Lost Sorcery- Mage of Myths Read online

  LOST

  SORCERY

  MAGE of MYTHS

  §

  CLAIRE CHILTON

  & J. J. ELDRED

  Lost Sorcery: Mage of Myths by Claire Chilton & J. J. Eldred

  First published in Great Britain by Claire Chilton 2017

  This edition published by Claire Chilton

  Copyright © 2014 by Claire Chilton & J. J. Eldred

  The moral right of the author has been asserted.

  All characters in this publication are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead is purely coincidental.

  All rights reserved.

  Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, and the United Kingdom Copyright Act of 1956 and 1988. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system without the prior written permission of the publisher, nor be otherwise circulated in any form of binding or cover other than that in which it is published and without a similar condition including this condition being imposed on the subsequent purchaser.

  CONTENTS

  §

  START

  COPYRIGHT

  CONTENTS

  BOOK DESCRIPTION

  ONE | LOST RUNE

  TWO | NEW MAGIC

  THREE | DORLENDELL

  FOUR | THE WITCH

  FIVE | THE PRICE

  SIX | THE QUEST

  SEVEN | ADVENTURERS

  EIGHT | HUNTED

  NINE | SPARKS FLY

  TEN | DUNGEONS

  ELEVEN | THE VAULT

  TWELVE | DWARVES

  THIRTEEN | SUMMIT

  FOURTEEN | LOST HOPE

  FIFTEEN | FEVERED

  SIXTEEN | INFERNO

  SEVENTEEN | DARK EMBRACE

  EIGHTEEN | DEADLANDS

  NINETEEN | APOCALYPSE

  TWENTY | FIRE MAGE

  AUTHOR

  MORE BOOKS

  LOST

  SORCERY

  MAGE of MYTHS

  §

  WHAT IF MAGIC SEALED YOUR FATE?

  When Malian breaks a mage rune that is steeped in myths and legends, she invokes a curse that marks her for death before coming of age on her next birthday. Since she’s more skilled as a hunter than the apprentice mage she’s supposed to be, she visits a witch to uncover the secrets of the hidden prophecy about lost runes and elemental mages.

  The price of her salvation is to embark on an adventure with a prejudiced high-elf warrior who instils her with thoughts of romance even though he views her as a lowly human outcast. She’ll have to swallow her pride and ignore her feelings to journey across Ispa with him, leaving everything she loves behind to stop the sorcery that threatens her existence.

  On a quest for answers, she’s going to have to travel across the dark realms and face her worst fears. Along with her faithful shapeshifter companion, a heroic warrior, a werewolf and her gnomish wizard guardian, she discovers that she’s going to have to save the world, assuming she doesn’t set fire to herself, or they don’t all get killed by demons first.

  1

  LOST RUNE

  Malian froze as she plucked a bright yellow sunberry out of the spiky bush in front of her that was nestled amidst the colourful flora in Dorlendell Forest. She hitched her breath as she listened to the familiar fluttering sound behind her.

  Goosebumps popped up on her arms, and she closed her eyes for a moment as a sense of doom washed over her. After swallowing the bubble of panic that was growing in the back of her throat, she opened her eyes and slowly turned her head to look over her shoulder at what was causing the fluttering sound.

  Her heart skipped a beat when she saw a tiny creature hovering in the air a few feet away from her. She watched glitter drop from its tiny translucent wings and fall onto the forest floor as it glared at her with purple eyes that were narrowed to slits. Its green-tinged skin glowed with a tangle of tiny blue veins, which pulsed as anger came off it in waves.

  The sunberry slipped through her fingers, and it fell to the ground. After a moment of them both staring at the fallen berry, she stood upright and turned around to face the fairy , holding up her hands as the creature levelled its wand at her. Overcoming her initial shock at being cornered like this, she decided to try reasoning with the tiny creature. ‘I didn’t know this area was under the Fae Master’s rule.’

