by Greg James
She kissed Malarkey on the head, and he grumbled in his sleep again as she got up and went to prepare dinner in the kitchen. If she had been any younger they would have taken her into care. It was a good job that she’d turned eighteen not so long ago. – with no Momma or Sarah at her birthday party. She remembered the sad faces of her friends and their kind words – none of which could bring her family back.
As she stood, Kiley realised that there was something in the pocket of her jean shorts. She pulled it out and turned it over in her fingers. It was a black marble, so it seemed. But when she held it up to the light, it looked like it had been burned black by a fire.
Where had it come from?
She had a vague, ghost-like memory of it rolling out from under Mom’s hospital bed and bumping against her toes. She had knelt down, picked it up, and put it in her pocket.
But why?
She had either tossed it away or put it back into her pocket—she wasn’t sure which—and the thought fled quickly enough as she opened the fridge and took out some asparagus, avocado, and lettuce to chop up into a salad. After the hospital, she wasn’t feeling all that hungry, but eating something and watching some crappy cable shows would at least take her mind off things. A bit.
Kiley’s mind drifted as she made the salad. What was on cable tonight?
... His Shadow calls ... for you ...
Kiley stopped, put down the knife, and wiped at her eyes. It was as though something was in them: a dark smear of some kind. She shut her eyes and massaged the lids with thumb and forefinger. She opened them again.
It was gone.
What the hell was that?
“Don’t crack up now, Kiley,” she said. “It’s not like Malarkey’s gonna call the men in white coats to come and get ya.”
She finished making the salad, tossed it a few times with some vinaigrette, and took it through to the lounge in its mixing bowl.
Less washing up later, she thought, if I eat it this way.
She sat down and turned on the widescreen television that spread across the wall. The screen pixelated for a second and then became clear.
“Sarah?”
No, it couldn’t be. Just someone who looked like her. Very like her. Then the girl on the screen spoke. Kiley shouted and jumped up, sending the bowl of salad across the floor. Malarkey woke up with a grumph, and seeing food on the floor went after it immediately.
Kiley ignored him. She crept closer to the screen, shaking, not believing what she was seeing. Her baby sister, who had been missing for more than three years, was there on the screen in front of her.
How? And what the hell kind of show was she in anyway?
This wasn’t the SyFy channel.
Kiley reached out to the television and touched the screen. Her fingers sank into it as if it were warm jello. She felt static electricity tickling her fingertips and she snatched her hand back.
“Okay, this is creepy and weird.”
Kiley picked up the remote and prodded the television screen with it. Nothing. It was hard plastic again, but still with Sarah’s face on it, speaking.
What was she saying?
... His Shadow calls ... for you ...
And then Sarah’s face was gone; the television was blank.
Kiley pressed the power button on the remote. She turned the television off and on again. Nothing. It stayed silent, and the picture didn’t come back.
“How could that have been you, Sarah? You’re gone. We lost you.”
Then, Kiley felt it: warm in her pocket, growing hot against her thigh. She took out the black marble she had found at the hospital. It was not a marble anymore. It was full of colours, all circling together in a great kaleidoscopic storm that was burning her fingers. A voice came from the scintillating sphere and spoke inside her head. It promised her that she would see her sister again.
Kiley said, “Yes. Oh please, yes!”
Logic and fear were drowned out by her desire to not be alone, to not grow any older in an empty house that echoed with the memories of those she had lost. She didn’t listen to the barks and growls of Malarkey as he rushed to her, his eyes set on the glowing marble that smouldered in the palms of her hands.
The voice spoke out loud this time, no longer in her head.
“Come to me, O Sister of the Flame!”
Kiley looked around and saw that she was somewhere else.
It was a vast chamber of dark stone with peculiar hieroglyphics and sigils carved into the walls. On the floor, she saw that she was standing at the centre of a pattern of concentric circles that pulsated with a sickly yellow-green light. Outside of the circles sat a number of cowled figures, one of which rose to its feet and stepped across the circles towards her. It spoke with a voice that rustled and crept.
“I am E‘blis of the Fallen, and you will obey me.”
~End of Book Two~
Book Three of The Age of the Flame
~The Stone of Sorrow~
is available here
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading The Sceptre of Storms. I hope you enjoyed it. If you have a moment, I would also greatly appreciate it if you left a review on the site where you purchased this ebook.
No matter how big or small it is, every review counts and matters to a writer because without you, the readers, we are nothing.
Sign up for the Newsletter!
Find out more about Greg James at his Website, Twitter and Facebook.
