The Temple of Kian
The Key of Creation Series
Book III
By
M. D. Bushnell & A. R. Voss
Copyright © 2011 by Michael D. Bushnell and Ali Vossoughi
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof
may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever
without the express written permission of the publisher
except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
Printed in the United States of America
First Printing, 2013
ISBN -10: 1484102320
ISBN-13: 978-1484102329
This is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real locales are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places and incidents are products of the authors’ imagination, and any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Cover Art by Buffy Kaufman
www.buffykaufmanart.com
For more information about the Key of Creation series of books, starting with Rise of the Destroyer, please visit us at:
www.KeyOfCreation.com
In body she was my anchor and in soul she is one of my greatest supporters. I dedicate this final chapter to you mom.
A.R. Voss
This book is dedicated to my father, Don Aaker. I am very thankful for the circumstances that reunited us, and so grateful for all he has done for me in recent years. Here’s to many more!
M.D. Bushnell
Table of Contents
Map of the Known World
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
Epilogue
Glossary
Acknowledgement
Books Recommended by the authors
Map of the Known World
Chapter 1
Jelénna awoke late, groggy after a long night of tossing and turning. She had been unable to get back to sleep after her horrific, snow-blinded dream of what appeared to be the death of her husband. She tried not to let it upset her, telling herself that it was only a dream brought on by worry over the lateness of his return from his trip with the king. Still, the sick feeling she was left with after seeing him call out to her in desperation had not subsided quickly, and sleep had been extremely slow in returning.
Winter was setting in, and Jelénna involuntarily shivered from a draft that blew into the room from the cold fireplace. She yawned and rubbed the sleep from her eyes; she did not feel like getting out of bed this morning. Normally she would have needed to rise and begin her household chores, but as they were staying at the palace while her husband was away, her only true responsibility was making sure Adrias was up and dressed, and had breakfast before going to school.
Jelénna climbed out of bed and dressed quickly, cursing the chill of winter. As she closed the door to her room and started towards the small room where her son slept, she could not help but think about her extremely disconcerting experience with Adrias the night before. Still upset from her nightmare, she had looked in on him, and found him sleeping peacefully. Yet upon leaving, she had heard him utter a single word in his sleep, with a smile still on his face. ‘Die’.
She still clung to the hope, as false as it might be, that she had misheard her son. The door had creaked right as he spoke. Unfortunately however, she was fairly certain she had heard him correctly. Still, upset as she had been over her dream about Aldrick, there was still the very real possibility that she was overreacting to what he said in his sleep. He was just a boy, after all.
Yet, she thought it might be a good idea to ask Adrias if he remembered any part of his dream. She fervently hoped that her son was not inheriting the strange dreams and visions that his father had been plagued with of late.
Arriving at his room, Jelénna was surprised to discover Adrias gone. It took her a moment, but then she remembered that he did not have school today. He must have arisen early, and gone off to play with some of his newly made friends here in the palace. Since Adrias had a free day, perhaps it would be a good time to fetch him and take him with her to the market. They had not spent a great deal of time together lately, and a day out would likely do both of them good. If nothing else, she felt that she needed to shake the lingering bad feeling left from her nightmare.
Eventually Jelénna found Adrias playing in the courtyard with his friends. Her first instinct was to scold him for sneaking off without telling her, but she very much wanted to have a pleasant day with him at the market, and did not wish to spoil the mood. Perhaps she would reprimand him later, but for now she decided to let it be.
As for Adrias, he was not keen on the notion of leaving his friends to spend the day with his mother, but the promise of a new toy quickly changed his mind. At ten Summers old, he was certainly approaching the age when he would be considered a man, but for now he was still just a boy.
They were quiet for a time as they walked towards the market, but eventually Jelénna broke the silence. “I wish to ask you something Adrias, and I want you to be honest with me.”
Adrias looked at her with a skeptical expression. “Am I in trouble?”
Jelénna smiled. “No dear. I just want to ask you about last night.”
“Last night?”
“Yes. I went into your room to check on you during the night, and I heard you talk in your sleep. Were you having a bad dream?”
“No.”
“Are you sure?”
“I guess.”
“What do you mean, ‘I guess’?”
“Well, the truth is I don’t remember ever having a dream.”
