Fire Eyes Awakened: The Senturians of Terraunum Series (Book 1)
Page 1
Fire Eyes
Awakened
The Senturians of Terraunum Series
R.J. Batla
All rights reserved. This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, R.J. Batla, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
FIRE EYES AWAKENED: The Senturians of Terraunum Series
Copyright © 2017 by R.J. Batla
Website: rjbatla.com
Twitter: @RJBatlaAuthor
Facebook: fb.me/rjbatlaauthor
Email: rjbatlaauthor@gmail.com
Cover design by DarkChimera
Illustrator: Carolina Machado
www.darkchimera.com
carolinamachado@darkchimera.com
Editor:
Melissa Jackson good-girl-editing
Map Illustrator:
Ellana Turrell perryelisabethdesign.com/
DEDICATION
FREE GIFT
MAP OF TERRAUNUM
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
CHAPTER 23
CHAPTER 24
CHAPTER 25
CHAPTER 26
CHAPTER 27
CHAPTER 28
CHAPTER 29
CHAPTER 30
CHAPTER 31
CHAPTER 32
CHAPTER 33
CHAPTER 34
CHAPTER 35
CHAPTER 36
CHAPTER 37
CHAPTER 38
CHAPTER 39
CHAPTER 40
CHAPTER 41
CHAPTER 42
CHAPTER 43
CHAPTER 44
CHAPTER 45
CHAPTER 46
CHAPTER 47
CHAPTER 48
CHAPTER 49
CHAPTER 50
CHAPTER 51
CHAPTER 52
CHAPTER 53
CHAPTER 54
CHAPTER 55
CHAPTER 56
CHAPTER 57
CHAPTER 58
CHAPTER 59
OTHER BOOKS BY R.J. BATLA
DID YOU ENJOY FIRE EYES AWAKENED?
ABOUT R.J. BATLA
Dedication
This has been a long time coming, and there are so many people to thank.
Thanks to God, my wife and kids, my family, and all those who have encouraged me along the way.
Thanks to friends, old and new who have helped in any number of ways.
And to you the reader, thank you!
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Fire Eyes
Awakened
The Senturians of Terraunum Series
Map of Terraunum
Chapter 1
“Cobra Seven to Base, over,” the big operative whispered into his mic, mouth barely moving. It’d taken three weeks to get this close. Three weeks of gathering intelligence, crawling through thorns, and hiking up mountains to get into this position. His platoon mates had paid dearly to get him here, where he could confirm the rumors. Sweat soaked through his shirt and ran down his forehead, dripping down into his eyes, but he couldn’t dare move – too many eyes, too many watchers…
“Go ahead, Cobra Seven.”
“I’m in position. Conformation pending, over.”
“Affirmative, Cobra Seven, awaiting report.”
A door burst open from the side of the rocky outcropping he’d been watching, spilling firelight into the darkness for only a second before the stone doors slammed shut again, dropping the world back to the night. “Standby,” Cobra Seven said, straining his eyes till they hurt. Was this him? Was this the… the….
A hooded figure turned, and Cobra Seven caught that unmistakable profile – hawk nose with a chunk missing on the bridge. Malstrak. The one who killed thousands. The one who scarred the wall. Speaking to someone unseen, Malstrak said, “The lords have conferred, they agree with the terms of the plan. It’s time to implement the next step.”
Cobra Seven reached down and keyed his mic. “Confirmed. Repeat: confirmed. I have visual on…” The figure snapped his head in his direction – damnit! No way he’d been heard; no way he’d been seen! What Power had he used? “Cover blown, cover blown!” he yelled, turning and running, legs burning with effort. Dodging trees, he ran with all his might. Suddenly fire struck him in the back like a fist, sending him sprawling, the jagged rocks slicing his hands and face as he slid to a stop against a boulder.
Rocks shuffled behind him, and he pulled his bloodied head up from the rubble. A figure stalked toward him – a black mass of swirling, whispering death in one hand and a ball of blue fire blazing in the other.
“Repeat: confirmed, confirmed, con–”
The night erupted in a fire so hot the boulder melted into a pool. No scream was heard, only the sound of the hot, bubbling stone and the roar of the fire. The cloaked figure lowered his hand, killing the flame. The Ranger’s body was no more, melding with the stone or blown away in the slight breeze. Too bad the Ranger got his report out, but no matter. The Easterners would find out soon enough anyway. And even when they did, their fate was already sealed.
He strolled back to the mountain, the door sliding open at his approach.
An aging ogre bent low, he said, “Master, one of your spies has contacted you.”
Malstrak nodded, stepping past the foul-smelling creature to pick up the telestone just inside the doorway. “Yes?”
