The Wyrmling

By Mark Marcelo

When nine-year-old Abby accidentally entered a strange house in the middle of nowhere, she thought it to be filled with magick and whimsical creatures that were willing to help her find her way back home. But the more she uncovers the mysteries of the place, the more she realizes that her true journey was just getting started. And the deeper she goes to find solution to the dilemma of the nightmare world preventing her escape, the more she will come to learn that her existence was really meant for something worse.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mark Marcelo
• Release date: May 17, 2013
• ISBN: 9781301315659

Mark Marcelo

Mark Marcelo is a self-professed author with his mind tied to endless possibilities of everything around him. In his spare time away from the bedlam of freelance designing, he crafts worlds and people into tales of courage, valor, and self-sacrifice. Being a perfectionist, the making of the Asharkhind Saga was both a dream and nightmare to him. In that only a few good ideas from the start have inspired him to write it, but several dark elements have presented themselves along the way that made the story much deeper than originally intended.

Book preview

The Wyrmling

Book One of the Reign of the Asharkhind Saga

By Mark Marcelo

Smashwords Edition

Copyright 2013 Mark Marcelo

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. 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.

This story is dedicated to you, dear reader, for having the courage to pick up the book and the willingness to undergo a journey most people may find disturbing. That in the many dark places within may your mind be stirred into terrified imaginings, which in turn may become your soul's respite from the complacence of a mundane life, or the mirror from which you might see the world you truly live in.

Table of Contents

Prologue

Chapter One – The Stronghold

Chapter Two – The Guardian of Stone

Chapter Three – An Ancient in Hiding

Chapter Four – The Price of Power

Chapter Five – Curse of the Chrysalis

Chapter Six – Birth of the White Wyrm

Chapter Seven – The Mouth of Amurthag

Chapter Eight – Hunger from the Past

Chapter Nine – Serpent Slayer

Chapter Ten – Sanctuary of Forgotten Tomes

Chapter Eleven – Counsel of the Scorned

Chapter Twelve – The Passage

Chapter Thirteen – Imprisoned Flame

Chapter Fourteen – The Maggot’s Tale

Chapter Fifteen – Cult of the Pallid Grace

Chapter Sixteen – Tainted Hope

Chapter Seventeen – The Obsidian Crown

Chapter Eighteen – Braving the Labyrinth

Chapter Nineteen – The House of Desolation

Chapter Twenty – Severance of Fate

Epilogue

Prologue

(back to top)

Ash and embers do mix not,

Harsh red burns while grays do rot.

– Passage XII,

Lamentations in the Dark

The Asharkhind Cycle

*****

Abby lost her way through the night.

She tried leaving the meadows earlier to go home, but she and her friends were having fun for quite some time after a whole week of exams. School year was over and the start of a long vacation had barely begun. So she stayed with them for a little while, just to celebrate their redemption from the hardwood desks that filled their company everyday.

She only started to leave when they all agreed their respective mothers would be by the doorway, holding their whipping sticks by the time they got home. And so they all separated ways at the same time after exchanging their goodbyes to one another.

Venice went on her way, taking the road east that stretched over a small mound before descending again over the fields of grass. Julien and Darylle strode westward, passing below the archway made by trees along the road leading to their home. Kristof sped off north, zigzagging on the wide area overlooking the mountains where they always lie down to catch their breath after playing tag. And finally, Abby darted south upon the winding road made by low rock formations that were as whimsical as the fireflies dancing overhead.

I should have left for home earlier when I noticed the reddening of the sky. Now it's really beginning to get dark and I'm afraid I might lose my way, Abby sighed as she ran, her bag swinging wildly by her side.

She ran faster as soon as she noticed that the woods have started to disappear over the horizon, indicating that night had finally come.

Running as if she would ride the winds that pillaged the fields, she thought of slowing herself to a jog. The cold night air and a sense of warmth from the glowing fireflies around her relaxed her mind. So she began to slow herself down, but unknowingly closed her eyes.

As she ran on the dark dirt road, allowing the cool night breeze to kiss her face and caress her short, black hair, she told herself, I know the way ahead, let my feet lead me to where they wish me led.

She ran, and then ran some more, all the while imagining the dust clouds her shoes were making every afternoon running on this trail, with all the lazy colors the autumn leaves have made, and how her friends' laughter filled her heart every time they played here.

How I wish I would never have to leave them, she whispered silently. So silent and solemn that it became a prayer on its own. But little did she know that the night was listening.

Chapter One

The Stronghold

(back to top)

Abby covered a fair length of the road leading home while her eyes remained shut against its remaining span ahead of her. Her shoes thumped, and scratched, and ground minute granules of rock that lay helplessly about, yet never did she find the care where upon the road she might end up. The ground continued to be of fine dirt and had straightened its course long before the girl closed her eyes. To a stubborn dreamer like her, getting lost was not something to be worried of if this was the case.

