The Jewel of the North, Book 1--An Archon fantasy: The Jewel of the North, #1

By Scott W. Clark

A boy. And a jewel of great power.

And evil men are after him to get it.

Daniel Tompkins is a normal boy with normal kinds of problems. He isn’t doing as well in school as his mother wants him to and he doesn't really fit in very well.

But now a bully has zeroed in on him.  He wants money from Daniel and will take it out of him in pain if he doesn’t get it.

"Bring it to me tomorrow or else!"

Daniel doesn’t want to go to school but he goes anyway. For his mother, he goes. He is late but he still goes.

When he leaves his apartment, however, his life will be changed forever.

In a small park near his building he hears a voice. It is coming from the old oak tree in the middle of it.

A man appears there. But this man is not like any other. He’s Eliphim—an elf-- and he has something he needs Daniel to do.

He hands him a gauntlet with a jewel of great power in the center of it. It is the Jewel of the North. And Daniel must get it back to its rightful owner.

But others want it. The Riivors will stop at nothing to get it. And they aren’t the only ones.

Daniel must flee from them, from all of them. He must protect the jewel and get it back where it belongs or the world as we know it will end.

This is both Books 1 & 2.

From the author of The Stranger, The Joining, and I Am Legion, as well as numerous short stories.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Archon Books
• Release date: Feb 20, 2013
• ISBN: 9781536532517

Book preview

The Jewel of the North, Book 1--An Archon fantasy

The Jewel of the North, Volume 1

by Scott W. Clark

Published by Archon Books, 2013.

This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.

THE JEWEL OF THE NORTH, BOOK 1--AN ARCHON FANTASY

First edition. February 20, 2013.

Copyright © 2013 Scott W. Clark.

Written by Scott W. Clark.

The Jewel

of the North

——-۞——-

Book 1

Scott W. Clark

Published by Archon Books

Copyright © 2012 Scott W. Clark. All rights reserved

——-

Chapter

1

Pinpoints of light filled the dark sky over the Middelmass, the pale white mountain of ice that loomed in the distance. They twinkled but, unlike stars, these points of light were moving.

They were coming.

How long ago, Bel? said the tall, broad-shouldered man with flowing white hair standing on the balcony of the palace.

About ten minutes, Nicolas, said Bel standing next to him. That’s when the sentry saw them.

Tall and thin and he would normally have been called a man except for the ears. They were different; they sloped up to a point.

This was Belfindel, the chief steward. He was Eliph.

"It couldn’t have been much earlier than that. We’ve expected them, of course, and have been vigilant about the watch.

"We got to you as soon as we could.

"They came over the mountain at first but then stopped. There were few of them in the beginning; now there are more. That, of course, was to be expected.

"We think they are using the Middelmass as a staging area. It looks like they’ve all crossed the Gap and passed the Gate.

There’re coming now in force.

Nicolas looked out again.

Yes, he said. "Yes.

Riivors!

He spit out the word.

That they would come when the seal weakened and collapsed, said Bel, "comes as no surprise. We hoped differently. Maybe they would have second thoughts about it; maybe they would remember the Tenth Crossing and be dissuaded. Maybe something else would intervene. That was our hope; it was all we had.

"But it looks like that hope was in vain.

They’re coming. There’s no doubt about it now.

Riivors! said Nicolas again and then he moved. He turned and quickly walked back through the doors.

Bel followed him.

We haven’t much time, Bel, said Nicolas his white hair stirred in the wake he created in his haste. Rouse them, Christophe, Friedrich, Adalbert, Josef, all the others. Rouse them all and get them to the square!

They haven’t come back yet, said Bel.

Nicolas stopped and turned to face him.

They haven’t? None of them?

Bel shook his head.

Why wasn’t I told?

I did not tell you because it was just more bad news. And we have had enough of that recently.

But not telling me changed nothing.

"Telling you would have changed nothing either, Nicolas. They would be here or not and nothing we could do would mean otherwise.

I tried to spare you.

"You did me no favors, Bel. I must know it all if I am to face the threat.

That none of the others are here is a blow.

His eyes focused off into the distance for a moment. Then his features hardened.

So, that’s it.

Nicolas turned and started walking again. He walked faster this time. Even with his long legs Bel found it hard to keep up with him.

Nicolas said nothing.

None of them have come back, continued Bel. "They are still out on the search and I have heard nothing from them.

That they were gone in the first place seemed to be the wisest course. If they could find the Galem and bring it back we would not be where we are at this moment.

Well, said Nicolas, finally, not breaking his stride, "there is nothing to be done about it now. That the Galem is gone is my fault and my shame but that they might have gotten it back in time was not a foolish hope. Ath is clever but he is not omniscient. He isn’t omnipotent either—the Galem doesn’t give up its secrets easily.

"Ath is no Zerlin. That has been in our favor.

"But now the Riivors are coming and we are alone.

So be it! If that is the way of things now, then let it be. I will face them alone.

I will face them with you, said Bel.

They had just passed the statue of Hotsenslas, the Halt, and were on their way to the Grand Descent but Nicolas stopped suddenly and faced Bel again.

No, you must get the rest of the people to safety. We have sent many south but some others remain. They are our concern and something must be done for them. Get them somewhere safe.

There is no safe place now, Nicolas.

"Then get them to the safest place you can. That will be difficult to find in a world that will soon be turned upside down. But we must do it.

