Surrender
Page 1
Table of Contents
Dedication
Acknowledgments
Maps
0-The Great Library
1-Samhain
2-Mischief
3-Hard Lessons
4-The Lands of Men
5-Nightmares
6-The Great Oak
7-The Flames
8-The Valtanyana
9-The Royal City
10-The Witches
11-The Waterfall
12-Insomnia
13-Amethyst Eyes
14-Fire Festival
15-The Cave Behind the Falls
16-Hawklin
17-Parables
18-Dreams of Death
19-The Emerald Flame
20-The Amethyst Flame
21-Ferrymen
22-Goodbye
23-The Kiirar
24-Your Time Now
25-Heed the Call
26-Ruby and Quartz
27-Innocent Mistakes
28-Avred
29-The War
30-Village of the Shee
31-Winter Solstice
32-Weed of Temptation
33-Awakening
34-Explosions and Snow
Alternate Ending
The Ferryman + The Flame Guide
About the Author
SURRENDER
Rhiannon Paille
How far would you go to save everything you ever loved?
Kaliel was warned about her love for the Ferryman. One day he will marry the land and leave Avristar forever. She doesn’t listen, and because of what she is—a Flame—one of nine apocalyptic weapons, she sparks a war. In a desperate attempt to save her home and her love, Kaliel tries to awaken Avred, not knowing she may have to make the ultimate sacrifice.
* * *
Praise for Surrender
“Surrender is hands down one of my favorite fantasy books ever. YA or not, this is just pure awesomeness and every fantasy fan should read it. It’s a delectable, rich in detail, numbingly brilliant and swoon-worthy read that you can’t afford to miss out on.”
—Evie at Bookish Evie
“Surrender is definitely full of emotion and will take you on an incredible journey through the eyes of these two incredible characters.”
—Lucy at Moonlight Gleam
“Reading this book felt like reading a classic, but with everything I love in a book: romance, heartbreak, and lots of action! I would recommend this book to EVERYONE and then dare them not to fall in love with it!”
—Sammie Spencer, Author of Amaretto Flame
“Rhiannon Paille creates a unique and beautiful world that will draw you in and make you remember what it was like to be young, innocent, and full of wonder.”
—Cory Putman Oakes, Author of The Veil
* * *
Smashwords Edition – 2014
WordFire Press
www.wordfirePress.com
ISBN: 978-1-61475-185-4
Copyright © 2012 Violet Paille
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without the express written permission of the copyright holder, except where permitted by law. This novel is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination, or, if real, used fictitiously.
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Cover design by Mae I Design
and
Art Director Kevin J. Anderson
Interior Art by Linn Borsheim
Map by Christopher Boll
Book Design by RuneWright, LLC
www.RuneWright.com
Kevin J. Anderson & Rebecca Moesta, Publishers
Published by
WordFire Press, an imprint of
WordFire, Inc.
PO Box 1840
Monument, CO 80132
Electronic Version by Baen Books
www.baen.com
* * *
Dedication
For Michael,
This is our story.
* * *
Acknowledgments
WordFire Press is pleased to be the new publisher of The Ferryman & The Flame series, but would like to include the author’s original acknowledgments to recognize all those who helped build this series from scratch.
Kevin J. Anderson
Publisher
I thought publishing a book was easy—until I did it. What I’ve learned about myself from publishing is that I’m a spazz case, control freak and perfectionist. I feel like most of the people I need to thank on this list I also need to apologize to, for all my author craziness.
A.P. Fuchs, Jennifer Laughran, and Natasha Heck, I have no idea how you put up with all my incessant e-mails or how you managed to encourage me to stick with it even when my whole world was a boatload of no.
Sue Dawe, I don’t know how to thank you enough for being honest with me and telling me not to Tolkienshire it up. It’s because of you that I have avoided many lawsuits.
Marc Wolfe, I don’t know what it is about your artistic vision but without it, I don’t think anyone would have gotten Kaliel and Krishani’s likeness. It’s like you took them directly out of my head and put them on paper and they look like real people, real non human people.
Primo Cardinalli and Hugh Rookwood, your illustrations were incredibly on point and accurate to the characters. I seemed to give you an idea and you ran with it, again, taking what was in my head and putting it on paper in ways I never could.
Tommy Castillo, for the painting that looked like it was something Michaelangelo painted five hundred years ago. That will always be my classic version of the Ferryman + the Flame and I don’t know how to tell you how much I will always love it.
Christopher Boll, I know you’re not a map maker anymore, but you certainly did a fantastic job on my map.
Regina Wamba, you fantastic lady you! We had a short deadline, not a lot of options, a whole lot of stubbornness on my side, and you managed to make me a cover that I can’t stop staring at, it’s sooo pretty!
Cory Putman Oakes, Evie Seo, Lucy D’Andrea, Molli Moran, Kathy Habel, Rachel Rivera, Sammie Spencer, Susan Haugland, Laura Kreitzer, Marie De La Rosa, and well the endless list of bloggers I’m forgetting to mention personally, thank you so much for your constant support and encouragement. I would have given up if it weren’t for people like you.
