Two (The Godslayer Cycle Book 2) Read online

  Books by Ron Glick:

  Godslayer Cycle

  One

  Two

  Chaos Rising

  Tarinel's Song

  Oz – Wonderland

  The Wizard In Wonderland

  Dorothy Through the Looking Glass (January, 2014)

  Trivia Books

  Ron El's Comic Book Trivia Volume 1

  Ron El's Comic Book Trivia Volume 2

  Ron El's Comic Book Trivia Volume 3

  Ron El's Comic Book Trivia Volume 4

  Ron El's Comic Book Trivia Volume 5

  Ron El's Comic Book Trivia Volume 6

  The Godslayer Cycle

  Two

  by

  Ron Glick

  In Dedication

  To John,

  You are my Geoffrey.

  &

  To Vera Jane,

  For standing by me.

  Copyright © Ron Glick, 2013

  Cover Art and Design by Laura Gordon (www.bookcovermachine.wordpress.com)

  ISBN #: 1490589872 - ISBN-13 #: 978-1490589879

  Table of Contents

  Foreward 5

  Map of Na'Ril 7

  Glossary 9

  What has come before... 15

  Prologue 23

  Chapter 1 42

  Chapter 2 61

  Chapter 3 75

  Chapter 4 91

  Chapter 5 105

  Chapter 6 119

  Chapter 7 134

  Chapter 8 148

  Chapter 9 164

  Chapter 10 178

  Chapter 11 194

  Chapter 12 208

  Chapter 13 223

  Chapter 14 237

  Chapter 15 252

  Chapter 16 268

  Chapter 17 283

  Chapter 18 299

  Chapter 19 313

  Chapter 20 328

  Chapter 21 344

  Chapter 22 360

  Epilogue 372

  About the Author 387

  Foreward

  One of the most unique aspects about writing an epic fantasy story is the concept of world building. As a fantasy author, I am forced to not only create new characters, but I must manufacture a world in which these characters exist and interact. It can be challenging, certainly, but even moreso is the necessity to convey this world to my readers.

  Unlike the majority of fiction – with the notable exception of science fiction – the world already exists around the writer, so there is no need to provide too much detail on how it looks. We all know what Paris looks like and what it's given geographic location to London is, for instance. A writer of historical fiction might have to give a little more background, but the overall context of the world is already there for them to insert wherever it is needed.

  However, when I set out to create the Godslayer Cycle and its companion series, Chaos Rising, I knew that this was not going to be Earth – the fantasy concepts I imagined do not exist in our world. So I created the world of Na'Ril, a reality dominated by magic, Gods and mythical creations. In doing so, I hoped to be able to convey imagery and descriptions necessary for my readers to easily delve into this world along with me.

  I stepped away from the Godslayer Cycle for about a year while I worked on other books – first Tarinel's Song and then The Wizard In Wonderland. In the interim, I have had a lot of great reviews that have applauded my ability to create a rich and detailed world. When I set back on the path to write this sequel, I reread what I had already written and had to agree that it was a very sophisticated and complicated world I had created. In fact, it was so complex, that what had originally been so clear and vibrant in my mind now necessitated notes to keep track of details between the books. And if I – the world's creator – felt I needed notes to keep track of all the characters, locations and circumstances, how could I possibly expect my readers to follow?

  So for this installment, I decided to create some crib notes for my readers. I am no cartographer, but I endeavored to create a crude map to help give the lay of the land for people to get a relationship to where major events in the books are happening. I also created a categorized glossary so that my readers can track the characters, locations and concepts introduced in the novels so far. I will also endeavor to create a counterpart of these in my next installment in Chaos Rising.

  I am hoping these added resources will better help you to better enjoy and immerse yourself into the world of Na'Ril. I welcome any suggestions any of my readers may have for future installments, too. If I left anything out, or if you would like to assist in improving the Na'Ril map, I welcome the input.

  Once again, I sincerely hope you enjoy where this story is going. I am committed to making this as easy a transition from our real world to the fantasy world of Na'Ril as possible. But I am, in the end, human, so I am equally hopeful that you will forgive any shortcomings I may demonstrate.

