Deathbringer: A Dark Fantasy Novel

By JA Marian

"Despite what you have heard, history is not always writ by the winner, it's writ by whomever gets to the writing first and writes the strongest."

Elric the Deathbringer was once a boy and, like many boys growing up in the town of Darim, it was not a pleasant experience. Born of the union of his father and a whore nine years earlier, the only life Elric had ever known was at the hands of his abusive father who made sure that Elric knew he was an unpleasant reminder of that night's grave mistake. All was not broken bones and blood however, for Elric's father, a bookbinder, had taught him how to read so that he would be of use to him. One day Elric chanced across a small relic hidden away in the thick cover of a book he was restoring under his father's watchful eye, a relic he vaguely recognized from another book they worked on months earlier. The young boy cast his eyes about quickly, watching for his father who was busy with the delicate settings of a box vice across the room, and slipped the piece into his pocket for later inspection. A free day was coming soon and, if memory served him correctly, a free day was indeed coming soon...

Deathbringer is an intelligently crafted dark fantasy novel of dangerous power, ancient philosophies, and unending betrayal.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dueling Spires
• Release date: May 20, 2015

Book preview

DEATHBRINGER:

A Dark Fantasy Novel

By J. A. Marian

Copyright © 2015 J. A. Marian. All rights reserved.

This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, businesses, events, or locales is purely coincidental.

Reproduction of whole or part of this publication without express written consent is strictly prohibited. The author appreciates you taking the time to read this work. Please consider leaving a review wherever you bought the book, or telling your friends about it, to help spread the word.

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PART ONE

Birth

Elric the Deathbringer was once a boy and, like many boys growing up in the town of Darim, it was not a pleasant experience. Borne of the union of his father and a whore nine years earlier, the only life Elric had ever known was at the hands of his abusive father who made sure that Elric knew he was an unpleasant reminder of that night’s grave mistake. All was not broken bones and blood however, for Elric’s father, a bookbinder, had taught him how to read so that he would be of use to him. One day Elric chanced across a small relic hidden away in the thick cover of a book he was restoring under his father’s watchful eye, a relic he vaguely recognized from another book they worked on months earlier. The young boy cast his eyes about quickly, watching for his father who was busy with the delicate settings of a box vice across the room, and slipped the piece into his pocket for later inspection. A free day was coming soon and, if memory served him correctly, a free day was indeed coming soon...

Chapter 1

So, you just found it?

"It wasn’t that I just found it, the boy said, thumbing the disc is his pants pocket as they walked along the makeshift wooded path. Well, I guess I did just find it but I did know what it was when I saw it and that means it wasn’t just found."

So, you were looking for it then?

"No, I wasn’t looking for it. I just knew what I had when I had it is all."

And what, my dear Elric, do you have, questioned the taller girl with a smile.

An annoying little git of friend, he sniped back, trying his best to hide a smile when his friend stopped in her tracks, fists to hips in the very imitation of her mother in a fit. And one that likes to kiss girls, too!

Hands flying out of his pockets, Elric set out at a dead run, laughing all the while as his friend shouted obscenities that she didn’t know the meaning of and chased after him. Crashed after him was more like it. Andress was not as fast or agile as Elric but she could keep up after a fashion, something that was incredibly difficult to do on the old, overgrown trail that barely passed for a deer path. Where Elric dodged around the thin whip-like trees that often crossed their path, she pushed them out of the way roughly, like a large cat in a slender girl’s body. Where Elric used the wrist-thick branch of a large, crumbling tree to spin in a different direction, she tore the weak limb off and hurled it at him as they ran. The branch narrowly missed his head and she stopped to growl in frustration, stomping a foot on the leaf litter as he ran out of sight

Elric didn’t stop until his course had taken him down a slight hill and around a thick copse of trees that made a small cave with a part of the hill further down the path. The trail continued well in front of and slightly away from the copse of trees that served as the front door to his little hiding place. Certain that Andress wasn’t going find him for quite a while, he took out the fist-sized disc in his pocket and scrutinized it in the dim light of the cave. The glossy disc managed to catch what little light did penetrate the guardian copse and shine back at him, reflecting his face on the inky surface. It reflected a face that looked awkwardly human, the reflection broken as it was by three long, ovular gouges that were almost deep enough to come through the entire disc. Elric turned it over in his hand, thumbing over the neatly inscribed letters that he tried to make out in the dim light when a tiny rock struck him in the cheek...then the ear, then the neck and then the forehead. Every blow was punctuated by the laughter of someone he was certain wouldn’t catch him.

Come out, come out, Elric the Rabbit, she said triumphantly from outside the copse, bouncing a small rock on one hand, or I’ll have to flush you out with another volley of Rabbitslayers. She threw the rock she had been bouncing on her hand to punctuate the remark, catching a fortunate bounce off of the trunk of one of the narrow trees to strike Elric cleanly on the nose. Out, little Rabbit! Out!

Ow, damn it! Andress, you cunting whore of a...of a something whorey...ow, damn it that hurt! Elric exited the little cave slowly, his vision slightly blurry with the tears the last rock sent up to his eyes and with both hands trying to simultaneously cover and rub his pained nose. What’d you have to throw that last one for? Honestly, are you trying to make my nose bigger?

I was trying, the lanky girl said mischievously and with a predatory smile, to flush out a rabbit. Now I’m going to eat the rabbit for dinner! She jumped at him with a mock roar and knocked him to the ground. The small boy put up a feeble struggle for a few moments before ending pinned to the ground with her sitting on his chest, knees on his upper arms and a good portion of her dark blue dress in his mouth. "Jarden’s beard, Elric! It’s no wonder your father beats you. I can beat you."

You beat me because I let you, he said around a mouthful of wool, he beats me because he’s a fuck. Now get off of me you cow.

Cow am I? Andress rolled her eyes and laughed, bouncing on his chest to punctuate each word, Well, if you’re letting cows sit on you then you’ve more problems than I thought. She stopped bouncing and looked down at him, his deep brown eyes holding volumes that he would likely never share, not even with her. Thankfully those eyes held the glimmer of a smile he would not admit. It was all she could do for her friend, getting him to smile, and she tried mightily to bring some joy to his life –even if it must be small. You’re right though, he is a fuck and we should get home before it gets dark.

I think I’d rather take my chances with the warken and the boars. Elric pushed himself from the ground after she got off of him and, standing, brushed the dirt from his backside. I hear they don’t mean to maim you and they only kill you once.

The two started back down the path as the sun began to make its trip below the horizon, casting a brilliant golden-pink halo that made the forest surrounding Darim seem like the Divine itself was smiling down upon Creation. It made the autumnal foliage seem afire and the wood as if it were alive, a glorious present for whomever would just but look. The children didn’t look, not like that, nor did anyone else unfortunate enough to be about in the forest in the few hours before night fell.

Fierce creatures roamed the forest at night, fierce creatures that seemed as though they couldn’t be natural yet roamed the night from generations long forgotten. Creatures that looked normal enough and were highly dangerous, like razortusk boars, paled in comparison to the warken and other creatures of the forest at night. In the distance a shrill, bestial call pierced the twilight air as if to remind them both of that very fact and the fact that creatures of the night generally awoke before it. Their step quickened.

A quarter of an hour later the pair were halfway home and the light that entered the forest was beginning to take on the monochrome quality of the day’s last light. They walked in silence, partly to not draw attention to themselves and partly because the wood took on a sublime beauty that held them speechless. The silver-black light seemed to reflect off the bark of every tree, off the surface of every leaf and rock, creating the illusion that it was brighter than it really was and a sense of distance that made the forest seem to stretch on to forever. The makeshift