by Kody Boye
“I did, sir.”
“Are you ready?”
“More than ever,” Odin said. “More than I’ve ever been in my entire life.”
January 11th, 2009 – May 24th, 2010
Conclusion
At this point in time, you have likely read the book from cover to cover and, hopefully, enjoyed it (or at least didn’t all out hate it.) The story of one young man and his journey to knighthood is a great one. Inspired by not only history, but fantasy and the scope of epic literature, I initially wrote Blood and its subsequent details as a gift to my family—whom, at the current point in time, were suffering my sorrow from the idea that I may never write again. Thankfully I was and am still able to write. Below are the people who helped me create this book from start to finish.
To my family—I wrote this book for you. Thank you for always supplying me with an endless amount of love and support for all that it is I’ve wanted to do since I was seven years old. There’s no amount of thanks I can give to make up for all you’ve given me, so thank you. It means a lot.
To Rhia and Corey—I finished this novel here in Austin and rewrote it while I was still here. Your kindness and safe haven ultimately contributed to the sanity that this version of Blood now is.
To my wonderful friend and editor, Helen—thank you for putting up with me through the process of this book. I know you’ve read it twice now (which now contributes to some 500,000 words of literature) but each and every time you offered feedback was a blessing from the stars. Blood is much stronger, story and writing-wise, because of you.
To my cover artist Philip—thank you for capturing what this novel is with just one picture. I admire your talent and am glad that you’ve worked with me in producing this work. I look forward to working with you in the years to come.
And last but not least, a huge thanks goes out to my friend John Rodriguez (also an author) and my book blogging buddy Ashley (otherwise known as The Bookish Brunette.) Your input on the early parts of this novel really inspired me to push myself with this. So, once again: thank you.
To you, the readers who have supported me since my initial launch into the small press/independent scene in 2007, thank you!
Sword, book 2 of the Brotherhood Saga, will be published in 2012.
Index
CREATURES
Angels – A holy creature of the Gods that is said to raise the soul from the earth and take it to the heavens. Modern, human interpretation has painted them as human-like and bearing no similarity to other animals, but historical texts have described them as bird-like creatures—entities with beaks shrouding the lower half of their face and with arms crafted as wings.
Blood Beetles – Bloodsucking insects that live in the Tel ‘Enlath Jungle.
Cadarian Death Worms – Giant, three-foot-long creatures (resembling worms) that are considered to be one of the Cadarack Desert’s top predators. They dig through the desert by eating through sand and attack their prey with a multitude of razor-sharp teeth that rest beneath five flaps of flesh that cover their mouths. It is said that they are stirred by fresh rain, as with it comes the desert’s local wildlife.
Desert Walkers – A race of ghostly creatures that inhabit the Cadarack—whom, in legend, are the descendants of the peoples that lived in the desert before the Kadarians. They are tall, amorphous creatures, generally seven feet in height and completely black in color, that take on humanoid forms, who have no faces and who possess three-fingered claws and feet that can slash through any kind of flesh.
Drake – A giant, lizard-like creature of the dragon family. Though incapable of breathing fire, their sharp claws and giant tails lend belief to the legend that dragons really did once exist.
Gjiku Wild Cat – A race of red-furred and purple-stripped wildcat that used to roam across what is considered to now be the Three Kingdoms, which were hunted to extinction by man in ancient times for their pelts and teeth.
Glowworms – Slug-like creatures that produce their own luminescence, usually of blue coloration. Found in the Ehknacian Mines in the Hornblaris Mountains.
Lochna – A water dragon who, in legend, is said to only rise from the deepest depths of the sea once every one thousand years. She resembles a smooth, sleek-skinned snake with large, silver eyes that catch light and reflect it back at whoever manages to look upon her presence. It is said that she is immortal and has existed since the beginning of time.
Maelform – A gelatinous creature that lives in caverns and mines, often unseen in the material world due to their inherent need to be near magical sources of energy. They are also excellent properties sometimes used by Elves to amplify magic.
Marsh Walkers – Amphibian-like creatures with knotted green skin, large, black eyes and bulbously-tipped fingers. Described as vampires, they are said to take children who wander into their domain and drain all their blood with sharp beaks that hold two sharp fangs inside. Old legend says that the Elves—the most beautiful things to ever walk the earth—evolved from creatures like the Marsh Walkers when they first stepped onto land.
Man Eater – I.e, a shark.
Nagani – A moral creature that dwells within the Abroen Forest that is said only to follow and hurt those with ill will or intent. Covered in white fur, bearing two crescent-shaped horns upon its head and adorned with three-digit feet like a bird, they are capable of producing vocalizations that can stun their prey and have the innate ability to capture their victims within their glossy, oftentimes-purple eyes.
