The Ring of Allegiance

By GG Koe

Book 5, The Ring of Allegiance, completes the series with Jarran, the half-elf's journey to the Land of the Old Ones, battle strategy of the army of the Light as they cross the land to Oceanwatch, and the final confrontation with Malador and the army of the Dark at Landsend Keep.

• Language: English
• Publisher: GG Koe
• Release date: Nov 21, 2014
• ISBN: 9781310158513

GG Koe

GG Koe was born in Edmonton, AB and raised in Nelson, BC. This is where he came to love the outdoors and dreamt of adventuring. He has pursued an avid life of exploration and travel, and loves the wilds of British Columbia. He has an interest in folk lore, also reflected in his writings.His first novel, The Ring of Light, was published in 2014, and he is currently working on other books in this series. He has written numerous professional articles.Since his retirement, he currently lives with his wife in Mission, BC, where he pursues his passion in writing.

Book preview

The story so far...

While hunting east of the Vale, the foundling Jarran was set upon by troggs, saurian denizens of the great swamp of Azwyr. In escaping the troggs, Jarran finds a ring adorned with a cat's head, which bonds to his finger and starts to drain his life force. He consults with the seer, Gilanthora, who prophesizes the ring will kill him if he removes it before he learns to control it. She foresees, To heal the land, two must journey and one return.

Jarran, the half elf, together with his foster brother, Altor, travel east and after many adventures, he walks the Pattern of Power, gains control of the Ring of Light, and uses it as a conduit for the lines of power emanating from the Well of Light to defeat Malador, the evil wizard.

Following the battle of Landsend Keep, the survivors set out towards the valley of the sandwellers confronting many creatures along the way. In the ensuing battle, Altor wounds Malador before being severely injured himself. Following the battle with Malador, Jarran receives the Iron Ring, the first band of the Ring of Allegiance and the cavers accept Ironhand as their leader.

After this battle, Altor and Tyera remain in the valley of the sandwellers while Altor recovers from his wounds. Meanwhile, Jarran and his other companions travel north, harassed by both goblins and trolls. In passing through the mountains by Troldhaugen, Numkyn discovers Abraxas' cave. He removes a piece of pyrite that is lodged in the scales of that fyrdragon and is rewarded with the ancient crown of Sphalerum. When Abraxas attempts to eat him, Numkyn escapes and Abraxas follows him to Thorshold. Ironhand accompanied by Jarran and Garnet, king of the hill dwarves, rush to Thorshold to aid in the defense of the stronghold where Ironhand is captured by Falun. Jarran and Garnet send for the barghest, dire wolves, sandwellers, and people of the Vale to lay siege to Thorshold.

Numkyn rescues Ironhand and finds his parents in Thorshold. Ironhand faces Abraxas and defeats the trolls. Altor and Tyera wed, as do Ironhand and Almandine. Ironhand is named king of the dwarves and Jarran and his companions set out for Alfheim.

On the way to Alfheim, Jarran and his companions meet Littleman, a giant being tracked by trolls and encounter the wodwose, wild men of the forest, as well as Irnan, one of the weavers of Arianrhod, the spider god, keeper of the ever turning wheel. When they reach Alfheim, Tyera discovers that she must become a gwyn rider in addition to facing challenges from elf maidens in the arena. When she completes these challenges, she finds that she must also solve some additional challenges presented by the light elves. Having completed these tasks, she unifies the elves and is awarded the Golden Ring, which she presents to Jarran once he defeats the troll army at Abidyn.

After leaving Abidyn, the companions continue northward towards Jotunheim, the land of the giants. As they near the ocean, they hear Fenris, the wolf prophesized to howl before the final battle. Jarran learns that he must face Fenris after the final battle, or the wolf will be set free by the gods to ravage the land. When they reach Jotunheim, they rescue a giant maiden, Vallyr, who is being attacked by a huge white bear. Numkyn treats the giants for shellfish poisoning and Jarran moves a rock for elder Dag, the loremaster of the giants, before being captured by a harpie. Tyera rescues Jarran from the harpy and they they rest on an island where Fenris is held. From Fenris they discover that their father may still be alive. Under Malador's direction, sea creatures, harpies, goblins, and ice trolls attack the giants and are defeated by Jarran and his companions. Dag procures a ship and they set sail for the lands of the Old Ones ...

CHAPTER 1

The ship was a clinker-built knarr constructed for sea voyages with overlapping hull plates, held together by square rove fitted copper rivets along the lands, and joined at the ends with a strake. The stern of the boat rose high and curled backward in the spiral of a nautilus; the prow decorated with the figurehead of the great white bear mounted under the bowsprit to ward off evil spirits. This was a cargo ship with a deep wide hull and square rigged woollen sail, a boat designed for ocean voyages, manned by twenty giants; with accommodations below deck for crew and passengers.

The giants Stoneman, Littleman, and Vallyr rowed the tiny gnome, Numkyn, from Cairngorm; the barghest, Windwalker, and the dire wolves from the escarpment plateau, to the ship in skiffs. Jarran, the Chosen One, his foster brother, Altor, Jarran's sister, Tyera, and elder Dag, loremaster of the giants came out separately in another skiff with Altor manning the oars. Once they climbed aboard and hauled up the skiff, the anchor was weighed and the sail unfurled, permitting the vessel to gradually pick up speed in the gentle offshore breeze.

Littleman rowed the remaining skiff back to shore and sadly watched as his companions departed. As directed by Jarran, he would soon set out for Thorshold with the rest of the giants, where they would ask Ironhand to provide them with mail in preparation for the final battle. Once they acquired the armour, they would return to Jotunheim and await Jarran's return.

