Sometime later, she walked into a human spine hanging upside down from the roof. Other bones, including the huge skull of a full-sized jamalgana, hung from thin wires. For the first time, she noticed the rancid stench of rotting meat.
How had she not noticed it earlier? Long before she'd walked into the lair of a monster?
She'd never seen anything like this before. The wires and the intricacy of how the bones hung suggested an intelligence above that of a common beast.
Jamina's guts gurgled as they tightened into knots. Something lives here. A predator. A monster.
Then she saw the deadlights swirling below the hanging bones.
She had only heard them described, but she recognized them for what they were. A spherical ball of fel gray light, swirling with black shadows.
I walk among vengeful spirits. She could feel them watching her. Hungering for her soul. My people need me. My soul is mine.
Backing away, she swung the torch from side to side, searching for every possible avenue she could be attacked from. The deadlights remained still. Burning orbs in the dark. Sickly gray manifestations of death.
Then her light fell on something filling the opening of a passage to her left. The air grew cold, chilling her blood and misting her breath.
A figure stood silhouetted against the darkness behind it. It didn't move, nor make a sound. She continued to back away. The figure never moved.
Was it a figment of her imagination, or had she passed out and this was all a dream?
A memory came back to her from her childhood. A story, told to her by an old knife, of a figure draped in tattered black vestments—much like the thing here with Jamina. It had killed six of the old knife's sisters before she had been able to flee it. The old knife had called it a wraith.
Finally, the wraith moved. It seemed to flitter from one shadow to the next, moving so fast, Jamina found it hard to keep her eyes on it. The wraith moved to her right, so she swung her torch in that direction. Then it went left and she swung in that direction. With each movement, it drew closer, the air colder.
The wraith was within twenty feet of Jamina by the time she neared a passage leading from its lair. It flittered around her to impose itself between her and the exit. A deadlight began to form in the air above its head as the wraith watched her.
She backed away hurriedly, and it didn't follow her at first, but then it moved and continued its erratic movements. There was no way she was getting out of there without a fight. Placing her torch at her feet, she drew her sword and held it with a shaky hand. The wraith stopped moving and stared at her.
Under its cowl, it had no face. No eyes. Only a black so deep, the cave around it seemed bright with light. Perhaps the wraith was the dark. Darkness given life.
The rest of its body was covered in dusty gray vestments. They appeared old. Something worn by the ancient dead in their silent crypts.
A voice came from the darkness within the cowl, a voice so deep, so devoid of humanity it made Jamina freeze in place. When it had finished speaking in its strange language, it stopped moving and waited.
Heart racing, Jamina raised her sword. "Leave me. I must return to my people."
Her voice seemed to anger it. As soon as she began speaking, it moved to her left, then right, then left, and then it was beside her!
She screamed in agony as it grabbed her broken arm and yanked. The shattered ends of the bones pulled apart, then snapped back together, sending withering pain through her body.
The pain was quickly replaced by cold unlike any she had ever endured. It started where the wraith touched her and then spread quickly throughout her body. Her pained scream turned into a pained croak. The wraith said something again, then suddenly let go, its cowl turning away from her.
Collapsing, Jamina writhed on the ground, ice coursing through her veins. She stopped moving as another figure—black on black—stepped out of the passage. The figure looked huge, imposing. Deadly.
The wraith said something in its cold, dead voice. Then a colored yellow light, like that of a raging fire, filled the chamber, driving back the deadlights.
Jamina stared in awe, the cold flooding her leaving with the light. The yellow flame belonged to a sword held by a tall figure dressed head to toe in black armor, of a make she'd never seen before.
The figure made a circular flourish with its sword, the flames burning brighter but without the splutter of an ordinary fire. Like it wasn't really there. The wraith flittered to the shadows and lingered there, watching.
As the figure started toward her, Jamina tried to slide away. No, leave me alone. I must return home. My people...
She slid to the edge of the torchlight and hesitated. If she went any further, she would be in darkness and lose another one of her precious torches. Holding her ground, she let the armored figure come to her.
It stopped ten feet from her, its sword lowered at the ground. "Now I see you with eyes my own," it said.
The voice, distorted by the helmet, was familiar. Jamina frowned, her sword clenched tightly, her vision swimming from headspins. "Herald? Is that you?"
Before the armored figure could speak, the wraith leapt onto its back and clasped its gloved hands around the helmet and tried to tear it off. The armored figure reached up and thrust its hand into the wraith's dark cowl. The wraith let out a pained moan and fell to the ground. The armored figure hovered the burning sword over it. "To think beloved Ryhana birthed loathsome children such as you."
The wraith let out a ghastly moan that had words in it Jamina couldn't understand.
The armored figure spoke back in the same language, then plunged the burning sword into the wraith's body. It didn't even scream as its vestments were consumed by flame. Within moments, all that remained of the wraith was ash.
Kicking at the ashes, the figure said something in a whisper. Then it turned to face Jamina. It stared at her through darkened eyeholes covered by glass that reflected the glow of the yellow flames.
