The Broken Angel

By Barry Dunn

The adventures continue;
The day after returning from Boggy Marsh, Mr. Elf and his companions are forced to flee their home in Damanta Mallaithe.
Pursued by the Aelfin, and hunted by a shadowy figure out of legend, Mr. Elf and his companions have to travel to the one place where their deaths will be assured: Aelfinholme, the ancestral home of the Aelfin. To survive the journey the companions will have to learn to trust each other and to reveal secrets that strike to the very heart of who and what they are.
Meanwhile, the Demon Lord Bajii, made bold by the weakening of the barriers between realms, launches attacks on both Boggy Marsh and Aelfinholme.
Hunted by those who want them dead because of ancient Aelfin prophecies, the companions must use all their cunning and magic to battle through the enemies arrayed against them.

The Broken Angel is the second volume in the Aelfin Prophecies series.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Barry Dunn
• Release date: Aug 24, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310048241

Barry Dunn

The Author, Barry Dunn lives in Sydney, Australia, with his wife and children.The The Aelfin Prophecies series began their published life under the name The Adventures of Paddy and Seamus. While writing the third book in the series it became obvious to me that the original series name was no longer reflective of what the bigger story had evolved to become. So, now that I am finally publishing that third book, I am also taking the opportunity to rename the series.The Stories started life at our nightly story telling time when I ran out of books to read to my young son. Having exhausted Enid Blyton's The Magic Faraway Tree and The Wishing Chair books (a number of times over) and finding that the Hobbit was a bit too serious and advanced, I started to make up my own tales.I wanted to give my son a fantasy story that had the elements that I so enjoyed in fantasy adventures. I wanted fantastic places with weird creatures and characters that were different and most importantly, fun. And I wanted to give him the continuity of characters and worlds that comes with sequels and prequels, where the characters feel like old friends.Every night at bed time the story would pick up where it had left off the night before and would always start with “When we last left our heroes”, followed by a quick reminder of where the story was up to.Since those early story telling nights the simple fairy tale has evolved, and a whole world has been populated with odd and wonderful creatures that have grown around the original story. And like the tales from those authors I have loved so dearly, Brooks, Eddings, Feist, Salvatore and of course Tolkien, the stories have grown to fill a number of books.The Secrets of the Boggy Marsh is the first in a series of five books, telling one continuous story. The Aelfin Prophecies continues in the second book, The Broken Angel, where the secrets discovered in the Boggy Marsh start to unravel.And now, after a long delay, I am finally releasing the third book in the series, Closing the Gap, which see the characters moving into a full blown epic fantasy.As always seems to happen with fantasy tales, the stories get bigger and more involved with each new book. And so it is with the Aeifin Prophecies. Book four, The Agents of Purpose is well under way and will take the characters into ever more dangerous challenges.

Book preview

THE BROKEN ANGEL

The Aelfin Prophecies Volume 2

Published by Barry Dunn at Smashwords

Copyright 2014 Barry Dunn

Cover by

Paul Marryatt at Real Ranger Media

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 book is also dedicated to my wife and children,

Kathryn Dunn,

James Dunn,

Bayley Dunn.

Constant inspirations.

Thanks again to true friends Chris and Karen Robertson, who came back for more and remained courageous.

Table of Contents

Pronunciation guide for names and places

Chapter 1: A Bit of History – Part 2

Chapter 2: The Healing

Chapter 3: Time to Go

Chapter 4: The Attack

Chapter 5: The Hand

Chapter 6: The Crann Aer

Chapter 7: Mirkenwood

Chapter 8: Battle at the Back Passage

Chapter 9: Passing Through the Back Passage

Chapter 10: On the Road Again

Chapter 11: Time to Sort Some Things Out

Chapter 12: Mr. Elf’s Story

Chapter 13: Is That Who I Think It Is?