As the ship picked up speed Jarran realized that he was on the verge of completing his journey to the Old Ones, the ancient race of high elves, from which he had descended and wondered if they would accept him. While they would acknowledge that he was the Ring Bearer and wore the Ring of Allegiance, they would undoubtedly question his mixed heritage and uncertain ancestory.

The sound of the wash against the keel of the boat heralded the beginning of another journey, even though he had already travelled for more than a year, leaving his home in the Vale, climbing the escarpment, and finding his way to Landsend Keep, before returning to the caverns of the sandwellers and travelling north through Thorshold, Alfheim, and finally Jotunheim. Perhaps the inactivity in sailing reduced his need to focus on what he was doing providing time to think about his quest.

Tyera initially experienced sailing as exhilarating, as the craft gracefully glided eastward across the ocean. But, as the day wore on, the rocking of the waves began to churn her stomach. She tried to block out the sensations by closing her eyes and concentrating on her inner being, as the nausea gradually spread, and before long, she was leaning over the side of the boat, emptying her stomach into the great blue expanse.

Jarran noticed Tyera's distress and suggested, Close your eyes and try to sleep. Your mind is having problems dealing with the conflicting sensations caused by visual distortion. The rocking of the boat interferes with your balance, and signals your body that you are ill. You empty your stomach to protect yourself. By limiting the rocking, you can reduce your reaction. Lying down reduces your body's need to maintain equilibrium and closing your eyes reduces visual distortion.

Numkyn added,Good advice, but I think I may also have something that will help.

He handed Tyera some ginger tea and a green apple and indicated, After you drink the tea, try eating the green apple.

Thank's so much for your assistance, Tyera responded.

Wait, I have something more, added Numkyn.

He busied himself making wrist bands with a wooden bead to press against the Nei-Kuan pressure point, located three finger breaths beneath the wrist, on the palm side of each arm.

He exclaimed, Putting pressure on that spot often stops nausea and vomiting and sometimes even cures hiccups! We use it on our children at Cairngorm when they're sick.

Tyera thanked Numkyn for the wrist bands, which she wore for the remainder of the voyage, and sipped the ginger tea. As the nausea gradually diminished, she ate the apple and began to feel a little better.

None of the other travellers seemed to have any particular difficulty after Stoneman suggested, If you keep your eye on the horizon, it reduces the distortion between the visual and auditory information to your brain and you'll have less problems.

Tyera attempted to heed his advice and kept her eye on Jotunheim as it gradually faded into the distance. Then, there was only the sea and it didn't matter what direction she looked. She spent some time watching the gulls following the ship, hoping for a free meal, and then focussed on gazing out over the water. It was then that she noticed they were being accompanied.

There must have been some warm current in that ocean, as tiny fish burst from in front of the ship and flew across the surface like birds on wings before diving back into the ocean once again. These fish normally inhabit tropical and subtropical waters and Tyera watched entranced as they dropped their tail into the water to abruptly change direction and used tiny updrafts from the waves to enhance the distance of their flight.

Elder Dag explained, Surface currents generally make clockwise spirals in the northern hemisphere pushed by the prevaling winds before turning back on themselves. We sometimes see these fish when there's a strong persistent wind far to the south. The wind drives the warm waters north bringing the fish with them.

Numkyn seemed far more interested in the tiny fish than elder Dag's explanation. He borrowed a dipping net and worked his way to the prow of the ship where he tried to sweep up one of the fliers. Stoneman saw the danger and immediately rushed forward to anchor Numkyn with a rope. But, before he reached him, the tiny gnome dipped his net in the water and was caught by the force of the ship and hurled from the rail into the ocean, disappearing beneath the surface.

CHAPTER 2

No! Tyera screamed.

Man overboard! yelled elder Dag.

Stoneman leapt into the sea in search of his tiny friend.

The rest of the companions gazed over the stern, as the boat sailed on, leaving Stoneman in its wake, while he frantically searched for his tiny friend amidst the cresting waves.

Elder Dag ordered, Thow the skiff over the side.

Crewmen quickly threw the small boat over the side and watched it bob in their wake. They could only hope that Stoneman would see it in the tumultuous waters.

Furl the sail, elder Dag commanded as the ship slowed and slowly turned the back towards the location where Numkyn had disappeared.

Elder Dag dropped anchor where he thought Numkyn had disappeared. However, cresting waves and deep troughs obscured their view.

Altor climbed the mast and scanned the water for what seemed like hours, until his legs ached from the strain of standing on the crosspiece, but saw nothing but a vast expanse of a wave churned emptiness. Both Stoneman and Numkyn appeared to have disappeared into the depths along with the skiff that elder Dag had tossed overboard. Tyera mounted her Gwyn to search for her companions. But, like Altor, she also discovered no trace of the two lost souls before she returned to the ship.

It'll be dark soon, observed elder Dag. We'll lay to for the night and post a light on the mast. If they survive, the light will guide them to the ship.

Despite the stars sparkling in the sky, it was one of the longest nights that Tyera had ever experienced. Try as she might, she couldn't sleep, thinking of Stoneman and his tiny companion, and wandered out on the deck to gaze across the glistening water lit by the light of the twin moons. While she admired Stoneman's bravery in trying to rescue his tiny companion, she was appalled by his sacrifice. The two had been gone now for less than half a day, leaving only memories behind, and Tyera felt an emptiness inside.

Altor came out to stand beside her admonishing, You must be careful, my love. If there are any harpies out here, the light may attract them. They'll glide down and snatch you without a sound; no one would even know what happened to you. You shouldn't be out on the deck alone. I just couldn't bear to lose you.

I'm sorry, she replied. "I guess I was focussed on Stoneman and Numkyn. I miss them so much. I love that little gnome with his funny red