The Star of Amalore

By Mark P. Kolba

Kirian awaits his execution with but one hope remaining for survival: that he will be chosen as a companion by the Star of Amalore, to guard and protect her just as she protects the city of Amalore with her power. When the Star denies him, Kirian hears her refusal as the toll of the gallows-bell, not realizing that a deeper intrigue is at work and that he has been chosen for service after all—for service that may yet grant him life, if it doesn’t kill him first.

The Star of Amalore is a 9,400 word fantasy short story.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mark P. Kolba
• Release date: Apr 11, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301160556

Mark P. Kolba

Mark P. Kolba lives in northwest Indiana with his lovely wife and daughter, and he has enjoyed reading and writing epic fantasy for many years. Growing up, he was steeped in the world of The Lord of the Rings (what fantasy fan wasn’t?) and found himself fascinated by tales of adventure, magic, and battles between great forces of good and evil. Tales that provided a fun and exciting escape from the real world yet also resonated long after the story was finished. He hopes that through his own writing he is able to open windows to worlds that are full of wonder, struggle, and fantastical delight. He hopes that you find his stories to be a place where adventure begins. And he hopes that you come along for the ride.

Book preview

The Star of Amalore

by Mark P. Kolba

Copyright 2013 Mark P. Kolba

Smashwords Edition

All Rights Reserved

The Star of Amalore

The Star of Amalore smiled as she sentenced him to death. Kirian, she said softly, you have not been chosen.

His gut lurched and he found it difficult to draw breath. He hadn’t expected this. Hadn’t they mindmelded during his interview?

A hundred protests fought towards his lips, and for a moment he fumbled to find the best, the most persuasive, the one that could make her change her mind. But in his heart he knew it was foolishness. She had made her choice, just as he had made his, and now he would be herded back to his underground cell to await the executioner’s blade.

He fixed his gaze on her one last time. When he’d met her three days ago, she had so enchanted him with her beauty and her presence that he’d almost forgotten he was trying to win her to save his life. He’d found it difficult to keep his eyes from wandering across her face and neck and shoulders, admiring her delicate features and soft curves. But she looked so different now that the initiation ceremony had been completed. Powerful. Her face was chiseled, as if cut from marble. Soft blue tendrils of light swirled round her head and hands and gathered together in a luminescent coil that twisted up into the blue-domed ceiling—her power was already at work, laying a shield around the walls and towers of Amalore.

She met his eyes and stared back at him, and for a moment he thought he glimpsed sorrow. A thought pressed against his mind: It is better this way.

No, he responded. No, it’s not.

Kirian took a deep breath to calm himself, and he willed strength to his shaking legs. He marched to the rear of the starchamber, taking his place next to the dozen others who had also been rejected. He didn’t look at them, didn’t care to see their sympathetic smiles and haughty smirks. They weren’t going to die. They would go back to their lives as soldiers and apprentices and craftsman and drunks. He was the only criminal of the lot, the only one with two jailers hovering close behind, waiting for a nod from the guards to whisk him back to his cell. His execution was scheduled for the next morning, an hour after sunrise.

The remainder of the ceremony passed quickly. From a distance, the Star of Amalore looked delicate again, a raven-haired girl in translucent silver robes who perched atop a silver and blue-twined throne that blossomed from a circular dais like a moonlily. Beside her stood the three young companions she had already selected. She looked down at