The Last Larnaeradee
Page 1
Table of Contents
Title Page
Map
Locations and pronunciation guide
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty One
Chapter Twenty Two
Chapter Twenty Three
Chapter Twenty Four
Chapter Twenty Five
Chapter Twenty Six
Chapter Twenty Seven
Chapter Twenty Eight
Chapter Twenty Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty One
Chapter Thirty Two
Chapter Thirty Three
Chapter Thirty Four
Chapter Thirty Five
Chapter Thirty Six
Chapter Thirty Seven
Chapter Thirty Eight
Chapter Thirty Nine
Chapter Forty
Chapter Forty One
Chapter Forty Two
Chapter Forty Three
Chapter Forty Four
Chapter Forty Five
Chapter Forty Six
Chapter Forty Seven
Chapter Forty Eight
Chapter Forty Nine
Chapter Fifty
Chapter Fifty One
Chapter Fifty Two
Chapter Fifty Three
Chapter Fifty Four
Chapter Fifty Five
Chapter Fifty Six
Chapter Fifty Seven
Chapter Fifty Eight
Chapter Fifty Nine
Chapter Sixty
Chapter Sixty One
Chapter Sixty Two
Chapter Sixty Three
Chapter Sixty Four
Chapter Sixty Five
Chapter Sixty Six
Chapter Sixty Seven
Chapter Sixty Eight
Chapter Sixty Nine
Chapter Seventy
Chapter Seventy One
Chapter Seventy Two
Chapter Seventy Three
Chapter Seventy Four
Chapter Seventy Five
Chapter Seventy Six
Chapter Seventy Seven
Chapter Seventy Eight
Chapter Seventy Nine
Chapter Eighty
Chapter Eighty One
Chapter Eighty Two
Chapter Eighty Three
Chapter Eighty Four
Chapter Eighty Five
Historical Tales
Other books in the series
Acknowledgements
About the author
The Last Larnaeradee
Book One
To those who have listened, advised, supported and loved me – you have made me strong enough to build a new world.
You have helped to make the real world a place of magic.
Thank you.
Shelley Cass
Copyright © 2019 Shelley Cass
All rights reserved.
Locations and pronunciation guide:
Sylthanryn: (Sil-than-rin). The Great Forest. Where the Lady, or the Mother of Nature, and the Elves and Nymphs live.
Awyalkna: (A for apple-why-elk-nah). A mortal Kingdom under the reign of King Glaidin (G-laid-in) and Queen Aglaia (Ag-lay-ah). The Awyalknian Palace is also known as the ‘Awyalknian Jewel’, and is protected by the internal Gwentorock (G-when-toe-rock) and external Gwynrock (G-win-rock) walls. The lands beyond the City are green and flourishing, with many self-contained villages.
Bwintam (B-win-tam) village was a key provider of Awyalkna’s fresh produce, before it was razed by Krall. Gangroah (Gang-row-ah) and Giltrup (Guilt-rup) are examples of smaller villages, while Wanru (W-an-roo, an isolated, hilly place) and Wrilapek (W-rill-ah-peck, a horse rearing place) are larger and more greatly populated.
Krall: (Crawl). A mortal Kingdom ruled by the immortal Sorcerer Darziates (D-are-zee-eights), who is the heir of the first Sorcerer to have lived; Deimos (Day-moss). Darziates is assisted by the psychotic Warlord Angra Mainyu (An-gra Main-you) and the Witch Agrona (Ag-groan-ah), and is responsible for the genocide of all of the Larnaeradee Fairies (La-nair-ah-dee), the Unicorns and Sprites.
Nature dies around Darziates’ unnatural power, so he forces his magic into Krall’s earth so that a type of growth and food is produced for his people. However this has corrupted Krall’s seasons, which involve intense heat or extreme cold. Sorcery has reduced the land to barren plains of wastelands and desert.
Jenra: (Jen-rah). A Kingdom circled by, and built into the mountains by the sea. The mountain Kingdom is isolated from the rest of the world, and was once known as Karanoyar (Karen-oi-ah), the original home of the Unicorns. It has lush valleys, but the peaks of the mountains are infested with Griffin eyries, and King Durna’s (Der-nah) brother – Warlord Aeron (Air-on) must work tirelessly to contain the infestation.
Lixrax: (Lix-r-axe). A desert nation, with people who have been tempered by the harsh environment. They are skilled survivors, but are a united family because of their surrounds. Their Emperor, Razek (Rah-zeck) regards all of the tribes and Takal residents of Lixrax as his children.
The Other Realm: a separate plain of malicious spirit beings. When King Deimos wanted to unite the world under one kingship, he used a piece of his soul to bargain with the demons of the Other Realm, who gave him powers to help him in his Quest.
He became so powerful that the Larnaeradee Sylranaeryn (Sil-ran-air-in) and her Unicorn Kinrilowyn (Kin-ril-owen) had to deplete their combined magic to defeat him as he faced the Army for the World.
