Along the Many Houses of Damnation

By R. Janvier del Valle

Under his teacher's orders, Jeskun takes Vohro's horse, Dahkar, and makes his way southward towards the moorlands, where the Davinian School lies, in order for him to meet and train with Mastro Siel, who is head of the First Blades of the School of Daví. But during the journey, things take a turn for the worse when he runs into Wesper Forest, a hundred-mile long woodland region forsaken by the ugliest of spirits, full of thousands of trails and paths specifically made to confuse the traveler, sending Jeskun down a perilous whirlwind of mental anguish--and into the arms of a horrific creature.

This installment introduces a new character, Wenden (Wend) Nahn of the Wespering Clan, a fiery young huntress who begins to clash heads with Jeskun from the outset of their first encounter.

Series No. 3: Along the Many Houses of Damnation: 25,500 words (the equivalent to 65 paperback pages). Includes illustrations.

• Language: English
• Publisher: R. Janvier del Valle
• Release date: Feb 6, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301993895

R. Janvier del Valle

R. Janvier del Valle holds a Bachelor of Business Administration from Kennesaw State University and a Master of Theological Studies from Spring Hill College. He has worked in the Advertising, Marketing, and Communications industries for over ten years and has taught a number of classes in philosophy and theology to adults as well as children.He resides with his wife and daughter in Georgia. When he isn't writing, he's sleeping. And when he's not sleeping, he's spending time with his family, running, hiking, hitting the gym, watching movies, buying overpriced one-sixth scale action figures, studying and reading philosophy and theology, and most of all, collecting pointy, shiny things that tend to gleam of a certain silver whenever exposed to the moonlit eventide."In necesariis unitas, in dubiis libertas, in omnibus caritas."

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OTHER BOOKS BY R. JANVIER del VALLE

SWORD FROM THE SKY SERIES (NOVELS)

Book One: The Blade School of Daví

Book II: Onward Unto An Endless Night (2013)

THE DEAF SWORDSMAN SERIES (NOVELLAS)

No. 1: Children of a Sunless Land

No. 2: The Abandoned Asylum of the Good Doctor Fangtasahd

No. 4: Beauty in a Land of Sorrow

No. 5: Where the Frost Reigns (2013)

No. 6: The Golden Queen (2013)

No. 7: The Veil of Vanity (2013)

No. 8: The Hound of the Moon (2013)

No. 9: Escape from the Sunless Land (2013)

SILAS DE SAN MICHEL MYSTERY SERIES (NOVELS)

To Kill and Kill Again (2013)

"The man was a marriage of monk and savage, of scholar and assassin…a brute at times, he had a touch of the pagan barbarian…yet was the brightest of philosophers and had the grace of a spirited healer. On a quest to find his missing child, he took to a higher calling, driven by something greater, as if that one mission was just an excuse to truly enact his divine destiny. Restless and sour as the dank, gray air of the moon, he was reliable in only one respect--he was wired since birth to destroy evil--in all manners, in all forms. This was the deaf swordsman, Vohro Vahllenu--the man with nine blades."

ALONG THE MANY HOUSES OF DAMNATION

"THEY’RE GAINING ON US!" SAID A YELLOW-MANED BOY, galloping on a mighty horse whose thunder-hooves crashed against a mud-laden earth. The boy and his horse screamed through the horizon like lightning shooting sideways from the darkest of clouds, in the clearest of fields--fields that were rich in dark green and grayish hues, the product of a land molested by torrential rains and devastating tornadoes. Faraway in the breath of the rolling dusk, the boy rode with all his might, searching for a way out of his exposed position and into something more clandestine and secure.

Dahkar, look up ahead! said Jeskun with his golden hair swimming in the wind. There’s something dark on the other side of that hill, like a large forest. The boy hunched down closer to his horse, grabbing and tugging at the reins, giving Dahkar as much motivation as possible in order to gain as much speed as possible. We cannot outrun the children for much longer.

In swift pursuit of the boy and his horse were three characters birthed from pure evil, riding on black creatures that were a cross between monstrous bulls merged with Clydesdales horses. They were about two hundred yards out with their speed constantly increasing, riding as if the devil’s dragon rode behind them with fire on their heels, giving them that extra push needed to catch up to their prey.