"Who knows what will be? The future brings many things; maybe it brings us salvation from them? Who knows? But we do not struggle alone. There are other agencies at work out there that may help us in our time of need but we must act our part well to be in their favor.

"The future is not ours to create alone. There may be other turns and twists in this before we are done.

"But we must act, Bel. I must act.

I face the Riivors alone.

He grabbed Bel by the shoulders.

Take care, Bel, he said with much feeling.

I will try, Nicolas.

The large man leaned forward and embraced the slight Eliph.

May the Host of the Ancients go before you, Nicolas, said Bel, with great difficulty. And may the multitude of the Assembly of the North be your rearguard.

And may your way be smoothed before you, Belfindel Orlas, until we find ourselves together again.

Nicolas smiled at Bel for a moment but then quickly turned on his heel and hurried away. Bel could hear the thud of his boots as he hurried down the hall.

Bel did not go with him. He wanted to and was stopped only because of what had been asked of him.

He would do his duty to the people. And to Nicolas.

But that would leave Nicolas alone. That would mean the death of Nicolas unless something else happened.

He had to do something.

Bel looked over at the statue nearby.

What would you do, Hotsenslas? he said.

Suddenly, it came to him.

He would do what he was asked to do but he would do it another way. Not personally. Ollen would take care of the people. He was a good man—one of the best. He would rally and take care of the people the same as Bel would.

As for himself, Bel would go another way to another place. Others had looked and had not found but they were Skanders. He would go on the hunt himself.

It would be Eliph pitted against Eliph.

It had been only days—two, in fact—since the Galem was taken. Bel thought his duty lay in the city with Nicolas. But he understood now that he should have gone on the hunt. He should have been the one to look. Skanders could do many things, a number of which were simply incredible. But Ath was Eliph, from another tribe, it was true, but the same race. There was an old Skander saying: ‘Sometimes it just takes an elf.’ That was true in this case. He was Eliph. Ath was Eliph. He had worked his kwidic ways in getting the Galem and had used them to make good his escape. These were things that Bel understood. And it was his mistake for not seeing this before.

Besides, Ath had been his responsibility. He was his protégé, after all. But he had become more than that to Bel. He had become his pride and his joy.

And that had been a great mistake.

He would go out. He would look for him. He would bring him to account for his treachery. And he would bring the Galem back. That would save Nicolas.

If he survived the next few hours, that is.

That was the problem.

Well, he said to the statue of Hotsenslas, "there is no hope if I do nothing. So I must go.

Nicolas needs help. Maybe I can give it to him another way...

He turned and went off in another direction.

The first missile hit the figure of Zerlin in the main square. The large statue exploded in a shower of sparks, fragments and rain. The sound of the destruction was accompanied by howls of laughter from above.

The second hit the clock tower and the steeple tumbled over and down in what those who witnessed it swore was slow motion.

From that point on, a hail of missiles rained down on the city. The chunks of smelsom launched by the Riivors smashed through the roofs of the buildings and exploded somewhere within. Soon, too soon, many of the buildings in the city were nothing but rubble.

The open areas were not spared either. Smelsom crashed to the ground and exploded out in the open, in the squares, in the parks, in the gathering places. These places were not safe either.

No place was safe. Everywhere there was movement and collapse; everywhere there were the sights and sounds of destruction. And it did not cease but went on and on and on.

The Wacheslas, the Mortelmaign, the hall of the Titans, the shrines, the monuments, the temples, many of the habitations and edifices of the city. Each of these took direct hits and the structures, or large portions of them, came crashing to the ground. Blue flames licked at what remained.

No part of the city was spared. The few inhabitants that remained fled to the open areas in the hope the Riivors intended to destroy things but not people.

They were wrong. Wherever they gathered, the people were not spared. Missiles were lobbed at them. Wherever they gathered they took the same punishment as the buildings and memorials of the city. Though they hunkered down and bunched together, clearly visible for the breathing, living beings they were, they still took incoming from the sky. And, when they heard the laughter that came with it, they knew that the war was against all.

These scattered and took refuge where they could as best they could.

If they could.

And the explosions and fulminations and shatterings continued.

In the middle of the city, the Great Square, the Square of the Ancients, lay in ruin and darkness. But that darkness was suddenly pierced by a light. The large front doors to the palace, the part of the building that had been spared from the assault for some reason, the part fronting the square, burst open and a light cast itself long out into the darkness. In the center of that light was a shadow. A tall, broad shadow.

Nicolas.

He strode into the square dressed in a long green robe and he came quickly to the center of it to a point near the rubble of the statue of Zerlin.

He looked up.

Stop! he cried. "Stop!

I am here! I am here!

The sledges were bombing on every side but they ceased immediately when they saw him. They quickly swarmed above him in the square and began to circle him, thousands of them, thousand of sledges with their tens of thousands of Riivors. They were, all of them, to a man, to a Riivor, intent on this single, solitary figure standing alone in the desolate square.

Nicolas! Nicolas!

It sounded as a great hissing and it came from the sledges above him. No other sound could be heard but that, the hissing of Nicolas, Nicolas, Nicolas!

One of the sledges broke away from the others and, passing overhead, flung one of the large chunks of smelsom it dragged with it down at him.

Down at Nicolas.

It arced into the darkness below a large piece of burning ice about the size of a small iceberg. It was much, much more than enough to crush Nicolas. But