The Chronicals Of Bethica: The Rise : The Chronicles of Bethica by amahra |
Warning: The author has noted that this contains the highest level of violence.
Attention Readers: At the end of chapter 20 (part 1), Gangus and soldiers, successfully defend the land against hundreds of Bohaus.
And after the Bull Feast festivities, Gangus keeps his promise to the children to finish the story he'd started three moons ago, which began, "...so, with map in hand, I left the Oracle, Naman, and returned home to my beautiful but angry wife..." Today's Chapter: Chapter 20 (part 2) The Angel of Light There were many other festivities that year--one being the holiest observance of the Abramites Kingdom, called Mazsubah, a seven-day feast honoring Raziel, the god of gods. Much food and wine were served. The women wore long sleeveless white tunics with gold jewelry. The men wore short-sleeved, royal blue togas that came to the knee with gold sashes around their waists. Their swords were sharpened, polished to perfection, and worn in ceremonial leather sheaths decorated with tribal symbols. The air filled with laughter and songs as young girls chased about, and the boys hunted small harmless rodents with their play bows and arrows. Gangus grabbed a jug of wine and walked away from the cheerful crowd. He took pleasure in strolling through the tall piper lilies and watching silver jumping fish spring up from the huge water fountains and gulp down flying insects. He took a couple of sips from the jug, then he lay upon the blue-green grass and closed his eyes, unaware that an assassin hid among the trees. Dressed in black, seven feet tall, over two hundred pounds, and wearing a bronze skeletal mask, the assassin lifted his sword and crept towards Gangus. A young boy who had chased his little prey nearby saw the masked stranger and yelled. Gangus's eyes flashed open just in time to roll out of the way as the sword came crashing down where he lay. The young boy ran off shrieking. Lord Abram rose and pulled his sword. He and the masked stranger circled. The assassin swung the blade at Gangus's head several times but missed. Gangus took advantage of his being shorter than the assassin and swung his sword at his knee, slicing into it. The assassin growled as he went down. Gangus slashed his ear then leaped upon him--straddling him and lifting his sword to stab his chest, but the assassin knocked him to the side and scrambled to his feet, as did Gangus, though much slower due to his advanced age. As the assassin struggled to stand due to his knee, both resumed a fighting stance--swords extended. Gangus wielded his sword time and again, only to have it blocked by the assassin's blade. The light from the sun bounced off the striking swords as they clanked. The tip of the assassin's blade cut Gangus's cheek. The assassin swung again, but Gangus leaned away from the targeted zone; this defense gave rise to the assassin awkwardly stepping into Gangus's counterattack and losing a hand. Blood poured from the stump. But to Gangus's detriment, the assassin quickly picked up his sword with the other hand and, quick as a flash, drove the blade into Gangus's chest--impaling his heart. A short distance away, the young boy ran in front of Dinary and a group of soldiers--pointing at the assassin. "Father!" Dinary yelled, his eyes fixed on Gangus's breathless body on the ground. "No!" Glinas shouted, grabbing the handle of his sword. "Kill him!" he screamed. The surrounded assassin stood terrified with his sword extended--blood pouring from his stump. As the soldiers quickly moved in on the masked stranger, a blinding light flashed in the sky, and the soldiers halted to shield their eyes. The huge ball of light lingered momentarily, then three pairs of transparent wings sprang from the light. Arms shot from under each pair of wings, and what resembled a body and a head appeared, but no face. A stream of light was where legs and feet should have been. The assassin looked up slowly as if hypnotized by the light; he screamed as his eyes melted out of his head and blood and brain matter spilled through the eye holes of his mask. He fell to his knees--trembling violently as his armor melted and his body turned into scorched raw meat. Then the light reached down with two of its long arms, scooped up Gangus's body, and shot into the first heaven--zig-zagging like a deflated balloon and then vanished. Dinary couldn't close his mouth. All of the soldiers stood wide-eyed, gazing up at the sky. Glinas's knees weakened, and he had to be held up by his comrades. "Holy gods of the universe. What was that?" a soldier blurted. "Where did it take him?" Celio asked, frowning. Dinary finally found his voice. "What are we to