It has always been that way each time I come here. But that doesn't mean I will reach my house in no time following what I always tread on by ear, she admitted to herself.

Running with her head angled slightly upward, her chin leading the way while feeling the wind caressing her face, she forced herself to stop, panting lightly at first. Then, heavy breathing came when her body struggled to pull herself up, as if wanting to run some more, keeping the pace she just ended abruptly. Slowly opening her eyes, Abby saw nothing but complete darkness. A cold, heavy fog surrounded her, freezing her nose and drying her throat.

Blaming herself for running with eyes closed, she waited for her vision to adjust. Finally, when her wits started to sense something wasn't right, she kicked her left foot forward only to rustle a bunch of grass.

She stooped down and slowly crouched before looking from left to right. Having browsed the entire area, all she saw was a small part of what seemed to be a wide swath of grasslands. Not that it wasn't there before; what mattered to her was that the sharp left turn on the road that must lead to her house wasn't there at all, as the assortment of shrubs and trees were missing from where she should be able to make out their shape against the mountains' gray mirage. This place may not be a part of the meadows they usually play at, yet a light forest should at least be somewhere she can distinguish as her familiar guide when going home.

Abby was soon filled with worry when she finally realized this was not the usual track she had taken before.

Where am I? she asked herself, tears welling up in her eyes.

Once again, she scanned the immediate area where she stood and saw nothing but the entire field covered in darkness.

Grasslands began right at the tip of her shoes, marking the end of the dirt road. And as if mocking her and adding more to her torment, the air stopped momentarily and back again after a while. On and on, the wind gave her company one second and gone the next. The wind dance was different than normal, this she could tell. It felt like there was this really big head hovering somewhere, blowing right at where she stood.

It felt so unreal, more like dead. Even the cold of night did not seem to be alive.

Standing alone in the field, Abby thought about her little sister and their mother. I don't know where my feet led me to. I wonder if Anne's still waiting for me by the front door with her doll. And how could mother be fairing now that I couldn't help her prepare our supper?

Something shuffled in front of her, making her stumble back, shaking. What was that! she yelped. Her eyes followed the movement along the grass, as if something as big as a cat sped into the blackness beyond.

She followed it with an attentive gaze until she could see it no more. Then, as she tried to discern something that would explain where the movement went to, a faint flash of lightning from afar illuminated what might be a very old shack standing in the middle of the field.

Another thread of lightning ensued, and some features were shed to what looked like an abandoned house.

Who lives in this place? She asked herself as she moved her head sideways, thinking all the sane reasons how somebody would end up living here so far from others. For she could discern, even in the thick darkness of the night, that the house was only accompanied by no less than a vast grassland stretching far into the mountains beyond.

Abby made herself all the more frightened as her inquiry made her look back at the direction where she came from. There, down the dirt road, something made the nine-year-old girl freeze in place.

She held a hand up to her mouth as she gasped in horror of what she saw – looking at her with its sharp, lidless eyes was an abomination having the head of a large snake topping a long, enormous serpentine body. Running along its back from the pinnacle of its head was a coarse, crimson mane, writhing down to the ground to cover little of its two clawed hands. The thing was not moving, it seemed dead-frozen where it stood; its deadlock stare told Abby only one thing.

– Whatever it was, it wanted her.

Suddenly, it snorted and started clawing its hands on the ground, desperately pulling its weight towards her. And though without any hind legs, the creature seemed incredibly strong to be able to move swiftly for her to notice the strange feat. Its seemingly hungry stare was never broken, while its jaws began to part into a dreaded smile of anticipation. Ever drawing closer, its fangs were unveiled; frightening to anyone even to people as fearless as her late father.

Panic pinned her knees down, stripping her of any chance to jump for her life. But fear accepts no hesitation as she found the strength to push herself up from where she was sitting, and ran all the way to the house in the middle of the blackened field. There, she thought, would be the walls that will shelter her from whatever it was crawling behind.

She ran and ran, faster than she had run on the fields with her friends; faster than she had run before she reached the end of the dirt road, never minding if she will hit the door hard enough to be able to stumble inside. But as soon as she slammed right at the wall of the seemingly defiant fortress, no door welcomed her frantic search. The roughened stones betrayed her hope of a quick escape from the maddening terror tailing her. She leapt from side to side, but never found any way of getting in.

Abby turned back to see the creature slithering ever faster than before, with its mouth wide open in a maniac smile as if tasting her by the scent of raw fear in the air. With ever-nearing approach, the hideous creature wailed a shriek that flooded her of terror; the kind of which no nightmare animal could mimic as it neared its bite.

She pressed herself hard against the wall, with fingers flailing mad like worms on a bed of salt. And as her head leaned to the right, she shut her eyes real tight while her cheeks savored the rough stones of the uncaring house. Then, as the night spawn sprung for its attack, a loud crack exploded into the night!

