Amarant—Book One

By R Díaz

From new Australian author R Díaz, the first book in the Amarant series:

Steve wished the chinkasqa would die, wished he could help Juana, and Tamya. Golden trails moved along the surface of his body, swarming along the enemy blade. The chinkasqa released the weapon in alarm, and there was an explosion as the blade disintegrated into a powdery ash. Steve focused again, lifted one hand off his own blade and reached out. Golden trails of dark energy streamed down his arm and started to cross the intervening space between him and the chinkasqa.

Steve had not seen any of this coming. He had been hiking high in the Andes with Juana, some Germans, Brits and Kiwis, but that seemed like a lifetime ago. A group of four yachaq warriors had risked their lives reaching out across the void between stars. Steve and Juana had been pulled through a vortex and plunged headlong into a titanic struggle between Light and Shadow.

• Language: English
• Publisher: BookBaby
• Release date: Jun 6, 2014
• ISBN: 9780992538101

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Amarant—Book One

R Díaz

Published by R Díaz, Canberra, Australia  — ePub version

ISBN: 978-0-9925381-0-1

Copyright 2014 R Díaz

Novel description

From new Australian author R Díaz, the first book in the Amarant series:

Steve wished the chinkasqa would die, wished he could help Juana, and Tamya. Golden trails moved along the surface of his body, swarming along the enemy blade. The chinkasqa released the weapon in alarm, and there was an explosion as the blade disintegrated into a powdery ash. Steve focused again, lifted one hand off his own blade and reached out. Golden trails of dark energy streamed down his arm and started to cross the intervening space between him and the chinkasqa.

Steve had not seen any of this coming. He had been hiking high in the Andes with Juana, some Germans, Brits and Kiwis, but that seemed like a lifetime ago. A group of four yachaq warriors had risked their lives reaching out across the void between stars. Steve and Juana had been pulled through a vortex and plunged headlong into a titanic struggle between Light and Shadow.

License Notes

All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior permission of the author.

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 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 your favourite ebook retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, organisations, places, events, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

Acknowledgements

Para mi Dios, quien me ha dado todo

Para mi madre — ya sabes por que

Gracias a Cesitar, Don Nicanor y Doña Josefa por las traducciones de Quechua

Thanks to Anthony for the artwork (en route)

Special thanks to Emmanuelle for her valuable insights, and for seeing into the heart of Amarant even before I did

Thanks to Jerry for his word-smithing powers

And to Michelle for her feedback and after reading an early draft saying, yep I’d buy a copy!

Thanks also to my fearless test readers: Amy, Chris, Danny, Elsa, Jo, Josh, Katy, Keira, Linda, Narelle, Paola, Sue, Tanya and Trish

Legend

Bind the shadows before the coming of the night;

From across the void, thread through with power,

Heed the call, bright shines the dark light.

Banished until days end, the shadow’s might,

To return and turn, dark famine to feast, sweet light to sour,

Bind the shadows before the coming of the night.

Those hated runes, those dark blooms that caused the flight,

Wards decay and crumble, ours to devour;

Heed the call, bright shines the dark light.

Hope from a distant sun, blade to remove the blight;

On a twin-less moon, wandering twice through void’s dark bower,

Bind the shadows before the coming of the night.

A cherished promise, lost to dark sight,

Search out all the lands and scour;

Heed the call, bright shines the dark light.

Struggle and strive, lest the sparks extinguish in the fight,

Lost, so too redemption’s chance, that final hour.

Bind the shadows before the coming of the night,

Heed the call, bright shines the dark light.