Chapter 14: Nokey the Dwarf

Chapter 15: The Nature of Invisibility Birds

Chapter 16: Different to be the Same

Chapter 17: Maple and Cricket

Chapter 18: Hag Head in Trouble

Chapter 19: Attack of The Hand

Chapter 20: Dealing with a Dragon

Chapter 21: The Hand Takes a Break

Chapter 22: The Gate

Chapter 23: Aelfinholme

Chapter 24: An Audience with the King of the Aelfin

Chapter 25: A Bit of History – Part 3

Pronunciation guide for names and places

Name----------------------------Phonetic pronunciation

Aelf------------------------------eye-ilf

Aelfin----------------------------eye-il-fin

An Carraig----------------------an car-rage

Bajii------------------------------bah-gee

Biodh Foighne Agat-----------by-oth foy-in a-gat

Crann Aer-----------------------kran air

Cumadh Mianach--------------coom-ath my-an-ack

Damanta Mallaithe-------------da-man-ta mall-eye-th

Loretius--------------------------law-ee-shus

Mody-----------------------------mow-dee

Oighear---------------------------oy-gear

Paddy-----------------------------pad-dee

Seamus---------------------------shay-mus

Siocháin--------------------------she-a-kawn

Suil--------------------------------soo-ill

Chapter 1: A Bit of History – Part 2

For those who want a bit more

Still 16 years ago

A faint light suddenly glowed, where Nudge had last appeared. The light pulsed gently and floated about the burned-out village, as if looking for something. The light reached the spot where the Demon Lord had disappeared and stopped.

A soft female voice, with more than a hint of worry in it said, Oh dear! That wasn’t supposed to happen!

The light of The She pulsed with annoyance. Why couldn’t Nudge just stick to doing the necessary? Now she was going to have to work out some way to get him back. He’d served the purpose well, and she needed him.

The She allowed her awareness to expand and brought more of her focus to this place and time. Her light pulsed again, this time in shock, as she realized where she was.

No! The voice of The She sounded loudly in the silence of the night. Not here! Why did Nudge have to have his battle here? When she got him back, he was going to have some serious explaining to do. The destroyed village was the site of one of her special projects, and the very last place Nudge should have led the Demon Lord for a fight.

The expanding awareness of The She detected something not right at the edge of her perception. The light of The She wafted away from the burned-out village towards the source of the wrongness. There! It was small, but powerful, and it was moving stealthily towards the top of a hill to the east of the village.

Realizing that it had been detected, the energy force gave up its attempt at stealth. It was within reach of its objective now anyway. Angry crimson fire erupted into a blazing ball at the crest of the hill, and rolled down the other side, picking up speed, as it headed for its target.

The light of The She bristled angrily. The Stealing Fire! The Demon Lord had left this for her. The light of The She reached the top of the hill, just in time to see the blazing ball hit the first trees, at the edge of an immense tropical forest.

The Stealing Fire rolled into the trees at full speed. When it hit the first trees, it exploded, burst, and split. The sticky flames burned through everything they touched.

The She screamed in pain. The Valley of Rebirth was her most important project. She had poured more of herself into this place than any other, and now The Stealing Fire was loose in her domain.

The She acted. Clouds formed high in the sky, and then rain started to fall. The clouds thickened and darkened. The rain that fell gently at first, quickly gathered strength, as it answered her call.

The Stealing Fire was racing through the valley now, leaping from tree to tree, spreading in all directions, devouring everything it touched. The fire burned up and down trees, and even burned deep into the fertile soil, consuming all life, as it went. Smoke and steam boiled from the white-hot trees, as the rain became torrential and hammered at the raging fire.

The fire reached a grove of fruit trees, branches hanging low, heavy with ripe fruit. The fruit exploded from the intense heat, filling the night air with a tangy and hazy mist. Despite the heavy rain chasing the blazing ball, hammering at it relentlessly, The Stealing Fire continued its destructive race through the Valley of Rebirth.

The light of The She pulsed an angry red, sharp points bristling all around the glowing form. Some of the sharp points of light broke off, and shot with blinding speed, up into the clouds, which continued to drop torrents of rain onto the inferno below. Lightning blasted down from the clouds. Bolt after bolt struck at the raging flames. Deafening thunder relentlessly blasted out its concussive sound waves.

