A New Beginning (Temple Alliance Origins, Book I)

By J.D Wallington

In a post-war Earth, 3000 years in the future, 75% of the world population has been wiped out and most technology is lost. This first installment follows four characters as they struggle to survive the harsh environment, lead their people to a brighter future and help to establish an alliance to prevent future destruction of the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: J.D Wallington
• Release date: Sep 13, 2010
• ISBN: 9781458066206

J.D Wallington

I am a freelance writer and game developer. I have a love for both science fiction and fantasy and trying to center my books and games on blending the two genre together. I am currently a student at the University of Phoenix for my Associates in Web Design.

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A New Beginning

Temple Alliance Origins Book I

Published By J. D. Wallington at Smashwords

Copyright 2011 by J. D. Wallington

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

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Year 4799 – Terran Stronghold of Citadel

Chapter 1 The Road Out

The world that we all used to know has changed drastically. I still do not remember the day they said we went underground or the reason why we did. Was it because of the war or because of all the radiation that consumed the earth’s atmosphere? I do not know for sure but I do know that we have been an underground civilization for nearly two thousand years now.

That is what we have been able to figure out through the small changes that have been recorded through the history of the caverns we call the Citadel. My family was almost completely gone when we first came here and the threat of our family name being gone forever was inevitable. After a while of getting used to being around so many people and different species, our family thrived and has in recent years become known as a sign of power among the remnants of the Terran race.

My father is currently the King, we are charged with the survival of the Terran race. I am known as an Undetermined, I have not decided whether I wish to become a ruler or to start a new family profession. My father wishes for me to carry on the throne but I think my little brother will make a better King than I will, he’s only two years younger than me, but as a result of our father being a high ranking official, I ended up raising him. Oh, excuse me, I forgot to introduce myself, I am Bail Dranaman, descendent of Dez Dranaman, (the first person to ever see the Raiken in a small tree village in the Amazon Rainforest), I am twenty-four and I have been involved with politics since I was twelve. My brother Mark has always been the political enthusiast though. He has been in debates and political positions since he was ten. He is going to be promoted to Guardian Officer this morning; it is a rank just below the King of the Terran race. He was supposed to be getting ready for the ceremony, but knowing him he is probably caught up in another debate with some of the older officials.

Being the eldest of my father’s children, I have been asked to present my brother with the staff of his office and the medallion of the family during the ceremony. I am to be adorned in a solid black robe, the helm of the hearth and a crimson cloak over my shoulders. My brother is to wear all white, as is the proper color for the Guardian Officer, and a crimson cloak is to be laid over his shoulders at the end of this ceremony marking his acceptance into the hierarchy of the family and the kingship of the race. The staff that I will present to him is made of a material that we found in some of the deeper caverns; we call it bone oak because it closely resembles the oak trees of the surface but it’s pale and much stronger. The medallion is made of iron from our forges with the family crest imprinted into it. I believe that should explain what everything is and what it all stands for.

As I walk into the Great Hearth to start the ceremony I notice that the entire remains of the Terran race have piled into the hall, others have also come to watch the ceremony. In one corner of the hall is a small group of Dwar and some of the Thelinkar have joined with them to watch. Along the side of the hall, a group of Klantiir and Raiken are massed together to watch this ceremony as well. As you can tell the Mutants are still outcasts to all the other races because of their ancestors. In my opinion they should not be shunned by the societies, but instead should be welcomed and educated, that way the Great Destruction never happens again.

Anyways, back to the ceremony, my father is sitting on the throne with his four advisors standing below him; Cheg Miclison, Robert Armester, Toran Firelighter (the only non-Terran in our government, he’s a Dwar and a close friend of my father’s), and then I stand as the fourth of his advisors over foreign relations.

We stand and wait in silence for about five minutes until my brother starts to make his way toward us but wait there seems to be something wrong with him.

He half staggers, half walks up to me and then collapses into my arms, he looks at me, Bail I tried to stop them but I couldn’t by myself.

I looked down at him and noticed a gaping wound in his back where he had been repeatedly stabbed; Mark who did this to you? outrage and fear came over me.

He looked at me to say something but was only able to get out one word; Raiken… and then his body went limp, lifeless, and gone from our realm.

I dropped to me knees, Father we must slaughter them all, I looked up at him with my eyes full of the old hatreds that we were taught not to remember. I had never really like dealing with the Raiken; they were always a sneaking and confusing race of people.