Titles available by Greg James
The Age of the Flame Trilogy – YA Fantasy
The Sword of Sighs
The Sceptre of Storms
The Stone of Sorrows
The Chronicles of Willow Grey – YA Fantasy
The Door of Dreams
Voyage of the Pale Ship
Khale the Wanderer – Grimdark Fantasy
Under A Colder Sun
Lost is the Night
Hordes of Chaos
The Vetala Cycle - Horror
The Eyes of the Dead
Shapes in the Mist
Hell’s Teeth
The Sevengraves Cycle – Horror
Sevengraves
The Thing Behind the Door
Standalone Horror
This Darkness Mine
London Ghost Story
The Clowns Outside
Zombies by Moonlight
The Oeuvre
Short Story Collections
Made for the Dark
Night Residue
Poetry Collections
Untitled I
Untitled II
Acknowledgments
I would like to thank the following people for their help, support and contributions;
Lora Kaleva – for listening to me ramble on night and day, and for being my sternest and most caring critic.
Christine DeMaio-Rice – for creating another excellent and fitting cover.
Karin Cox – for a thorough and thoroughly educational editing process.
My fellow self-publishers, all of whom are awesome; Shea Macleod, M. Edward McNally, Jack Wallen, Cheryl Bradshaw, Jessica Meigs, David Gaughran, Jolea M. Harrison, Alisa Tangredi, Heather Marie Adkins, Mike Cooley, Cheryl Shireman, Lin Welch, Athanasios Galanis, Danielle Blanchard, Stephanie Abbott, Michelle Muto, Red Tash, P.J. Jones, Tara West, Julia Crane, Sarah Billington, J. Carson Black, Lizzy Ford, Graeme Reynolds, James Everington, Autumn Christian, Tony Rabig, Sean McLachlan, Tony Slater, Mandy White, Sarah Woodbury, Arshad Ahsanuddin, Laura Yirak, Matt Conrad & Ben White – the Word Lovah!
My friends are my family and this book could not have been done without them, as ever; Ruth Latchford, Jez Joubinaux, Evie Joubinaux, Kris Dyer, Jason Brawn, Dolores Harrington, Mark & Tori Waddington, Sandra Norval, Adrian Chamberlin, Dean M. Drinkel, Nyki Blatchley, Chris Hall, Jean Hatton, Jim McLeod, Libby Cummings, Kiley Owens, Robin Jennifer, Kacey Stewart & Ann Giardina Magee.
About the Author
Greg James was born in Rochford, Essex in
darkest East Anglia. He studied Literature and Media at university and spent a year in the Far East teaching English as a foreign language. He now resides in London where he takes long walks on the asphalt beach, dreams strange dreams and keeps trying to get back to Narnia through the wardrobe.
Glossary
A’aron (AH-aron)
The Creator of Women. Known also as the Mother.
Adraxis (AH-drac-SYS)
The last of the Unicorns.
Atosha (Aa-TOH-sha)
One of the Three Kingdoms.
Barra (BAH-rah)
Woran Bean’s small but fearless mongrel dog.
Batracca (BAT-rack-AH)
A species of giant bat-like creatures that have been tamed by the Cham to carry warriors and travellers on their backs.
Bean, Kiley
Sarah Bean’s sister.
Bean, Sarah
An American teenage girl who discovers she is the Living Flame – a scion of A’aron and prophesied saviour of Seythe.
Bean, Woran (BEAN, WOH-run)
Adoptive grandfather to Sarah Bean.
Berace, Old
A supernatural being who has taken the form of the jolly rustic innkeeper of The Everlong Road Inn.
Brindan (brin-DUNN)
One of the Three Kingdoms.
Cham, The
A splinter group of the Molloi race that have settled in Yrsyllor as farmers.
Cham’Mara
The Cham Matriarch.
Dionin (DIE-oh-NYNN)
Creations of the Fallen One.
Doctors, The
Undefined beings that inhabit a dimension outside of the Thirteen Worlds.
Dracken (DRAH-kin)
Creations of the Fallen One.
Drujja (droo-YAH)
Also known as The Storm that Walks. Creations of the Fallen One.
Earlmen, Earlwomen
Feudal lords and ladies of the Three Kingdoms.
E’blis (EH-bliss)
The Creator of Men. Also known as the Father of Pain.
Fallen One, The
A malevolent being from a Space and Time outside of the Thirteen Worlds.
Fallen-born, The
Scions of the Fallen One.
Fellhorn
A colossal mountain in the Western Wastes.
Fellhounds
Undead hunting animals that serve the Fallen-born.
Ferra (feh-RA)
Father to Venna and Jedda.