Though he was overthrown by the first Army for the World, he made the first of the experimental Evexus beasts. The Evexus (E-vex-us) are bestial creatures possessed by the spirits of the Other Realm.
Margate Isle: home of the Giants.
Eirian Isle: home of the Dargons (D-are-gone-s) and the Dwarves and Gnomes. A cliffy place of soaring heights and deep, tunneling caves, perfect for creatures of flight as well as rock loving peoples.
Chapter One
Beginnings
Gravity had been reversed in the Great Forest for moments that had felt like hours during the terrible standoff. Her green eyes had been wide, her auburn hair had been lifted to twist about her face, her lungs had tightened, and she had been unsure if even her magic – the magic of the Mother of all Nature – would be able to push his power back.
His energy had spread outwards towards them, like a ghoul sweeping up out of its host. Ready to consume the Lady and Forest dwellers.
It had been clear that they would only survive if they could banish the Sorcerer from their refuge within the trees, but the Elves had been such passive beings for so many years. The Nymphs were also frightfully helpless, having only just tumbled into their midst, weakened after fleeing the Sorcerer for so long. And as time had paused she too had felt the Sorcerer Darziates’ poison slowly overwhelming her defences.
With no other choice the Elves had been forced to truly awaken, the Nymphs had been made to use the last of their dwindling energy, and the Lady had desperately joined her power with theirs.
Their entirely pure magic had clashed with his unnatural force, shaking the Forest to its very heart. And it had been enough to hurt the Sorcerer.
; Somehow, together, the Nymphs, Elves and Lady had driven Darziates out.
Yet it seemed that his shadow still haunted the outskirts of the Great Sylthanryn Forest, and his granite eyes scorched across her memory. His magic still bled from every blade of grass in the clearing. The air itself smelled of burning as ash rose and swirled on the hot breeze. And leaves were browning and shrivelling, recoiling from the decay that was left in his place.
She knew that despite their small victory the Forest dwellers had not really defeated him, and she was now only just managing to stand firm. She waited until the last of the Elves had tenderly carried away the few surviving Nymphs, taking them into the safety of the Forest, and then she raised a quivering hand to her heart – pressing at the white fabric over her aching chest as if she were staunching a wound.
She ached from his attack, and ached with the knowledge that a prophecy as old as time was coming true, as she had been warned would happen on her first day of life.
On that day she had woken to find that the Gods had given her two prophecies, each encased in a sphere of light.
The first prophecy had come to life almost as soon as she had. The globe had begun spinning in her hand, looking like a miniature world contained in a dazzling trinket box. Then it had opened, releasing the cautioning voices of the Gods.
We breathe life into you, so you in turn breathe our power into all things.
You will become stronger and healthier as the world does.
However, the world will weaken if its many races become separate.
A deadly threat will be born at the end of the ninth age, and will find a divided world easy to consume.
All races must be united once more to survive this threat.
If the world does not unite before the beginning of the tenth age, and the threat is able to succeed, all will be destroyed in a storm of ice and fire.
Spread the word.
You must try to live in joy and love. Create life and goodness.
Seek unity.
Guide the world to the steps to freedom.
When the first sphere had laid quiet on her palm and the second had not opened to reveal its secrets, she had turned to her task of nurturing Nature. And the threat had seemed impossible because everywhere she’d stepped throughout the empty world she had spread her energy and joy, raising life from the dust.
Each touch had coaxed new plants to burst forth from fresh soil. Empty lands had been blanketed in green grass and cuddled by rolling clouds. Animals had yawned to life out of burrows, and finally other beings had slowly joined them.
There had formed different races that were either of magical or mortal kinds and she’d felt more hopeful still as each being was filled with the breath of divine life in new ways.
Gnomes and Dwarves had rolled out of the rocks. Others were born who could fly across the skies, such as the jovial Nymphs, and colossal, majestic creatures who scattered the clouds with plumes of fire.
There were Sprites who flitted from flower to flower, dressed in petals and leaves, and there had been the Larnaeradee Fairies, as well as Giants so tall they could cross the lands with mighty steps, and swim entire oceans for fun.
Centaurs had appeared, gazing at the stars, and Unicorns had galloped across vast fields while Elves wandered through the forests. Dryads had lounged in tree boughs while water deities had spread throughout the oceans to keep Nature’s water safe.
The mortal races had also been born and the Lady had watched human-kind sweeping the lands in wonder. The first people had green eyes, filled with Nature like hers, and though their lives were short lived, they flared like burning sparks. They were driven by passion, creativity and curiosity and they raised towering, bustling civilisations where there had before been nothing.
And together each race, magical and mortal, had prospered and flourished for a long time, growing closer still when the Unicorns and Larnaeradee created a common tongue known as Aolen, to unite all of the races with speech.
Yet the Lady had at last grown worried as, while each of the races lived in friendship, they had started to develop separate lives.
The Giants, fire breathers, Dwarves and Gnomes had left the main land to dwell over the seas. The Elves had grown secluded in the Great Sylthanryn Forest and the mortals had formed divided nations of their own – the kingdoms of Awyalkna, Krall, Lixrax and Jenra.
