Land of Ashes: Age of Cataclysm Book 1

By Rowan Lawrence

Krivkris unsheathes Fuulnok and assumes his fighting stance. "Fahuul." Flame spirals weave around each other from the hilt to the tip before fire engulfs the entire blade. "You honestly believe you'll capture me with that spell."
Ashereth repeats the steps for Ičtani. "Ičalkdi." The light blue fades to a darker shade, and six bright dots with multiple tinier dots appear on the blade, mimicking the twilight sky. "I will save you, friend."

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A quest is on the edge of failure. After obtaining a magical artifact with a vile power deep within a dungeon, a Dragonkin named Krikvris and his companions is on the run from forces of an ancient enemy yearning to return to wreak havoc and bathe the known world in ash. The landscape is against them, and their supplies are running dry. That's not all that oppose their quest. Unknown habitants desire their bodies as a sacrifice to their god. The artifact seeks to corrupt one of the party members and tempt it to join its master's ranks instead of destroying it. And a dragon that believes that they're after its treasure horde. As they attempt to survive the odds, they discover signs from an ancient civilization that their enemy may not be the greatest threat the world will face.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Rowan Lawrence
• Release date: Jun 23, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463937853

Book preview

Land of Ash: Age of Cataclysm Book One

Copyright 2020 Rowan Lawrence

Published by Rowan Lawrence at Smashwords

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Warning: This book contains content not meant for minors. Mature audiences only.

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

About the Author

Sneak Peak

Chapter One

(Several years ago of the 4th Age)

A group of footsteps echoes down a long, empty hallway before the shadows in a stairwell transform into seven adult people consisting of a male Dragonkin with gold scales, a female Wood Elf, male and female Human, a male and female Ki’Tsun, a bipedal fox race with multiple tails, and they have five each, and a male Nakjit, a bipedal panther. Their torn clothing and/or injuries suggest they escaped from a previous fight with the two Humans and the Nakjit currently topless. Behind them, a horde of fierce undead of skin and bone with crude weapons and rusted armor block out the torches' fluorescence in the stairwell, and the sound suggests it is close to the retreating group. Possessing a critical item, the Dragonkin is in front of the party.

A cry from one of the party members alerts the rest, and they freeze in their tracks; they descry the Nakjit on the floor from a trip when a projectile from a bulky crossbow skewers itself in the back of his right kneecap with the bolt-head sticking out the front. At the stairwell entrance, a burly creature with ash skin, white hair, sharp, serrated teeth, and yellow-green eyes wearing heavy armor is in the process of loading its crossbow with the undead charging around it.

Mojraska! the Wood Elf shouted. Witnessing her lover in a precarious situation sends her in frantic mode. She stares at the two Ki’Tsun in panic. Provide cover fire!

The Ki’Tsuns shake their heads after a quick inspection of their ammo and the approaching horde, knowing they’re remote from any civilization to restock, and once they’re empty, they’re useless in future fights. We don’t have any to spare, Eylewene, the male responded. We have to move now!

I call bullshit on that statement, Rakiri, Eylewene angrily shouted. Shoot them before I- Another bolt silences her by impacting and protruding through her skull with one of her eyeballs attached and the optic nerve dangling from it.

Eylewene! Mojraska bellowed. His debilitating injury only allows him to crawl towards his inamorata. The legion of enemies is now closer to the party. Don’t worry about me! Leave now, while the opportunity is still there. I’ll only slow the group. Just know my girlfriend, and I will reunite soon and be together for eternity. It’s been a delight adventuring with everybody.

It’s been an honor, Mojraska, the Dragonkin responded.

Another bolt whizzes past the party members, and they interpret that as a signal to resume fleeing. Soon after, they hear Mojraska’s agonizing wails as the undead rip his flesh apart, reducing the two remaining females to tears, and the males hold back the urge. During their retreat, they arrive at a room with a pit that has no bottom in sight. The lack of a makeshift bridge surprises them because they expect one to be there from earlier. More projectiles come close to hitting them, so the male Human shuts and barricades the door with the largest piece of stone he can find and relocate.

That will buy us more time, he said.

