Synopsis and Free Preview
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Synopsis:
What begins as the most exciting journey of Ralir's life quickly becomes the realization of his worst nightmares. He discovers through his father that the land of Potieth is not the quiet, peaceful place that he has always known, but a breeding ground for evil that threatens to take all that he hopes to protect. His father, a fierce warrior named Shivalsa, tells him of a family pact that dictates the murder of his own son. The evil forces that stand to take over Potieth wish him to fullfill his family legacy and continue the cycle, but Ralir knows what is right in his heart. He is forced to watch the deaths of those he loves, and he feels his humanity being stripped of him as he fights. Through a series of terrible battles and enlightening visions, Ralir learns what it means to become a man, and he begins to understand the sacrifices that await him.
Free Preview:
...As the stranger turned to face him, Ralir frantically grappled inside his boot for the hidden dagger he always kept with him. He found it just under the cuff of his boot, and he pointed it at the stranger.
“Very good, young one. Yes…face your fears…you are everything you were bred to be!”
Ralir was caught off-guard, not for the first time this strange night. “Bred? What do you mean?” It occurred to him that the hooded stranger might be goading him. Perhaps nothing that issued from his lips rang with truth, but with deceit in an attempt to get Ralir exactly where he wanted him. It could all be a trap, and Ralir wanted more than anything to avoid falling into it.
Still, he was only sixteen, and his curiosity was often stronger than logic.
“I’ve always admired your family’s determination. Even in the face of fire. Not in thousands of years have I met a coward amongst you. Go…follow your heart’s convictions. In the end, you will serve he whom I serve, no differently than me.
The opening in the stranger’s hood, which had previously been sufficiently dark to hide whatever lurked within, was suddenly aglow with glowing, iridescent eyes shrouded in darkness. They were the eyes of evil itself; nothing human or compassionate lived within them.
“I will never join you!” Ralir cried, changing his grip on the dagger and rushing the hooded stranger. He wanted nothing more than to sink the sharp blade into his enemy’s midsection, to tear out his insides and to watch him bleed to death. He’d never felt such rage – such power! – In his entire life.
Yes his rush was thwarted, and he was moving in slow motion. He felt as though he were trying to run through a swiftly moving stream, against the current, toward an unattainable goal.
The stranger laughed again – an awful, joyless noise. “Go now. One day, you and I will meet face to face. On that day, we will talk together as ancients do, and on that day, you will join me or die.”
“I will never join you!” Ralir repeated, still struggling through air as thick as water, straining to assault the evil stranger.
“Your blood gives you no choice! Now go!”
The hooded figure disappeared in an instant amid a flash of light so bright that Ralir was temporarily blinded. He found that he was now able to move normally again, but there was no one left to attack. He stopped, looked around him for the stranger, and tripped over something on the ground. His eyes cast downward, and he found the decapitated body of the assassin who had tried to kill Narjah.
In shock, he stumbled further backward, lost his balance, and went crashing over the side of the balcony. For a moment, he thought he might be able to hang on, but his grip was weak, and he fell.
The surf below and the jagged, pointed rocks rose up to meet him. “No…no…no more!” he screamed as he fell, and then there was nothing.