“Sir, the Northern Awakening came back negative,” the voice on the other line said.
“Understood. It must be the Southern then. Get there and report back,” Malstrak said.
“Sir!” and the line went dead.
Smoothing his black robes, Malstrak walked back into the cool night, the door slamming behind him. Stopping to take a breath, he gathered his thoughts. His intelligence said a Senturian of great power was to be Awakened. And he fully intended for that Senturian to aid him is his plans. Whether they wanted to or not.
Turning, cloak whispering on the rocks, he strolled away, and in his wake, large shadows detached themselves fro
m the dark to follow him into the night. There was an invasion to plan.
Chapter 2
“Excuse me! Pardon me! Coming through!” I said, weaving my way through the crowded Portland Train Station. Come on, move! My train leaves in ten minutes! I’d taken too long closing out my jobs this morning, too long pulling money from the bank, and too long getting here. “Excuse me!” Hustling as fast as I could, my green duffle bag flapped behind me, carrying the few clothes I owned.
“Watch out, young man!” an older lady said as I scrambled by, scattering her groceries all over the concrete and sending her sprawling.
“Sorry, ma’am!” I said, turning to go. I got three steps. “Ahhh!” I turned around, helping her gather her stuff. “I’m really sorry, ma’am, but I’ve really got to run.” I handed her the last ear of corn, and took off again as fast as I could.
“Thank you, sir!” she called after me.
The large clock in the station chimed once – five till eight. Crap! Taking my spot in line, I tapped my foot. The ticket taker punched each ticket with turtle-like quickness, the clock ticking by as I waited. And waited. The guy in front of me read his paper with the headline, “Terraunum: How Earth Changed Its Name Two Thousand Years Ago.” Must have been a history piece. Much like I would be if I didn’t get moving.
The line to my left was moving much faster; the Earth Senturians who operated the train were checking in to do their jobs, dressed in light brown coveralls. One of them must have been new, as his coworker said, “Don’t be nervous! Just use your powers to magnetize the right rails at the right time to keep the train moving and you’ll be fine.”
“Are you sure?”
He waved his hand. “No worries. Just make sure you stop the train before we run into anything.”
Two ahead of me. One minute left. One person left. Thirty seconds – my turn.
I handed the guy my ticket and ID. “Let’s see. Jayton Baird, six foot, green eyes, brown hair. Here you go, sir,” he said, punching my ticket, “but you’d better hurry! The train doesn’t wait for anyone.”
“Thanks!” I said, bolting past him toward the only train on the tracks.
The announcer said, “Last call for the eight o’clock to Bayou Vista. Last call for the eight o’clock to Bayou Vista!”
Crap!
They started closing the doors!
“Wait, wait, wait!” I screamed, but they didn’t hear me, and the doors didn’t stop. Oh no! Pumping my strained legs faster, with a burst of speed, I hit the end of the boardwalk and jumped across the now gangway-less gap, crashing on the floor of the car as the doors slammed shut behind me.
A skinny train officer gave me an odd look as the car lurched forward, the engine beginning its work. “I suppose you have a ticket?”
“Yes, sir,” I managed to huff out, handing it to him.
He verified that it was legitimate, and as the train lurched into motion, asked me to, in his words, “Please use the showers before you sit down. The other passengers would not appreciate the smell of hog manure quite as much as I do.”
Well yeah, if you’re feeding several hundred pigs, you’re gonna smell. Just one of my several jobs to pay for this whole thing. It was the middle of March, but we’d had an unusually hot spring so far in Portland. I took a deep breath. I’m on my way. I did it. I’m going to get my powers Awakened. I’m going to be a Senturian. The Southern Awakening in Bayou Vista, then on to Harlingon for my training. Assuming it all goes right.
After my Manure Smell Removal Operation, I checked my ticket and found my aisle seat in the coach section, among the rows and rows of others. Coach was in the middle of the train, with the nicer compartmentalized cars in the back. Settling in, I watched the Tasche Mountains out the left window slowly ease by as we followed the Paluxy River to Bayou Vista, the site of the Southern Awakening. This was the second of the two Awakenings, where normal people had the powers inside them unlocked.
Closing my eyes only a second, I heard, “Jayton, you made it! We couldn’t find you, and we were afraid you’d missed it.”
It was Gilmer Borger. He reached down and shook my hand. The Mayor’s son, he was a born politician. His long blond hair was slicked back in his usual style, with his pressed suit and tie putting my nicest red polo shirt and khakis to shame. He was slightly shorter than my six feet, so as I stood, I could see over his head to the other two guys with him. With a grand gesture, he said, “I believe you have met my colleagues, Gordon Moody and Joshua Omaha?”