We’ll have to rely on the holes and cracks on the walls to navigate across then, the female Ki’Tsun said.

Forceful ramming against the door from the other acts as a motivator to the party members as they individually traverse the wall; pieces of wood start to tear away from the enemy’s attacks. The Dragonkin extends his hand for the female Human to save her when parts of the wall collapse. More of the onslaught rives wood from the door off, expanding the extant perforation to the point where the hostiles can fire more bolts. Instead, the legion’s force breaks the door open and removes the barricade as the party is further ahead in their escape. The members turn around and are glad at the undead senselessly running off the edge. But they turn to hysterical and stupefied when they pivot their heads again later on when they notice corpses plugging the bottomless hole to allow their animated members to progress over the cavity and continue the pursuit.

Ash grey clouds and minatory mountains come into view as the tall and wide gateway is within sight of the group. The final room the members enter contains stone from fractured pillars on the floor and a decomposing carcass of an enormous buffalo with the head and mane of a lion; the two horns are currently missing from its head. Decelerating their speed navigating the detritus, they eventually arrive at the main entrance and descend the staircase outside.

Ḑozkūl arikovzt! Arik lus isg puvaotǟ! The sinew of the ash creature’s voice propels the command down the valley. The party members briefly turn and widen their eyes in horror at the massive legion of undead pouring out of the dungeon entrance, orifices, or descending from the mountains into the valley, operating as a single organism. Specialized enemies attempt a futile effort at shooting the group with arrows or bolts. Under a fusillade of invariant fire, the group members bolt across the open field and kick up a passel of dust behind them with their feet as they travel to elevated land where their steeds are.

To buy his group more time, the male Human depletes his last amount of mana to cast a spell and halts briefly to place his left hand on the ground, the symbol glowing on his gauntlet. Earth Nature: Uneven Terrain! Materializing from magic are fissures, and the chunks of land either arise or decline to hinder the horde’s advancement. To aid him, the female Human grabs her book in her satchel, flipping to a specific page at a speed that only mastery can provide, and it shines as she releases her last spell to increase the group’s momentum. Art of Transmutation: Haste!

Hidden behind rocks at the side of a mountain are four armored horses waiting patiently for their riders. They arrive, and the Dragonkin mounts one, the two humans straddle another, and the Ki’Tsuns ride the other two. They barely vamoose before the army catches them, and they proceed to gallop up a precipitous mountain trail. The projectiles are now within range to land a hit on the fleeing party, and several come dangerously close with two hitting the male Human in the shoulders. Near the apex of the path, the Dragonkin glances up and notices hulking boulders and chunks of land that appear unstable, so he decides to vivify them.

Holding his amulet close to his chest with his right hand and extending his left fist outward, it lights up as the Dragonkin casts a spell with all the remaining mana. Fire Nature: Supercharged Fireball! A gigantic fireball resembling a comet launches out of his fist with a visible mini shockwave, and it collides with his target, causing a boom. He and the others observe the chunks of earth descend on the throng of adversaries below, burying them. A sense of safety allows the party members to heave a sigh of relief before the Dragonkin orders them to leave.

Nighttime arrives, and the entire party settles down around a tiny campfire for dinner while their horses consume the finite amount of vegetation the land provides. The memory of their fallen comrades has them in a somber mood, so no one initiates a conversation until Rakiri.

I keep looking back, hoping I would witness Eylewene and Mojraska appear from the void by some miracle.

Unfortunately, we all know that it isn’t possible, the male Human responded. No humanoid can survive a headshot like Eylewene and Mojraska had the entire army rip his flesh off.

You enjoy being a downer, Ashereth? asked Rakiri. Don’t you have a tiny amount of hope inside you?"

Ashereth stares at the campfire that is burning coals at this point. Why waste hope on the impossible? Memories of his history flood his mind and vivid sounds of violence drown out a certain amount of the surrounding sounds. If you witnessed what I did, you would share that belief.

You should look on the bright side once in a while. It’ll be healthy for you.

You should learn reality instead of miracles. The sooner you do, the faster you’ll mature.

Ashereth’s comments cause Rakiri to snap and ignite a