Prelude: Chaoticum, #0

By Charles Gull

Facing down the insanity of the Chaoticum, Captain Ganse leads a handpicked team of Aether Guards on patrol.

Long trained and battled hardened, this band of heroes must forsake magic and hunt the vile Spawn with deadly determination, simple brutal weapons and obscure advice buried in an ancient book.

What starts as another routine sweep soon becomes a battle for survival as they are challenged by horrors powerful beyond record. Now, not even skill, experience and the Captain's unique family legacy can guarantee the patrol's survival. In a chain of battles where the soldiers must win every time but the enemy needs but a single victory, can the patrol triumph or will the Realm's dark blood finally choke the bright heart of their homelands?

Grimdark meets Bronzepunk in this action packed novella that launches a unique hard fantasy epic set in a deeply immersive character centred world.

This is Book 0 in the Chaoticum epic novella series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Charles Gull
• Release date: Oct 10, 2020
• ISBN: 9781393939566

Book preview

Chaoticum

PRELUDE

By

Charles Gull

Copyright © 2020 by Charles Gull

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise without written permission from the publisher. It is illegal to copy this book, post it to a website, or distribute it by any other means without permission.

This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.

Charles Gull asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work.

Charles Gull has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for external or third-party Internet Websites referred to in this publication and does not guarantee that any content on such Websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.

Designations used by companies to distinguish their products are often claimed as trademarks. All brand names and product names used in this book and on its cover are trade names, service marks, trademarks and registered trademarks of their respective owners. The publishers and the book are not associated with any product or vendor mentioned in this book. None of the companies referenced within the book have endorsed the book.

First edition

ISBN: 9781393939566

Dedication

To all the doubters, haters, cynics and purveyors of negative energy. Proving you wrong is what kept me going through the darkest times.

Acknowledgments

I could not have done this alone. Deepest heartfelt thanks to all the sincere advisers, honest critics, and dedicated beta readers that gave freely of their time to help me make this book better than I could have managed alone. Your names, too numerous to mention, are as the petals in this garland of words.

Particular gratitude to Lee Dunning for his excellent cover art work. You gave my book a face that matches its heart.

About the book - Prelude

Facing down the insanity of the Chaoticum, Captain Ganse leads a handpicked team of Aether Guards on patrol.

Long trained and battled hardened, this band of heroes must forsake magic and hunt the vile Spawn with deadly determination, simple brutal weapons and obscure advice buried in an ancient book.

What starts as another routine sweep soon becomes a battle for survival as they are challenged by horrors powerful beyond record. Now, not even skill, experience and the Captain’s unique family legacy can guarantee the patrol’s survival. In a chain of battles where the soldiers must win every time but the enemy needs but a single victory, can the patrol triumph or will the Realm’s dark blood finally choke the bright heart of their homelands?

Grimdark meets Bronzepunk in this action packed novella that launches a unique hard fantasy epic set in a deeply immersive character centred world.

This is Book 0 in the Chaoticum epic novella series.

Visit charlesgull.mobi to follow the author.

Contents

Title Page

Dedication

Acknowledgments

About the book - Prelude

Careful not to jolt the pile

The first opportunity

This is not how I imagined death

Huddled on the top of our mound

My trepidation steadily rises

Distance can trick the eye

At a canter

As we set off across the plain

About the Series – Chaoticum

About the Author – Charles Gull

Chapter 1

Careful not to jolt the pile of my makeshift bureau, I hunch over the little pan and spot the first tiny bubbles forming at the bottom. Briefly, I ponder how a bigger stove would melt the ice quicker, then I sniff in dismissal. Despite the draft, hot greasy vapour stings my nostrils. A bigger stove would be too bulky to carry. I shrug and return to studying the water.

A rap at the door frame draws my attention. Captain Ganse? I glance at the man standing there. Tall, slim, athletic, even handsome perhaps, if you like that kind of thing, but above all else, an invaluable asset. I’m glad I could recruit him to my small and otherwise inexperienced patrol. He could surely find more attractive offers elsewhere in the Aether Guard.

