Chartile: Prophecy
Page 1
Chartile: Prophecy
Title Page
Chapter Twenty-One: Shadows of the Past…………………….307
Chapter Twenty-Two: Sisters…………………………..…………………320
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
Chartile
Book I: Prophecy
Cassandra Morgan
Copyright © 2016 by Cassandra Morgan
Cover Design by J. Coulumbe © 2016
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living, dead or otherwise, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Ordering Information:
www.authorcassandramorgan.com
www.amazon.com
First Printing: February 2015
White Whiskers Publications
ISBN: 978-0-692-40732-5
This book is dedicated to
Conor, Brenda,
Mr. William “Bill” Urban,
and Mr. Scott Carroll
Thank you for my childhood and for always believing in me.
A special thank you to my dear husband, who wouldn’t let me give up on writing no matter what.
This book is co-edited by Little Ra, and occasionally the other furry paws of Snowflake, Aila, Aster, Pharaoh and Pixie. But, mostly Ra liked to sit on the keyboard and lick the screen.
Thanks, little ones.
Table of Contents
Chapter One: The Dream…………………………………………………………….1
Chapter Two: Chartile…………………………………………………………………8
Chapter Three: Piper…………………………………………………………….……23
Chapter Four: Gran………………………………………..………………………….34
Chapter Five: Dimitri………………………………………….……………………….51
Chapter Six: At Fortress Kelsii………………………………………………..65
Chapter Seven: Of Law and Limestone…………………………………76
Chapter Eight: Princess Gemari……………………………………….……94
Chapter Nine: The Pre-Banquet………………………………………..…109
Chapter Ten: The Black Diamonds………………………………….……121
Chapter Eleven: The Meeting of the Elders…………………..……131
Chapter Twelve: Foundations Shaken……………………….………140
Chapter Thirteen: Lessons…………………………………………………….150
Chapter Fourteen: Secrets……………………………………………………..180
Chapter Fifteen: A Spy Among Enemies…………………………….201
Chapter Sixteen: Change and Stubbornness……………………221
Chapter Seventeen: The Belirian Forest…………………….……...233
Chapter Eighteen: Into Cannondole……………………………………255
Chapter Nineteen: Lord Valine of Cannondole………………..270
Chapter Twenty: Cadenceberries……………………………...…..…..288
Chapter Twenty-One: Shadows of the Past…………………….307
Chapter Twenty-Two: Sisters…………………………..…………………320
Chapter Twenty-Three: Sacrifices………………………………………331
Chapter Twenty-Four: Aftermath…………………………….…………351
Chapter Twenty-Five: coronation……………………………..……….360
Chapter Twenty-Six: Jayson of the Hill……………………………..380
Chapter Twenty Seven: Home…………………………………….………..389
Chapter One
The Dream
Jayson Hill walked down a path he had travelled a hundred times before. It was the path to the fort he and his friends had built in the woods last summer. He knew he was dreaming, but it was unlike any dream he had ever had before. The summer sun was warmer and more real than any normal dream. The trees of the wood surrounding him were slightly hazy, which seemed to be the only normal thing about his dream.
Jayson spun around as a voice filled his ears. It called his name over and over again. The voice seemed to come from everywhere, but there was no one with him. Jayson began running full out, headed for the creek and the little drawbridge he and his friends had made to access their treehouse fort. With each step he took, the voice grew louder and louder. The sun was beginning to grow brighter, and still the voice called to him. He could barely make out the trees anymore.
He stopped running. There was a flash of white light, and Jayson woke with a start, lying flat on his back in his bed as if he had dropped straight through the ceiling. The pull chain on the fan above him swayed in time with his still rapid breathing. He rubbed his eyes and took several deep breaths. The haziness that had plagued his dream slowly subsided in the light of another typical Swansdale, Ohio morning. It was day break, and the sun had just peeked over the horizon, casting misty patterns of pink, amber and gray tones across the sleepy little housing community the fourteen-year old boy lived in. It had rained that night, and the foliage seemed to be alive with thousands of twinkling Christmas lights as the morning sun hit the tiny droplets.
His Jack Russel Terrier, Jesse, quietly snored beside him. Jayson scratched behind the dog’s ears as he turned to face his alarm clock. 7:02 AM.
“Crap!” Jayson flung his blankets off the bed entirely, sending Jesse to the floor. The little dog pranced around his feet excited as Jayson grabbed for pants here and a shirt there. He wasn’t entirely sure whether his socks matched, and his thick red hair was sticking up every which way. He tried to flatten it as he raced down the hall to the living room skidding to a stop long enough to slip on his shoes.