Gordon was a big dude, almost seven feet, and he made my two-hundred-pounds look even smaller as I shook his hand. “Cutting it close, eh, Jayton? How goes it?”
“I’m on the train, so I’m great now. How are you, Joshua?”
“Good, good. Jayton, what are you doing over here?” Joshua said.
“Well, uh, this was the best ticket I could get and still pay for the Awakening.”
“Oh right, sorry, Jayton,” he said, looking down.
“Say, we’ve got plenty of room in our car, fellas,” Gilmer said. “What say you to joining us in our car, Jayton?”
“That’d be awesome!” I said. “As long as it’s no inconvenience to you guys.”
Gordon clapped me on the back. “None at all. Let’s go! I’ll have someone come get all your bags.”
“No need,” I said, shouldering my duffle and tailing behind my friends to the back. The only reason I knew them at all was from school, where they let me hang out with them despite the differences in wealth. Good people.
“Let’s sit down already,” Joshua said as we found the right car and piled in. Four bunk beds lined the inside walls with a booth for a table against the windows. “We’ve got three days and twelve-hundred miles to travel, so we might as well get comfy. Jayton, you can have that top bunk there.”
I threw my bag up and joined the others at the booth.
“Hey, look at that!” Gilmer said, pointing.
Two Reka, the River Water-Senturian race, stood knee deep in the Paluxy River, their light blue skin reflecting off the water. They were going through some flowing movements, tossing a steady stream of water between them, manipulating it easily, their motions directing the water where to go. In seconds, they were lost out the window as the train sped on, propelled forward by the Earth Senturians, following the winding river through the Tasche Mountains to Bayou Vista on the other side. “Man, I can’t wait for this!” Gilmer said. “What powers do you want, Gordon?”
“Oh, I’d take anything, but earth or fire would be really cool. As long as it’s more than a level one. Level ones never get picked for anything, and half of them end up on the West Side of the Breaks.”
I shivered. The West Side. Nothing but bandits, thieves, killers, and outlaws who couldn’t toe the line on our side and were banished, for whatever reason, either breaking a law or insulting the wrong person. Or they got so frustrated with the lack of respect and jobs that came from receiving a low power number that they chose to abdicate to the West Side. And then there were the monsters, sealed there hundreds of years ago. “Joshua, what about you?”
“Energy or air for me, gents. Healing’s too boring; I don’t know why anyone really wants that power. And what about a Quantum power, eh? Get to train with the Rangers?” Joshua said.
Gilmer said, “An extra power? How cool would it be to have a non-elemental one! And then training with the Rangers – they’re the best of the best.”
“Yeah,” Joshua said, “but what happens if your levels are too low and you aren’t chosen? What will you do if no one will train you?”
I gulped. Joshua just voiced my biggest fear. I’d busted my butt for years getting the money together to pay for this thing. My dream. To have powers and all the luxuries that came with it. But it’s not a guarantee. If you don’t score well enough, or at all, or they don’t like you, you get nothing. No training. No support. Sure, you could go back to your old life and work on your powers by yourself, but what good was that? Not to ment
ion the shunning you’d get from everyone…
“I’d just go back to fishing,” Gordon said. “I’ll always have a job with the family business.”
Joshua said, “I guess I’d work at my dad’s lumber yard. It’d be a shame to waste all the good money we’re paying to go to this thing though. Jay, what would you do?”
“I guess I’d join the Army. They’d at least give you a skill and pay you for it,” I said.
“Yeah, barely pay you to risk your neck – either police work, patrol, or defending the wall. Low-tier jobs. Even the lowest level Senturians get some rank above the Army blokes,” Gordon said.
Gilmer said, “Too bad we weren’t just born with them like any of the other races. I mean, come on, the Phoenix, Dwarves, Elves – they all have it easy! Their powers are there from birth; they just have to develop them!”
Joshua said, “Too right! Have you guys heard about the weapons? I talked to one of the Senturians at the station in Portland, and he said you had to fight a dragon bare-handed before they let you even sniff a sword.”
“Come off it,” Gilmer said. “They tell that to scare kids. But getting a weapon is amazing – that means you’re really in. That they respect you, that you’ve trained hard enough that they’ll invest more time and energy in you. It’s an honorable day, the day a Senturian gets his weapon.”
Gilmer always seems to know more about all this than the rest of us. Must come from living in the mayor’s house and hearing about everything going on. I know all the other guys had been to an Awakening before as a spectator, but this would be my first.
“Hey, Jayton, I was wondering…how did you raise enough money to pay for the Awakening? No offense meant, but…” Gilmer said.
I jangled my bag. “Working my tail off, that’s how. Everything I’ve been able to scrap together the last four years was barely enough, but it’s all there.”