by L. M. Roth
Chronicles of Logos
Quest For the Kingdom Parts IV, V, VI, and VII
by L. M. Roth
Text Copyright © 2014 L. M. Roth
All Rights Reserved
Characters:
Alexandros – the champion of mankind whose heroism saves many from destruction
Antonius Hadrianus – the son of Decimus Hadrianus, an idealistic and gentle soul who inadvertently brings about a renewing of hostilities between old enemies
Brand Adalbart – the youngest son of Dag Adalbart, a naïve dreamer who is yet untested by life
Brenus – the son of Judoc, a fiery mischief maker prone to causing trouble
Brit – the mother of Cort, a stoic yet loving woman whose life is filled with pain
Cort Adalbart – a lively and adventurous spirit whose devotion to his adopted family hinders him in the pursuit of his own destiny
Dag Adalbart – a brave and impassive man who is not afraid to stand in the face of evil although at times he stands alone
Decimus Hadrianus – a dashing bully with a dark secret that threatens to destroy his cherished family life
Deirdre – a princess of Darian whose lust for a stranger brings tragedy on her people
Dirk Adalbart – the eldest son of Dag Adalbart, a rash and daring young man who is left to keep his embattled family together during its darkest hour
Dominio - the all-powerful who is sovereign above all
Drusilla Octavius – the social climbing mother of Tullia Maximus whose ambitions bring trouble on her family
Enora – the sly and vicious sister of Niamh who is determined to turn Eirinia back to the old gods and old ways
Fanchon – the flighty and pleasure-loving former lover of Dag Adalbart
Felicia Maximus – the rebellious daughter of Marcus Maximus who will let nothing and no one stop her from developing her gift of prophecy at the expense of her mother’s plans for her future
Felix Lucius – the witty, intelligent son of Justus and Silvia Lucius
Iacomus Cornelius – a smooth-talking, self-serving stranger who ruthlessly grasps power in Valerium
Judoc Adalbart – the outspoken and feisty wife of Dag who is rapidly losing control of her children
Justus Lucius – a man of influence in Valerium, brought low by treachery and intrigue
Kyrene Nicandros – a powerful seer who runs a school for prophecy and trains young warriors for battle
Laig – a taciturn man of Eirinia, under the control of his wife
Lucius Maximus – the worldly, playboy son of Marcus Maximus who lives for the moment yet harbors a secret fear
Maelys Adalbart – the courageous eldest daughter of Dag and Judoc who defies those who work evil against others
Marcus Maximus – a proud and noble man of Valerium. He is the leader of the Alexandrians, and moves in the gift of miracles, yet continually manages to offend those in power, bringing calamity on his family.
Melisande de Barberere - a mysterious and seductive woman with a talent for stirring up strife
Niamh - wife of Laig and sister of Enora, a defiant woman who forces the Eirini people to choose between their gods
Nolwenn Adalbart - youngest daughter of Dag and Judoc, a gentle girl, fiercely loyal to a fault, who discovers that she has a gift of sorcery
Paulina Hadrianus – the timid wife of Decimus Hadrianus who dares not speak of the dark secrets of her life with Decimus
Silvia Lucius – the wise and loving wife of Justus Lucius, still grieving over a family tragedy
Siv – a young woman of Trekur Lende whose devotion to her true love is indestructible
Tullia Maximus – the patrician wife of Marcus Maximus who possesses a gift of healing and a passionate loyalty to her husband
Tyr – a stranger who corrupted the people of Darian through his sly trickery
Urbanus – the warm and benevolent Emperor of Valerium, forced to choose between his imperial duty and his devotion to old friends
Ursula Fabius – a former lover of Decimus Hadrianus, a vindictive woman with an old score to settle
Yuna – sly and crafty old wise woman whose sense of humor is as great as her wisdom and ability to heal
Deities and Idols:
Leon – the evil head of the Astra, bent on the destruction of mankind
Aelia – the goddess of the winds
Ainah – a mother goddess of Eirinia
Astra – the fallen beings who joined Leon in his great rebellion. They can take any form or no form at all in their determination to stop those who oppose them.
Cadel – the warrior god of Erinia
Eoghan – the sun god of Eirinia
Floris – a goddess of flowers in the land named for her
Ingheane – a maiden goddess of Eirinia
Pandra - the Crone goddess of the Eirini who was totally evil and met unlucky travelers at the crossroads
Tuadan - the rulers of the wild places. The Eirini were warned to stay to the path in the woods for fear of incurring their wrath if they entered their domain.
Places:
Annick – a fishing village in Eirinia
Darian – a small island nation famed for healing, diminished from its former glory
Eirinia – a wild rural country of legendary beauty, magical enchantments, and savage inhabitants
Florindia – a country that worshiped the goddess Floris and attributed power to flowers
Golida – a wealthy resort land where the aristocrats went to be pampered
Grete’s Land – formerly known as Jytte’s Land; a land set apart from the rest of the world
Guadereaux – the land of pleasure where the inhabitants lived a life of frivolity
Isles of Solone – a land renowned for its pursuit of knowledge and enlightenment
Leith – a farming village of Eirinia
Lucerna – the mysterious Land of Eternal Bliss to where many who ventured never returned
Lycenium – the city where East meets West. The jewel of the Valeriun Empire, it was the crossroads of culture, commerce, wisdom and wealth.