“Good morning,” said his mother from the kitchen table. She did not sound pleased with her son tearing through the house, and looked even less thrilled as she raised an eyebrow at him.
“Good morning! Love you! Bye!” said Jayson slamming the front door on his untied shoe lace. He opened the door again to free himself and smiled sheepishly at his family who sat together eating at the kitchen table. His little sister, Jessica, rolled her eyes at him and stuffed another spoonful of Frosted Flakes in her mouth.
Jayson slammed the door closed behind him and winced.
He hadn’t meant to shut it so hard. He leapt down the small set of porch steps in a single jump and took off for his friend, Leo DeHaven’s house. He breezed past a jogger making her way around the block and barked back at the neighbor’s dog as he ran.
He approached Leo’s front door breathless and clutching at a stitch in his side. After a moment, he raised his hand to knock on the door. His knuckles nearly collided with Leo’s pudgy face. Leo whipped back just in time, and his blonde hair fell into his blue eyes.
“Dude! You almost broke my glasses!” Leo cried.
“Sorry,” said Jayson with a sheepish grin as he stepped past Leo and into the living room. “And sorry I’m late.”
“For you, Jayson,” Mr. DeHaven called from the kitchen, “late is right on time.”
Jayson shrugged and ambled into the kitchen. He plunked himself in a chair beside their friend, Jack Mitchel. Jack sat staring into a cup of hot chocolate and coffee, the bags under his eyes more pronounced than usual. A copy of Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet lay on the table beside him. No doubt it was his natural knack for poetry that had Jessica swooning over him. His perfect, wavy brown hair and towering height probably had something to do with it too. Despite Jack’s slightly disheveled appearance that morning, he greeted Jayson with a wide smile that lit up his hazel eyes.
“Egg sandwiches!” sang Mr. DeHaven, and a steaming plate of sloppy egg sandwiches appeared on the table in front of the boys.
“Oh, you really didn’t have to do that,” Jack mumbled. His smile faded, and he looked from the plate of sandwiches to Mr. DeHaven with guilt.
The DeHavens had been rather well to do at one time, but now their financial situation was growing increasingly dismal, and so was the state of their rather bare refrigerator.
“Nonsense! You can’t be gallivanting around those woods on an empty stomach! Eat.” Reagan DeHaven demanded and turned back to the stove.
Quietly the three boys obliged.
“I’m not sure I want to go out there today,” said Leo quietly. Jayson and Jack stopped chewing to stare at him. Jayson’s grip on his sandwich faltered, and a piece of egg slipped from between the soggy bread and landed on his pants. “I just — I had this weird dream, and it kind of freaked me out.”
“Wh-what happened?” Jack asked. He set his own sandwich on his plate and swallowed hard.
“Yeah,” said Jayson. He sat up a little straighter and took another bite of sandwich. “What happened?”
Leo rubbed the back of his neck. “Well, there was this weird voice that said my name. And a funky light thing.”
“A light?” Jayson asked, his mouth now full of egg sandwich.
“What did the voice say?” Jack asked.
“M-my name. That was it.”
“It could be someone trying to send you a message,” said Mr. DeHaven over his shoulder. He turned, his eyes wide with mystery and a small smile tugging at the corners of his mouth.
“A message?” Jayson frowned. “Well, does that mean we should go to the fort or not?”
They sat chewing their sandwiches in silence for a long time. Eventually, each had turned to stare at Mr. DeHaven’s back. When he turned from the stove, the man threw his arms up in surrender.
“Don’t look at me!” he laughed. “This is your adventure.”
As one, Jayson, Jack and Leo scrambled out of their chairs and headed for the door.
“Sandwiches!” Mr. DeHaven called after them. They ran back to the kitchen, grabbed their half-eaten egg sandwiches and bolted out the door.
They trudged toward the wood behind their subdivision in silence. They were anxious and nervous, and Mr. DeHaven’s egg sandwiches sat heavy on their stomachs. When they reached the path to their fort, they all hesitated. It was the same path from Jayson’s dream, and he suspected it was the same for Leo too. But there was no voice, and no bright light. It was the same stretch of trees, game trails and dirt hills that had always been there.
“I guess it was just a dream then,” Leo shrugged.
Jayson grabbed a rope slung over a tree limb and lowered their make-shift drawbridge. They crossed the little creek and sat on the dilapidated furniture inside the fort.
