Scorched Kingdom Read online

  GAIA STONE

  BOOK I.

  SCORCHED KINGDOM

  Introduction.

  A world in peace is a world that is weak.

  Gaia was a world of peace, beautiful and prosperous, where everything and everyone had its place. Where magic and wonders awaited in every corner and a sense of balance could be felt no matter where you stood.

  Every race had its place in this world, and every culture, although different, was in harmony with each other.

  The Elves: Ageless beings of immense wisdom, who, through their knowledge of nature magic, were in complete contact with the planet and the immense powers it possessed. Small in number but large in experience, they ruled the great flat lands in the center of the world - a large place with the best soil for agriculture, the most species of animals and an aura of tranquility that flooded the spirit of anyone who entered, and in the center the great Elf city of Cylarias, a majestic city that served as home for the entire Elf population of the world, ruled by Queen Alagossa of the Elves and her High Council.

  The Dwarves: Strong, stubborn and proud; their knowledge of metallurgy not only made them the best blacksmiths in the world, but also the most technologically advanced of all the races. With steam machines to help them in their everyday lives, they ruled the mountains to the south from their famous stronghold Nel Badhur, a citadel mostly made of metal so strong and robust that it was rumored it could withstand a siege for a thousand years. This stronghold stood in the bottom of a cold and snowy mountain chain as vast as the cave network that connected them underneath. The caves served as the best place for mining iron, coal, gold and the hardest metal in the world - Bronium, a metal that was mostly collected and immediately stored, as it was so dense and hard that not even the Dwarves could process it.

  And the Humans: The largest of the races, who through their faith kept their huge numbers together under one goal and one kingdom. Humans had small settlements all over the world but the majority of them lived in Logrant City in the valley to the west, named after the first king of men, Logrant White Knight. This city was said to be so large that some Humans could go their entire lives without ever leaving. And in the center of the valley city stood White Knight Keep, a gem of architecture and art, a beautiful castle that stood not only as a fortress but as a symbol of the glory and virtue of the Human race and their faith, with seven towers so tall that you could see to the end of the valley from them. It is from there that the White Knight family had ruled the Human kingdom since the dawn of time.

  Yes, a perfect world in perfect harmony. At least until two thousand years ago, when the arrival of a new race split the world and upset the balance. No one knows how they came to be or where they came from, but what it is known is that they brought war and destruction everywhere they went. Approximately eight feet tall and stronger than an ox, with large tusks and skin thicker than leather, these beasts where humanoid in appearance, but animalistic in behavior.

  This race had no name but its members were referred to as Orcs, due to the sound they made when communicating with each other. They were a race so savage and strong they seemed to overpower the others; their thirst for blood was so great that they would kill, rape and pillage even when they had no need for food or shelter. And it was this behavior what terrified the other three races and brought them together with a common goal, to destroy every last Orc that stood on the earth.

  This new age was known as the Great War.

  United by a common enemy, the Humans, Elves and Dwarves joined together - not only as an army but as a race; the Dwarves opened the gates of Nel Badhur letting the few Humans from the nearby settlements seek shelter inside, and opened a trading route with the Elves and Human cities allowing them to use their armor, weapons and technology. The Elves mobilized small elite units of soldiers to the Human and Dwarf strongholds to protect them and teach them how to fight, since it was said that one Elf fighter was worth a hundred Human warriors. And the Humans deployed large numbers of builders to each city to help them repair and fortify. But probably their biggest contribution was the deployment of clerics, priests and paladins, known as The Order, to the battlefield, Who, through the use of their faith and Holy magic, where able to heal wounds and fortify the spirits of soldiers that had never seen battle and where now confronted by the horrors and atrocities committed by the Orc horde.

  At first it seemed as if the combined effort of the three races would be enough to eliminate the new threat, but the Orcs where strong, savage and relentless - they could fight for days without getting tired and where able to overpower a Human or Dwarf warrior with ease, and when they were not fighting they were mating in order to create new warriors for their horde. This made them impossible to defeat in open combat and forced the now overpowered Humans and Dwarves to retreat to their strongholds and face what it seemed was an endless siege. The trading routes where disrupted and only small groups of smugglers or Elf-protected merchants where able to move from one city to another. Despite their best efforts, without the metal from the Dwarf mines it was almost impossible for most strongholds to rebuild and withstand the constant Orc attack. And without the food provided from the Elf and Human cities, most strongholds, castles and towns began to experience hunger and despair which caused them to flee from their shelter to open fields were men would be massacred by Orcs and women would be raped before being killed. There seemed to be no end cruelty and brutality of the Orcs.

  Yet as bad as the Orc horde seemed to be, there was a ray of hope in the form of the Elite; a new hybrid force composed of the best Elf warriors and the Human Order, fortified with special dwarven armor and technology. This new armor was incredibly durable yet light as a feather and so easy to put on or take off, that squires were completely unnecessary.

