Shifted Earth: The Rose Gold Blade

By Steven Wilkerson

When an average, graduating high school senior is walking into work, he finds himself taking an unexpected and fantastic detour. Jason soon finds out that fantasy is not always a dream; it can also be a nightmare when he is taken prisoner by a beautiful girl. It is not too long before the despair of his captivity becomes overwhelming, but rescue comes. The strangers he finds himself with turn to him as the prophesied one. He also comes face to face with their dragon, who extorts his help to defeat an invading army that is intent on removing every dragon from the earth. Untrained and lacking the prerequisite skills of a hero, Jason must discover what type of man he is. Is he the hero that they need, or has the fates played a cruel joke on them all?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Steven Wilkerson
• Release date: Dec 10, 2011
• ISBN: 9781465769657

Book preview

Shifted Earth: The Rose Gold Blade

Steven Wilkerson

published by Steven Wilkerson at SmashWord

Copyright 2011 Steven Wilkerson

Smashwords License Statement 

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each reader. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Table of Contents:

Chapter 1 What the—

Chapter 2 Rescue

Chapter 3 Decisions

Chapter 4 Many Questions

Chapter 5 The Longest Night

Chapter 6 The Power of Education

Chapter 7 The Journey

Chapter 8 The Appointment

Chapter 9 Fallen Night

Chapter 10 Interrupted Return

Chapter 11 The Return

Chapter 12 Training

Chapter 13 The Strike

Chapter 14 The March

Chapter 15 The Calm

Chapter 16 The Darkest Night

Chapter 17 Truths and Lies

Chapter 18 The Storm

Chapter 19 The Brightest Day

Chapter 20 Beginning Ends

Chapter 1 What the—

The clock ticks away as Jason sits drumming his fingers on the desk waiting for the final bell as Mr. Kendall continues his lecture Pyrrhic War.

I think it is important that everyone remembers the Battle of Asculum. Mr. Kendall says as he continues his lecture, we’ve all heard the term Pyrrhic victory. It is the term used to express a victory at too high a cost. King Pyrrhic is reported to have said, If we are victorious in one more battle with the Romans, we shall be utterly ruined", I tell you this to make sure that you remember that victory can be as bad or as worse than defeat.

The bell finally rings and Jason half-asleep grabs his books and shuffles out into the hallway. At his locker he crams his books into his backpack preparing for another fun weekend of work and studying. Of course Peter, his know it all friend, stops by still overly excited about his acceptance letters.

Jason, Peter calls out, I have something to tell you!

Jason gritting his teeth, What did you get another acceptance letter making your decision that much harder. In all honesty is not Jason is not angry with Pete but with himself for he knows where he is going to college, and it’s not some prestigious school far away it is down the street at the community college.

Yes, but that’s not what I have to tell you. Peter says, I’ll be going on a campus tour a couple weeks after we graduate and I was hoping I could drag you along so I could have some fun.

Jason takes a moment before answering, If you want fun why don’t you take Aaron is a party animal in our little gang?

Peter laughs, I want to have fun not end up in some comedy where we end up in South Africa or something like that.

Okay I will think about it but I do not know if I will be able to get off work, Jason begrudgingly says, Speaking of work I have to get home and go get ready.

****

Jason pulls his decade-old Ford Focus into the parking space and glances at the storefront of Comebuy where he has worked since he was sixteen. With graduation around the corner, he fears that this will be his future. He pockets his keys and grabs his backpack and throws it on one shoulder in discussed, exiting the car with a sense of apprehension. With a hesitant gaze he considers his future. Is he destined to continue this bland life? As he dreads the long walk across the parking lot, he asks himself, Why do we have to park so far out? His complaint is interrupted by his cell phone. Upon checking Caller ID, he sees it is Aaron, his lifelong friend who always seems to call at the exactly right or wrong moment, though which depends on your perspective.

Jason answers his phone. I can't believe your timing. I'm on my way into work right now.

Saturday you don’t work right? I got a party lined up for us and you have to come, Aaron replies.

I can't go and party like you; regrettably I don't have an allowance that allows me to just have fun.

Yeah, but me and Sheila—

I told you to stay away from that girl, Jason interrupts. You're the one that told me I had good taste in women?