  ‘You don’t belong here.’ Its voice was shrill and sharp.

  ‘I belong here as much as you do.’ Malian’s anger rose at the comment. She’d been here longer than the hordes of messed-up fairies had been.

  The fairy hissed at her, its tiny fangs popping out over its thin bottom lip before it launched at her.

  ‘Crap!’

  She punched out at the tiny creature as it advanced upon her, and her fist impacted with its tiny body. She frowned and tilted her head to the side when a doughnut-shaped cloud of glitter puffed out in the air around her fist as her punch knocked the feisty fae back into the gnarled trunk of a nearby tree.

  The fairy quickly recovered. It shook its head, causing a tiny storm of glitter to fall on the tree trunk before the tiny creature rolled forward and launched back into the air.

  Hovering in front of Malian with the ominous sound of its wings vibrating with each flutter, it raised its wand, pointing it in her direction before it shot tiny shards of ice towards her.

  With a yelp, she ducked out of the way and threw herself sideways into a patch of flowers to avoid being hit by a storm of tiny ice needles. When she landed on her side, she came face-to-stinger with a nearby bush of fluorescent nettles that she’d just missed landing on.

  After expelling a sigh of relief and rolling over, she widened her eyes when she saw the hellish fairy flying towards her at high speed. The creature’s cute face had deformed into a demonic grin as it bared its fangs. Tiny, clawed hands reached out for her, the sharp talons exposed and glinting in the sunlight as if ready to tear into her skin.

  She pushed herself up onto her elbows and raised her leg, kicking out at the creature as it advanced at her with lightning speed. It slammed against the sole of her knee-length leather boots, splatting on impact into an explosion of glitter and guts.

  She winced as she watched the glitter fall through the air like glowing snow. Then she bent her leg towards her and peered at the sole of the brown boot. She gulped back a sick feeling as she stared at the sparkly rainbow -coloured fairy guts on her boot.

  After deciding that she’d had quite enough adventure for one day, she jumped up off the ground and quickly brushed the leaves off the back of her worn leather shorts. When she felt something sharp stabbing into her bare midriff, she glanced down and plucked a twig out of the belt at her hip and dropped it onto the grass.

  Once she’d caught her breath with a shaky inhalation, she wiped the remains of the little creature off her shoe and onto the wild green grasses while shaking her head.

  Why do they always go mental on me?

  She turned and scanned the forest behind her, listening for sounds of more of them. But the forest thankfully sounded normal, and she could only hear the usual sounds of the woodland; birds chirping and mammals roaring in the distance.

  Pulling her bow out, she readied for more attacks. The next little monster that attacked her today would be getting skewered on an arrow, she decided as she plucked an arrow out of the quiver on her back.

  The weight of the bow in her hand made her feel safe as she headed for a copse of trees ahead of her and scanned the area for signs of danger.

  You know that Binks would tell you to use magic.

  She shook her head at the thought.
Her mentor might believe she could learn to be a mage, but the reality was that she was never going to be able to rely on magic to save her because she wasn’t a magical creature. She didn’t have any magic in her.

  Living in a world that was filled with magic, but having none herself was dangerous. It put her at the bottom of the food chain, so she had to be faster and stronger just to survive. It’s why she loved her bow. It kept her alive in a world that she didn’t really belong in, even though it was her home.

  Maybe the fairy was right. I don’t really belong anywhere.

  A loud buzzing filled the air, and she froze. She hitched her breath as she slowly turned and stared over her shoulder at the army of miniscule winged demons heading towards her. After a second of indecision about whether to run or fight, she dropped her arrow back into her quiver and fled as the vicious creatures squealed in her wake.

  Her leather boots pounded through the colourful flora, ripping apart wild flowers and random bushes of ripe sunberries as she tore through the woodland with her pulse racing.

  Not again. If they catch me this time, they’ll rip my head off, and human ones don’t grow back!