Rae Smith and Sabina Grosse, you two have been my little secret weapons, BETA reading well into the night and finishing my books in record time. I’m so glad I have written books that you ladies cannot put down. Thank you both for being there for me.
Lastly, you may have noticed I dedicated this book to Michael, because without him I wouldn’t be writing.
Rhiannon Paille
* * *
0-The Great Library
Secrets never stay hidden forever.
Kemplan sat in front of the fireplace watching salamanders dance among the flames. His eyelids were droopy, and he needed sleep. He drifted, then shot up, realizing he needed to add another log to the fire. He pushed off the old leather chair with the high back and waddled over to the stack of logs. He picked one up with his chubby hands, removed the gold fence surrounding the fire, and threw it on top of the other logs. The new log was instantly devoured by the flames. He smiled and turned towards his chair.
There, perched on the bottom cushion was a piece of parchment
. Kemplan glanced into the skies of the library, the ceiling too high to see due to the shadows collecting above him. Kemplan gawked at the parchment. Never in all his time had a page appeared like that. He waddled over to the chair and delicately grasped the parchment.
He turned it over and inspected at the images before him. A Ferryman perched on a throne, wearing the royal colors of black and gold—across from him—a Flame. They gazed upon each other with a look that meant one thing—soul mates. Kemplan blinked and shook his head. He wanted to shove the parchment back into the high shelf it had come from. Memories clouded his mind as he revisited the past he barely survived. He nervously cleared his throat, clenched his fist. There weren’t many things in the Great Library that were forbidden, but this was one of them.
Kemplan dared a peek at it in the hopes he had been hallucinating, but the parchment was unchanged. The sun showered them in golden beams of light. Two ankhs, shaped like crosses with hoops at the top, hung at the edges of the beams of light, a symbol of their importance to the Lands Across the Stars. Kemplan knew which Ferryman and which Flame these were, the only two that had ever met, Krishani Mekallow Mekelle of Terra, and Kaliel, The Amethyst Flame, her name burned into her very soul by the enemies she defeated.
Kemplan scoffed and threw the parchment on the chair. He paced the small embroidered rug, wringing his hands out. He was afraid to look at it anymore, afraid of what horrendous things would prick his mind. He balled up his fists; glancing at the parchment each time he turned.
After a few paces stared the parchment down, crossed the floor, seized it, and tossed it into the fire. He tried not to watch as the flames licked away the edges of it. He knew it wouldn’t burn easily.
Kemplan expected to find it devoured, but instead he was met with staggering symbols that appeared overtop of the images. His stomach lurched, the message too blatant to mistake—infinity. He fell on his back and mouthed the word ‘no’. Scrambling backwards, he tried to put as much distance between himself and that vile thing defying the fire.
A deafening screech erupted from the fireplace and Kemplan instinctively brought his hands to his ears, trying to dull the sound. He closed his eyes seeing nothing but fire. He wanted to escape the past but memories came on hot and strong. As he blinked he saw a flash of his wife, charred. He begged not to see the images of his children, his house, his life, but whether he recalled them or not, they were emblazoned on his mind.
He would never forget.
He let out a gasp and looked at the fireplace. It crackled like it was about to explode. He rolled over and squeezed his eyes shut. Chaos. His life had become nothing but chaos. He let out a whimper as crippling sadness rippled through him. He could never have that life back. He would always be trapped in the Great Library, and it would always be their fault.
He closed his eyes, trying to force the images away. He remembered the words of High King Tor, ‘It was said long ago that one of the Flames would fulfill a great prophecy.’
Kemplan snarled. Precious but dangerous, the Flames were never to be trusted. Life was better when they were hidden. He couldn’t believe High King Tor would return them to the Lands Across the Stars—especially not her, The Amethyst Flame. And yet the parchment was clear, Kaliel would return, as would the Ferryman, and no doubt by some grand accident they would meet.
He gritted his teeth and waited for the fire to explode, hoping it would erase him from existence for good. A dead calm washed through the Great Library as darkness covered him. Smoke rose from the fireplace and Kemplan sat up. He pawed through the smoke to where the parchment was, glowing, unburned. He stifled his disgust but his heart dropped, the symbol for the Isle of Avristar appearing overtop of the infinity symbol.
And so it begins, he thought bitterly.
This is the legend of The Ferryman and the Flame.
* * *
1-Samhain
The merfolk were dangerous. Everyone on Avristar knew that. The kinfolk stayed away from the lake and the mists that curled around them, concealing the island from the Lands of Men. Avristar was safely tucked away from the humans and their wars, but the merfolk gravitated to the shores, living in an underwater paradise below the island. They slid their slick black bodies through the cracks in the rocks and pooled forth into the chasm underneath the mountain. There were stories about them finding their way to the surface, but the stories were centuries old. Fear flooded the kinfolk and forced them away.