Though flattened, smashed, and beaten by powers that would have stopped anything else in its tracks, the fire only wavered minimally, and then flared brightly to race ever more strongly through the trees and bushes.

The She, in this, her current form, had thrown everything at the fire, but to no avail. The fire burned brighter, and laughingly raged through the Valley of Rebirth consuming everything in its path.

The light of The She observed with horror the blackened remains of the once great trees, that now clawed at the sky through patches of smoke and steam. The Stealing Fire was turning the once lush valley into a black, sooty swamp.

The She screamed again, this time from the frustration of seeing her valley destroyed, while her powers, could seemingly, do nothing to stop it. The She now realized she needed a solid form to fight this thing, a form that would give her access to a different means of attack. While the rains continued to pursue The Stealing Fire, the light of The She flowed into the ground.

A moment of peace, and then the ground quivered and cracked. Slowly, roots and vines poked through the soil. They twisted, pulling at deep rich soil, forming solid shapes that grew, as they wove together. Water from deep pure springs was sucked up into the growing form, as were grasses, leaves, rocks, and ash from the burned village. The living material and other chosen items were sucked into a spinning vortex, evolving into something different, spiraling around a new thing taking shape.

The thing at the center of the vortex could no longer be seen through the wildly spinning maelstrom. Within the rapidly spinning mess there was a flash of white light, then a burst of dark light. The mini tornado stopped suddenly, and unused flotsam dropped lifelessly to the ground.

Standing where the swirling mess had been, was a stunningly beautiful young woman. She clearly wasn’t human, but she had a mostly human appearance, apart from her forest green and brown coloring. The She stood naked, her eyes closed, shrugging and fidgeting uncomfortably, as she familiarized herself with the feel of her new body.

The night came to an end, and the first rays of the new day’s sun streaked through the smoky valley. Sensing the coming light, the young woman took her first tentative steps forward, marveling at her new form, but aware of how stiff and limited the movement of this new physical form was. As the rays of sunlight touched her skin for the first time, The She gasped, and her eyes flew open in wonder.

Startlingly bright brown eyes stared out of a lush green face, that creased in awe of the sensations The She was feeling for the first time. The sunlight kissed her ivy skin and long jet-black hair, and the young woman positively shone with health and vitality. As her eyes adjusted to the light, and came into focus, she beheld her valley.

Tears welled up in those beautiful eyes and rolled down her leafy green cheeks. Her valley was all but destroyed. Blackened tree stumps, smoke, mist, and swamp stretched out in front of her. The fire still raged and burned in the distance, like a side-wending worm gorging on all it could eat.

Anger blossomed in the heart of the young woman, and an icy resolve to stop this destruction settled into the pit of her stomach. The Stealing Fire had decimated the land in such a short time. Left unchecked, it would consume every living thing in the world.

It had to be stopped, whatever the cost.

The young woman flexed the green toes at the ends of her bare feet and reached into the earth with a surge of her will. The She called, and where the fire still raged the ground shook. Rooted to the spot where she now stood, The She poured energy into the earth around her, channeling it towards the fire.

Out where the fire was still being pounded by The She driven rain, the ground suddenly heaved and rolled. A huge wave of dirt, earth and rock formed up behind the fire, rolling forward, gathering size, strength, and momentum, as it went. The wave of solid ground matter grew and stretched out to match the length of the fire line.

The forming earth wave rolled with ever increasing speed towards The Stealing Fire, which was uncaringly branding the valley with its burning breath.

The Stealing Fire felt something behind it, but too late. The gigantic wall of moving earth crashed down on its body. A cloud of dirt, ash and forest debris flew into the air, in dirty brown mushroom clouds, that stretched for as far as the eye could see.

Silence settled. The She drew a deep breath and reached out with her senses, probing for any smoldering signs of The Stealing Fire. The earth wave seemed to have done the trick. The Stealing Fire had been stopped. The She probed along the line where the fire had blazed. Wait! There was something still out there. She probed further and deeper with her senses, trying to grasp what it was. Then she knew. The core, the very heart of The Stealing Fire had survived.

