by Darren Lewis
Table of Contents
Foreword
Book I: Vengeance of Shadows
Prologue
Beginnings
The Old Lady
The girl's story
Ellie's story
Confrontation
Aftermath
Epilogue
Book II: The Oncoming Storm
Prologue
Mr. Sloan
Rox
Flare
Venatrix Noctis
Ellie
The woods
The Institute
Epilogue
Book III: Sacrifice of Angels
Foreword
Important Dates
Prologue
Aftershocks
Plume
Rox
Storm
Rox
A New World
32,000 B.C.E.
Long life
Grim reality
Alive
The boy
The King of Hearts
Attacked
Friends and enemies
Mishaps
Home
Thomas
Venatrix Redux
Isabelle
Whispers
Home?
A radical plan
Ellie Redux
The White Room
Plans and decisions
Goodbyes
The Institute
Epilogue
Book IV: The Dragon's Tomb
Foreword
Zheng
Xianyang
Mount Penglai
Ellie
Ellie and Malachite
Sloan
Eleanor and the Orb
Flare
Ellie and Malachite
Eleanor and Sloan
Eleanor
The First Emperor
Rox and Storm
Cassandra
Fern
The Tomb
The Institute
Lost
Plume
Revelation
Epilogue
Book V: Enemy of Darkness
Foreword
1666 London
Dreams
More Dreams
Rox
Fern
Sloan
Ellie and the Army
The East Facility
The Terracotta Army
The Institute
The East Facility
Fern
The Institute
The Holding Facility
The Eastern Facility
The Holding Facility
Ellie and the orb
Fern
End Game
Endings
Beginnings
Fate of the Fallen
The Baiulus Series Omnibus
Vengeance of Shadows
The Oncoming Storm
Sacrifice of Angels
The Dragon's Tomb
Enemy of Darkness
Darren Lewis
Copyright (C) 2014-2015 Darren Lewis
Layout Copyright (C) 2015 by Creativia
Published 2015 by Creativia
eBook design by Creativia (www.creativia.org)
Cover art by Darren Lewis
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the author's permission.
I have many heroes in the fictional world.
They've flown spaceships, fought in wars, discovered magical fantasy lands and ridden dragons.
But I have only two heroes in the real world.
So this is for my Mum and Dad.
Foreword
Hello and welcome to this special edition of The Baiulus Series.
If you’re a follower of Ellie’s adventures then you know she started her magical adventures in Ellie and the Rabbits, the first part of The Seren Trilogy. I never imagined the journey would bring me here so I thought I’d impart a small tale in how Baiulus was born (skip ahead if you want, I don’t mind).
While writing the second story of the trilogy I started to think what would happen after Ellie had finished her adventure. I deliberately planned for the ending to be open as the inkling of a sequel was forming.
As always the inspiration hit from Ellie herself. When we drove past a certain house…that shall remain anonymous, she would cry out “The witch’s house! Hide your eyes!” I should point out it was the house alone that provoked this reaction and not the inhabitants!
Ideas formed and ‘Ellie and the Witch’ was born, one part dark, one part comedy. The witch, being a nasty piece of work, would inflict certain plagues upon the village that only Ellie could see were supernatural in origin. I’d completed some work on it and then became completely and utterly jammed up. The dark humour I strove for just wasn’t working.
Being sat in front of a computer screen or empty pad is an awful feeling and Rachel, my wife, saw my struggle. She suggested a trip out to the beach and a cup of tea, very British. I don’t know why or how, but being out in the fresh air, even just sitting in the car inspired the formation of a secretive group known simply then as ‘Baiulus.’ Perhaps the seed was there and just needed releasing. Once that idea had settled the first book fell into place, well, sort of and rather than the story comprising one enemy I linked it to the conclusion of The Seren Trilogy with the Ellie who became stuck in the past somehow responsible for the book’s events.
The story at this point seemed to take a life of its own and Ellie’s universe expanded to encompass many other characters you’ll meet in the Baiulus series, I’m saying nothing more otherwise I’ll start shouting “SPOILERS!”
As for Ellie’s future adventures, they are well underway and not only that but an audio version of the trilogy is being produced and an illustrated companion piece to Ellie and the Rabbits is also underway.
Well, off you go. I hope you enjoy the book and I haven’t bored you too much.
Darren Lewis
August 2015
Book I:
Vengeance of Shadows
Prologue
Ellie drummed her fingers on the edge of the desk as she gave the blank computer screen an evil glare. Summer homework was a thing of evil, but she was determined to get it done on the first day of the holidays. To make it worse, it was supposed to be an essay of all her previous summer holidays and Ellie was in a bit of a quandary. Should she actually use the truth and get into trouble for writing what seemed to be a story?
Ellie slapped her hands onto her thighs.