It had sounded like Semira. "Who are you?" Jamina demanded when the figure didn't speak.
The glowing sword retracted back into its hilt. Jamina stared at it. She'd never seen a sword like that before. After the figure had attached the sword hilt to its armor, it picked up the torch. "Lower your sword, my sweet. I am not here to hurt you."
It is Semira!
Jamina took a step back. "Semira! You killed our beloved Kahan. Why should I trust you?"
Semira held the torch for Jamina to take. "I am not the Herald of Dwaycar, Semira, though this body I possess once went by that name. In truth, Semira died over a week ago. It is only me now."
"What are you talking about? Show me your face."
Letting out a long sigh, Semira removed her helmet. Red hair spilled out, and a face both beautiful and horribly scarred stared at Jamina. Semira held the torch high so Jamina could see her better.
Her blue eyes shone with a light that had never been there before. Jamina studied the other woman closely. Other than the light, Semira looked the same as the last time Jamina had seen her, and yet the intensity that had marked her every move, every breath, was no longer there.
"Who are you? What happened to Semira?"
The face that had belonged to Semira gave Jamina a sardonic smirk. "She was nothing but a host waiting for my return. She and the other scions were made to be vessels for the spirits of others. She kept this body nourished and strong, but now her time is over and she has gone to her precious Lost Sun."
Jamina didn't know what to make of any of that. "If you aren't Semira, then who are you?"
"I am Dressen, brother of Imogen, Mother of Steel Children. But those names mean nothing to you. In this age, so distant from my own, I am known as Dwaycar."
THE END
BOOK 3
RISE OF A LOST SUN COMING 2018
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OTHER BOOKS BY RILEY
THE CAVERNS OF STELEMIA
Fall of a Lost Sun (The standalone prequel)
Heir to a Lost Sun
Dawn of a Lost Sun
THE CAVERNS OF STELEMIA SIDE ADVENTURES
Ruins of a Lost Sun
About The Author
Riley Morrison is an Australian writer who primarily writes in the fantasy, science fiction and post apocalyptic genres. Because it is hard for him to write in only one genre, it would be easier to say he writes Speculative Fiction.
An avid reader of all things doom and gloom, Riley enjoys reading about how our civilization is close to collapse and how we are all going to have to get used to living in caves again. A dull and gloomy cave with no Internet, Twitter or cats.
Other things Riley likes include history, bush walking, cats, vegetable gardening, procrastinating, oddball slapstick comedies (Bruce Campbell FTW!), video games, and countless other things. And cats.
Riley is old enough to have written some semblance of a story on a Commodore Amiga 500 but not old enough to have used a typewriter. Sadly, it has taken him around 25 years from writing his first story to sit down and actually finish something. While hardly unique in this, Riley can at least boast he has actually finished writing something.
Take that crazy ex first flat mate!
Riley’s website: rileymorrisonauthor.com
Riley’s Face Book Page: @rileymorrisonauthor
Riley on Twitter: @RileyMauthor
Riley on YouTube: CLICK HERE
Author Note
First, I want to say, THANK YOU so much for reading Dawn of a Lost Sun. I honestly hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I did writing it (and coming up with the zany monsters!). And thank you for reading these notes too!
As someone who loves post-apocalyptia and the mash-up of technology and old world weapons, ideas and societies, I envisioned Dawn of a Lost Sun to be a giant contrast of the two. Kara in the “modern near future world” and Aemon in the past, medieval world now being confronted with the technologies, personalities and ideas of our own modern times.
Transhumanism is becoming a big thing now, and people have many different opinions on it. Like with many technological innovations of the modern era, there are overwhelmingly good things that could come from ascending humanity through technological means, but there are also devastatingly bad things that could happen, some of which I embody in Imogen.
I wanted to explore this controversial topic through the prism of my fantasy world. I will leave it up to you, the reader, to decide what my opinion on transhumanism is!
Also in regards to the First Born. They are an exploration and warning of what could come if we let Artificial Intelligence run rampant in our world. The Singularity is coming, and for many years people have warned against it. Things are changing so rapidly now, it is hard not to think bad times are coming, or at least something huge and world changing.
Again, there are so many benefits to this artificial intelligence boom, but there are many downsides, not least of which the threat they potentially pose to human life when put into positions of power or even just as algorithms controlling what people can and can’t read by not showing news that those who control the algorithum don’t want you to see) or when they control dangerous weapons (as is already the case). Once they become self aware, are smarter than us and maybe even programmed to design better and smarter versions of themselves—who knows where that could lead us?
But this series is not necessarily a warning about this, only an exploration of it in the context of the story’s world. You, the reader, need to make up your own mind on these things, and try to make sure to take account of the pros and cons of all sides of the argument before making your own opinion on it.
One interesting note about Dawn. My editor told me how much Kara’s story in this book reminded her of some of the LITRPG books she had edited, and that Kara’s story shared some of the same character archetypes and ideas of that genre. I thought that was pretty funny, as I have yet to look too deeply into a LITRPG book as yet, other than some free ones I read. This Christmas I have decided I am going to try and read three books in that genre.
