Fan Fiction ❯ Summoner ❯ Book One - Betrayal ( Chapter 1 )

Book One - Betrayal

 

 

It is a tumultuous time. Supreme Overlord Xavier of the Elves has led the advanced race though a war that raged for over 200 years. The war has left the Humans on the brink of extinction, with all their cities wiped from the face of the earth, replaced by the beautifully aesthetic Elvish Clans and Prides. There is little hope left for the Humans, with scattered rumours of a tribe of their people to the north yet untouched by the Elves' unstoppable war machine. Also, there is a glimmer of a chance just starting to reveal itself in the subjugated village of Eastern Ridge…

 

 

Chapter 1

 

The breathing was hard in his ears. He wished he couldn't hear the ragged sound, instead wanting to concentrate on the scattered shouts around him. It was late at night, and the strobing lights of torches and illumination spells scattered through the woods. The tall forms of the Elf warriors were silhouetted at various intervals, all of them wielding bows or staffs.

 

Curse Trewella for ratting me out, I shall be sure to rid the world of his cowardice one day… The young human vowed to himself as he clutched the short sword to his breast, the polished metal glinting in the moonlight. They were getting closer now, some of them on horses. There was a gust of wind that snagged at his patched and frayed clothes, and in the breeze there was a carried voice, doubtlessly a spell of some sort, such was the clarity of the voice.

 

…go…

 

Nix didn't hang about. Pushing off from the tree he sprinted straight ahead. There were shouts of alarm from behind him, and the trampling rumble of horses chasing after him egged him faster. There was a hiss of an arrow cutting through the air, skimming past his head and plunging itself deep into a tree bowl next to him, then a trio of other unlucky arrow shots, burying themselves in the foliage, missing him by inches each time. He was just waiting for the next arrow to bury itself into his back, when he heard a yelp of pain from his nearest pursuer. Not daring to look back, he ran faster and faster, and soon the shouts at him to stop were replaced by screams of pain. On he ran, never once turning around, deeper and deeper into the forest, he had to get to the meeting point before sunrise and it was already early.

 

 

 

He settled the goblet back down on the table and looked up in amused surprise as two of his warriors burst into the chamber, both with their backs to him and their crossbows aimed down the corridor into the large, spacious ante-chamber. Xavier rose and moved around the large mahogany table, letting his long-taloned fingers trail across the wood, the wrinkled skin still holding the luscious ochre tan of Elvish royalty, even at his old age. His beautifully embroided, long, flowing robes trailed after him.

 

“Supreme Overlord, please keep back! There's been a revolt!” One of the guards warned, his crossbow trained on the entrance-way. Already horns of alarm were echoing throughout the palace, and shouts could be heard far below from the open window. Near the entrance a young blind girl stood, her human form dressed in white and green commoners' clothing, she held a vase with fine wine in and looked startled by the commotion. Nobody spared her as much as a glance. She was a slave, and not worth the time to protect. How wrong they were.

 

The doors to the ante-chamber were flung open and the two staff-wielding Elf guardsmen slumped to the floor, already dead. A trio of Human troops stood momentarily framed in the archway before raising their free arms in unison, and released a glowing orb each, no larger than an apple. The glowing orbs shot out, one hitting each guard and killing him instantly, the third aimed at the Supreme Overlord himself. His taloned arm stretched out, palm facing the intruders, and the ball bounced harmlessly off a blue shield of light that was momentarily erected in his defence.

 

He smiled grimly and stalked forward. The assassins shot ball after ball at him, only to have them each rebound from the shield, his malevolent grin hidden by the flashing of the defence. When he entered the ante-chamber proper, he clicked his fingers and the humans buckled to their knees, brought down by a heavy telekinetic push.

 

“For 200 years I have survived every conceivable form of attack from the likes of you” His richly cultured voice spat “If you truly intend to kill me, you'll have to do better than that.”