Krishani shifted his weight on the stone platform behind the forbidden falls and peered out from sheets of water blocking the entrance to the cave. The falls were on the south side of Mount Tirion, and they were off limits. Krishani narrowed his gaze at the banks of the pond, his heart thudding. A girl kneeled on the edge, her white hair cascading down her back in curls and waves, her pasty hands pressed against the ledge. She peered into the depths of the pond. He never saw anyone do that before and it made him nervous. He was brave enough to ignore the elders when they said not to travel to the waterfall. When he was forced to be in the royal city of Orlondir for the Fire Festivals he preferred the cave behind the falls over the dancing girls, the hairy feorns and the sparring matches.
He slid a fraction of an inch down the stone as the girl backed away from the ledge and a fin on top of a smooth black head bobbed along the surface. The girl ran her hands through her hair, trying to push it away from her face, and for a second Krishani thought she might be scared. He was. He pressed his back against the stone behind him, and let out a deep breath. The merfolk pushed its head through the white tufts of foam forming on the surface. And then everything moved too quickly. Krishani blinked and heard a loud splash. When he looked, the girl who had been clothed in an ivory maiden’s gown was naked. He tore his gaze away, but the image was already imprinted on his mind. It made warm tingles run down his torso and he clenched his stomach muscles in response, trying to control himself. He never cared about the girls from Araraema or Evennses, and he especially felt nothing for the feorns. He heard another splash and when he dared a glance back at the banks she was gone.
His pulse quickened as he thought about removing his cloak and diving into the pond after her. Nervousness washed over him, his pulse pounding in his ears. To grasp her, pull her out, touch her skin, it made him crazy.
He slid further down the stone stairway in an attempt to get a better look. There was nothing floating along the surface of the water. He needed to know if she was going to be okay. He also needed to know why she was being so stupid, but that was something he wasn’t brave enough to ask. He wasn’t even supposed to talk to her or watch her or near her. He was supposed to be at the Elmare Castle eating pheasant and apple pie while keeping to his own with the Brotherhood.
Still, he kept staring at the pond, waiting for her strands of white hair to graze the surface. It took too long. He frowned at the waters, and took a deep breath. Flashes of nightmares raced behind his eyes. He promised himself he would forget about those. He had suffered from nightmares for as long as he could remember. Nobody knew about them, not even his elder, Adoron of Amersil. He was too afraid to admit he dreamt of death all the time.
Krishani sucked in a breath as he caught sight of white hair on the surface. He realized that if he didn’t move quickly she would see him, and he would see her—again. He clambered up the stony incline and peered over his shoulder as he reached the platform behind the falls. She had her dress on and was wringing her hair out over the falls. He smirked; she would be in a lot of trouble if the elders knew what she was doing. Then again, he would be in trouble too if they knew he was planning on spending the night in the cave. He barely got away with it last time.
Being rebellious didn’t come naturally to Krishani; it was something that seemed to follow him around. He envied his brothers with their sharp combat skills, elemental manipulation and pure knowledge. They were probably the smartest kinfolk on Avristar. All of them destined for greatness, all of them expected to go to the Lands of Men across the lake.
Krishani was unsure about his own greatness. Even though the Great Oak had given him a promising parable, he wasn’t sure he’d live up to it. The Great Oak was the oldest tree on Avristar, its wisdom beyond measure.
Adoron seemed to believe Krishani was a warrior, but Krishani didn’t really feel like one. Keeping up with the brotherhood had proven difficult at best.
The girl ran her fingers through her knots of hair. He leaned forward to get a better look at her. She was petite, the ivory dress hugging her body in a very flattering way. Her skin was a soft pasty white. He desperately wanted to know more about her. She was the first thing that left him stunned and mesmerized, heart thumping and palms sweaty. His mouth dropped open involuntarily as he stared at her, watching her thin fingers caress her hair like a harp. He wanted to spend all day speculating about who she might be, where she might be from, and what she might be destined for. She looked old enough to have been to the Great Oak, to know her parable and station in life. It had to be better than his. He didn’t really understand the armies of Avristar and their battles in the Lands of Men. He didn’t like the idea of being a pawn. He was barely good with a sword, let alone hand to hand combat. No, he wanted to forget all about the brotherhood, his destiny and his nightmares.
All he really wanted to do was talk to her.
Before he had a chance to back away and hide, fall into the ranks of duty and push the thought aside, she looked at him. Bright emerald green eyes caught his and widened. Her hands dropped from her hair and nervously ran along the hem of her dress. She chewed on her lip and dug her toe into the ground.
Krishani gulped and forced himself away from the girl, retreating into the cave. His breathing heavy and ragged, he tried to calm down enough to believe this wasn’t happening. She wouldn’t come looking for him, she wouldn’t confront him. He didn’t know how to talk to a girl; he had never done it before. He held his breath as he crouched in the shadows and waited for her to leave.