New Wells Rising

By Timothy Deal

Book 3 - As young, exiled emperor Jaysynn Kyzer and his best friend Kyrie begin the long journey home, Jaysynn’s secret identity may be his only advantage against his old mentor, the traitorous General Dracon. Jaysynn lacks followers, resources, information, and even a definite plan of action. But along their dangerous trek across the barren desert, he and Kyrie encounter potential allies, new enemies, and shocking discoveries that reveal the world has changed more than Jaysynn ever realized.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Children of the Wells
• Release date: Nov 7, 2014
• ISBN: 9781311063007

Book preview

This book is part of an ongoing series. New books are published regularly. Visit www.childrenofthewells.com for the latest news and to get to know the authors.

Bron & Calea

The Select's Bodyguard

The Doctor's Assistant

The Well's Orphan

Jaysynn

The Fall of the House of Kyzer

The Rules Change

New Wells Rising

Call of the Watchman

The Story So Far

This is the third book of Jaysynn Kyzer.

Previously, in The Fall of the House of Kyzer, the Cataclysm emptied the magic wells, the source of all power, sending the whole world reeling in the aftershock. After General Dracon betrayed the young Emperor Jaysynn Kyzer and pushed him out a five-story window, a fall which he miraculously and somehow magically survived, Jaysynn, along with his only friend and ally Kyrie and her family, fled Thyrion.

Then, in The Rules Change, Jaysynn and Kyrie found themselves in a refugee work camp in Falcon Point, a rebel mountain city once under Thyrion’s control. Jaysynn wanted to give up his claim to the Thyrion throne and help rebuild Falcon Point’s food sources. But everything changed when Governor Vac discovered a Kyzer prince under his nose. Governor Vac considered killing Jaysynn, but after Jaysynn saved his life, they struck a deal. Jaysynn would leave Falcon Point, and if he succeeded in gathering followers in Thyrion, Thyrion and Falcon Point would be allies, not enemies.

Now he is beginning his journey home….

Chapter 1 - Aldenstom

The glaring rays of a new sun bored into Jaysynn’s consciousness, bullying him awake. He groaned and draped an arm over his clenched eyes, trying to will away the oncoming day. His muscles felt stiff and heavy as he lay on the flat rooftop. They were as reluctant to move as Jaysynn, but with the tender release of sleep now fallen, he knew resistance was pointless. He stirred, slowly stretched, and stood.

The office building Jaysynn Kyzer stood on was only three stories tall, but it was high enough to get a good view of most of the small town of Aldenstom. Nestled at the base of the Mercon Mountains, Aldenstom had long served as a resting point and gateway to the mountain roads that led to Falcon Point. Though foreign travelers had to pass a strict security checkpoint to enter the town, once inside visitors typically found a plethora of vendors happy to restock travel supplies of food, water, and anything else they might need before continuing on to Falcon Point. At least, such was how the town was run in better days.

Now as Jaysynn leaned on the half-wall bordering his rooftop, he looked down at a village of boarded-up businesses and empty streets. The signs along the main thoroughfare bespoke a past prosperity the shuttered buildings could no longer provide. The town’s former well resembled a dry mountainside waterhole and had become a dumping ground for refuse and windblown trash.

Jaysynn knew that Falconer leadership (who his father often called the Remirian vermin) always evacuated Aldenstom’s citizenry whenever conflict with Thyrion flared too dangerously. With the town now mostly desolate aside from the increased military presence at the security checkpoint, it was easy to surmise Governor Vac had moved the civilians of Aldenstom within Falcon Point’s walls and refugee camps.

Another ruined town, Jaysynn muttered to himself.

He had suspected as much when he and Kyrie had arrived the night before. They had been on their guard when creeping into town, not wanting to blow Jaysynn’s cover story of being...well, dead. Avoiding being seen turned out to be simple when the only people around were holed up at the opposite end of town. The Falconer militia apparently wasn’t as worried about people leaving the Mercon Mountains as they were about invaders coming in.

Of course, that didn’t mean leaving Aldenstom for the road to Thyrion would be easy.

Jaysynn sighed. He sat back down with his back against the half-wall and looked at Kyrie, still lying a few feet away with a jacket stubbornly pulled over her face to block out the sun. Feelings of guilt and worry swirled in Jaysynn’s chest. He hated that he had dragged Kyrie into this, a vague quest across the wilderness to a ruined homeland with no real plan for what they would do there. Jaysynn knew he had a responsibility to help the people of Thyrion...somehow. To put General Dracon in his place...someway. He had considered taking this journey alone, but Kyrie wouldn’t hear of it.

You’d try to walk all the way to Thyrion by yourself?! she had said. That’s crazy! What if you fell and broke something? How would you find food and water if you had a broken leg?

Kyrie, I’m the Watchman, remember? Jaysynn had replied. I trace up and down buildings all the time. Why would I break my leg in the middle of a flat desert?

It’s doable. Rocks, weeds, canyons, running away from a wild boar, who knows?  You were asleep through the three days we drove to Falcon Point on that bus; you forget how long that trip would take by foot. There’s no way I’m letting you go alone.

The argument had continued from there, but the outcome was inevitable. Not only was Kyrie determined to go, she rightly pointed out it would help sell the story of Jaysynn’s death. The refugee camps would know she and Jaysynn had been taken on the same night; if Kyrie was to return alone, they would raise many questions she couldn’t answer. Maintaining Jaysynn’s cover story would be simpler if Kyrie also disappeared.

But it also meant not telling Kyrie’s family that they were alive.

Once outside the refugee camp, they had stayed hidden until dark when they crept into the warehouses to scavenge some travel supplies. Throughout that day and night, Kyrie had been holding in tears and trying unsuccessfully to not let Jaysynn know. She insisted she was fine, set to follow through the plan to the end. Only when they left the camp for Aldenstom had the tears spilled over and Kyrie softly wept as they walked.

Jaysynn’s eyes fell from Kyrie’s sleeping form to the rooftop beside him. He had grown up having servants assist him, but he had never known anyone willing to sacrifice so much for his sake. The palace servants had been duty-bound employees. Dracon had had his own agenda for tutoring Jaysynn. Kyrie sacrificed because she believed in him. She trusted him. It was a new sensation. The world had found yet another way to humble the young emperor.

Kyrie stirred with a moan. She slowly pulled her jacket off her face, squinting stoically in the sunlight. Jaysynn allowed himself a tired smile and said, Good morning, sunshine.

Kyrie raised her head and smiled sleepily back at him. Good morning, oh Prince.  How’d you sleep?

Well enough. It was a partial truth. He had slept deeply for a few hours, but only after spending several more hours of brooding about the