rusted metal grate unnaturally loud in the utter silence. Nothing moved in the buildings. Nothing moved on the street. Perhaps the sound had only been ice falling from an upper-story window.

  The sun had gone behind some buildings in the distance, and the air had noticeably grown colder. Even Kara's innate power seemed to struggle to keep her warm. If what the ghost woman had said was true, the Great Shadow came out at nightfall. Kara was running out of time. She had to find shelter before darkness fell.

  Knowing she couldn't stay where she was, Kara raced around the edge of the charge station and dashed across the street. Once she reached the opposite sidewalk, she took shelter against the wall of a two-story multi-unit complex. Where was she heading? She hadn't thought of that until now.

  Any choice seemed as good as another. Maybe if she could reach a high vantage point, she would have a better idea what was out there. The highest point Kara had seen was the skyscrapers standing before the statue of Imogen. One of them should give her a good view of the layout of the city.

  Heading down the street, she cautiously moved from cover to cover, passing cars, trucks, shopping trolleys and empty curbside storefronts. The cities of the old world had little resemblance to the ones in her underground home. There, darkness, wet stone and towering stalagmites were the norm; here, normalcy was concrete, roads, storefronts, advertising, and technologies the Order of Ibilirith could only dream of.

&nb
sp; Kara arrived at a crossroads overshadowed by security cameras set into bronze-colored, metallic, human-like faces. They gave her the impression she was being watched. Perhaps that's why the ancients had shaped the cameras that way. It would give the people of the city the impression they were forever being spied on by the town watch. The Inquisitors would love cameras like these. No one would ever speak ill of the Divines with them around. Who knew who could be watching?

  She shook her head. And the Divines aren't even real. Ibilirith is a fraud. All of it was lies.

  A car door opened with grinding hinges. Kara ducked behind a motorcycle and held her breath. Seconds before she'd gotten to cover, she'd seen a figure heading down the street toward her. Who was it? Did they know she was there? Could it be the ghost woman?

  Her hair suddenly stood on end and an eerie stillness settled over the street. She watched the figure through a broken windshield. It wasn't the ghost woman, but a man, dressed in strange clothing which hadn't existed since the fall of Annbar. A suit and tie. He glanced at a data-pad strapped to his arm, then increased his pace.

  Kara considered calling out to him as he neared. He didn't seem to pose a threat. Maybe he knew where the ghost woman could be found.

  Coming out of cover, she waved to him. "Please stop. I need help."

  He walked past Kara, as if she wasn't there. A light breeze brushed against her as he went by.

  "Hey, stop. Can you hear me?"

  The man hurried on, seemingly oblivious to her existence. Then he stopped and turned. Kara's pulse quickened. He wasn't looking at her, but at something behind her. She spun around, scanning for danger. Nothing. Not a thing. He still looked her way. What could he see that she couldn't?

  The man started backing away. Then his mouth widened, as if to scream. Something unseen struck him, sending him flying backward. When he hit the ground, he disappeared.