  She scanned the trees, searching for Tagra, her faithful companion. Seeing a hint of a fox tail swish behind a tree, she made a beeline towards it.

  ‘Tagra, bear me!’ Malian cried, throwing another glance over her shoulder. She yelped when she saw how close the fanged fairies were. Their tiny wings were flapping like crazy, causing a cloud of fairy dust to surround them as they advanced at her in a violent mass of glitter.

  Why do they always have to mess with me?

  Turning around, she saw a giant bear step out from behind the tree ahead. It shook its shaggy head as it trotted towards her. The bear’s sharp fangs glistened with saliva as it stared at her while its clawed paws sliced through the vibrant undergrowth.

  ‘Turn around!’ She shouted as she launched herself at the bear. The bear widened its eyes when it spotted the cloud of fairies behind her. Then it spun around and began moving away from them, running in the opposite direction.

  Malian landed on the bear’s rump. The fur was soft and warm against her bare midriff as she wriggled onto its back. ‘Move it, Tagra!’

  The bear expelled a roar before it lurched forward, bounding through the forest with her on its back.

  She looked back over her shoulder while narrowing her eyes at the fairies, who were shooting curses at her with their tiny wands. Tagra was moving faster than they were, so they were falling far behind.

  ‘Get lost, you mental midges! Tell the Fae Master to sit on his wand!’ she cried as the winged menaces faded from view.

  After breathing a sigh of relief, she patted the bear on the side to thank her for the timely rescue. Then she turned to face ahead, frowning while she thought about her beloved forest.

  This forest is getting worse every day. It never used to be this bad.

  The Fae Master was the lord of the fairies, and he’d been trying to stop her from hunting in this woodland for years. But lately his fairies had been psychotic rather than defensive.

  He and his army of psychotic glitter bombs can get lost. I’ve got as much right to be here as they have.

  Feeling a moment of doubt, she shook her head. She wasn’t entirely sure that she had the right to be anywhere in Ispa. The planet was a mess of creatures, but the only human realm was across the Serpentine Sea.

  She’d read about the great war ships of Kalinord, and the brutal realms of man, but she’s never been there. Malian was an outcast here in elven territory, but it was the only home she knew. She’d been here her whole life, and she planned to stay here regardless of how many Fae tried to push her out.

  She gripped Tagra with her thighs, urging the beast to run faster. She wanted to outrun all the bad things in her world, and nothing made her feel more alive than dashing through the woods on the back of a giant bear.

  At least you’ll never leave me.

  She hugged Tagra, comforted by the warmth emanating from her soft fur as she clung to her back.

  Her heart skipped a beat as the bear dropped out from beneath her. She glanced down to see a mess of branches below and a dark pit as they dropped over a ravine.

  While gripping Tagra, she panicked as the bear clawed at the edge of the muddy hill, trying to gain some kind of grip.

  When she failed, and began to drop, Tagra transformed from a giant bear into a tiny kitten, her massive form magically evaporating from beneath Malian as the grey kitten version of Tagra clung to a nearby branch and meowed.

  ‘Oh, that’s just great!’ Malian cried as she dropped past the kitten. Sharp branches slapped against her skin as she fell into the hole. ‘Some companion you are!’ she managed before her breath was knocked out of her as she thudded against the soft earth below before bouncing off and rolling down the rest of the ravine in a tangle of sharp vines and branches.

  She came to an abrupt halt when her back slammed against an ancient tree trunk. She glanced up at the dead tree, dazed as she watched a crack splinter up it in an instant before it exploded around her.

  She quickly curled into a ball to avoid the array of sharp twigs and splinters falling around her. She winced when some embedded into the skin on her bare shoulder, thankful that her leather bodice protected her back from most of the projectiles.

  After testing that her arms and legs weren’t broken, she groaned as she pushed herself up off the ground.

  Wincing at the stinging pain in her shoulder, she peered down to see several bloody splinters embedded into her skin. She began plucking out the sharp splinters of wood, carefully removing them one-by-one.