You’re just mad about her dissing you. Besides that, she has a hot friend, Aaron insists.

Okay, what's the difference between judge of character and judge of women? Jason prods, but Aaron is relentless. Jason finally starts to wear down and agrees, Okay, I can go out tomorrow night and meet her friend. I will just have to push studying for finals to…

Before Jason can finish his sentence a flash—the world goes white around him and in a split moment, he realizes that he is not going to make it into work today. He is no longer walking through the parking lot, no longer approaching the store. In shock he finishes, Sunday. He continues muttering trying to come to grips, cars to trees, asphalt to dirt. He begins to shake as the reality of what just happened starts to sink in.

He checks his cell phone realizing the call has been dropped and he has no signal. He looks around and realizes that he must be in a forest, but where? Not even the phone GPS is working. In disgust, he spouts off about them having the most comprehensive network in the world and then he starts laughing as the depth of the problem he now faces dawns on him.

It takes him a while to come to calm down and begin to accept what just happened. It is not too long before he starts looking around and begins debating about his next course of action. He remembers Peter telling him to watch that survival show. He mouths off in disgust again, I hate it when he's right.

Slipping through the trees, Jason starts to wander around as he tries to figure out what to do next. Should he climb a hill or try to follow a river? Of course he would have to find one first. He sees a hill in the distance, which should give him a better view around him and decides that it would be the best place to start. He puts his phone away as he starts walking toward the hill.

It does not take him long before the boredom of the walk starts to get to him and he begins to wonder about how he came to be here. He thinks about aliens and tries to make a joke of it. Aliens and not those illegal type but space aliens. He laughs, not at the joke, but at how bad it was. At least it is keeping up his spirits.

He quickly moves on to blaming wormholes. They move you around, right? Then he finally comes to a government conspiracy. Why not? This is how they'll begin, right? Of course, he cannot fathom why anyone would do this to him.

When he reaches the top Jason begins to survey the land. Out of the corner of his eye he catches movement and jerks his head to focus on it. He sees an animal that he first mistakes for a deer but then notices that the horns and legs are wrong; they are too thick and the snout is too long. This is no animal that he has ever seen at the zoo.

After staring at it for what seemed like minutes it finally notices him. Jason tries to back away but it is too late; the creature starts to charge. In frenzied panic, Jason runs all the way down the hill that he had just climbed. His heart is pounding so hard that he can hear his own pulse. By the time he reaches the bottom of the hill he can barely breathe and his vision has narrowed, focusing on each step in front of him. The fear and adrenaline is the only thing keeping him running as the creature continues the chase.

He thinks to himself, Why is this thing chasing me? He fears that it is a carnivore. Then a thought enters his mind, Would it not be funny to be eaten by a deer, except the fact that he is about to be that person! He senses the strange creature gaining on him. He finally breaks through some thick brush to find a path made mostly of dirt with stones randomly scattered about. He races down the path but knows that his average body cannot keep going like this for much longer. He continues running as his life begins to flash before his eyes; it is about to be over and there is nothing he can do. His eyes begin to water as the emotions start to take over and the comprehension of what is about to happen starts to overcome the panic. Behind him he hears the beast fall. He glances back and sees a bolt imbedded in the head of the creature.

He stops and hunches over to catch his breath. His vision begins to clear and in the distance he is able to make out a group of strangely dressed people moving towards him. Most of them are dressed in dark brown leather with a patch depicting a strange symbol that looks like a pyramid with an obelisk inside it. They are carrying swords and several are also wielding crossbows. Even stranger are the animals that they ride, creatures with four legs that could almost be mistaken for a horse, but their necks are longer and their snouts are shorter and more narrow than a horse and they have a short blunt horn on it. Their legs are also stockier like that of a Clydesdale from the beer ads and their tail is more like a lion’s. Attached to each saddle of the strange mounts are several long spears.

A young raven-haired girl steps down from her mount and approaches him in advance of the others. She is dressed differently from rest of the group. While her outfit appears to be leather, it is a single-piece black bodysuit with a slight sheen. The outfit is well made and tailored to fit. Along with the full bodysuit is a skirt that is split all the way down the front and back and a jacket that accentuates her figure, both covered in metal studs. Even though the outfit is tight around her body, there seems to be just enough material around the joints to allow her to move with ease.