They had spent all of the previous summer building the two-story tree house. Jack had supplied the old, shabby furniture from a dump near his father’s work. They had arranged an overstuffed arm chair and a futon beneath the large oak tree. In the boughs of the tree was their storage area, complete with a floor, ceiling, and tarps and shower curtains for walls.
Jayson climbed to the second level and tossed down three sticks to his friends.
“I call King!” he said, shaking off the unease that had plague his walk to the fort.
“You’re always King,” Leo protested. He caught the stick Jayson had thrown to him and rolled his eyes.
“Yeah, and you’re always the wizard. You’re the only one with powers, so I don’t see you complaining,” Jayson snapped back.
“Well, I want to do something different this time,” said Jack. “I’m always the knight. I have to take all my orders from you, and I don’t even have any powers to fight.”
“But you get the damsel at the end. Remember, pretty boy?” Jayson made a kissy face at Jack and laughed.
“What if we started a new game,” suggested Leo, “Three wizard kings —”
“No, I like this game.” Jayson folded his arms before him.
“Yeah, because you get to boss us around. I don’t think I want to do this today, guys.” Jack turned and headed for the drawbridge.
“Come on, Jack!” called Leo, “Don’t go!”
“He’s just upset because he heard his crush from, like, forever, started dating Tanner Fulton, and he knows Claudia Benedict will never be his girlfriend.” Jayson jumped from the second level. He landed with a loud thud and nearly lost his balance.
“I am not!” Jack shouted.
“Dude. Harsh,” Leo said, glaring at Jayson.
“Don’t you think we’re just getting a little old for this?” Jack asked.
“No. And now you just sound like those jerks from school.” Jayson shoved his stick into his belt so hard he nearly stabbed himself in the leg. “You’re not going to tell anyone, are you?”
“No, I just —” Jack struggled for the right words. “It’d be different if this were real, or something, you know? I’m just tired of pretending to be something I’m not. I know that sounds so bunk, but — maybe it’s time to grow up.” Jack stabbed his stick into the ground, his face flush. “Time to stop believing in stupid dreams!”
He turned quickly and headed back across the drawbridge. He half expected Leo to chase after him, but he could hear him arguing with Jayson back at the tree house. He was glad. He just wanted to be alone anyway. Jayson’s reminder that he didn’t stand a chance at ever being Claudia Benedict’s boyfriend hurt. But not nearly as much as discovering his dream hadn’t actually come true.
Chapter Two
Chartile
Jack’s eyes shot open. He had had the dream again. It was the same dream Leo had described the day before. But this time it was interspersed with screaming, breaking glass and a crying baby. His dresser was still pushed in front of his bedroom door. He pushed it aside and peeked into the hall. A broken beer bottle his father had thrown against the now cracked mirror littered the floor. He stepped over the broken shards and grabbed a trash bag from the bathroom. When he had finished, he picked his sleeping sister from the floor of his closet and set her in her crib in the next room.
Downstairs, his mother had fallen asleep on the couch. A melted ice pack had fallen to the floor beside her, and the cordless phone lay on the pillow. Jack picked up the phone and walked into the kitchen.
“Aunt Kiera?” Jack whispered and pulled the peanut butter and bread from the cupboard.
“Jack?” Said a sleepy voice on the other end.
“Hi, mom’s sleeping now,” he said, “I’m going over to Leo’s house, so, is it okay if y
ou stay on the line for when Dad comes home?”
“Of course, sweetie. I’ll let your mom know, too. Are you alright?” Aunt Kiera asked.
“I’m fine. Amanda is still upstairs sleeping too. Thanks, Aunt Kiera.” He set the phone back down beside his mother’s head. He covered his mother with the afghan lying on the chair and looked at the bruise rising around her eye and cheek. When his father had refused counseling after this third relapse, his Aunt Kiera had told his mother to leave. But she had refused. Jack sighed and swallowed hard, putting a few peanut butter sandwiches in the pocket of his jacket. He kissed his mother on her forehead and headed out the door.
Jack was halfway up Leo’s front lawn when he noticed a strange white Cadillac in the driveway. He looked up and saw Jayson and Leo sitting on the porch steps. Jayson looked up from his bowl of cereal and waved.
“Our glorious knight returns!” He cried, his mouth full. A line of milk dribbled down his chin. Jack smiled. Leo looked up from his copy of Popular Mechanics, frowning. His tangled mess of blonde hair was more untidy than usual.
“So, you didn’t abandon us after all,” snapped Leo.
“I’m sorry,” said Jack, sticking his hands in the pockets of his windbreaker. “I— it was a long night. I know it’s really not an excuse anymore, but…”