The Call of Ancient Light Read online

  A Coming of Age Fantasy Novel

  published by

  www.benwolf.com

  The Call of Ancient Light

  Book One of The Call of Ancient Light Series

  Published by

  Splickety Publishing Group, Inc.

  www.splickety.com

  Ebook ISBN: 978-1-942462-45-3

  Print ISBN: 978-1-942462-46-0

  Copyright © 2021 by Ben Wolf, Inc. All rights reserved.

  www.BenWolf.com

  Cover design by Hannah Sternjakob

  https://www.hannah-sternjakob-design.com

  Contact Ben Wolf directly at [email protected] for signed copies

  and to schedule author appearances and speaking events.

  All rights reserved. Non-commercial interests may reproduce portions of this book without the express written permission of the author, provided the text does not exceed 500 words. For longer quotations or commercial concerns, please contact the author via email at [email protected].

  Commercial interests: No part of this publication may be reproduced in any form, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form by any means—electronic, photocopy, recording, or otherwise—without prior written permission of the author, except as provided by the United States of America copyright law.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, and incidents are all products of the author’s imagination and are used for fictional purposes. Any mentioned brand names, places, and trademarks remain the property of their respective owners, bear no association with the author or the publisher, and are used for fictional purposes only. Any similarities to individuals living or dead is purely coincidental.

  Printed in the United States of America.

  To Daniel Kuhnley, Paige Guido, and Luke Messa:

  Thank you for your boundless inspiration and support,

  both as readers and as friends.

  Contents

  Original Map of Kanarah

  Prologue

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Chapter 31

  Chapter 32

  Chapter 33

  Chapter 34

  Chapter 35

  Chapter 36

  Chapter 37

  Chapter 38

  Chapter 39

  Chapter 40

  Chapter 41

  Epilogue

  Acknowledgments

  About the Author

  Original Map of Kanarah

  Prologue

  Lumen lay on a mound of ashes—all that remained of his once mighty army. After what seemed like millennia of fighting, he had lost the battle.

  His sword, a silver-and-gold weapon of wondrous power, lay just beyond his reach. Close enough to tempt him, but not close enough to obtain.

  Lumen’s blurred vision focused on the tip of the spear that hovered over his chest. He traced its long bronze handle up to the stern face of its wielder.

  The King.

  “Your rebellion is finished, General of Light.” The King stared at him with vibrant green eyes full of power. “And the people of Kanarah have paid the ultimate price for your betrayal.”

  Lumen returned the King’s steely gaze. “I welcome death if it means freedom from your tyranny.”

  No discernible emotion crossed the King’s face. “For your crimes, I banish you from Kanarah. You will descend to the deepest depths, to the Hidden Abyss itself. Your sentence shall last 1,000 years.”

  “You prove your foolishness once again,” Lumen said. “If you spare me, I will return to finish this.”

  “Should you rekindle the fires of rebellion a second time, you will no longer face my mercy—” The King’s eyes narrowed. “—but my judgment.”

  Lumen scoffed. “Mercy? A thousand years in the Hidden Abyss is mercy to you?”

  “It is mercy for the people of Kanarah, not for you.”

  “The people of Kanarah are nothing but slaves to you,” Lumen spat. “And when I return, I will free them from your oppression once and for all.”

  “Enough.” The King’s jaw tightened with tension, and his green eyes narrowed. “Your sentence begins now.”

  The tip of the King’s spear touched Lumen’s breastplate, and fire spiraled through Lumen’s veins. He screamed as his body disintegrated piece by piece, starting with his chest.

  The sensation seared through his legs and arms to his fingers and toes, then crawled up his neck. Fiery grains of sand filled his vision before everything plunged into darkness and his screams finally silenced.

  The 1,000 years had begun.

  Chapter One

  999 Years Later

  Western Kanarah

  A twig snapped in the darkness to Lilly’s left.

  She jerked upright, her eyes wide, and snatched up her bow. She nocked an arrow and held two other arrows in her shooting hand, ready to fire them in quick succession as she scanned the woods around her.

  Her campfire had reduced to smoldering coals, and she breathed relief for it. No need to attract any extra attention.

  Except for the hiss of tree branches swaying in the wind around her, the ubiquitous chirping of crickets, and the occasional hoot of a nearby owl, the woods remained silent. She glanced at the opening in the canopy above her. The half-moon shone brightly in the star-studded sky, and despite the wind blowing through the trees, the air seemed warmer than last night.

  She’d chosen this spot on purpose. If she needed to, she could launch straight up into the night sky and away from danger. Being a Windgale had its benefits.

  Lilly waited another few moments to reclaim her sense of calm and to confirm she was, in fact, alone. Satisfied, she lowered her bow and arrows, but she didn’t put the other arrows back in the quiver on her hip. She wanted them in hand, just in case.

