Blood of Mages
Rift of Chaos: Book 3
By: A.J. Martinez
Copyright © 2018
A.J. Martinez
All rights reserved.
License Notes
This novel is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or; if real, used fictitiously. This novel may not be re-sold or given away to other people. This novel may not be reproduced or transmitted into any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system.
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ISBN: 9781641360296
Map of Odealeous
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Tablet of Content
Akielas
Serena
Caim
Eckxio
Auron
Rey Ling
Akielas
Auron
Rey Ling
Serena
Akielas
Rey Ling
Serena
Willow
Akielas
Ember
Serena
Akielas
Rey Ling
Akielas
Serena
Zarviack
Serena
Auron
Serena
Akielas
Auron
Akielas
Serena
Eckxio
Caim
Ember
Akielas
Serena
Eckxio
Caim
Rey Ling
Auron
Ajira
Akielas
The tri-eclipse is about six days away, he thought as he gazed at the blazing sun rising over the horizon, painting Verday in shades of yellow, orange and red. The morning air was fresh and the wind whistled in the high altitudes of the Quariras Mountains. Akielas inhaled but he could no longer feel the maju of the air with his sixth sense as he once did. After Ember had stripped him of his magical abilities he could no longer feel the same wave of energy from nature. The wave of energy that allowed him to cast spells from the unmanifested.
Akielas felt weak. His head hurt, his joints ached and his back pulsed with pain from that last strike had he received from Ember. He could not sleep before he teleported to the Quariras Mountains using his blue crystal. The fear kept him awake and he now felt useless to his friends. Useless to his cause and useless to fight against the Specters.
He gazed at the horizon, trying to feel what was beyond the blaze of the sun. He wanted to feel the maju, that tingling feeling like ants crawling on his skin and the frequency of the attribute. It was gone. He was now disconnected from the four natural elements of life.
“I am going to have to start all over again,” he murmured and balled his hand into a fist. “Decades of training taken away from me with one blow. How am I going to regain all that? Only the fairy king knows and this time he will answer. I am not walking out of his realm with anymore riddles and metaphors. He must tell me how to regain my magic, fast, or we are all doomed.”
He was soon to step into the realm of the fairy king, a holy entity of light, hoping to receive a direct answer for once. Akielas waited for Eckxio. Only the Elf could give them access to the fairy king for he was the only one that had any zeustoss.
Akielas had teleported from Kazenolumos with the magic of the pentacle portals. Eckxio was supposed to follow him but the Elf kept him waiting as he stood idly on the mountain path. Just when he was about to go back to the portal he heard the Elf yelling, “Sorry for the wait!” Eckxio ran up the path with his winged necklace clattering against his fractured silver chest plate. His raven black hair covered the scars on his right cheek and he still had bandages wrapped around his right arm. In his right hand he carried a white shield with his sword, Hadraniel, sheathed in it.
“Did you forget?” Akielas asked.
“I was just chatting with Rey Ling right after you left,” Eckxio answered. “He said he was going to forge swords out of omnithium and I was just telling him how to design mine.”
“Come on now, you know why we are here,” Akielas reminded.
The two men walked up the path of dirt and gravel. The wind blew harder as they trudged up to the Stonehenge of the fairy king. Akielas could already see the rocky slopes that surrounded the megaliths. They quickened their pace in a hurry to see the holy entity. Every minute of the day counted towards their goal to the defeat the Specters.
Once they arrived at their destination they slowly stepped into the Stonehenge and Akielas stood before the stone pedestal where a cluster of zeustoss shards formed a tepee. Akielas gestured at Eckxio prompting him to use the broken zeustoss sword that had served in many battles. The Elf stepped forward and held the sword up high to call the fairy king.
“Loveon Vujuzen, Voe baasho zuo!,” Eckxio called the fairy speaking Ozilanji, the elfin tongue.
The zeustoss shards began to glow as well as the broken sword. The sword began to shake in Eckxio’s hand and Akielas heard the humming of the realm of light. A sweet angelic hum that put him at ease. Then the shards released a soothing yet blinding flash of light that forced Akielas to shield his eyes and when he opened his eyes again he was no longer in Verday.
It was as if the night had come too soon. Stars shined everywhere and the Stonehenge floated in the night sky. The Quariras Mountains had disappeared and beyond the megaliths there was nothing but blackness. Glowing clouds and dust drifting through darkness in blue and violet hues. This was the realm of the fairy king but Akielas believed that they were somehow above the clouds of Odealeous.
The humming continued and when Akielas looked at the zeustoss shards they had released a beam of light skyward, summoning the fairy king. They gazed up and saw the holy entity descending from what seemed to be a portal, much like the ones that Caim used. The fairy king was only two feet in height; his skin was olive and his hair white. He fashioned white robes with golden swirls and over his head was a halo of two rings that spun in and out of each other. He had four gossamer wings and released golden dust every time they fluttered. His forehead was tattooed with an upward arrow and his gentle smile was so contagious that even Akielas could not resist even his foul mood.