Jelénna blinked in surprise. “You’ve never had a dream? Do you know what they are?”
“Sure, we learned about them in school, and I’ve heard father talking about them a few times. But I’ve never had one.”
“I’m sure you dream, dear. Perhaps you just don’t remember them.”
Adrias shook his head. “No, I’m fairly sure I’ve never had one.”
Jelénna thought it unlikely that her son had never had a dream, but decided to let the matter drop. Her concern was more with the single word he had uttered in his sleep, than whether or not he remembered his dreams. But unlike the chilling smile he had on his face the previous night, he now appeared to be in good spirits. Jelénna sighed; chances were she was reading more into the experience than she should. It would be best if she simply forgot about the whole incident, and instead concentrated on enjoying her day out with her son.
Jelénna took a deep breath, and forced her thoughts to the present. The sun was out, and the weather was turning out to be fairly temperate for this time of year. They arrived at the market, which was unusually busy due to the pleasantness of the day. It seemed the entire city was out and about, shopping and enjoying the mild weather.
They stopped and ate, having missed breakfast. Afterwards, they strolled along without having a particular destination, until Adrias found a stand selling toy wooden swords and shields.
Not bothering to contain his excitement, he announced, “Oh mother, this is wha
t I want!”
“A wooden sword? Are you certain Adrias? I was thinking of something a bit more…educational.”
“No, I want this. I’m sure!” Adrias replied, hefting one of the wooden swords and taking an experimental swing.
Jelénna was about to argue, but again thought about her desire to have a pleasant day out with her son. It also occurred to her that receiving the toy sword would perhaps fulfill some of his obsession with having a ‘grand adventure’ that he had been fixated on, ever since his father left with the king. With a sigh, she paid the man behind the counter for the wooden weapon.
“I want a shield too!”
“Now Adrias, I already paid for the sword. One thing at a time.”
“Awww,” Adrias whined, but quickly forgot his complaint when he spotted an orange striped cat and went chasing off after the animal, brandishing his new weapon.
“Adrias!” Jelénna called out, starting after her son. He ignored her cries as he ran after the feline. Nearing the animal, he took a swipe at it with his sword. The cat hissed and darted away under a cart laden with red apples.
Adrias ran around the back of the cart with Jelénna close behind him, yelling for him to stop. He dashed onto a side street and disappeared around a corner. Jelénna ran after him with a curse.
She spotted him darting into an alley still swinging his wooden sword, and followed. She did not bother yelling anymore, but saved her breath. She was already getting a bit winded. Pleasant day or not, she was going to have a word with her son when she caught up with him, that much was certain.
Jelénna came around the corner, and spotted Adrias hiding behind a large stack of barrels, peering down another alley. She was about to launch into a loud and wordy reprimand, when he turned and motioned for her to be quiet. She was so surprised by the gesture, and by how grownup he looked doing it, that she remained silent, and quietly approached his hiding place.
Reaching the barrels, she suddenly heard the voices of several men from the alley beyond. She peered through a space between the barrels, and saw that there were indeed several men gathered in the alley, standing in a rough circle, conversing with each other. She was about to drag her son back to the palace for a scolding, but something about the furtive way that the men were clustered together whispering caught her attention, and she remained quiet and watched for a moment. Perhaps, she thought with a wry smile, all those years of living with a man who was an investigator for a living had rubbed off on her.
The men were not that distant, but because they were whispering, it was difficult to make out what they were saying. Occasionally she managed to catch individual words, but she was not able to hear much of what was being said. Yet, she heard something about Brodan––the former regent and best friend of her husband, who now rotted in the dungeon for the crimes of murder and treason––and then the word ‘freedom’. Hearing those two terms in the same sentence definitely peaked her interest.
There was not much else she was able to make out from their whispered conversation, until she distinctly heard the word ‘rebellion’. Her heart leapt into her throat. She and her son had unwittingly stumbled upon a meeting of men who were plotting some kind of revolution. Put in context with what she had heard, it seemed that their goal was to break into the palace dungeon somehow, and free the former regent, Brodan.
Nearly in a panic, Jelénna realized they needed to leave as soon as possible, and that she needed to warn Tiberius. While her conclusion was somewhat speculative, considering she had only overheard a few words, she had a gut feeling that her interpretation was correct. If so, they had quite a bit more to worry about, than she had thought. If only Aldrick and the king had returned!