  She shifted her cape, still hooked to her armor at her shoulders, into a ball under her head again, and she lay down on the rock she’d adopted as her pillow. She sighed. Not as comfortable as home by any means, but it would have to do.

  Exhaustion wracked her body. Sleep encroached on Lilly’s eyelids once again, and they drooped shut. A yawn stretched her lips, and she reached up to cover her mouth with her hand. Always proper, even in the wilderness.

  A nearby rustle cracked her eyes open. She jerked upright.

  Something moved in the trees directly in front of her. She was sure of it this time.

  Enough of this. With a powerful leap, she bolted to the sky, her bow and arrows primed to fell whatever or whoever had been hounding her for the last two days.

  “Come out and let’s settle this!” she yelled, now hovering twenty feet off the ground.

  The forest responded with another long windy hiss, but no figures emerged from the darkness. Why would they? If someone was following her, they would’ve seen her skill with her bow by now. They would know that stepping out meant death—or at the very least, an arrow lodged somewhere important.

  Minutes passed, but still Lilly hovered.

/>   Had she imagined it? Dreamed it?

  Whether or not anyone had actually been following her, exhaustion continued to wear on her senses. After a week away from the comforts of home, she longed for a good night’s sleep, but that wouldn’t happen out here in such an unfamiliar, ever-changing setting.

  And she couldn’t go back. Not until her parents came to their senses.

  She exhaled another long sigh and relaxed the tension on her bowstring. Unless other Windgales were chasing her, she could just as easily fly a few miles over to a different location above all of these trees. But doing so without getting her pack, which still lay near the campfire below her, would complicate her time in the woods.

  Maybe that’s what they were waiting for—assuming “they” were even there to begin with. Paranoia was no way to live.

  She remembered General Balena’s words during her training: “Do not let fear rule you. Face it, overcome it, and become its master. Then you will be a true warrior.”

  A true warrior? Windgales under his charge remained soldiers for life. She wasn’t one of them, and she never would be, but she took his meaning nonetheless: she wouldn’t become a slave to fear.

  Alright, Lilly. Enough stalling.

  She’d need a free hand to grab her pack, so she tucked two of her arrows back into her hip quiver. She gripped her bow and the still-nocked arrow mid-shaft with her left hand, but with no tension on the bow’s string. It freed her right hand to scoop up her pack. If needed, she could get her hand back in place in time to fire.

  You’re overthinking it, Lilly. Just go down, grab the pack, then fly away.

  She exhaled another breath and swooped down with her right hand extended. Her fingers came within inches of the pack when a man’s voice boomed from the woods.

  “Now!”

  Scratchy tendrils dropped over her and hauled her closer to the ground—a net, anchored by the strong arms of several men.

  Lilly released the pack and shifted her right hand back to her arrow, then her right shoulder hit the ground. They had her pinned on her side, but if she could get one shot off, then maybe…

  She drew the bowstring and pointed the arrow at one of the men holding the net, then released. The arrow knifed through between the net’s strands and plunged into his thigh. He screamed amid the other men’s grunts and released his hold on the net to clutch his bleeding leg.

  Good enough. Lilly clamped the arrows in her quiver to her leg so they wouldn’t catch on the net and launched toward the new opening where the man had held it.

  The man standing beside her victim cursed and shifted his hands over to close the gap in the net, but Lilly drove her shoulder into his chest. He fell back, and the net billowed open even wider. Lilly dug her boots into the ground and sprung out of the net’s coverage, taking flight once again.

  She’d ascended little more than a few feet when a pair of arms, strong and covered with dark armor, wrapped around her waist. The attacker’s weight dropped them to the ground hard, stunning her. Dirt caked on Lilly’s teeth, and pain from the impact sent shudders through her body.

  “I’ve got her,” a man’s deep voice grunted next to her ear as his bear hug grasp adjusted to lock her arms against her sides. “Get her cape. Bring the shackles.”

  “No!” Lilly shrieked and tried to pull free. Shackles?

  “Easy, Angel,” the man whispered into her ear as if they were old friends. “I’m stronger than you’ll ever be. No sense resisting.”

  Lilly strained all the more, but she might as well have been encased in steel. “Let me go!”

  “Not gonna happen, Angel.”

  One of the other men, his eyes glistening with fiendish intent, reached for her neck. She snapped her teeth at his fingers, and he retracted his hand, then backhanded her cheek hard.

  “Hey!” The armored man’s arms released Lilly, but one of his hands still gripped her right wrist. His armored leg slammed into the chest of the man who’d slapped her and sent him skidding across the dirt until his body cracked against a tree. “No harm comes to her. None. Got it?”