 

For a moment, the middle of the humans raised a trembling arm and sent a feeble tendril of red lightning out towards the Overlord. It dissipated as soon as it encountered the shield. Xavier clenched his fist, and the three forms were raised into the air writhing and kicking in a fruitless struggle. There was a sickening series of wet snaps, and the three broken forms crumpled to the floor.

 

There was a rumble from behind the Overlord, and the floor erupted up into the back of Xavier, the uneven hastily erected formation jutting out randomly into a series of flat-ended stalagmites slamming him into the air. He was thrown upwards and bounced off the top of the arch, landing heavily beyond the dead humans.

 

Standing in the entry-way to his private chambers was the slave-girl. Her bare feet shifted slightly as the Overlord got up, the ghost of a smile framing her young features.

 

“The true threat reveals itself; an earth-worker.” Xavier murmured, his golden eyes fixed on her short figure.

 

Her right hand snapped out, her fingers splayed wide and the floor tiles splashed about him in a deadly spray of shrapnel, shortly followed by large segments of the floor itself. His hands were a whirlwind, redirecting the blizzard of fragments, he blue shield flashing almost constantly from the repeated impacts.

 

She smiled ever so slightly once more, and both of her arms jutted out, pointing at the two columns of the archway. She clapped her hands together, and the archway was brought down about the Supreme Overlord. He crouched low, his hands held above him as if physically pushing the immense weight of the columns off him, and in that moment he was truly vulnerable.

 

A boulder the size of a melon shot past the girl's shoulder and smashed into the Overlord's ribcage. His chest was crushed and he shot backwards under the impact. The archway crashed down, separating the earth-worker from her target, but before she could shift the barrier, two side doors slammed open and a hail of arrows whipped towards her from the Royal Guard.

 

The girl cursed and erected a wall that sprung up, formed of the floor. Without a backwards glance she jumped from the window, swinging up and ran along the wall, her bare feet adhering to the cold stone. She ran a quarter of the way around the tower before jumping off, letting herself fall.

 

There was a roar from behind her, and a pair of scaled, reptilian feet snatched her from the air. The huge form of a red-scaled dragon swept past the tower, sending a gout of flame into the Overlord's balcony, roasting the Royal Guardsmen that were taking aim. Riding the huge form was a stocky human with a burgundy cloak, a large curved sword strapped to his back. With another roar, the creature flapped its massive wings once more and swept through the clouds, and away from the Evlish Capital City of Salis-Daar.

 

 

 

Nix half scrabbled down a small hill and let a long sigh of relief go, partly because he had reached the rendezvous on time, and partly that he reckoned he'd eluded pursuit, however the screams of the elf warriors still bounced around his mind, chilling him at the mere thought of it. There was a rustle from the far side of the clearing, and a tall, cappuccino-skinned human appeared wearing a cloak. Underneath there was evidence of a chain-mail vest.

 

“Any trouble?”

 

“Yes, as usual it followed me in droves, however I escaped, but-“ Nix trailed off, and pushing the screams from his mind, pulled the larger being into a bear hug. It had been far too long since he'd seen Samuel Carver.

 

“There's an Inn a few miles from here that's expecting us, we can catch a few hours sleep and lay low, then proceed onto Hyllyard Heights.” Nix's heart leapt at the mention of Hyllyard Heights. Built directly into a mountain, the ancient, hidden retreat, once known as Raine's Keep after the famous Earth-worker and Historian, it was a repository of the entire history of the human race and was once of the last recluses of the humans, protected by a powerful spell that rendered invisible even to magically-trained eyes, and as such remained hidden from the Elvish Armies, protected by the catacombs of the mountain. It was said that the true name of the library wouldn't be spoken again until the race of men were free, but most suspected that the change in name was simply to hinder attempts of Elvish spies finding one of the last recluses of the human's magical community.

 

The pair didn't speak much as they moved through the forest, following the road loosely but staying off it in case of Elvish patrols. It didn't take long for them to reach the Inn, and a human serving girl let them into the barn, then hurried off, her eyes trembling in fear of helping two hunted men. Placing themselves in an empty stall, they settled down to sleep.