Gorra (GOH-rah)
Gorra is the Father of Leaves and the spirit of the Wood Beneath the Worlds. He tends to the roots of all Thirteen Worlds and cares for them at the behest of an unnamed higher power.
Grah’na (GRA-narrh)
An area of swampland that must be crossed to reach the Mountains of Mourning.
Great Larvae, The
Gigantic invertebrates that serve the Fallen One.
Grassland Plains, The
A wilderness that was formally the shared land of humanity and the Kay’lo.
Herb-Sisters, The
An order of healers and carers in the Three Kingdoms.
Highmount
The city-province situated in the one pass through the Northway Mountains.
Highmount Council
The advisors to the ruling family of Highmount.
Ianna (EYE-anna)
Step-mother to Jedda and Venna.
Iron Gods, The
The Iron Gods were created by the Molloi as guardians for their cities in the Mountains of Mourning.
Jedda (jed-DAH)
Heir to the throne of Highmount.
Ka’aron (KAH-aron)
The First Wayfarer.
Kay’lo (kay-LOW)
A race who once inhabited the Grassland Plains in harmony with humanity.
Kella (Kel-AH)
A General of the Three Kingdoms.
K’th (KIH-ith)
Giant spiders born in the Beginning after the Unicorns and the Dragons.
K’th’li’li (KIH-ith-LEE-LEE)
An island, also known as the Kingdom of Webs.
Lands Beyond, The
The Lands Beyond are where all things that dwell on Seythe go after they die.
Lo’a’Pan (LOW-ah-PAN)
The secret underground city of the Kay’lo.
Malus (MAL-uss)
Last of the Dragons.
Mind-Reavers, The
Creations of the Fallen One.
Molloi (MUH-loy)
Once a proud race of engineers and architects, they built the Iron Gods to guard their cities. Following the war with their creations, they degenerated into savages.
Mountains of Mourning, The
A range of mountains separating the Grassland Plains and the swamps of Grah’na from the Western Wastes.
Nightlands, The
A cold and desolate wasteland in the east of Seythe where perpetual night reigns.
Norn Valley, The
A valley between Highmount and the Three Kingdoms where farmers and peasantry reside.
Northway Mountains, The
The range of mountains that acts as a protective barrier between the Three Kingdoms and the Grassland Plains.
Northway Pass, The
The one clear way through the Northway Mountains.
Ossen (OH-sun)
A Wayfarer well-known in the Three Kingdoms as a champion of humanity and a bringer of hope.
Oswald
A servant of The Doctors.
Phages (FEYE-gizz)
Soldiers thought to have been created by the civilisation that once existed in the Western Wastes.
Plainstown
The ‘poor’ half of Highmount that faces out onto the Grassland Plains.
Ruth, Mistress
A Herb-Sister and close friend of Ossen.
Saltwines, The
A family of brewers and distillers in the Norn Valley.
Sceptre of Storms, The
The Sceptre of Storms was fashioned from the horn of Adraxis, the last of the Unicorns.
Seythe (SAY-thuh)
The Seventh of the Thirteen Worlds that make up the Cosmos.
Shadowhorn
A colossal mountain in the Nightlands that is the source of the Fallen One’s presence in Seythe.
Sinh
One of the Cham.
Summernight
The main summer festival in the Three Kingdoms.
Sword of Sighs, The
Also known as the Sword Without a Blade.
Sworn, The
A secretive order of trained warriors often hired for assassinations, mercenary duties and to protect travellers in the wildernesses of Seythe.
Taproots, The
A family of farmers in the Norn Valley and neighbours to Woran Bean.
Three Kingdoms, The
The Three Kingdoms of humanity were established on Seythe after the last war against the Fallen One.
Trotters, The
A family of pig farmers in the Norn Valley.
Venna (VEN-nah)
Sister to Jedda and Queen-in-Waiting of Highmount.
Watchers, The
Selected men and women of the Three Kingdoms who stand guard atop the outermost wall of Highmount, watching over the Grassland Plains.
Wayfarers, The
The Wayfarers are an ancient orders of male and female mages that can travel between the Thirteen Worlds using Paths.
Western Wastes, The
A wasteland wracked by monsoons and ice storms where the Fellhorn mountain stands.
Wintertide
The main winter festival in the Three Kingdoms.
Wyrlsorn, Mikka (WEERL-sawn, MEE-kah)
An agent of the Fallen One.
Yagga (YAH-gah)
The witch who dwells in the Wood Beneath the Worlds.
Yrsyllor (ERR-sih-LAW)
One of the Three Kingdoms.
Table of Contents
The Sceptre of Storms
Dedication
Prologue
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