Map of Amarant

Prologue

The year 2994, Northern Amarant

The mountain air was crisp and clear, and the wind at nearby summits blew long plumes of white that trailed away into nothing. The lone rider adjusted the leather straps at her side and urged the large, scaled creature up to a better vantage point. She could just make out tiny pinpricks of light that flickered into view in the darkening sky, before they disappeared once more. The sun had well and truly gone for the day and with the cloudless sky the temperature started to plummet. However the mount moved easily despite the cold, altitude and rocky terrain. It powered upwards, and soon found a suitable perch on the topmost rocky outcrop of the mountain peak. On all sides the land fell away abruptly to the valley floor far below. Most normal people would have been holding on for dear life as the wind buffeted, and howled around. But rider and mount were both unconcerned, their gaze fixed on the skies to the north. The rider’s clothes faded to pale white and even the creature’s scales had turned to frost, a perfect match for the drifts of snow that lay heavy on the boulders at the summit. They sat unmoving for a time, oblivious and seemingly one with the snow covered stone. The minutes turned into hours, and the rider’s mind drifted back to an afternoon, years ago. The memories flooded in, and suddenly she was no longer on the peak.

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She was deep in the northern forests, surrounded on all sides by the trunks of mammoth trees. The forest was alive, the trees rustled, thousands of insects and unnamed things scurried by in the undergrowth. The sunlight filtered down so weakly through the dense interlocking branches that it was like night, an eerie, twilight realm. Gleaming eyes blinked on and off as creatures that liked to hunt, evaluated from the shadows. She continued along the leaf strewn forest floor, aware of their presence but not alarmed. She was sure of her abilities and yachaq training. But there was something out of place. Over the past two days she had heard it, echoing in her mind. It was compelling, and it called with a life-or-death kind of urgency. She realised it was not an audible sound. But she could sense the location, and knew which way she had to go. She moved off again in the direction of the emanation. The ground started to rise and soon she was pulling herself up on thick vines and gnarled branches. Just then, scrabbling, scratching sounds and an overwhelming feeling of claustrophobia hit her mind, leaving her breathless and gasping for air. The sense of imminent danger was intense, and left the hairs on the back of her neck standing on end. It knew someone was close by. Way down here, on the ground. She looked up. There.

The tree was immense, the massive pale trunk stretched up into the canopy. Her soft yachaq boots bonded to the smooth bark, gripping the surface with a supernatural hold. She scaled the behemoth easily, finding hand and toe holds like she was part tree-dweller herself. On the ascent, she noticed long gashes sliced out of of the tree by some giant taloned creature. Finally she reached the canopy with fingers, arms and shoulders burning from the exertion. A large nesting platform had been painstakingly constructed from leaves, vines and branches, knitted together in some kind of pattern. Towards the centre a reptilian creature sat on its haunches. It rested its dagger-like claws on the scratched and chipped surface of a large egg. Off to one side the discarded remnants of another egg lay where the same reptile had likely broken free. It looked up, assessing her with one golden orb, then returned to the task at hand, destroying its sibling. There could only be one. It opened its jaws and scraped needle sharp fangs across the surface, while scratching again with its claws. The shell was tough, but as she watched transfixed, cracks started to appear. A wordless cry pierced her mind, breaking the spell. She realised with a start the creature that was communicating with her was inside the egg. She drew her yachaq blade and stepped onto the nest. The reptile’s pupils narrowed as it hissed a warning. Its long sinuous neck curved back in a tight s-shape as it prepared to strike. She was incredulous. The creature couldn’t be more than two or so days old, yet here it was posing a very real threat. She shuddered to think what a fully grown adult would be capable of. She stood her ground, biding her time. Without warning the reptile launched itself with frightening speed. Instincts honed by years of yachaq training paid off. She dodged, slicing backwards with the razor sharp weapon. It was a clean kill, but the reptile continued on its trajectory, falling away to the forest floor below. She spun around to see its twin emerge from the egg blinking, taking in sights, sounds and smells for the first time. Their eyes made contact, and there was a startling explosion, a mental supernova. And they were connected. She saw a new crystal-clear world through golden reptilian orbs. Objects she would not have been able to see now jumped into focus. Her head was filled with sounds, from minute skittering insects to bird-like creatures flapping through the canopy. The sweet smell of orchids combined with the musty aroma of decaying vegetation wafted into her nostrils. As one, they climbed out of the nest. They descended to the lower storey rapidly, not knowing when any adults would return, but sure their reaction would not be pleasant for one of them at least. In any case, there was no going back. The meld could not be undone, and what affected one, impacted them both.

###

She sighed, running her hand protectively over the diamond-hard