Right, she thought, let's just write it anyway and get this in some kind of order, from the beginning. Ellie swiveled back to the computer screen and the blinking cursor on the empty white page. Her hands went to work.
Four years ago, I met some wonderful creatures. Talking rabbits! And not only that, they were responsible for making our world spin. They were dying out though, the human race hadn't been kind to them and now the world was spinning slower and slower each day. Quite by accident, I stumbled across them and met Rox, their leader, Cast, her father and magician and Plume…well, Plume is Rox's protector and very grumpy. I offered my help and was changed into a rabbit! What a wonderful feeling; even now I can remember how the world was so different with those senses. After a pretty scary chase with a fox, we went to the warren where Rox and Plume convinced the others to let Rox use their magic and find the source o
f their power, and yours truly was invited along. This is where it gets even weirder. We went back in time to the birth of the world! There we met the two beings that made it spin in the first place, who Rox called The White and the Grey. After a scary few moments, they seeded the planet with the stuff to make Rox and her rabbits continue the task of keeping the world alive. Then we had to jump forward many times to gather these special rabbits and bring them to our time. Rox was exhausted, and I honestly believed she was dead. But we were successful and the world lives on, and Rox, well, she was fine.
Ellie leaned back and smiled at the scary but lovely memory of Rox opening her eyes as Ellie stroked her fur. The next memories were there but hazy, as they weren't, by all accounts, hers. Ellie blew out a breath as she prepared to type.
The old house next door harboured an amazing secret. A dragon! A young dragon named Cole. My cat introduced us in her own way and I learned all about how dragons came to be, how dragons chose their riders, Cole's mother and father and the war that was fought between jealous men and dragonkind. Cole was so sad and alone, and he asked me to be his rider! Me! Of course I said yes! Oh, the thrill of it. You cannot imagine the feeling of being bonded to a creature like this, the experience, the flying, breathing fire! Then it went wrong. We tried to find Cole's father but only succeeded in discovering dragons intent upon revenge on mankind. They took us prisoner, but fortunately for Cole and I, Rox came to the rescue and we got away. The dragons came anyway, and began destroying everything. Cole's father actually came to us and I discovered a way to make it all stop. Leave this time. Leave my family and friends behind. Travel back in time and visit the dragons, convince them to leave before they even met humans. I remember sitting astride Cole, thinking about Mum, Dad and Jack but knowing this was something I had to do. The memory ends in a flash of orange light. The fact that we're all here still means it worked, I guess. But what happened to me, or should I say the other Ellie? Are there two of us? Me and a version of me in the past?
And the last few years we've been camping. Not much fun really.
Ellie leaned back from the screen and massaged her fingers. A sadness always passed through her when her mind drifted to that other Ellie, and the sacrifice she'd made. “I just hope she had a good life.” Ellie whispered. Ellie grabbed the mouse and clicked ‘Save’ on the computer. Hopefully this summer will be less eventful, she thought.
Beginnings
Isabelle was sitting upon the bank of a small river fishing for dinner when a young woman from the village nearby, Clara, came slowly into view. From this distance she appeared to be struggling under some enormous burden so Isabelle quickly reached out with her mind as her mother had taught her to do.
Hard to breathe! Pain, cramp! Oh! This baby isn't going to wait much longer!
Isabelle momentarily gasped with the pain Clara was experiencing, and she reeled her mind back in. She jumped up and ran along the river bank to Clara, sending a message as she did.
Mother! We have a visitor. It's Clara, the baby is coming!
Isabelle's mother, back at their small home a short distance away, must have detected Isabelle's excitement and slight panic.
Calmly child. Bring her home and smile! You can never offer a woman in labour enough comfort.
Isabelle nodded and forced a grin onto her face as she reached the pregnant woman. Clara reached out an arm and placed it around the girl's shoulders.
“Thank you.” Clara gasped. “But let's be quick.” Isabelle nodded in firm agreement, wrapped an arm about Clara's waist and they both set off for home.
*
Isabelle winced in sympathy as she listened to Clara's cries of pain, as she paced back and forth in front of her home. Normally her mother had her holding the hands of the women who needed their help, talking to them and helping them through the pain. But today she had taken one look at Clara and ordered Isabelle out. Isabelle had argued of course that she had done this before and listening to hours of painful screams and feeling useless couldn't be worse than attending another birth. Her mother had simply pointed at the door and out Isabelle had gone.
Normally on these occasions, the men-folk of the village related to the woman giving birth would arrive a little while later. If the baby had yet to be born, Isabelle would quickly move them off a ways as she had found men to be very stupid when it came to dealing with babies being born. They would talk about nonsense and Isabelle would excuse herself very quickly. She had asked previously of her mother why not bring the father in to watch but her mother had just laughed and said they already had one baby to deal with and they didn't need another. Isabelle was shaken from her thoughts by a scream so full of pain and anguish she actually doubled over and retched.