Ohmlayon Boars – Giant pigs with curved tusks and reddish fur that grow to be as large as mainland cattle.
Shewolf – A female werewolf, called such because she bears humanlike breasts instead of nipples.
Siren – An angel cast from the heavens by the Gods and forced to live in the deepest parts of the ocean. They are said to follow boats and, when free to remain hidden in the water’s shadows, sing songs that lure men into the water with thoughts of sex and pleasure, their sole goal to impregnate themselves to reproduce before dragging them into the depths, never to be seen again.
Sprite – A spiritual remnant of something that has passed on. Sprites are most commonly associated with Elves, as it is widely believed that when an Elf dies, its soul turns into a sprite and watches over the things it held close in life. They often take the form of spheres or cylindrical tubes of light, but are thought to be able to change their appearance depending upon their purpose. They are normally found in places of great spiritual reference—most often churches, graveyards, or other highly-symbolic places. Sometimes rogue, a Sprite will follow no direct route if something in its previous mortal life has gone unattended. Essentially, sprites are the ghosts of the Minonivnan world.
GODS AND DEMIGODS
Gods
Gaia (Guy-Ah) – Goddess of Life. She is said to have once been human and succeeded the mortal realm after she healed the dying land and was burned at the stake.
Odin (Oh-Din) – The God of Death. He decides whether or not the living live in eternal peace of eternal Hell after they die.
Shiva (She-Vah) – God of Snow and Winter. Legend has it that a young man cast himself from the cliffs of Neline due to his father’s disapproval of his relationship with another man, then ascended to Godhood shortly after. In his pain, he turned the once-grand, beautiful Neline into a snowy, desolate wasteland, only sparing the Globe Village long enough for mages to construct a protective orb.
Thor (Thu-ore) – The Dwarven God of Plenty. He oversees warfare, farming and the Dwarve’s advanced technology.
Demigods
Idlis (I-Dulis) – Demigod of Death. His job is to bring the souls of the living into the afterlife, where they are fit to serve trial before the God of Death, Odin.
Neferini (Neh-Er-E-NE) – The squirrel demigod of Lesser Life. Her job is to create, destroy and resurrect those lesser creatures within the animal kingdom.
Meechu (Me-Chew) – The Dwarf Gjiku Demigod. He serves as a messenger for all sentient life.<
br />
Tetala and Samona – The cat demigods of insects and flowers. They create balance within nature and allow insects and plantlife to live freely.
PLACES
Abrohen – A giant forest that is said to be as immortal as the creatures that live within it. Home to the Elves, it is filled with carnivorous plants and creatures that are thought only to exist in legend. Most who enter fall prey to the enormous roots that tangle the ground, tripping intruders and breaking their limbs. Those few who manage to watch their feet must contend with the plants that live in deep grooves in the ground or animals that take refuge in the trees or other natural formations.
Arbrinder – A small Kegdulanian town at the foot of the Hornblaris Mountains.
Arrowway – A royal town directly beneath the city of Little Worth (southwest.) It makes up one of the five royal towns of the Ornalan Providence.
Bohren – A farming village in the eastern hills.
Cadarack Desert – A large desert that extends across the majority of Germa, one of the three human kingdoms that border the coast.
Chainfire Passage – A long, winding valley set into a canyon that eventually leads into an expanse of arid lands to the far southeast of the Hornblaris Mountains.
Crystal Desert – A wide terrain of desert land in the Far South known for its unnatural multi-colored crystallizations that appear along the terrains that cannot be picked apart by picks or axes. It is home to many nomadic tribes and cultures, most famously the people who originated the religion of New Haven, that of which spread in the early ages of mankind.
Dachtan Mines – An entrance of the Hornblaris Mountains. It leads to the Thor’s Hammer Canyon and eventually to Ehknac, the first major Dwarven city in the mountain chain.
Dark Mountains – The mountain chain separating Denyon from the west of the world to the east.
Deeana – One of the royal cities to the northeast of Ornala. It makes up one of the five royal towns of the Ornalan Providence and is home to the High Court of Magic.
Deldon – A small farming village that rests on the high hills above the Deldonian River, next to the Western Shoreline just below where the Ela ‘Alna Pass is.
Denyon – (Also called the deadlands, the Forbidden Kingdom and the Dark Country.) A near-uninhabitable wasteland said to hold mad, partially-sentient creatures and monsters. Its rivers are said to run red because of the blood that is constantly being spilled and little can survive within its black, always-dark kingdom. A trench bordered by forest leads into the main part of the waste, though few travelers ever make it past. It was once the home of a thriving kingdom, but an unknown calamity struck its core and turned the entirety of the populace into flesh-eating creatures.