  Thank you for your loyalty and fellowship.

  Ron Glick

  June, 2013

  Map of Na'Ril

  Glossary

  Old Gods – The Pantheon

  Airek God and Goddess of Charity and Greed, Master and Mistress of Benevolence.

  Charith God and Goddess of Life and Death, Mistress and Master of Mortality.

  Dariel God and Goddess of Truth and Deception, Baron and Baroness of the Dark.

  Elgoth God and Goddess of Knowledge and Mystery, Steward and Stewardess of Learning.

  Karmel God and Goddess of Magic and Chance, Lady and Lord of Fortune.

  Lendus God and Goddess of Bounty and Famine, Guardian of the Grail.

  Malik God and Goddess of War and Peace, Lord and Lady of Strife.

  Naris God and Goddess of Love and Hate, Maiden and Champion of the Heart.

  Sarla God and Goddess of Land and Sky, Empress and Emperor of the Day.

  The New Order

  The Greater Powers

  Anlar God of the Hunt, aka, the Hunter.

  Alana Goddess of the Moon

  Ava God of the Sun, aka, the Sun God.

  Corus God of Knowledge

  Davini Goddess of Soil, aka, Maiden of the Soil

  Elevan Goddess of Death

  Faetious God of Deception

  Galanor God of Harvest, aka, Knight of the Fields

  Galentine God of Honor

  Imery Goddess of Truth (deceased)

  Kalrios God of the Sea

  Kartar God of War

  Kelvor God of Justice

  Mastron God of Storm, aka, the Stormlord

  Urlock God of Mountains, aka, the Mountain King

  Zantel God of Merchants

  The Lesser Powers

  Ankor God of Mischief, aka, the Prankster.

  Daerma Goddess of Dreams

  Enuchek Goddess of Mystery

  Laer God of Darkness

  Seree Goddess of Charm

  Srell God of Shadow

  Wronri Goddess of Seduction

  The Mortals

  Aaron Officer in Carland Army. Marshal of Justin Surelake.

  Aliban Father of Mariabelle. Grandfather of Geoffrey.

  Alsen Mercenary. Derek's younger brother.

  Aris Captain of The Gull-Griffin.

  Avery Self-Proclaimed God. First bearer of One.

  Bracken Hillfire Dwarf. Proprietor of Wyrm's Fang Tavern.

  Brea aka, Lillian. Priestess of Imery.

  Derik Mercenary. Alsen's older brother. Rendered an imbecile by Brea.

  Faerun Avery's former apprenticeship master.

  Geoffrey Goodsmith Son of Nathaniel and Mariabelle. Grandson of Aliban.

  Gravin Mutineer. Wielder of Two

  Hamil Avery's scribe. Ankor in disguise.

  Justin Sur
elake aka, Justin I, aka, Lord Justin. King of Carland.

  Mansel Innkeep in Scollhaven. Father of Viola.

  Mariabelle Goodsmith Wife of Nathaniel. Mother of Geoffrey. Daughter of Aliban.

  Mariel Goodsmith Nathaniel Goodsmith's mother. Druidess.

  Nathaniel Goodsmith Pantheon's Avatar. Father of Geoffrey. Husband of Mariabelle. Son of Maribel.

  Olsef Of the first men. Made covenant with the Pantheon.

  Rantell Priest of Anlar. Murdered Faerun. Branded Avery.

  Viola Daughter of Mansel. Avery's lover.

  The Immortals

  Constant (The) aka, El'ba Ilitro. One of the trinity of powers in addition to the Eternal and Infinite. Recently came into his power, physical form resists any change.

  Dart Herasdaughter aka, Alalya Mirnette. Demi-God with ability to teleport anywhere on Na'Ril. 400 years old.

  Eternal (The) aka, phoenix, fenhuang, aka, garuda. One of the trinity of powers in addition to the Constant and Infinite – Guardian of the First City, moving backwards through time.

  Witness (The) Demi-God, awareness of all things destined to happen. 600 years old.

  Locations

  Amber (The) A crystalline mass encasing the First City.

  Carland Kingdom bordering Wildelands to the west, founded by Justin I twenty years ago.