When she finally strolls close enough, Jason catches a good look at her face and notices almost no expression on it. He quickly realizes that she is carrying a weapon in her hand, a long shaft with a blade at one end that narrows into a sharp point. He recognizes it as a glaive from all of the video games that he has played.

Jason stands up straight while still trying to catch his breath and then begins to move toward her to thank them for saving him. With his arm outstretched to shake her hand, he catches a burst of motion followed by a sharp pain and then nothing as he loses consciousness.

****

Jason wakes up lying on the ground with his hands behind his back in manacles. His head throbs in pain. Apparently the mystery woman must have struck him and knocked him out. He wonders how long he was out. With his head pounding in agony, he is only able to keep his eyes open for a couple moments before the pain forces him to shut them again. With a flutter he re-opens them and sees some of the men that he thought were going to save him looking through his bag in astonishment at the ordinary items inside it. He continues to look around and finds several others butchering the animal that had been chasing him. He then realizes that the scary raven-haired girl is missing.

As he tries to stand he looks around trying to figure out what has happened they notice that he is finally awake. They speak to one another in a language he has never heard, not even in the movies. The sound of footsteps comes from behind him and Jason quickly turns to see the girl approaching him. He cannot help but stare into her deep blue eyes which are eerily empty. She grabs him and speaks in that unfamiliar language. After a moment, she strikes him with her gloved hand and speaks again.

Jason, not knowing what she wants, simply answers, I don't understand what you want. This seems to enrage her for she throws him to the ground with more force than her small frame should be able to produce. Jason's shoulders reel in pain for his hands are still chained behind his back and the impact tears at his shoulders. As the force of impact nearly dislocating his shoulder and courses through him, he cries out in pain, and again she speaks. He feels hope abandoning him and again he tries to talk to her but again she strikes him.

One of the others speaks and she release Jason and quickly approaches the one who interrupted her and the man’s face goes white out of terror. She yells at him for a moment and then regains her composure as he seems to apologize or beg for forgiveness, probably the latter he thinks. She almost reminds Jason of some of the more erratic girls in class. She turns toward the men that were rifling through his bag and has a long discussion with them before returning to Jason, clutching his calculator. She indicates the device and again says something incomprehensible, which he can only guess is that she is curious about its function. Jason moves toward her and tries to explain but she catches him off guard with a violent kick to the chest, knocking him back to the ground before stomping on him, yelling furiously all the while. Returning the calculator to his bag, she approaches one of the strange mounts and takes something out a small, handsomely crafted ornate box out of a pack lying on its side.

The raven-haired girl approaches Jason again and opens the box. The interior looks like a toolkit combined with a makeup case. She then proceeds to take out a needle and dip it in one of the oily powders. Putting all her weight on Jason’s body, she pins him to the ground before scratching his face with the needle. Jason feels like his face is on fire as the needle probes his skin. Almost panicking, he wants to rip his own face off but after a tense moment, the scorching pain begins to subside.

She speaks again, pauses, and then scratches him again. After the pain finally ebbs, she takes the needle back to the case and dips it in a different powder. Seeing this, Jason struggles savagely in his captor’s grasp, but she seems to know exactly how to hold him down with seemingly little effort. She laughs a little but still her eyes are as cold and empty as the void of space.

As she continues her strange ritual, Jason notices that she seems to be getting no enjoyment out of it, and yet she continues without a pause. This time it is a stinging sensation that spreads across his face—like the worst bee sting imaginable. She smiles at him and speaks again but nothing has changed for her words are still incomprehensible. Once again he tries to explain his situation. She still is not pleased by his futile words and scratches him again.

She continues working on him for the next few minutes, almost as if she expects some different result to come of it. He cries out in pain with each additional scratch until he feels the ground begin to vibrate. Shortly, the thundering sound of hoof beats almost drowns out his screaming. Two of the strange mounts gallop toward them but only one has a rider. As the lone rider reaches them he leaps off his mount and cautiously waits. The scary girl leaves Jason alone for the time being and approaches the new arrival, who bows his head, avoiding eye contact with her. Jason suddenly realizes that they will not look her in the eyes for some reason. Lone rider tells her something, and then she brusquely gives an order. Without pause all the men go to work. Jason cannot get a troubling thought out his mind: Who is this girl that can terrify grown men?