The She focused her attention and will to the spot where she had detected the remaining fire and examined the energy source. It was moving up slowly through the earth that had buried it, burning its way slowly to freedom. The She gasped. This thing was different, new, and it was alive.

As the creature moved closer to the surface, The She realized what she was dealing with. Something had taken a minor Demon, a Fire Pixie, and bonded it with The Stealing Fire. This thing would never stop burning; its hunger could never be filled. It would continue to burn and spread, until it had consumed every living thing.

Now that The She understood what it was, she could also feel the creature’s pain. Being bonded to The Stealing Fire was no source of joy for the Fire Pixie. The creature had not wanted this fate and was in constant pain and torment. The enemy had thrown something new into the ongoing war, and now The She knew she was going to have to do the same, if she was to stop this horror from consuming her world.

The Fire Pixie neared the point of freedom from the earth where it had been buried. The She had to think quickly to pull together a solution. The Fire Pixie wouldn’t fall for the wave of earth trick again.

The She, in her earth-bound form, said her first words. She closed her eyes. Her voice was as rich, and as beautiful as any of her other features. To all who must suffer for this, I am truly sorry. Then, having apologized, she reached out with every fiber of her being, and drew energy in equal amounts from all over her world. In some places, deserts formed where there had been green fields, or forests. In other places, ice melted in vast quantities, causing tsunami and flooding. In yet other parts of the world, volcanoes erupted, spewing hot ash and lava across the land. Across the world, natural disasters threw the earth into tumult, as energy was drawn from the land, the seas and the air.

The She tried to be gentle, and to take from places where no, or few, people lived, trying desperately to preserve life, while she gathered the raw power required. The next part was going to be hard. She needed something special, a spark of life itself, and she knew where she would have to go to take it. Their energy pattern was strong and unique; she could feel them even now. They had been on the move for some time now, a fact that puzzled her, given what had happened.

She reached out to them and attempted to draw what she needed. They resisted, trying to stop her from taking a piece of them. But her need was too strong, her desperation too fierce, so fierce that they could feel it, even half a world away. The twin swords, Grace and Favour, felt the fear in The She, and understood her desperate need. Grudgingly, they allowed her to take what she needed from them.

Throughout this process, The She was completely still. Had anyone witnessed these events, they would have thought of her as a statue.

The still form of The She trembled, as her earthly form fought to contain and control the enormous energy that she now held. Her eyes shot open, her arms rising towards the devastated valley. Pristine earthly energy rolled through her hard, brown eyes, as She pulled together the elements needed for the last part of her plan.

Water, ash, and air flew to her hands, and she formed it into a liquid cube three feet deep and three feet wide. Then she poured the energy into the liquid cube. That which she had taken from Grace and Favour was carefully lodged in the center.

The She examined what she had made and was pleased. It needed just one more thing, and then it would be ready. Tears. Two teardrops broke free from her deep, brown eyes, and rolled down her richly green face. The teardrops fell into the liquid cube in her hands and nestled into its center. She watched, with a sad smile, as the tears merged with that which was already at the center of the cube.

Suddenly, the cube jumped in her hands. The She had done it. She had created a new life form; one that had a single purpose: the destruction of The Stealing Fire and its bonded Fire Pixie.

At that moment, the Fire Pixie broke free of its earthy prison. It sat, quivering on the rough ground, drawing air, and gathering strength.

The She knew that now was the time to act before the Fire Pixie started splitting and spreading out again. With a strong push of her will, the living cube of water shot from her hands, flying like lightning towards the clouds above the Fire Pixie.

As if in response, The Stealing Fire exploded from the Fire Pixie, leaping hungrily to bushes and trees, yet untouched by its destructive breath. Once again flames crackled to life, spreading and consuming, madly racing through what was left of the Valley of Rebirth.

The clouds in the sky above roiled and seethed angrily in response to the spreading fire.