“I was expecting you,” the fairy king said as he paused over the zeustoss shards.
“Then you already know why I am here,” Akielas assumed and stepped forward.
The fairy king laughed and Akielas remained solemn.
“I have lost my magic,” Akielas stated and frowned.
The fairy king did not respond and continued laughing. Not a laugh of mockery but a graceful laugh of joy, however, Akielas was not in the mood for such blissful expressions. He wanted immediate answers but he dared not rush the fairy king.
“Fairy king, Elisol, is there anything that I can do to restore my magic?” Akielas asked as he frowned.
The fairy king ceased his laughed, cleared his throat and made eye contact with Akielas. The fairy king had a look of certainty as if to say, you have lost nothing.
“How can you restore something that is still in its place?” Elisol replied and smiled.
“What do you mean?” Akiela
s was perplexed.
“You have not lost your magic my good friend,” Elisol answered. “I look at you and I still see maju moving in the channels of your spine.”
“What!” Akielas snarled. “But I can’t cast a single spell.”
“Well how can you if your channels are blocked,” Elisol said.
Akielas remained silence for a moment then looked at Eckxio and the Elf only shrugged. He believed that he had lost his magic and the fairy king now tells him that it is only blocked. It was a relief yet confusing. So I am not completely useless, he thought, well that is good news.
“Elisol, you can see my channels of maju?” Akielas asked gazing up at the fairy king.
“My eyes can see both the physical and the mystical sides of a being,” Elisol answered. “I can see the paths of maju blocked in your spine. Someone had attacked you there and now you have lost your deep connection with the natural elements. This is preventing you from being able to feel your own maju. Your sixth sense has been closed and you must simply open it again.”
“But how do I do that?” Akielas asked eagerly.
“It won’t be easy but it can be done,” Elisol said. “The most important thing for you to understand is that you never lost your magic. Remember, if you can take the belief from a man, then you can take away his magic.”
“My father once said that same thing,” Eckxio whispered and Akielas looked back at him.
“Do you understand what he speaks of?” Akielas asked the Elf.
“Magic is strongly linked to our beliefs. Much like a religion,” Eckxio answered. “Sounds like a common fact, but I think it is something that eludes many mages. I thought you would know this already.”
“Of course I don’t know, that is why we are here,” Akielas confessed. “How come you never spoke of this?”
“I am not much of a magic user, you should know,” Eckxio replied and crossed his arms. “I just thought of it right now since the fairy king mentioned it. But it wasn’t just my father. The first time I came to visit the fairy king about eight years ago, Elisol told me the same thing. I do believe in magic but I cast spells in my own unique way using extromancy.”
“Our friend Eckixo understands,” Elisol stated. “I helped him cleared the beliefs that were no longer serving him.”
Akielas thought about it for a moment. When he was young he had never heard any of his masters speak of the aspect of “believing,” when it came to magic. It was indeed something that was over looked. Recalling all the training that he had gone through when he first learned pyromancy till now, he had never heard of anyone speak of the power of believing.
“Magic comes from the unmanifested,” Elisol explained. “Your maju is not visible until you make it visible. The spells mages cast are first seen in the eye of the mind and from the unmanifested maju takes its physical form as all things in nature do. The plants, the trees, the mountains, the sky, the wind, the sun and all living creatures. Everything contains maju. Think of the first time you cast your first spell when you felt the waves of energy in your body. Think of the first time when you first felt the vibration of the elements. The different frequencies of the elements and living things. To be able to cast spells is to be able to draw power from another realm. It is to be able to see beyond your current reality.”
“I see,” Akielas said, realizing that he was still whole. “So then what can I do to reawaken it? What can I do to belief again?”
“It could take the same amount of years of training as when you first started. However, there is a quicker way. It is called the art of deevinacy,” the fairy king answered. “An art thousands of years old.”
“Please teach me,” Akielas urged reaching out to the fairy king but was pulled back by the force of the holy entity. The fairy king did not allow anyone to touch him. Anyone that tried to reach for him or touch his shards would be gently pushed back.
“I am afraid that I won’t be the one to teach you,” Elisol said. “I can point you in the right direction, but there are things that I cannot show you otherwise I would be interfering with your fate.”
“You know my fate?” Akeilas asked, disturbed.
“I have said too much. It is time for you to go,” Elisol said and laughed as he ascended back into his realm.
“Wait! I have but one more question,” Akielas begged.
Elisol paused aloft and looked down at Akielas.
“Tell me, please, at least tell me where I can find a mage who knows the art of deevinacy,” he urged.
“Very well then, this I can help you with,” Elisol said. “Go to the mage hidden in the frozen ivy forest of the spiral country. She is one of the few souls that know the art of deevinacy. You might be afraid of what you find and must overcome it. Many people give up after their first try or commit suicide because they cannot withstand what they find within. However, if you can master deevinacy then you will be able to reach the omnith state.”