Donrenborough – The Dwarven capital.
Drianna – The third Point town in the Dark Mountain range.
Dwaydor – A large merchant town that lies at the start of the great Western Plain. It is historically known as Ornala’s ‘arena town’—where, in the past, men and women fought within its circle for fame, fortune and redemption.
Dyuna – The island in the Salem Sea where the Drow fled to escape persecution by the High Elven court.
Ehknac – The first major Dwarven city inside the Hornblaris Mountains.
‘Ela Alna Pass – A long, sloping hill that leads down to the plain that separates the Elna Plains from the lowlands, well-known for its dangerous descents and the Road Runners (see Terms) that frequent it.
Elna – A fishing village in the southwest. The majority of the Ornalan Territory’s fish comes from this city.
Ends of the Earth – A fabled land to the far south, where it is said magic manifests itself into real forms. Legend say the Fae originated from these far parts.
Far South – The land beyond the Abroen Forest.
Felnon – A small village that lies on the western straight in the immediate Ornalan territory, well-known for the warriors the small town produces.
Fisherman’s Point – A fishing village in the Kegdulan kingdom, originally built and abandoned by Dwarves.
Forked Rivers, The – The river formation surrounding the human town of Sylina.
Germa – The second seaside kingdom. It lies between Ornala and Kegdulan.
Glowworm Trail, The – An area located inside the Ehknacian Mines (of the Hornblaris Mountains) that is covered in Glowworms, thus lighting the path for not only travelers, but Dwarves.
Great Divide, The – A valley dividing the Whooping Hills and the Abroen Forest.
Harpie’s Peak – A notorious location known to be the home of a nest of Harpies.
Harpie’s Summit – The first of the three Point towns along the Dark Mountain chain, the closest to the mountains and the most revered for its regular trouble with Harpies. As such, it has been turned into a fortified outpost acting as a bridge between the Great Divide and the Northern world.
Haunted Marshlands – A stretch of dense marshlands that lies in the southwestern Ornalan lands and stretches from Felnon to the Elnan River. It is home, mainly, to Marsh Walkers, as well as terrifying tales of spirits that say to haunt the lands and kill whoever is to enter their boundaries.
Hornblaris Mountains, The – The largest mountain chain located in the vicinity of the Three Kingdoms. Most notably, it is home to the Dwarves.
Judarin Isles, The – A forbidden chain of islands said to be protected by Gods and Demigods. A layer of mist always surrounds these isles and those ships who enter are said to be torn apart by jagged cliffs and swallowed whole by the tides.
Judarin Isle of Pleasant, The – Pleasant is the first island in the Judarin Isle chain. Revered in legend as the source of all life, this island holds a bountiful pleasure of life in the form of both flora and fauna. Four demigods live here—Neferini, the squirrel demigod of lesser life; Tetala and Samona, the cat demigods of insects and flowers; and Meechu, the messenger demigod of sentient life.
Kalen’s Rise – The second Point town in the Dark Mountain region.
Kegdulan – The third, northern kingdom bordering the Hornblaris Mountains.
Ke’Tarka – A military outpost near the southern end of the Liar’s Forest.
Lesliana – The Elven Captial.
Lianasa – A small farming community to the south of the Ke’Tarka outpost.
Liar’s Forest, The – A forest notorious for housing bandits and other outlaws.
Little Worth – One of the royal towns to the northwest of Ornala. It makes up one of the five royal towns of the Ornalan Providence.
Martyr’s Ocean – The body of water that borders the Three Kingdoms.
Mines of Myr – A supposedly-legendary place that exists to the far south of the Three Kingdoms and the Abroen Forest. Home of the Fae—the Wraiths, the Sprites, the Fairies, Pixie and Gnomes—it is said that within these mines runs a golden river that has manifested itself into a physical construct of the Will and runs throughout the entirety of the world.
Neline – A frozen wasteland that was once known as one of the most beautiful places in the world. An angry prince—who, in legend, became the god Shiva (see People)—cursed the land to suffer as he had when he threw himself from the shores after his father threatened to kill his lover.
Ohmalyon – The largest, most jagged island in the Tentalin Isles. Both the Ogres and the religious group known as the Tentalin Monks make their home here.
Ornala – One of the three seaside kingdoms. Also the capital of the Ornalan Territory, built over fifteen-hundred years ago.
Ring of Germa, The – The incomplete ring of grasslands that surrounds the Cadarack Desert.
Salem Sea – The sea to the far northwest of Neline, notorious for the location of the Drow.