  Once she’d removed all the ones she could see, she was relieved to see that the tiny cuts weren’t bleeding very much, so she decided to clean them when she got home.

  She peered up at the trees to check on Tagra. The little grey kitten was mewling helplessly as she balanced precariously on a branch.

  ‘Serves you right for leaving me to fall on my own,’ she told the kitten.

  Tagra widened her dainty kitten eyes, shooting her a heart-breaking look of sadness.

  ‘And don’t think I’m going to fall for your cute look. I know it far too well.’

  Tagra licked her paw and then brushed it over her face. Then she tilted her head to the side in an adorable manner.

  ‘Fine,’ Malian muttered. ‘I’ll get you down. Just let me figure out how to first.’ She turned and scanned the ground around her. The old tree she’d hit appeared to have been a dead husk, which was probably why it had broken to pieces so easily. Rotten wood covered the dark earth around her.

  She frowned at the twisted tree roots and dead shrubs. The whole ravine looked as if something nasty had died here. In all her years of wandering through Dorlendell Forest, this was the first time she’d seen this place. It appeared to have been untouched for decades.

  She frowned when a glint of green light inside the trunk of the tree caught her eye. Reaching down, she brushed away the splinters of wood and earth before pulling out a dusty rock.

  It was smooth and round. She brushed the dirt off it as she held it in her hands. There were glowing green symbols on it in a language she couldn’t read, and it pulsed in her hand as if it was alive.

  What the hell is it, some kind of rune?

  She jumped when she heard a screech above her. After dropping the stone, she looked up to see Tagra hanging from a branch.

  ‘Damn it, hold on!’ She glanced back down just in time to see the stone smash against the ground before it exploded into pieces. The inner granite cracked open to release a green cloud of smoke from inside it.

  The cloud glowed, pulsing as it expanded into a cloud in the air in front of her.

  ‘Oh, hell—’

  She didn’t finish her words as a blinding green light exploded around her, knocking her back. For a moment, she couldn’t see anything, but she could sense the trees around her.

  Oh, come on. What is t
his? It’s my fifteenth birthday. Can’t I have just one day without weird magical crap happening?

  The stench of death filled her nostrils as she was overpowered by the forces of nature. She fought to remain conscious, but as the world blurred around her, she realised that wasn’t going to be a possibility before she passed out on the forest floor. The last thing she saw was the skin on her hands glowing with a hazy green hue.

  2

  NEW MAGIC

  As something heavy thudded onto her chest, Malian’s breath whooshed out of her. Her eyes shot open, and she found herself staring into Tagra’s green kitten eyes.

  After sniffing her face for a few seconds, Tagra licked the end of her nose with her rough tongue.

  ‘Okay, okay, I’m alive.’ Malian patted her shape-shifting companion on the head before she brushed her away and sat up.

  She scanned the area. The green light had faded, and the area looked the same as it had when she fell into it.

  Maybe I imagined it all. I did fall off a cliff and get a nasty knock on my head.

  She considered trying a memory spell to see if she could get a clearer picture of what happened to her, but then she rolled her eyes. What was the point? Her spells never worked because contrary to her optimistic mentor’s beliefs, Malian knew she didn’t have a magical bone in her body.

  She pushed herself up to kneel over the hollowed out remains of the tree trunk, deciding to use good old non-magical investigation skills instead.

  There were still pieces of broken rock from the rune inside the tree trunk.

  Maybe it was just a rock, and it hit me on the head or something.

  She studied the shiny black granite where it had cracked open.

  Nope. There was something inside it.

  She touched the stone, trying to see if she could feel anything, but the rock was cold.

  As her fingers brushed against the ground, a green shoot of a new plant instantly shot up through the soil.

  With a gasp, she fell back in shock and stared at the vibrant green plant. It was the only living thing in the ravine, and there was obviously something magical about it given how fast it had grown.