  Wearing red uniforms and golden armor, this small elite units would quash any Orc raid no matter how outnumbered they were and they moved from settlement to settlement offering food, healing the wounded, eliminating nearby Orc threats and comforting those whose spirits had been broken, with the power of their faith. It was because of the Elite that the war lasted as long as it did. For over a hundred years the Elite kept fighting and giving hope to the small remaining population of the world, but even they eventually grew tired of the endless conflict.

  Humans from all over the world began to renounce their faith; some strong warriors migrated to the cold lands to the north where only the strongest and fittest could survive, a land so harsh that not even the Orcs cared to venture there. These men would later be known as the Outsiders. Others sought comfort in the Elf ways, learning nature magic and fusing it with the power of the light, creating what would later be known as Druids, strong spiritual combatants that had small healing capabilities due to their ties with the light and the incredible ability to shape shift into any animal they desired. This new clan of Humans was led by the red-headed beauty Lizandra, a woman so fierce that she was rumored to be just as good of a combatant as the best Elf warriors.

  This new manifestation of magic was quickly seen as an atrocity by the high council of the Elves, but the Elf Queen Alagossa saw something different, an opportunity to end this war once and for all. So the Elf Queen summoned the high council to discuss a matter of extreme importance - if they should share their greatest secret with the world of men.

  Alagossa sat for hours with the high council arguing and deliberating whether they should trust men with the location of the stone. The Gaia Stone, as it has been known from the beginning of time, was the gem that held all the magic power in creation. But it was deemed to be too powerful to be controlled by a single being, and so too dangerous to be used by anyone. That is why, millennia ago Queen Alagossa of the Elves and King Logrant, White Knight of the Humans, ordere
d the construction of a fortress in the deepest part of the Dark Forest, a place where fauna and flora had their own mind, and did not respond to the magic of the Elves, which is why Elves did not dare to venture there. And legends of monsters kept men away. In the bottom level of that fortress they placed the Gaia stone, guarded by an infinite maze of deadly traps, designed to either take your life or your sanity before you could reach the stone. King Logrant swore to keep the stone a secret and only taught a few select groups of men the powers of magic that he could grasp from his little contact with the stone; these men were latter known as The Order and their magic teachings passed from generation to generation, but the secret of the stone died with King Logrant for the world of men. However, Queen Alagossa, being an Elf, did not suffered from the passage of time and the location of the stone endured in her mind.

  Now seeing what the potential of men could accomplish when mixed with the Elf nature magic, she thought that maybe it was time to see if there was someone worthy of the Gaia stone, a warrior who could single handedly bring an end to this war once and for all.

  The high council was split in two, on one side the queen voting that they should take the chance and trust in men and on the other the Supreme Chancellor Bellestis strongly opposing the idea, as he had no trust in men and their ability to control themselves. The high council voted many times, but they always came to the same result, a draw. Seeing as none of them would change their mind and they were an even number, they decided to call one more Elf to break the tie. So Queen Alagossa summoned Licius, the greatest general the Elves had ever had. His reputation spoke for itself. There was no other Elf that could possibly be considered, as his wisdom and strong character under pressure made him a trusted advisor for the High Council.

  As Licius entered the room it was explained to him the pros and cons of the situation, but the identities of the Elves supporting each proposition were not disclosed, to ensure his judgment wouldn’t be compromised by loyalty of any kind.

  Licius was a wise Elf; his judgment alone had brought countless victories during the war in situations that no one else could win. And he knew the importance of this decision, for he had seen the recklessness of some men with his own eyes on the battlefield, but at the same time he had been fighting a war for over a century without gaining an inch on the Orcs. And after seeing the atrocities the Orcs had committed, he knew that it was a matter of time before something tipped the scale in the Orcs’ favor.

  “Even when I know this could mean the end of the world; if there is the slightest chance of finishing the Orcs we have to take it. Otherwise we will die on the battlefield, murdered by a weapon over which we have no control, or in the slow painful war of attrition we are facing against the Orcs. And trust me, once the Orcs breach our city walls, it won’t be pretty, for I have seen them in action and there is nothing sacred to those animals. They will pillage, rape and murder everything in their path. That is why I say yes to the proposition.”

  Licius response was immediately attacked by the Supreme Chancellor as the foolish opinion of an Elf in love with the queen and hoping to win her favor.

  “Yes, it is true that my heart desires the love of the queen,” said Licius. “But I did not know that she supported the proposition, nor that it was you who refused it. My judgment is clear and I stand by my decision with the strong belief that it is the best decision for our people… for the world.”

  Soon after the decision was made, King Varius White Knight, current ruler of the Humans, was summoned to the entrance of the Dark Forest to meet with Queen Alagossa. He had not been told why they were meeting; only that it was a meeting that could mean the end of the war.

  Varius was young for a king. His wife and his father had recently been killed in an Orc attack on the royal caravan, as they returned from a diplomatic mission at Nel Badhur. Having only his new-born son as family and feeling drowned in grief and helpless to protect the child, he accepted the invitation without thinking twice. Guarded by his elite paladins of The Order, he went to the meeting.

  Meanwhile, as the queen’s caravan prepared to leave the city, Licius stood on their way.