Come in Sergeant Wynter. What is it? I don’t really need to ask. I know exactly what it is. We have been through this routine so often. Three patrol sweeps at this watch post and on countless occasions before. Nevertheless, I like to stick to the ritual. A routine is an excellent way to detect the onset of that debilitating dementia, Shadow Fatigue.

Yes indeed, a lack of routine can prove fatal.

He steps through the doorless frame into my office. Everything’s ready. Let’s go kill some Spawn.

I point my chin at the stove. Not quite everything. The first faint wisps are rising from the surface, but my breath is still making bigger clouds. What happened to spring? My hands push deeper into the pockets of my heavy riding coat. These need to be properly cooked first.

They would boil a lot quicker if you started with warm water from the cooking fire instead of melting a pot full of solid ice over that tiny flame.

I shake my head. As the manual states, it has to be like it has to be. If only the weather understood this.

I know, I know. And always was as it ever shall be. He sighs.

Tiny silvery spheres swell at the bottom of the pan. A first bubble rolls up the flattened face of one of the submerged glass bulbs. At the rounded edge, it pauses before breaking free and rising straight to the surface. It pops. The Sergeant is still standing there. I glance at him. Problem?

It’s cold outside.

It is never cosy at this altitude. And in here, too.

Yes, but the men are exposed to the wind.

Despite the heavy leather riding boots, the persistent draft has chilled my feet to stone, but he is probably right. Snow? Back in the homelands, spring’s bright riot is probably already giving way to the dignity of summer.

A dusting, yes.

One short patrol sweep more and we can head back. A lot worse is likely waiting for us down there. Not just this stupid weather either. Who knows, the Realm might even entertain us with something completely new that we don’t have a tactic for yet. Even after all these aeons, it still happens occasionally.

Sure. The men are still freezing their nuts off though. It’s never a good tactic to start out with everyone already in a bad mood.

Now it’s my turn to sigh. The pot whispers sympathetically. Though it is still a long way home, I watch my mother in my mind’s eye. She is bustling around her own stove. Her face is turned away, but I know she is happy, I have returned to her safely. Fine. I’m sure Noss has something boiling on the kitchen fire. Get her to hand out cups to them but keep them mounted. This shouldn’t take too long now.

Captain. He leaves. Again, I am alone with only the dim yellow flame and its attendant shadows for company. I wonder what my mother will cook when I get back. Even if I am an only child, she always makes far too much fuss. A celebratory feast no doubt. I lean back in my chair. Her roast duck is always fantastic. I imagine the hot juices filling my mouth.

The two bulbs begin to skip and jitter as the water comes to the boil. I pick up my tongs and fish one of them out. Held at an angle, the delicate cogs and dials imprisoned within glint in the flame light. I turn it over, inspecting the various needles and pointers through the front and back faces. Some are already moving smoothly backwards across their dials. One skips and quivers erratically, but the most important one for now has hardly moved. The spirit inside still has a long way to go to full charge. I lower the Metronism gently into the water and check its twin. Same story.

I check them twice more before I am satisfied.

With the charging complete, I place the bulbs in their wooden carrying case. The deep cups in the soft velvet padding grip the circumferences of the bulbs perfectly. I snap the lid shut and secure the latch. Even in the thin light of the stove, the knots and whorls in the wood glow a rich red. My thumbs rub across the surface, revelling in the beautiful texture. Before slipping it under my breast plate, into its pocket next to my heart, I hold it to my lips and kiss the top edge. Keep me safe, Papa. Obviously, he can’t. Only I can do that, but it would have pleased him to know I have developed the ritual of this little prayer. Routine keeps you safest of all.

Outside, in the yard of Watch Post twelve, soldiers and horses cower under their snow-bleached cloaks and blankets. The trophy heads collected on previous sweeps hang from the wall to dry. Nudged by the wind they bump and jiggle like they are chuckling about an inside joke. The head of a Martinshoora I killed on the previous sweep doesn’t have much to laugh about. Though the head glitters