tell the people? No one's going to believe this." "They'll believe me," said a voice. Everyone turned and looked up. A man they had never seen before stood majestically in mid-air, draped in white. He held a gold staff and stared without looking at them. "Who are you?" Dinary demanded. "And what do you know of this?" "I am Naman," the blind man said. Dinary gasped after finally being able to place a face with that name he had heard all his life. "I am the Oracle your father spoke of," Naman concluded. Then, like the light, he vanished as quickly as he had appeared. "I will never get used to how quickly things come and go in this bloody land," Celio snapped. Dinary, too taken aback to respond to Celio, had noticed the severed humanoid hand with spotted skin like an animal. "No," he said, stooping to examine it more closely. "It can't be." "I'm afraid it is," Celio said, stooping beside him. "Nordoxz," he replied, gazing up at the soldiers. A worrisome look inched across his face as his eyes met Dinary's. The soldiers hurriedly surrounded them with their swords extended and nervously looked about. However, no Nordoxz were sighted then or in years to come. Meanwhile, the Gangus and Angel of Light story was told throughout the land. Some said it was Brehira who had come back for her beloved; some said it was the Goddess Dahlia who had kept her promise to Brehira to unite her with her husband in Elysium; still, some speculated that the gods didn't want their prized human burned on a pyre, so they took him as he was. Nevertheless, poems, songs, and string puppets played out each speculation in theatres delighting audiences for generations. *****
Nearly a century had passed since the death of their great Monarch. One late afternoon, as the servants were cleaning, one discovered three brown leather bound books with tribal markings that had been packed away. The servant wiped the inch-thick dust and cobwebs from the books and brought them to Lady Lyanna, the great-grandniece of Glinas. As she examined them, one book in particular, The Rise of the Nordoxz, intrigued her. Lord Abram had told many stories about his people's origin but never the origin of the terrifying Nordoxz. She opened the book and read aloud as the servants listened intently while cleaning nearby, "Ages ago, in the royal land of Bore, reigned a mighty dragon queen who lost everything she loved to war..."
THE END... I would like to thank everyone who read, reviewed, and gave corrections to this novella. Fantasy is not my genre; however, it was my first gig ghostwriting a book for an RPG creator. I did my best to breathe life into his game's characters and to make their world, as well as their journey, realistic and exciting. I am humbled that he is pleased. I hope you were as well. God bless you and I pray you will have a healthy and safe 2023. Amen. Image: by Dantegrafice from Pixabay Main Characters Lord Gangus Abram Leader of his tribe Lady Brehira (Bree here rah) His wife Dinary (Deh nah ry) Youngest Son Celio (Seal le o) Soldier and close friend Princess Netrekka (Neh trek kah) Dinary's Lover/wife Olatunji (O Lah Tune Gee) Cushite Soldier Ndornah (N Door nah) Female Amazon Warrior of Domaria--a kingdom ruled by women Melitah (Meh lee tah) Warrior/Ndornah's younger sister Gangus's Staff Command Tierphenjinochun (Teer fen gin o tion) Minor Characters Khimah (Kee ma) Eldest Son Captain Dulcy P Dordrecht (Door check) Captain of the Cristofur Judian (Jew-dee-in) Second in Command of the Cristofur Kofius (Ko fee us) The Sail Master The Drake (like it's spelled) The menacing dragon The Gunji (Gun-gee) A magical humanoid Barthod (Bar-thod) A Shaman Vaganor (Veh-gah-noor) Emperor of Nordoxz...enemy to Bethica and Raziel The gods Raziel (Ray-zeal) God of gods Dahlia (Doll-lee'ah) Goddess of Domaria--a kingdom ruled by women Gailzur (Gale-zore) God of War Nelchael (Nell-key-ol) God of the Underworld Zakzakiel (Zak zah keel) God of Peace The Races Volarians (Vo lar rians) (Humans) 'Gangus's tribe' Timbakni (Tim-bach-knee) (Humanoid) K9 race, Devoted to Gangus and his tribe' Engamars (In ga mars) (Humanoids) aka, Red Beards 'Hate Aenwyns and Qu'Venars' Aenwyns (An winds) (Humanoids) 'Adore Qu'Venars, hate Engamars' Qu'Venars (Q' Vin nahs) (Humanoids) 'Adore Aenwyns can't tolerate the stubborn Engamars' Nordoxz (Nor-docks) (Humanoid) 'Skin multi-colored like a serpent, Enemy to all, including the gods, except one' Faerie (Far ree) (Another world) Origin of the Aenwyns' Domarians (Doe mah rians) ( Amazon/Humans) A kingdom ruled by women' Nekani (Neh cah knee) (Humanoids) Felion Race' Abramites ( A brah mights) (Originally Volarians) (Humans) Gangus's Kingdom'
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