She’d travelled far and wide to spread the words of the prophecy, however one human of the Krall kingdom – Deimos, had become so fearful that unity was unattainable that he had taken the world’s salvation upon himself.
Seeking help, Deimos had gone so far as to use a piece of his soul as a way to anchor himself to another world. A place that had not been made by the grace of the Gods, but by Demons of the Other Realm.
In return for more pieces of his soul, the creatures of this Other Realm had granted him the supernatural power to force the world into unity, filling him with their powers and spirit, and birthing the first of the Sorcerers.
Then war had torn through the lands and the Lady had grown so ill that she’d feared the threat had come true.
Refusing to be subdued, hope arose when the Larnaeradee and the Unicorns summoned all of the magical and mortal races to unite, overthrowing Deimos with their Army for the World, and with the specific sacrifice of a Fairy named Sylranaeryn and her Unicorn Kinrilowyn.
Peace had returned and the Lady had felt well again, until the world had neared the middle of the ninth age, and she had discovered Deimos’ descendant and heir. Darziates – filled with dark magic that had amplified as it had been passed down through the ages, had strengthened quickly. He had bred himself a black haired Witch for an assistant, and as the twisted pair had turned their life taking power on the races she’d brought into the world, the Lady had grown weak. For he, and his followers, would become the threat to the world.
The Larnaeradee and Unicorns were Darziates’ first targets, and as they fell, their uniting gift of the Aolen language had also disappeared. Then the Centaurs and the water Nymphs had begun to vanish, and the Sprites had sickened – huddling and shaking in their flower beds. The Dryads had grown afraid, shutting themselves into their trees, and the Lady had found herself surrounded in failing purity and growing corruption.
Finally she had herself retreated to the confines of the Elves’ Great Sylthanryn Forest so that she could protect the purity and magic there at least, and she had remained secluded with them until Darziates had just now chased the Nymphs into her bounds, where they had all battled beneath the treetops for their lives.
With a bruised and worried heart, she looked about herself at the shrivelling grass, scorched leaves and poisoned trees. But the Lady was startled by a hurtling glimmer that caught her eye. Fearing some strange new magical attack she quickly held a hand up, shielding her eyes as the sphere of light seemed to shoot towards her.
Yet instead of pain, she felt the light source – a globe – land in her palm gently, bringing with it a sense of something sublime.
As she realised what it was, the second prophecy at last opened, and the voices of her makers spoke once more.
As adversity is at its greatest, there are to be Three.
Three to stand against the threat and unite the races against the Sorcerer and his war.
Of the Three, there will be a friend to bring the members together in their Quest, and to keep the partnership between them all strong.
There will be a leader to unite the lands of men, and to usher all mortals of the world through the Sorcerer’s storm of thunder and lightning. He will be the Raiden.
And there will be the One, to summon the magical races together and to join them with the mortal races led by the Raiden. The One will end the darkness.
Thus, all races of the world will be joined against the threat.
You must guide the Three, and bring the world to the steps to freedom.
The Lady now clutched at her heart for a very different reason as the voices of t
he Gods faded. As if heavy hands were being lifted from her shoulders, the Lady, Mother of Nature, felt hope again.
For, just as Deimos’ line had survived in Darziates, at least one Fairy must have survived as well, living on to be the Summoner the world would again need. And there would be two others to join the Fairy to bring unity between all of the races.
Her green eyes danced with life as she stepped free from the marred glade. Her auburn hair flashed like a challenge as she walked through pools of light beneath a rustling canopy.
She would watch and wait. And she would help the Three to see their way on their Quest so that there could be a chance.
A chance for life.
Chapter Two
Kiana
“Ohhh Frarshk.”
There was the agony of an unbearable weight across my legs, and the smell of freshly broken earth as dirt and rocks dug into my cheek.
The fingers of one hand were twisting in cool blades of grass, and my other hand was still tightly clasping my dagger hilt.
A groan gurgled in my throat as my mind stuttered back into action, registering each of these sensations, which were common sensations in a huntress’ life.
The sweat of my adrenaline after that evening’s desperate fight had become icy, and every breath made my clothes press coldly against my skin. But I was sure I hadn’t been unconscious for too much of what little time remained of the ninth age.
A cough cleared some inhaled soil from my dried throat and I frowned, trying to move my legs from under the mass of the shaggy body pinning them down.
“Frarshk.”
It was too heavy.
Finally I opened my eyes and lifted my face from the torn dirt, blinking the dots of light away from my settling vision. I saw that the sky glittered with burning stars, the moon was high, and the empty pasture had been ripped apart.
Across the field a large tree slanted on an angle, holding onto the earth with a few thick roots. Its trunk had been cracked open, and claw marks raked deeply along the wood.
Behind that a fence had been pulled free of its stumps, a boulder had been overturned – its damp underside now looking strangely exposed, and grass and dirt had been clawed and broken everywhere.