  Lilly sprang into the air again, but she couldn’t free herself from the armored man’s grip, and he pulled her back down. She whipped her boot at his jaw, but he yanked her to the side as if she weighed nothing before her kick could connect.

  The abrupt motion wrenched her shoulder, and she yelped. The armored man pinned her to the ground facedown and held her there with his knee pressed into her back.

  “Let me go!” she shouted to no avail.

  “Any one of you so much as touches this girl and you’ll deal with me, crystal?” The armored man unclasped her cape and her quiver and handed them to one of the others.

  Lilly moaned. Without her cape, she couldn’t fly away.

  “This one’s what we call a jackpot, boys. She’ll fetch a pretty price, but only if she remains unspoiled.”

  The armored man flipped her onto her back and kept her pinned down with one hand on her sternum. He stared at her with devilish gray eyes. Spiky red hair jutted out from his head, and his square chin bobbed when he spoke.

  “Oh, yes. I’ve got just the buyer in mind for you, Angel.” To his men, he ordered, “Drug her, and remove her armor.”

  Lilly’s stomach lurched. They were slave traders.

  Chapter Two

  Eastern Kanarah

  A loud hiss stalled Calum’s pickax mid-swing, and he jumped back. He scanned the patch of dried grass near his feet to find the serpent he’d just startled, but he didn’t see anything.

  The hiss sounded again, followed by deep grunts, this time behind him. Burtis, the quarry’s fat foreman, led a group of armed men past him—the King’s soldiers, by their black leather armor.

  Among them walked a reptilian creature about seven feet tall with a long tail, a smooth green hide, and a dark-yellow underbelly. Thick steel chains and shackles bound its hands and feet, and a black leather muzzle encased its snout. As it walked past on its hind legs, it fixed its golden eyes on Calum.

  He stepped back and bumped into something.

  Hardink, a quarry worker in his mid-forties, shoved Calum away. “Watch where you’re walkin’, kid! Yous almost stepped on my bad foot.”

  “Sorry.” Calum continued leaning on his pickax, grateful for the break, and kept staring at the creature. Its tail carved shallow streaks in the sandy dirt behind it as it walked. “What is that?”

  Hardink scoffed. “What, never seens a Saurian?”

  Calum shook his head in wonder. He’d never even heard the term before.

  Hardink gingerly squatted to the ground and rocked back until he landed on his duff. There, he took to chiseling away at a stone loaded with shining gemstones embedded into it. With his bad foot, Hardink got relegated to do that kind of work rather than splitting rocks and hauling loads.

  “He’s a types of lizard,” Hardink explained as he picked away at the stone. “But I isn’t talkin’ ’bout them little creepers that runs underfoot and clings to the outside of the tents at nights. I means an entire race of peoples, like that one. Walks on their hind legs. Skins get tougher the older they gets. Biggest ones gets to be eight or nine feets tall, so I hears.”

  “Never heard of such a thing.” Through the morning sunlight, Calum squinted at the Saurian, which stood upright despite his chains.

  “I seens ’em before. Not many ’round these parts. That’s for sure.” Hardink switched out his little chisel for a scrubbing cloth and wiped the dust from the stone in his hand. The gems caught even more morning sunlight, and they glinted with vibrant greens, blues, and reds.

  The group of soldiers stopped, and their leader started talking to Burtis. Then they shook hands, and Burtis passed him a cloth bag that bulged to about the size of a child’s head. In exchange, another soldier handed him a key.

  Hardink squinted in the sunlight. “Looks like Burtis just boughts ’imself a new slave.”

  Calum frowned. “Slavery’s illegal, isn’t it?”
/>
  “Ha.” Hardink shook his head. “What do yous think we are?”

  Calum’s jaw tensed. “I’m not a slave.”

  “You’re too young to knows the difference. Even so, not worth getting’ upsets over it. We are what we are. Can’t be helped, right?”

  “No, I know the difference.” Calum’s eyes narrowed.

  Hardink rolled his eyes and resumed his chiseling. “If yous say so.”

  The soldiers left the quarry behind with smiles on their faces, and Burtis approached the Saurian with one of his own. He reached to pat the Saurian on his shoulder, but the beast hissed at him.

  Burtis grabbed the rope tied to the muzzle and jerked it down, and the Saurian’s head went with it, finally breaking the beast’s proud posture. Burtis leaned close and growled something at him, but Calum couldn’t discern what it was.

  “Probably shouldn’t makes that Saurian mads, though.” Hardink set the first gem, a ruby, in a rusted metal pan next to him. “Those things’re ’bout ten times as strongs as any of us here in the quarry. He gets his hands free, he could kills Burtis or me or yous in no time. Probably could even with his hands bounds, for all I knows. Dangerous beasts, theys are.”