Moldiva – a mountainous country with Lycenium its capital
Potentus – the capital city of Valerium where the inhabitants vied for power and advancement
Trekur Lende – a wild northern country also known as the Land of the Long Day
Valerium – an empire of invincible military power
Quest For the Kingdom Part IV A Stranger Among Us
“Marcus knew he should stay out of their argument, but he saw the look of hurt in Felicia’s eyes when Tullia silenced her.
“What do you want to do with your life, Felicia? Is there something in particular?” he asked in a voice bathed in tenderness as his wife shot him a reproachful look.
“Oh, yes, Father, there is!” Felicia cried as the light sprang back into her eyes at her father’s concern. “I long to travel to Solone to be mentored by Aunt Kyrene! I have heard so much of her school there, and how she trains those who are gifted with prophecy. For I have that gift also!”
Marcus did not greatly care for the look his wife shot him across the table, but he considered that the damage was now done and too late to rectify. The meal proceeded in silence as each avoided looking at the other, preferring their own thoughts to the potentially explosive conversation of the others.
At last, Felicia risked one more chance to state her case to her parents. She took a
deep breath as if for courage; then let her words rush out as if in fear that the flow would be stemmed by another lift of her mother’s hand.
“I must tell you that I had a dream, just last night, one that I feel may be very important,” she ventured.
Tullia did not quench the torrent of words, but gave her daughter a look of motherly concern.
She does try to understand Felicia, Marcus thought. She is merely trying to teach Felicia as she herself was taught. What could be more natural than that?
Except that for Felicia, her mother may as well have been trying to teach her a foreign language.
“Yes?” Tullia inclined her head. “Proceed, child.”
Felicia exhaled slowly and searched for words.
“In the dream, I saw a man who lay as one dead. Then he rose up from his bed, and with him rose fire and destruction, and screams filled the night as people fled from before him. I saw buildings cast to the ground and those who saw him fled from his coming.”
Felicia paused and shuddered. Marcus waited patiently for her to go on. It was evident that the dream had affected her deeply.
“And then, I heard these words in my head: “‘Beware of the one who rises from the dead, he will bring destruction in the days ahead. The smoke of flames burning shall block out the sun. One kingdom shall rise as another is done.’ ”
Felicia lowered her eyes and did not look at either of her parents. But the eyes of Tullia widened and she paled. As she caught the eyes of Marcus she mouthed to him:
“Iacomus.”
“Beware of the one who rises from the dead, he will bring destruction in the days ahead. The smoke of flames burning shall block out the sun. One kingdom shall rise as another is done.”
Thus was the prophecy given by Felicia, the young daughter of Marcus Maximus. In the Empire of Valerium, a stranger has come among the Alexandrians, a stranger who is supposed to be dead. As he walks among them and quickly gains power over them, Marcus feels a growing sense of dread, one that will soon prove to be justified. As he and his wife share new adventures in struggling to cope with the rebellious choices of their teenaged children, an old enmity returns to visit them. And persecution comes upon the Alexandrians when their old friend Emperor Urbanus discovers that they pledge an allegiance to another kingdom than Valerium…
In the land of Eirinia, a mysterious young woman spreads discord between closely knit brothers, and threatens to tear a family apart. Rumblings of discontent are heard in the land from a people who were thought to be subdued. And the rise of an ancient evil will test Dag Adalbart and change the lives of his family forever.
Quest For the Kingdom Part V Rise of the Time of Evil
“I mean this: no one has ever been found with an expression like was found on his face, with no mark on them, no explanation for what took the life of them. For though some have left the path and not returned, none have been found off the path dead, and with no reason for their demise.”
“The Tuadan: he must have encountered the Tuadan. For it is clear that something frightened him to death, and that mound had once been one of the sites of their rituals.”
“The Tuadan were cast out of their places long ago,” Dag reminded Laig.
“Yes, I know: I said the same to myself when I found his body. But the smell of evil was in that place, an evil I remembered as a boy. For I know; I had an encounter myself once, in that very spot.”
“I was seventeen, and walking in the woods one May evening. It had been a fine day and the air was full of birdsong. As I wandered along I disregarded the warnings to stay to the path. I had been told many times not to stray from it, but the grass was so green and I took off my shoes to feel it between my toes. I recall laughing for pure joy and spinning around.
“I suddenly became aware that the birds had stopped singing. Just like that; one minute singing their songs, the next complete silence. I had an eerie feeling come over me, and realized there was no sound of anything else in the spot. Do you know how many sounds are to be heard in the woods, Dag? There was nothing, nothing I tell you!
“And then, I heard it. A footstep. And another. Right behind me. I turned and looked. There was no one there. But I saw something that nearly frightened the life out of me. The grass, Dag. The grass suddenly fell beneath an unseen step; the same step that was following me.