Who knows, maybe I will do a LITRPG story set in the world of the visiondream...
Another tidbit about Dawn of a Lost Sun. I wrote it in conjunction with book 3 of the series (Rise of a Lost Sun)! They were originally going to be one book, but by the time I finished the first draft of the book, it had clocked in at 140k words long (a bit longer than Heir to a Lost Sun). Now considering Heir’s first draft came to 65k words and its final to 139k words, I was a little worried. I knew by the time I had done the second draft of Dawn, it would likely be 180k words long, and the third draft close to 200k.
I don’t want to be Brandon Sanderson or George. R. R. Martin. They have a huge publishing house helping them!
So my editor and I thought it best to split the story into two books. And to be honest, I think it works better as two books anyway. It allows me to expand on ideas and details without having to worry so much about making the book too long and ungainly. I can have a narrower focus and make it more powerful.
Working with my editor Allison E Wright again has taught me even more about writing than I had learned after finishing the first book! But she made me cut out most of Jamina’s chapters, which made baby Dwaycar cry☹. Don’t worry; those chapters will be available to those that want them! Just email me at [email protected]
I really want to thank my beta reader Melody Spencer who I reached out to after she read Heir to a Lost Sun. She read over Dawn, and helped me make it better! From the bottom of my heart, I thank her for all she has done for me and for all her support through Heir to a Lost Sun’s difficult first month of being published.
Again, I would also like to thank a local Perth writer and publisher named Rebecca Laffar Smith, who remains a fount of information on writing and publishing. I’d also like to thank her for all the work she puts into organizing and planning local writing events. She is much valued to the Perth writing community, even if some of them don’t always show it!
And I’d like to thank my cover artist, Moonchildljilja, who did an awesome job of bringing Kara and Semira to life on the cover. You can really tell the two women aren’t overly impressed with one another. Oh, and if you look close enough, you can see the scars on Semira’s face.
I totally have Dawn of a Lost Sun’s cover as my desktop theme!
And as Melody Spencer has been so nice to me, I have let her give a shout out to her partner, Kaustubh. If it wasn’t for his hard work, she wouldn’t have the time to read so many books! So thank you Kaustubh for giving her the time to beta read my stories! It’s very much appreciated☺
Please, if you enjoyed Dawn of a Lost Sun, give it a rating on Amazon. Whatever you think it is worth.
Your kind words and encouragements are worth the world to authors, including me. I will continue writing the series no matter if you provide a good review or not, but I am sure with kind words and encouragement, the series will be finished sooner rather than later!
SPECIAL OFFER
This offer is aimed at people who loved Heir to a Lost Sun and Dawn of a Lost Sun (and maybe even Fall of a Lost Sun, the free prequel book) who would like to help in the development of this series.
I am looking for beta readers for book 3 and later book 4. Once you have read Heir and Dawn (so you’re up to date with what is happening), would you be interested in beta reading the third book (Rise of a Lost Sun and or the fourth book War of a Lost Sun)? Basically, a beta reader reads an unfinished copy of the book and tells the author what they like or don’t like about it, what parts are slow, this part doesn’t make sense etc. I will provide you with some questions to keep in mind while reading the book to make this easier.
IN RETURN for being a beta reader, I will give you the book for free when it comes ou
t and a personal thank you!
Also, I will include your name in the credits of book 3 or 4 if you would like it included.
Now for the good part. For beta readers who provide me detailed feedback or help me most of all, I would love to include your name (or another name if you prefer) into book 3 in some way. Most likely, this inclusion will be your violent, bloody death at the hands of some hideous monster or the ancient enemy. There are named characters that die, which are only placeholder names. They could easily be replaced with yours, if you help me!
If I get too many beta readers all providing detailed feedback, then I will try to reward you in some other way. I can’t name fifty minor characters who die in the book, after all. Maybe there could be a list of casualties at the end and how they died with your name included.
Eg: John: Death by beheading and impalement on a stalagmite. Beth: Death by disembowelment.
Also, I’d love to have a section of my website where the deaths of beta readers are displayed. A sort of digital cemetery, as it were.
Melody was my first beta reader, and some of you might have already guessed that the character Melody “One Eye” Harven was named after her in thanks for all she has done to help me. I have big plans for that character, so it’s awesome she is named after a real person who has enjoyed my books! I love that Melody can always come back to this series and think, “I helped make it what it was and I even have a character named after me!”
If you’re interested in becoming a beta reader, please email me at: [email protected]
Thanks for reading!
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
STELEMIA: Is an underground kingdom and the last known bastion of humanity. It is made up of two main caverns, and a few smaller ones. Stelemia is a place where sword and shield meet ancient high technology, some of whose purpose is as mysterious as the murky human past. It is ruled by a Priest King, the head religious figure in the worship of the Four Divines.
The Lost Sun Series Box Set 1: Books 1 and 2 (Lost Sun Box Set) Page 71