Jeskun rode down the hill and saw an expansive forest in the distant fog, a terrain large enough to cover hundreds of miles. This would be his escape from his pursuers. Something in his mind told him that he would be able to lose them there, for, though the boy never knew his place of birth, he did recall feeling a sensation of comfort anytime he would venture into a large forest, as if he was truly birthed from one of Esterra’s many woodland realms.

Faster, Dahkar! We’re almost there!

Dahkar picked up his pace, and the horse could see the forest up ahead, just out of their reach, but not for long. As the horse galloped, his thoughts were infinitely displaced, for he wasn’t concerned with any immediate threats. The only thing on his mind was the loss of his recent master and long-time friend, Vohro of Bune, who appeared to have perished some weeks ago in a battle against a hideous creature. Vohro was Jeskun’s teacher, and the student was now the horse’s new rider, and even though Dahkar loved the boy dearly, he missed his former master even more so. It had seemed that the forces of evil had taken away one rider from him, and he was not about to let it take away another, especially one as innocent as the yellow-maned boy riding on his back. Dahkar’s eyes widened, his spirit grew like a giant’s, and he sped towards the forest like a rocket towards the moon.

The boy and his horse broke into the forest’s barrier, darting through thickened brush and heavy foliage until they came upon a large, obvious path, clearly paved for travelers, as if the forest was offering up an enticing invitation. Once they reached the path, they stopped to survey the surrounding terrain.

So, what do you think, Dahkar? said Jeskun. Should we make our way into the forest?

Dahkar remained still, caught by the eeriness of the landscape. The trees towered up to the sky, with some almost reaching ten stories high; they were so furiously clustered that the dawning sun became asthmatic, barely peeking through the small slits of open air.

Jeskun looked towards the heart of the forest, and in the distance he saw a number of paths diverging in all directions, nothing short of a dizzying maze. The shadows inside the trees seemed to sway within themselves as if they were animated, alive in a sense. He focused on the tops of the trees and discovered them being grouped in a certain way, leaning against each other in certain arrangements, as if it was not by randomness that they stood hunched together.

The trees have patterns, said Jeskun. This forest--has people. This is their home. They use the trees. That’s how they move. Don’t ask me how I know that, Dahkar. I just do. Yet, I don’t know if they’re people--or creatures.

They’re neither, said a voice jumping out some brush a few yards from them.

Quickly, Dahkar moved back a number of feet, and Jeskun grabbed the reins, ready to gallop at a moment’s notice.

Who said that? said Jeskun, wary of the answer.

A form slithered out of the nearby brush as if the forest spat a wad of shadow onto the solemn path. The form raised itself up and grew limbs, and once the asthmatic sun took a liking to the form, its identity was revealed.

I’m Wend, said the girl, and you’re a stranger to this forest.

This is your forest? said Jeskun. "So these are your trees?"

No, said the girl, revealing a bright, jagged blade sticking out of her hand, not ours. My people live within the heart of the forest, in a modest village. We rarely venture out into the perimeter. The border doesn’t belong to us.

Jeskun examined every inch of the young girl. From what he could tell, she was around his age and had a body like a lean predator, but her lips were full and her eyes big and glamorous, yet she was strange in appearance, for the color of her eyes, lips, and hair were forest green, as if the color palette of the forest had sunk into her people’s genes, creating a magnificent and beautiful forest dweller. In contrast, her skin was as pale as milk, and sparsely covering her cheeks and forearms where light, forest-green freckles. Protecting her body was an armor of refined leather, polished with beautiful and intricate designs, nothing short of spectacular.

Why are you out here then? said Jeskun, finding it hard to keep his composure; he was quite taken by the beautiful girl.

Hunting, said Wend, gesturing to the bow and arrows strapped to her back. And you and your clumsy horse are standing on one of my traps.

Huh? said Jeskun. He lowered his eyes to the ground and caught a vision of a complicated net, large enough to capture a number of horses along with their riders. Oh, I didn’t mean to do that.

Move away, child, before you get yourself thrown into the air like a small animal, she said, approaching him.

Child? said Jeskun, his pride hurt. What do you mean small animal? Dahkar squealed