An ear-tearing screech of rusty iron clawing against rusty iron ended her expectation of doom as she faced her predator. With eyes almost popping out in the certainty of untimely death, something snatched her by the suspender of her jumper pants and bolted her fast up into the sky, leaving the huge creature boring its fangs unto the cold, hard stone wall of the house.

Abby screamed as she sped skyward from her helpless spot. Looking down at the almost indescribable creature, she was entirely relieved of her escape. But her judgment told her that her terrified screaming was not about her bloody end. It was more about what made her flung upward in the most hapless time of her life, that made her squeal like little Anne when the poor sot discovered her sister tucked away her precious doll once again for her own amusement.

Abby knew she couldn't fly or jump herself out of any undesirable situation, that this should be the work of sorcery of some kind. But then again, she could not dismiss this uneventful chase with that wormlike monster too easily. And so she could never pass this as just some sort of a waking nightmare, hunting children who stay late at night, playing with themselves under the sheets with flashlight in hand. Certainly, this could only be real.

Her thoughts were broken upon hearing a tearing sound. Apparently, one of her suspenders was punctured and caught by a bizarre metallic shaft attached to a metal lever protruding from the wall. Looking at the damage, she saw barely a couple of its threads holding her aloft from the huge, scaly, blob of a worm; who by then was snapping its teeth directly below her.

She quickly grabbed the lever with both hands and curled her legs away from the thing. The billowing wind soothed her, reminding her of a redemption she cannot fathom a minute ago. After spending some time hanging and thinking what to do, she turned her head towards the wall in search of an entrance that would finally end her escape.

From the corner of her eyes, she then saw part of a window sill that occupied the upper wall of the lone house. She reached out for it with her left hand and pulled herself towards it. Slowly, she crawled upside down along the remaining length of the metal bar, only letting her right hand go to reach for the sill upon resting her back against the wall. Balancing herself carefully and minding what was waiting below, she then freed her feet and twisted her waist, hitting her right hipbone against the stone wall as she tried to dampen the swing her weight would do to her in that awkward position.

Yow! That hurts! she cried, her face all crumpled in pain as her feet searched for balance. She pulled herself steadily as soon as she recovered her resolve. Trying to rest both of her arms on the window sill, she then put her upper body weight to press on them as she tried to open a pane.

One of the frames opened wide without much effort. With her feet still dangling outside, Abby caught herself staring inside the house while her head moved inward out of curiosity. Looking around with her sleepy eyes, she noticed the darkness didn't seem to take much hold on its walls. There was an outlandish, ebony glow that permeated the room, casting shades of crimson and purple on some of the shapes she could make of.

Soon, she decided to go inside and take a closer look on everything, so she pulled herself up completely and stood up on the window sill with a fascinated look on her face. She then sat on it very carefully before descending on the floor as silently as her feet would allow. And like a wily cat on a midnight rooftop stroll, she then tiptoed across towards an object that looked like a low table, standing high as her waist.

Minding not to make even the slightest sound, she focused on reaching her mark. Though the wooden floor slightly bent with each step she made, she kept it to a minimum to avoid betraying the untimely welcome she won just awhile back from the house – to which she then owed her life.

After two more steps, she finally reached the tabletop structure, and, wondering what it might be, stared at it intently. The spectral glow of the room didn't seem to help her much in identifying it, so she pulled up her right hand and put a finger on it surface.

This is made of solid rock. Surely this can't be any ordinary table to be used at home, she told herself as she tapped a fingernail on it.

Afterwards, she started to open the same hand to completely touch it while her other hand soon joined in for the inspection. Cold as any conceivable stone with rough, curving edges, she could not distinguish its primary usage.

She gently crouched as her hands glided downward to check the object's support, and this in turn made her touch a length of deep engravings halfway across its body. And as her fingers ran all through the very bottom until her exploration met the unyielding surface of the wooden floor, it made her realize how its lower part was entirely made up of some intricate design.

It immediately came to her that something was displaced as the carvings led her hands somewhere she could not well define, as the crude combination of materials which composed its makeup was quite intriguing in the very least. A fleeting impression was starting to form inside her mind that may explain what it was when something out of the ordinary began to dawn at her.

The room began to emit an air of suspension and a warm, familiar feeling of acceptance that dispelled all uneasiness on her part suddenly stopped her inspection of the thing.

Right then, mild taps twice landed on Abby's shoulder that made her gasp for air. Afraid that someone had caught her unpermitted entrance to this lonely place, she needed to think of something to say. She could not move nor turn her head towards the owner of the house due to some paralyzing fear that held her, but she knew she had to respond to the silent query of her captor that she decided to blurt something out.

I… I'm very sorry for entering unbidden into your hospitable home, she said. You see, I was walking on my way home when I was attacked by…, um, a… a forest monster down the road.

Abby felt relieved to have been able to give an excuse. With her back still turned to the owner of the house, she tried to add more to the tale to make her