“I did not wait to see who was there but ran as fast as I could back to the path. For once I was on the path I would be safe; that is what I had always been told, and to the path I flew. I tore out of that place as fast as I could, never looking behind me to see what followed, all the way until I was safely out of the woods.
“And he was found in that very spot. And if you were to ask me, it was leaving the path this time that killed him.
“Because in my heart, I know he had an encounter with the Tuadan, and whatever he saw scared the life right out of him.”
“Do you remember what charge we laid on the Eirini? We told them to keep sacred trust with Dominio, for if they did not but fell back into their old ways, the Astra would return. Someone must have turned back to their idols, and that is why the Astra are back!”
In a desperate race against time a woman and her son pursue an enemy through strange and exotic lands, seeking the recovery of a treasure beyond price, taken for a motive known only to the thief who stole it. As they encounter obstructions and hidden perils, they fear that every moment lost ensures its loss forever.
Marcus Maximus searches for his runaway daughter, only to be met with one calamity after another as evil rises around him. And the greatest blow lies in wait for him on his return home.
The Valeriun Empire is in an hour of darkness, as momentous events accelerate the ascent of violent men to ultimate power.
In Eirinia a tragedy as mysterious as it is sudden has struck a family. An undesirable union has unforeseen consequences for the Adalbarts, bringing conflict and danger into their close-knit clan. And the rulers of the wild places are once more seeking dominion over their former domain.
As Marcus and his family and their friends soon learn, the price of serving Dominio will be at a greater cost than ever before in the Rise of the Time of Evil.
Quest For the Kingdom Part VI The Sorceress and the Seer
“I have a gift for you.”
She stood up abruptly and moved to the back room of the hut. Nolwenn wondered what the gift might be, but did not have to wait very long to find out. Melisande returned to her chair and held out a pendant to her sister-in-law.
“Take this,” she said. “I have had it made especially for you.”
Nolwenn beheld a silver chain and from it dangled a small amulet of some dark clear stone, capped with a silver link that connected it to the chain. The stone itself was unadorned and hung freely from the chain.
“Oh, how lovely,” Nolwenn breathed.
She stretched her hand out to take it, but Melisande drew it back quickly and smiled.
“Allow me to explain first, Nolwenn. The amulet is very powerful. When you have need, just hold it in your hand and the stone will clear. When it does, it shall show you the future, and the answer to any question you put to it.
“See? Like this?”
Melisande put Nolwenn’s hand on the amulet. The girl cradled it in her grasp, and decided to ask it a question.
“Where is my brother, Cort?”
As she stared into it, the cloudy depths cleared and Nolwenn saw a picture forming. She saw a ship, and on the deck of the ship she saw her brother and his wife Siv. She gasped excitedly and showed the picture to Melisande.
Melisande also gasped but not with delight. Her lips tightened suddenly and she clutched the pendant so hard that she cried out in pain. When she opened her hand, Nolwenn saw the deep impression the stone had left in her palm. Melisande quickly recovered herself and smiled reassuringly at the young girl.
“Take it, Nolwenn. But let us keep it as our little secret, shall we? I am afraid that if Maelys knew of its existenc
e it would only make her jealous at the favor I have shown you. And you know what her temper can be like, don’t you? The last thing I would desire would be for her to harm you in any way, as she did the time she hurt your arm.”
“Know this: there are those who can see ahead, just as you do also, they see the future. Yet they use it to gain power over those who seek them out so they may control them, and not in love to guide and warn as the servants of Dominio use it. They are mystics who garble strange gibberish that they pass off as knowledge, diviners who call on evil spirits that they may see what lies ahead.”
The Valeriun Empire has fallen into the hands of a violent man who seeks power above all else, and declares himself divine. The persecution of the Alexandrians intensifies, spreading fear throughout the land.
Marcus Maximus mourns the loss of his greatest treasure, but receives enlightening information regarding its theft.
Dag Adalbart suffers for the cause of the Kingdom, and faces an uncertain fate.
Their teenaged children form an alliance to stand up to the wicked Iacomus, boldly going to the aid of their fellow Alexandrians.
In Eirinia, a web of wickedness is being spun around the villagers, with the Adalbart family the selected prey. Around them, the Tuadan increase in power, making their presence known as terror mounts through the countryside.
And it is up to the seer Kyrene to piece together the puzzle that is Melisande, and to break her hold over those under her spell before it is too late.
Quest For the Kingdom Part VII A New Kingdom Rises
“Kyrene was left behind to stand guard in Leith. She deemed that both Dirk and Maelys were far too young to stand up to the evil that now simmered beneath the surface in general, and she did not like the feeling of an unnamed threat that seemed to stalk the Adalbart family in particular.
And that was when she started training Dirk, Maelys, and Lucius how to be spiritual warriors. She omitted Nolwenn, sensing a duplicity as well as rebellion in the young girl. As loyalty was an inviolable requirement in any military troop, she could not afford to permit the flighty girl access to any of their confidential information.