My father looked down at me, Son I cannot condemn the entire race, but I will help you find who murdered your brother. He looked at me once more with visible tears streaming from his wisdom filled eyes.

By this time I was already standing again and my brother’s body had been taken to the burial chamber. I looked at my father and started to weep myself, never once had I seen my father cry, even when my mother passed away 5 years ago.

He moved from his gold emblazoned throne and slowly walked over to me, tears still streaming from his eyes, My dear son, you are now the last male heir to the throne. You must make the choice to either carry on the family inheritance or to take the family on a new course and let one of the advisor families take over. My days are numbered and you are the oldest male in the family. If you choose to move in a new direction, I would not blame you, personally I think it’s time our family stepped down from the throne. My son I leave this decision to you. Choose wisely and may our ancestors guide you in your decision. As is our custom, I will be making arrangements to have the possessions that are handed down to the family sent to wherever you decide should be our new homeland.

I looked at him, tears still falling from my eyes, Father I haven't told you this until now but I authorized for a small caravan to check the surface to see if it is stable enough to inhabit. A runner returned to me two days ago with news that they might have found a way to the surface and I've heard rumor that the Klantiir and the Mutants have sent expeditions to find a way as well. I am going to take the remains of our family and a few other families to found a new city on the surface. I will find who murdered my brother and avenge his death

I started to remove my ceremonial robe but he placed a hand on my shoulder, Son keep our traditions alive, I'm very proud of the man you've become, I always have been, you were always the one to make the needed changes in the kingship and our family. Good luck my son and may your hearth hold true. At this expression we both began to cry once more, we both understood the power and meaning of this old saying, we both knew this was the last time we would see each other.

A few days later as I was finishing with the final preparations for the movement of the families, a messenger from King Armester (he was elected the day after my brother died) came into my study chamber. Excuse me Lord Bail, I looked up at him, Yes, how can I help you? he handed me an envelope sealed with my father's crest, This is the final deed and will of your father. I'm sorry my lord, but he died in his sleep last night.

At this I started to cry, Thank you, here are a few coins for the trouble. I bade him goodbye and he bowed and walked out. Thank you father, I'm sorry I wasn't able see you before you left us. Please forgive me and don't worry I will carry on our traditions and your name shall be known and written down in the history books for future generations to know all of your wonderful deeds. I opened the envelope and my father's rings fell out of it. I picked them up and placed all three of them on the silver chain around my neck. I pulled out the letter and began to read:

My dear son,

I know this is going to be a hard journey for you but you must leave this place as soon as possible. I never told any of the family this but for a few years now, I believe that one of my advisors has had a price placed on my head. Unfortunately, your brother was killed instead of me. I do not know exactly whom the order came from but I believe that the nearby Mutant Chief is responsible but I cannot be sure. Do not jump to any conclusions my son. I want you to find who did this and expose this traitor for who he is, so he can never commit this crime again.

Now that you have made the decision to move onto the surface, you will have the opportunity to come back and exploit this traitor for who he truly is. First you must have the city founded and in a good financial state. Use the government history and tactics that I and the other advisors have taught you throughout the years.

Good luck son and May our hearth and pride hold true.

Your father,

James Dez Dranaman

I folded the letter back up and placed it into the envelope, and then I placed the envelope in the pocket of my leather tunic.

Well Bail, it’s time to gather everything together and meet everyone else at the edge of the city.

I looked at my sister as she said this. I never noticed that she walked into the room. I know dear Antina; I have a few last things to do. Here take this with you. I'll meet you and everyone else at the city gates.

I handed her one of my small backpacks and followed her to the door. Be careful sister, I know not what other plans these murderers may have in store for us.

I closed my door as she left and gathered the few remaining things, including another backpack, a set of twin daggers, a shortbow, and the longsword my father wore. I took one last look around the room to see if I had forgotten anything and then opened the door and walked out onto the long road out of the city.

As I made my way down the road that led to the city gates, I realized that a group of people started to form behind me. These people were not cursing or throwing rotten food at me as I expected, instead they were carrying bags and backpacks full of belongings and food.

These people had voluntarily decided to join me and the other fifteen families on our quest to make a new life for the Terran race. These people had given up their lives for something that was only a dream and they never knew if we were truly going to the surface. As I walked I started to cry again.

Finally realizing what my father meant when he first introduced me to the political and government dealings of our family, Someday my son you will lead the people on a glorious path that will decide the final fate of the Terran race. Someday you could even affect the other races and unite all under one rule, one name, one hearth, and one land. I just hope I'll live long enough to see it happen, my son. Right now, I was leading my people on a glorious journey to find something that may not exist. A Promised Land that my just be a figment of our imaginations. I learned later that I was wrong to a point.