“Omnith state? What is that?” Akielas asked as he watched the fairy king depart.
The fairy king ascended, rising with the beam of light coming from the zeustoss shards below. As he rose he unleashed a flash of light that forced Akielas’ eyes to close. As the light vanished he felt as if he had just awakened in the early morning. He surveyed his surroundings and found himself back in the Quariras Moutains. Rocky slopes around the Stonehenge and the sun blazing above in the blue sky.
“The spiral country, where could that be?” Eckxio asked.
“I know where it is but I have no friends or connections in that country,” Akielas replied. “It is the country known to be ruled by the element of water. I traveled to many countries but I have not spent enough time there to form friendships.”
“Yes, you are blessed with many friends,” Eckxio complimented. “I was hoping you would know more.”
“Not this time. It is going to be a challenge to find the frozen ivy forest,” Akielas said. “Elisol said that if I can master this art of deevinacy I will be able to reach the omnith state. I am not sure what that is.”
“I have heard about it before,” Eckxio said.
“Have you?” Akielas was surprised. “You Elves know many things. Why have you never spoken of this before?”
“Because it is only a legend and until now that I recalled it since you mentioned it,” Eckxio replied and jabbed Akielas arm.
“So then what is it?” Akielas asked.
“My father told me of a legendary Elf in our history that had mastered the art of deevinacy and was able to reach the omnith state of infinite power,” Eckxio explained. “It is said that the omnith state gives mages unspeakable powers. The Elf of legend that my father told me about reached the omnith state when he fought a monster that attacked Evee Iris. That is when the omnith state was first witnessed and afterwards the Elf was never seen again. I was told that the omnith state is some kind of gift from the gods. An overwhelming enhancement where a mage cast spells that they did not believe they could at first.”
Akielas pondered for a moment. He had heard many tales. Such tales that had lead him to the immortality pendant that he wore around his neck. Such tales that had lead him inside the walls of Ironside. Such tales that had lead him to the desert country in Zolan seeking the Golden Sun. With only a few days left, is it even worth pursuing, he thought, no, I must stay focus and steer my attention away from such tales, for now.
“The fairy king said that most men give up on their first try or commit suicide,” Akielas said.
“If the fairy king was willing to point you in the right direction then it must be worth the risk,” Eckxio added.
“Indeed,” Akielas agreed.
“Well then, I am heading back to the elfin village to visit my family for a moment. I will meet you back in Kazenolumos,” Eckxio said. He waved goodbye and ran down the mountain path.
“We only have a few days till the tri-eclipse so be back soon!” Akielas shouted as he watched Eckxio leave. “And I must see my own family as well. Be
fore I meet my death.”
Akielas ran to the pentacle portal down the mountain path. He wanted to see his son again, for he felt that he did not have many days left to live.
Serena
Underwater.
She swam between long kelps, being careful not to get tangled and risk being poisoned by a predator. She had been poisoned many times by large jellyfishes and spotkin lionfishes before. She knew the pain that waited after the smallest sting or light touch of even the most beautiful colorful sea creature in the ocean. It might have been a common accident in her youth but these waters were like a home to her and she would not make the same mistake. There was not a stripped fish or bottom feeder she had not seen or studied. No dolphin in the south western seas that did not know her name. No seal she had not played with and no shark that did not fear the sight of her cold stare and chilly presence.
The ocean was her playground and the cape kelp forest that she swam through was like a backyard for her castle. Like a lionfish, her blue and black dreadlocks helped her camouflage and capture her prey. Using hydromancy she could shape shift parts of her body and imitate the sea life breathing underwater for hours. She could swim rapidly with fins for hands and feet. And her favorite spell, shift from waist to toes and take on the form of a mermaid.
Today she swam not for fun or to get away from her royal life as a thirty year old princess. She swam hunting for a lunar fish that contained what she believed was the cure to her father’s illness, his majesty, King Sarbock.
Her slim and long body coiled through the waters. Her spell gave her gills to breathe and fangs to frighten predators. The water was warm and as she swam down to another part of the forest as a school of yellow fishes swam around her. She coiled to the valley filled with aquatic plants glowing in countless colors. The deeper she swam the darker it was but the brighter the plants glowed.
It must be hiding somewhere between the corals, she thought as she surveyed the lower forest. Clown fishes swam in small groups over the coral reefs and as she descended they jetted away leaving bubbles that blurred her view. Lunar fishes loved to lay their eggs inside the coral caves. It is unfortunate for the mama fish but I need her oils. She brought her hands together and chanted a spell. Bubbles left her mouth as she whispered, “aquabos keen.” She closed her eyes and they ached as the spell began to work. When she opened them again her pupils dilated and her vision zoom into the valley of sea greens and corals. She scanned as she swam, hunting down the lunar fish.
Blood of Mages (Rift of Chaos Book 3) Page 1