  Eastern Reach Military zone bordering eastern side of Wildelands.

  Ecelor Seaside town.

  First City Legendary genesis of where all mortals' existence began on Na'Ril.

  Kellenburg Avery's hometown.

  Levitz Coastal community. City taken by Gravin.

  Loru The Constant's homeland (somewhere in the Western Realms).

  Na'Ril World's name.

  Oaken Wood Nathaniel's hometown.

  Purtsy City-state in Welshire, hometown of Gravin.

  Scollhaven Township in Wildelands. Avery's initial base of control.

  Surenport Capital of Carland.

  Welshire Territory south of Carland, occupied by city-states.

  Western Realms Sealed society on another continent.

  Wildelands An area of largely unsettled, heavily forested, mountainous lands.

  Wyrm's Fang Tavern formerly owned by Bracken Hillfire (destroyed).

  Miscellaneous

  Artices Varied texts of Pantheon faith.

  Codex Imeretia The scriptures of Imery.

  First Men Mythical group of people said to be the first humans on Na'Ril.

  Gull-Griffin (The) Ship which Gravin attempted to mutiny.

  Oraclice Parable depicting the consequences of defying the Gods.

  Rules of Divinity 1) A deity must name him or herself when asked. 2) A God cannot take a mortal life. 3) A God is always bound by his or her word.

  What has come before...

  Nathaniel Goodsmith was an orphaned young man living in the secluded community of Oaken Wood. His mother, Mariel, had been a faithful druidess of the Old Gods, known to some as the Pantheon, a group of nine Gods and Goddesses of duality. However, after his mother's brutal murder, Nathaniel himself has foregone belief in the Old Gods.

  In this, Nathaniel is not alone. For centuries, a new religion has aggressively sought to eliminate all belief in the Old Gods. The New Order, as this new faith is known, consists of forty-eight new Gods – twenty-four Higher Powers and twenty-four Lower Powers – who have declared war upon the Gods of old, seeking to wipe belief in them from the face of Na'Ril. And the Pantheon is powerless to fight back against this aggressive opponent, for they are bound by their covenants with mortals not to war with other Gods.

  Bound by these restrictive rules, the Old Gods have all but vanished from the land. But Malik, the God and Goddess of War and Peace, devised a plan to reverse this downward spiral. With the assistance of Charith, God and Goddess of Life and Death, he has created nine magic swords, each empowered with the ability to slay a God. Malik's plan had been to release the swords to the Pantheon's faithful for them to seek out and destroy the New Order Gods – thus preserving their own existence within the confines of the covenants.

  However, one of the Pantheon decided that Malik's strategy was too dangerous and set out to redirect the swords towards another purpose. Ensorceling the swords in prophecy, Dariel, God and Goddess of Truth and Deception, stole the swords and banished them into the mortal realm, concealed forever from the eyes of the Gods.

  In an effort to try to regain control of the swords' purpose, the Pantheon created an avatar matrix – a hereditary power passed down through bloodlines of their faithful so that when the swords would one day be revealed, they would have an agent amongst the mortals who would keep the swords away from agents of the New Order.

  Now the swords have begun to emerge. In far-off Scollhaven, a town located in the heart of the Wildelands, a heretic named Avery has found the first sword, One, with its incredible power to be unseen. Though he initially intends to seek revenge, Avery instead uses the sword's magic to pass himself off as a new God of Vengeance to the people of the small township.

  In response to One's activation, the avatar matrix has awoken, as well. But to the Pantheon's chagrin, it has emerged within Nathaniel – who owes no loyalty to the Old Gods. The plan to have a viable agent in the mortal realm quickly came unraveled as Nathaniel rejects their efforts to recruit him. Nathaniel has a family – a wife, Mariebelle, and son, Geoffrey – and he has no interest in traveling on a quest to find the swords. The Pantheon warns Nathaniel that there might be consequences brought on by the prophecy if he did not act, but the mortal man chooses to reject the Pantheon's request for aid.