Presently, they move off the trail and set up camp in the woods. It would have been better if that animal had gotten me Jason thinks as the torturer approaches him again with the box. Jason tries to get up and run but she kicks him with no hesitation back to the ground, as if he only was a stray animal. As the animal roasts drips of fat globs on the fire, sending up sizzling clouds of smoke, Jason screams as she continues torturing him. Jason cannot help but notice that the others try very hard to ignore his screams, but whether out of fear or pity, he cannot tell.

After a seeming eternity one of the men approaches very warily and waits to be acknowledged. The raven-haired girl almost looks like she is counting as the man stands patiently by. They all eat their dinner ravenously and the men talk amongst themselves, occasionally chuckling at what must be a crude joke. The girl sits apart from them. Jason cannot figure out if this is because she feels superior to them or if she does not feel comfortable in their boisterous male company.

Wiping her fingers on her with a nicely made cloth, the girl gets up and approaches him. With a fake smirk, she throws a piece of meat on the ground in front of his face. He takes a moment to think but his stomach gets the better of his eyes. He gnaws on the meat like a wild thing, not caring about the spectacle he makes of himself as she watches, lording over him and his predicament.

After he finishes the dirty meat she walks back over to him, then locks a collar with a leash tightly around his neck and drags him towards the center of camp. She prepares for bed by removing the studded clothing. She is almost seductive in her motions. Jason can tell that the others are trying not to look, but some of them cannot help casting furtive glances her way. Before she lies down on her mat she attaches the other end of Jason’s leash to her belt. Jason curls up and tries to get comfortable on the hard ground but is afraid that if he moves too much she might wake up. Sighing, he knows he is in for a restless night.

The morning comes all too quickly for Jason. He is exhausted from lack of sleep and his thoughts constantly wander to his family and friends. Emotionally drained, he starts to accept the fact that he cannot endure this vile treatment indefinitely. The pain, the suffering is too much to bear. He thinks long on how to escape but soon realizes that, even if he were successful, where is there to go? He does not even know where he is or even if there is a safe place to hide.

Soon, as the sun rises in the east—or, rather, what he was calling east—the men start preparing breakfast and breaking down camp. Kneeling, the scary girl spends the morning in what seems to be prayer or meditation. Jason counts himself lucky that at least she is not torturing him for the moment. His captors eat and toss him some scraps, but the humiliation of not being able to use his hands is also getting to him. Hatred boils in his blood with each demeaning and painful act he is subjected to.

Not too long after, they mount their creatures and ride off, with Jason on foot running alongside the raven-haired girl, with the leash now attached to the saddle. After a couple hours Jason is exhausted but is afraid that if he slows down she will just drag him behind like a bag of dirty clothes. They finally approach a large town, which gives Jason mixed feelings, for he still has no clue about what is going on.

Through sweat-soaked eyes, Jason observes that the town is constructed in consecutive rings. The outermost one is the largest and consists of many small wooden buildings, boxy and plain with very little aesthetic appeal. A wooden wall separates the next ring, and the buildings inside are definitely not that of the masses for even though they are still constructed with the same materials the greater craftsmanship is apparent and they are painted and well-maintained reminding him of those European villages. At the center of the town is a stone wall, protecting what looks like a keep.

They ride up the main road into town and follow it till they reach the market on the outskirts. Jason notices that all the bystanders look upon the troupe with mingled fear and anger. He does not know what is going on but he can feel the tension that their presence is causing. The men dismount and aggressively clear the people from around a table and inspect it for strength. The scary girl rides up to the table and leaps upon it. Placing her hands on her hips, she holds her chin aloft and assumes a haughty demeanor.

She starts speaking and her loud voice carries far, as if she has had training in oratory. The restless crowd grows angrier at each word she speaks. As she continues Jason looks for an opportunity to escape, scanning the crowd for anyone that might be able to help. He notices something strange from around the corner: a completely covered figure apparently trying