The She could only stand and watch. The situation was now, literally, out of her hands. She was so absorbed in watching the fire’s attempt to escape the angry clouds, that she didn’t notice the ground behind her quiver and be pushed up in a mound.

The clouds swooped down on the fire, smothering the flames wherever they were. Great gusts of steam boiled up, from every place where cloud and fire fought to the death.

Behind The She, a large slug pushed up through the mound of dirt. Mother, the powerful one is here! The thought was sent in private mode, so The She had no idea she was being observed.

Glute! You come back here right now! came back her mother’s response.

But, mum, something is happening. Come see, Glute thought back.

Another mound quivered into being next to the young Heebee Geebee, and a fully-grown mother slug pushed through the dirt to be next to her daughter.

The She watched in misery, as the battle in her valley played itself out. It was hard to see anything through the mist and fog caused by the battle between The Stealing Fire Pixie, and the newly formed Living Water.

The two Heebee Geebees watched in the sightless way of their people. They could feel the energy being expended, and it horrified them. They had never felt so much power and energy being thrown around.

It’s almost done now, The She said, sadly. She could feel that the fire had been all but smothered by the Living Water infused clouds.

The watching Heebee Geebees could also sense that The Stealing Fire Pixie was almost spent.

In the cloud of mist that now sat on the ground, the solid cube of Living Water reformed, pulling itself together from the moisture in the clouds. The Stealing Fire Pixie watched the cube form take shape, a twisted snarl of hate contorting its ugly, fiery face. In a rage, The Stealing Fire Pixie ran at the cube, flaring brightly in an attempt to evaporate its enemy.

The cube swelled in size in response to the attack, rippling and wobbling, as if having trouble staying together. The cube stabilized and shot forward unexpectedly, to meet the rushed attack of The Stealing Fire Pixie. Cube and Fire Pixie slammed into each other, and the surprised Fire Pixie found itself trapped inside the cube.

Struggling fiercely, the Fire Pixie realized its error too late, as the cube started to shrink in size. The core of the cube swirled, attaching itself to The Stealing Fire coating of the Fire Pixie. It flowed over The Stealing Fire, sucking the life out of it.

The Fire Pixie howled inside the cube, but no sound escaped the Living Water. Nothing of the Fire Pixie was going to escape. The cube shrank further in response to the continued struggling of the Fire Pixie.

The Fire Pixie threw all its remaining energy into a last attack, flaring strongly again, but the Living Water absorbed it all, and soon the Fire Pixie was no more.

The She sighed loudly. It’s over! And then she wept. Her valley was gone, destroyed. She had used up vast amounts of energy to permanently remove the threat of The Stealing Fire Pixie. She and her world had been grievously hurt in this battle.

The She turned, suddenly aware of the two Heebee Geebees.

Glute and her mother quivered uncertainly, realizing that they had witnessed something, that perhaps they should not.

Damanta Mallaithean áit seo! The She said, as she surveyed the destruction around them. The She turned back to the devastated, burned-out valley and took one shaky step forward, and then another. With each step, the cost of the battle exerted itself. Slowly, the beautiful green skin aged, turning a dirty, mottled, green and brown. Lines appeared and ravaged her beautiful face, twisting it into a permanent grimace. The long glossy, black hair shriveled, dried, and became a frizzy grey tangle. With each step, The She lost vitality and strength. Her shoulders hunched, and her back bent until she was forced to hobble.

The two Heebee Geebees watched in horrified silence, until The She vanished into the misty valley.

Mummy what did she say? Glute asked, softly.

The still awestruck mother replied slowly, She said ‘This place is damned’!

Chapter 2: The Healing

The moon glowed brightly in the pre-dawn sky. Mr. Elf stood alone at the top rise of the hill looking out over Boggy Marsh. To his eyes moonbeams sparkled, as they played over the energy dome covering Boggy Marsh.

Drawing a deep breath, he shook his head, wondering again how he had become involved in the events that were now moving along so rapidly.

In truth, he knew exactly how he had become involved, and even though the magical swords, Grace and Favour, had influenced him, he felt as though he