  Meanwhile, an agent of Imery, Goddess of Truth for the New Order, has taken notice of Nathaniel, and through her, so has her Goddess. Lady Brea is a traveling priestess of Imery's who has inadvertently become charmed through Old God magic to be infatuated with Nathaniel. Believing Nathaniel to be one of the Old Gods in hiding, Imery empowers her priestess with the power to see truth in all things, and sets her upon Nathaniel's trail. It is a fruitless enterprise, but the Goddess of Truth has been alerted to something out of the ordinary masked from the eyes of the New Order.

  To make matters worse, Imery has also identified a disappearance of her faithful within the small town of Scollhaven. Coupled with the mystery that is Nathaniel Goodsmith along with the attack on her devoted's faith, Imery is compelled to send Brea to Scollhaven to investigate.

  The prophecy in the meantime was not to be denied. Without warning, warriors proclaiming themselves to be servants of Imery attack and murder Mariabelle and kidnap Geoffrey, burning down the local tavern in the process. Nathaniel had been away meeting with Airek, God and Goddess of Charity and Greed, who was attempting to sway the man to their cause. Upon his return, Nathaniel is grief-stricken, but realizes that he must take up the Pantheon's cause after all, if he is ever to have a chance of finding his son. Charith also offers him one other incentive – if he succeeds in slaying the New Order's Goddess of Death, the Pantheon could retrieve the soul of Nathaniel's wife and resurrect her.

  The only clue Nathaniel has to follow is the sudden departure of Imery's priestess, Brea, and so with the aid of the tavern's proprietor, a life-long dwarven friend, Bracken Hillfire, Nathaniel sets off in pursuit of the Imery's agent.

  Along the way, Malik reveals to Nathaniel that the nine swords actually had a predecessor – First. Apparently, the nine swords were molded from First, and the original blade had been hidden away, waiting for the awakening of the Avatar to be used as a weapon to help in retrieving the other nine swords. Malik's own deception in hiding First was uncovered by Dariel, but Malik does not immediately reveal this to Nathaniel.

  Instead, the God and Goddess of War and Peace reveals another aspect of the avatar matrix – imbedded talents and abilities which need and time would activate within the Avatar. Malik's own contribution to the matrix was the gift of an innate knowledge of how to wield any weapon, including the great swords themselves.

  In Scoll
haven, Avery has successfully converted the township to his new religion, having each resident brand themselves with the New Order's symbol for heresy, a four-horned symbol seared into the flesh of any outcast. Avery however has made it into his holy symbol, and citizens have branded themselves to demonstrate their devotion to their new God. Amongst his new faithful, Avery has also acquired a scholar, Hamil, to record his rise to divinity and a host of lovers to sate his suddenly virile urges, though none are so special to him as one maiden, the bartender's daughter, Viola.

  Yet even as Avery basks in his newfound potency, images and ideas of the mythical Godslayer begin to prey upon his mind. He reasons that the sword must have belonged to the Old Gods – and has even declared himself the progeny of Malik and Charith – but that no God would have relinquished such a sword unless they were dead. Fearing the Godslayer of myth would emerge to slay him, the new God of Vengeance organizes a retreat from Scollhaven, taking along with him Hamil and Viola as companions.

  Unaware that the target of her search has already left Scollhaven, Brea is confronted by the amorous advances of one of her two hired mercenaries and uses her magic to enfeeble him as a lesson. Unfortunately, the magic of the spell is far more powerful than she had intended, and she reduces him to a permanent state of idiocy. This inappropriate abuse of power causes a rift between her and those she has hired to protect her on the road, and she retreats to examine the repercussions of this misfired magic, using the excuse that she would seek out a dwarf whom Imery has detected following the trio.

  While separated from her companions though, Brea is caught unawares by not only Bracken, but Nathaniel, as well. Brea is at first exuberant to see Nathaniel, since she is still inexplicably drawn to the man, but when he rebukes her affection, a confrontation begins.

  Brea is startled to learn of Mariabelle's murder and Geoffrey's abduction, and is even more horrified to learn that the blame has been cast upon Imery and herself. And yet, her own Goddess' odd behavior coupled with the strange misfire of clerical magic gifted to her by Imery further seeds doubt in Brea's mind as to whether Imery may indeed be manipulating everyone, including Brea herself.