  “Queen Alagossa, it has been over a thousand years since you last left the city, and you do not know what horrors the Orcs have in store for you on your way. Please let me accompany you to keep you safe.” He kneeled if front of the royal caravan.

  But before the queen could answer the Supreme Chancellor replied,

  “It is obvious to everyone that your only intention is to try to win the queen’s heart. We need someone with a clear head to accompany and advise the queen. That is why it will be me who will accompany her. Besides, your military expertise will be needed to defend the city while we are gone.”

  “This is true,” said Queen Alagossa. “Please step aside, Licius, and let us pass. I am entrusting you with something much more important than my life, the safe keeping of the entire Elf race.”

  “As you wish, my queen,” replied Licius, regret in his voice as he stepped aside.

  ◆◆◆

  It took two weeks for a blood-covered Supreme Chancellor to return to the Elf city, claiming that the queen was dead and that he knew that they should have never trusted such powers to the Humans. He immediately blamed Licius for the tragedy and demoted him from high general to trainer of soldiers in the royal army barracks as punishment.

  Little of what happened the night of the meeting was known since the only survivor, the Elf Supreme Chancellor, refused to talk about the horrors he witnessed that night. The little information he shared was that during that night the Gaia stone was broken in half by King Varius as he tried to used it himself to end the war in that instant. Supreme Chancellor Bellestis was terrified, as he saw how the Human king´s eyes turn red and he started attacking even his own men, before collapsing due to the excess of power his body from holding the stone, which exploded, breaking in two. The explosion made the fortress collapse, killing everyone inside except for Bellestis who, by a miracle, was able to escape with nothing more than his life.

  As the Gaia stone broke in half, a huge exploding energy could be felt by all users of magic in the world. Almost all the magic power from the earth disappeared in an instant, leaving only a select few with a limited amount of power. Of all the magic users the new druids seemed to be the least affected by the new lack of magic the world was experiencing. This generated panic in the members of the Elf High Council, who feared the druids and ordered a purge. Very few druids managed to escape with their lives as they fled into the dark forest guided by Lizandra, knowing this would be the only place that the Elves wouldn’t follow them.

  The king and his guards never returned home. Terrified, the Humans turned against the Elves.

  Since Cylarias was by far the most vulnerable city due to its geographical location, the Elves know they wouldn’t be able to defend their city from both Orc and men. So they accepted their defeat and decided to escape their city during the night when the Humans had to retreat due to the Orc parties growing in numbers. And so they fled never to be seen again by men.

  The Humans soon realized that the city was impossible to defend from the Orcs. They retreated to the city of Logrant, knowing that they had nothing else to look for in the outside world and that the valley surrounding the city was the only protection they had.

  The Dwarfs had no idea of what happened in the past few months between men and Elves; they only knew that the few men in their stronghold were recalled to Logrant and that they were alone against the Orc menace. So they recalled their troops to Nel Badhur and prepared to see if their fortress could really withstand a one thousand-year siege.

  The Orc population began to increase and the only place left to attack was the Dwarven stronghold. So little by little the Orcs began to kill Dwarves in what it seemed to be an endless battle. It took ten years for the stubborn Dwarves to accept the fact that their precious Nel Badhur stronghold would not last forever.

  One night, as the Orcs where ga
thered around the Dwarf stronghold preparing for battle, the gates of Nel Badhur opened. Immediately the Orcs ran inside, ready to kill all the Dwarves in sight, but there were none to be found. The stronghold was deserted and it immediately became the new Orc citadel.

  The Dwarves had retreated to the mining caves and sealed the entrance behind them, abandoning the world but saving their race in the process.

  And it is in this caves where our story really begins.

  Chapter 1

  The Dwarf

  Two thousand years had passed since what many considered the end of the Great War.

  When the Dwarves abandoned Nel Badhur, they took all the blacksmithing and mining equipment as well as farming tools that they could carry. Leaving all books and traces of their culture behind, only the basic aspects of their culture endured the passage of time. And as the years went by, the once powerful, proud and technologically advanced Dwarves were reduced to angry drunks that did nothing but mine and drink their lives away as they submerged their honor in ale.

  It became a case of survival of the fittest as the hard conditions of their life with no sunlight and little air left no room for the weak to grow.

  They started practicing polygamy since only the strong male Dwarf could survive and provide for the female Dwarves; this was seen as a symbol of power and social status; the more wives a Dwarf male had the stronger he was considered by the other Dwarves. And no Dwarf had more wives than Brolim - Named for the unbreakable metal Bronium, he was by far the strongest, bravest, loudest, drunkest and most revered Dwarf. He was so strong that he carved a shield form Bronium.

  The shield was crooked and misshaped but the simple act of working with Bronium made him by far the strongest Dwarf in history and he had nineteen wives to prove it.

  Stundroff, or Stumpy as he was known, was Brolim´s little brother. Stundroff was a short Dwarf with a big nose, skinny arms and long silver hair. Overshadowed by his older brother since birth, he was ridiculed by the entire Dwarf community, all except for his one and only friend Garim, who walked with him every day from his house to the quarry and then to the tavern.