“Mother!” She croaked. There was silence and Isabelle cast her mind inside the house. Her mother was kneeling at the side of the bed, holding a small bundle delicately to her chest. She was weeping quietly.
“Oh no.” Isabelle whispered and she leaned against the wall for support, eyes closed in sorrow. The door opened and she looked round into the tear-filled eyes of her beautiful mother. In her arms she still held the small bundle. Isabelle looked into the folds of cloth, anxious but determined to see the face of the child the world did not want. She moved closer still, within inches of the small baby, and she jumped back with a cry as the baby began to wail. Isabelle sobbed a laugh and smiled broadly, but her mother's expression did not change.
“What's wrong?” Isabelle asked. Her mother shook her head.
“Clara, she didn't survive to see her daughter.”
Isabelle placed a hand against her chest, over her heart and whispered a few words.
“Be at peace.”
Isabelle's mother reached out with her free hand and held Isabelle's chin.
“We need to leave now. Her family will be here soon.”
Isabelle frowned.
“But why? Clara's husband has a daughter.”
“I know. But Clara's husband wanted a boy and with her death while she was here, I will be blamed for that.”
“But that's stupid!” Isabelle protested. “You've helped them all for years!”
“Maybe so. But everyone likes to point a finger when things go wrong. So we leave, take the child and leave.” She paused to look over her shoulder at the still form of Clara. “Let's get this little one to say goodbye to her mother and be on our way.”
Isabelle lifted a hand and stroked the baby's head while she thought about losing her home and having to leave. The infant looked straight at Isabelle with large, blue, innocent eyes.
“Hello. I'm Isabelle.” She whispered. “Where shall we go?”
*
Isabelle eased herself to the ground and leaned back against a tree trunk. She sighed happily as the weight came off her feet. After a hasty emotional departure from their home, they had walked for days. Fortunately the weather was quite pleasant, and the baby seemed satisfied with the milk from the nanny goat they had bought from a farmer on their travels. Although Isabelle complained bitterly as they walked about the injustice that had befallen them, her mother refused to agree and had simply told her daughter.
“I will not give in to despair, young lady. There's injustice, ignorance and plain wickedness many times over in this world, but they will never be outweighed by the good.” Her mother had then sighed. “It's just that sometimes, you really have to search for it.”
So on they travelled and Isabelle complained less and less, following her mother's example of not giving in and allowing hope to hold her head higher each day on the road.
“Isabelle. Stay here with the baby, I'll be back in a few minutes.” Isabelle took the baby girl from her mother and watched her walk off quietly into the woods. Whenever they stopped to set up camp, Isabelle's mother would take a good while casting her thoughts about the land behind them to see if any people from the village had attempted to follow them. Isabelle cuddled the baby close to her chest.
“Hello, Faye. Are you hungry
?” The baby had been named after Isabelle's grandmother, and sometimes Isabelle got the feeling the stares she was subjected to by this child could come from an older person. Faye blinked sleepily, blew a bubble and dozed off. Isabelle smiled and closed her eyes. She could hear the gentle breeze pushing through the leaves and branches of the woods around her, and the sound of birds chattering in an argumentative fashion as they flitted from tree to tree. The goat her mother had tied up a short distance away bleated in a worried tone, as goats often do, and Isabelle heard a deep rumbling breath from behind her! Her eyes shot open; she had never heard anything like that before! She sat completely still and held her breath, hoping that Faye would stay sleeping. Isabelle strained her ears and was aware the rumbling was coming nearer. She tried to cast her mind into the woods to discover what it was or call for her mother, but she was too anxious. Isabelle rose slowly to save from being found and waking Faye. The deep rumbling was louder now and she guessed it was very close to her tree.
Maybe it's a bear, she thought. She hugged Faye tighter, clenched her jaw and closed her eyes. Isabelle felt a warm tickle on the back of her neck and she flinched. It came again, this time accompanied by the rumble. It was breathing on her! She panicked, screamed and dashed away from the tree, the aches and pains in her feet and legs forgotten. Glancing back she saw a flash of huge, red wings. She turned forward again just in time to avoid running into a large tree, and swerved around its base straight into the arms of a stranger.
“Hey, hey, calm down. You're fine!” The stranger told her.
“No, no! You don't understand, there's a monster behind me!”
The stranger held Isabelle's shoulders and knelt down in front of her. Isabelle looked into the brown eyes of a young beautiful woman with long brown hair caught in leather thongs, wearing clothes she had never seen the like of.
“It's okay. He's my friend!”
Isabelle's mother came rushing from behind. When she caught up to them she laid her hands on Isabelle's cheeks.
“I'm so sorry. I didn't mean for you to be scared like that.” She took a breath. “This is an old friend.” She nodded towards the young woman. “And she can help us.”