Jelénna was about to back away quietly from the mouth of the alley, when Adrias jumped out from behind the barrels and announced in a loud voice, “Surrender traitors!” He waved his sword at the group of men, who spun around to confront the source of the voice.
Jelénna gasped in spite of herself, and stepping over, grabbed onto her son.
“What are you doing there?” One of the men demanded in a rough voice.
“N-nothing, gentlemen,” Jelénna stammered. “We were just passing by. My son is merely playing at being a city guard. We’ll be on our way now. Good day.”
Grabbing onto his arm roughly, she ignored his protestations and dragged Adrias back in the direction they had come. She feared to look back, afraid of what she would see. The moment they were around the corner, she ran as fast as she could, dragging her son along behind her.
“Stop them!” one of the men shouted, which sent a wave of terror down her spine. Pulling Adrias around another corner, Jelénna ran blindly down a long alley between houses. They were forced to take a sharp left, only to discover they had reached a dead-end.
Panic nearly overcame her. The group of rebels could not miss where they had gone. Even now, Jelénna could hear the pounding of their approaching footsteps. She gasped for air, looking around desperately for an escape, but there was none.
Jelénna was about to give up and prepare to fight, when she spotted a box sitting next to a barrel in the corner of the alley. Hefting the box onto the round barrel, she lifted her skirt and climbed onto the makeshift ladder, reaching for the roof of the nearby building.
“Come along Adrias,” she whispered down to her son. “We must climb up here and hide.”
“I can fight them,” Adrias declared, waving his wooden sword at the mouth of the alley. “They deserve to die!”
“Now!”
“Awww,” Adrias sulked, but he followed her up onto the box, and then pulled himself up onto the roof.
“You must be careful up here,” Jelénna whispered. “Stay on the beam.”
Adrias nodded, but said nothing as he concentrated on following her across the roof of the one-story residence.
“Where did they go?” drifted up from below, as the pounding footsteps arrived at the alley.
A moment of scuffling followed, after which they heard, “Up there!”
Jelénna felt her heart clench in panic as a man clambered up the barrel and onto the roof. They hurried across the beam as the first pursuer started across the roof, and a second man ascended the barrel.
“Stop,” the first man cried out in triumph as the second reached the roof. They both continued to follow as Jelénna pulled her son behind her in desperation. She struggled to control her fear and keep breathing. A few more steps, and they reached the far side of the building, with the men gaining.
Again, she felt uncontrollable terror gripping her, when a loud crash resounded behind them. She risked a glance backward and saw a gaping hole where their pursuers had fallen through the thatch roof of the residence. Cries and shouts echoed from inside the building below.
Turning back to the edge of the house, she spotted a pile of hay near the corner of the building. “Follow me,” she said, making her way to the point of the roof closest to the hay.
For once, Adrias did not complain, but followed her to the edge of the roof.
“I’m going to jump into the hay,” she whispered. “You’ll have to follow once I’m down.”
Adrias peered over the edge of the roof and nodded, the ghost of a smile on his face.
Jelénna lined up her jump, and then closed her eyes. There was a renewed commotion from inside the house as she held her breath, and leapt.
The fall was quick, and she landed safely in the hay. Climbing out of the mound, she called up for Adrias to jump. He grinned, and leapt off the roof and into the hay pile.
He climbed out of the stack with a huge smile on his face. “Can we do that again?”
“NO!” Jelénna growled, and grabbed his arm. They ran down the street as the door of the house behind them slammed open.
They soon found themselves back in the market, but Jelénna did not stop running until they were back in the palace, and in their room. Gasping for air, she slammed the door behind her. With her heart pounding in her chest, sh
e slowly wiped the sweat from her brow, stunned over what had just transpired. Not since the horrible incident on the road to the Tournament, had she been so scared. She put a hand on her chest, willing her heart to stop racing.
Adrias recovered first, and gave her a big grin. “That was a grand adventure, mother. I can’t wait to tell father about it!”
Jelénna could only shake her head in disbelief. She would never understand men.
Chapter 2
The Key of Creation: Book 03 - The Temple of Kian Page 1