Once I reached the city gates with the swarm of people behind me, I noticed that only my sister was waiting. She stood there with a surprised expression on her face, Bail what are all those people doing following you? I smiled at her, Well dear sister they are coming with us on their own accord. These people want to come and help us start a new life and place in history for our race. Don't worry everything will be fine. As I said this, the gates began to open to let us out and onto our quest. I noticed that every guard along the wall and the gate were standing in salute to the people around me and me, and not one guard moved until we were all outside the city and the gate was closed. They gave us one last salute and then continued with their daily routine.

As I walked closer to the entrance of the tunnel leading toward our ascent to the upper cavern system, I noticed that all of the families were standing in a group on either side of the entrance as if waiting for me to lead them. At that moment the shock of what I was doing and the fear of the unknown destiny ahead of us all hit me like a hammer pounding the raw metal into the shape of a sword.

Brother, I think your people wish for you to lead them to the Promised Land. My sister Antina said this as she joined the rest of our family. My best friend and sparring partner in the Academy of Warriors, Lane Tarch, approached me with the rest of the families behind him. Well bro, I guess you better get up there and lead your people. I looked at him with utter disbelief etched across my face.

How am I supposed to lead five hundred and thirty-two people when I couldn’t even lead a contingent of twenty soldiers at the Academy? He laughed and said, Bail you’re getting too worked up about this. You command the lead group of people and I will take care of the other people that decided to come along. Just set up a few runners to relay orders to me. I looked around at all the faces watching me and then turn my attention back to Lane. I still had no idea how I was going to do this and it showed by the confused and frustrated expression on my face.

Lane looked at me with a little concern, he smiled and said, "Just slow down and think of what Master Armester taught us in the Academy. You are a born leader; everyone here knows that, that is the reason they have all agreed to follow you. They all know that there may not be anything at the end of this journey except more stone and caves, but they trust you and want you to know that they will follow you to the end and back.

This is what we’ve always want bro, some adventure with great discovery at the end. We all believe in you, so for once trust and believe in yourself. He smiled and gave me that brotherly hug he always does and waited for me to make my way to the front of the group. I looked back at all the people and started smiling, Thank you all for agreeing to come with me on the journey. I know not what lies at the end but I will try my hardest to make this journey worth it for all of us and for the future of our race. Come my people; follow me to our Promised Land.

* * *

Year 4800

Chapter 2 The Journey Begins…

The first few weeks of the expedition were completely uneventful, no major problems among the travelers or from the creatures that usually lurk around every corner. Of course, we were no small contingent of soldiers or miners either, so any of the creatures would be hard pressed to attack us at over five hundred strong. Granted most of the people following me were not trained in the use of weapons but I had a feeling that if the need came they were willing to learn very quickly how a sword or axe is used. Before making the journey I made sure that everyone coming with me had at least one weapon. I planned it so that there was a defender for every three people with a reserve just in case the need came to battle for our lives and for the lives of those around us.

Thankfully the need never came, although there were a few times when we had to fight to keep creatures from attacking the people at the rear of the group. A small contingent, lead either by Lane, or me had to fend off a large number of horned blobs that seemed to find our large party an easy target. They soon learned that we knew how to fight and retreated quickly after we decimated about half of their numbers. Another and much more difficult battle ensued when a couple of chamber crabs took it upon themselves to capture and, unfortunately, drown four elders that were lagging at the back of the group.

Since I had dealt with these creatures before, on many occasions, I left the lead position to my sister, and took Lane and about thirty of our strongest soldiers to take care of this threat to our journey. Upon reaching the end of the group we caught a lasting glimpse of a chamber crab carrying away a male elder, from one of the lesser families, who was screaming at the top of his lungs for someone to save him. Unfortunately, we were not able to save him but his screaming helped us to locate the den that the crabs resided in and were able to recover the possessions that the four had carried with them and also fought and defeated the two crabs. This battle, to my dismay, cost us another person and one of my greatest soldiers, Tarne Dermeta, he was later remembered for giving his life in battle so that our expedition would survive and established a better world for us all.

A few more weeks passed and again there were not many problems. The only problems I encountered was how to keep the morale of the people following me up and I had to calm down a small riot of some of the adolescents from different families that got the idea in their head that the expedition