Paradon: An Unexpected Chronicle

By Jordan W. and Alexander K.

Synopsis
This is a chronicle set in a world called Paradon. It is a tale of two brothers, Allan and Elis, the sons of a great king. The narrative begins with a massive battle that heavily impacts the world, including people’s mindsets and core values. The aftermath of war urges people towards a somewhat peaceful but uncertain future, and this is the world that the two brothers grow up in. But due to circumstances and the varied characters of the brothers, the two travel down different paths. These paths eventually lead them to clash with one another. Allan walks down a more positive and sanctioned path, groomed for power since birth, loved by his father and having lasting favour of the people. Elis takes a darker route and falls under wrong guidance. Elis’s perceptions are coloured by his own ambitions, and his father’s greater love for his brother. These trajectories carry Allan and Elis though childhood, their teenage years and into young adulthood, finally culminating in conflict.

Throughout their experiences, Allan and Elis form friendships and make enemies.
Intense battles signal endings and beginnings in the story, paving the way for further confrontation, shaping the young adulthoods of the brothers before their own collision with one another.

Qualities such as friendship and love are valued and embraced in this story by the characters. However, qualities such as intrigue, jealousy, hatred compromise relationships between characters and further escalate tensions.

Events lead to a final showdown between the two brothers, the main protagonists. This showdown decides their future and marks the end of the chronicle.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jordan W.
• Release date: Jan 19, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370766185

Book preview

Introduction

Paradon, a world of war and treachery and a world that has always been divided. However, this land is not sparse nor is it deprived of life, incredibly abundant with greenery and diverse in fauna, this is by no means a dead land. These features cover rich and colourful landscapes that seem to change nearly in every area.

There was the north, Livonia, the land of the Humans. To the south, a great distance away were the untamed lands of the beasts, known to the Humans as Doomenheim. Doomenheim had five higher beings, the Trolls, Orcs, Goblins and there the two great flying beasts which were the Wyverns and Gargoyles. Never at peace, the beasts often fought against each other over the less fertile southern lands. Every so often wars would erupt between the Humans and the Beasts where it would always either be one or two Human kingdoms warring with one of the beast factions as the beasts were never unified. To the advantage of Humanity.

Beasts and Humans were on par when it came to weighing strengths, so when conflicts arose between them, the death toll would be incredibly high for both sides. The Humans themselves have had a very war strewn history, the Human kingdoms often fought each other as well. In fact, the Kingdom of Hetheil, the oldest and strongest of the four kingdoms had distinguished itself as the dominant kingdom through wars with the other three.

However, after the Great Tri War there was very little tension between the Human kingdoms and hardly any contact existed between the beasts and Humans. All this peace and tranquillity has allowed the Human kingdoms to prosper and focus on the improvement of their lives and reap the benefits of a temporarily war free Livonia.

During this time of peace, king Henriet of Hetheil managed to have two sons with his wife, Queen Elia. Their mother, Queen Elia would unfortunately not live, she died while giving birth to Elis, the younger brother. One son would be named Allan Reeve and the later of the two was to be named Elis Reeve.

The story of the two brotherss is like no other. What caused this peace was the impact of the Great Tri War. The bloodiest war Paradon would ever see. But such a deep wound never fully healed, paving the way for another conflict, eventually between brothers.

The Story of the Great Tri War

Before Allan and Elis Reeve were born, the Great Tri War bloodied the land and ended just as bloodily. Unlike all Orcs before him, Aldor the Orc unified all five of the beast races under his rule with his unmatched charisma, skill as a warrior and his popular ideologies, one such ideology was the annihilation of Humanity. This Orc had fought a series of bloody battles to reign supreme over every beast. However, his quest to destroy humanity was not be an easy task as the Humans were very formidable.

With the emerged threat of Aldor leading a unified army of beasts into Livonia, the land of the Human kingdoms, the king of Hetheil as Henriet rallied all four Human kingdoms. The Kingdom of Hetheil is famous for its impeccable military prowess.

Then there are the other kingdoms. The Kingdom of Unodos, famous for its many skilled smiths and metal workers, they forge the best weapons, tools and jewellery in Livonia, unmatched in their fine metallurgy. The Kingdom of Koros is famous for its medical advancements and domestic innovation and lastly the bountiful Kingdom of Diamonheim renowned for its riches and its ability to provide resources including men and metals. To further strengthen the alliance between Diamonheim and the Kingdom of Hetheil, the Diamonheim offered King Henriet a princess to wed, Elia the daughter of the old Diamonheimian King, the Humans are now firmly with each other till the end.

The Human has more brains than brawn, smaller and less strong than their counterparts, the Beasts. They knew they had to work together to face Aldor and his hordes. However, for the beasts, it was all about power and whoever led had to be the strongest, unfortunately it was Aldor the Orc. He wasted no time in attacking the Humans, he began the war as he and his brother initiated an attack and ambushed an unsuspecting Human army but not before the Humans regrouped and counter-attacked the beasts at the battle of Mount Ranicus. There, the large and aggressive beasts hurled themselves against the Human soldiers as they marched forward in disciplined columns.

This small Human army fought long and hard and inflicted many casualties with their arrows and diversionary tactics, yet they were doomed as they were lightly equipped and without their great weapons, this militia was all but wiped out. The remaining that survived fled to the nearest Kingdom, Unodos the first Human Kingdom after crossing the border.

Their first encounter with the unified beasts had been a disaster, yet they continued their resistance. Fortunately, King Henriet was not present as diplomatic issues and army building detained him. Had he been present in this battle and died, the Humans would not stand united without the leader who had brought them together to fight in the first place. Aldor had sent a clear message to him and the Humans that he was coming to kill them all and he was coming fast.

Aldor called for reinforcements from all over his newly found domain to fight as he knew he was going to need them for the inevitable battles to come, he stated that all beasts who defy him or reject forced conscription will be severely dealt with and Humans whom he had captured were brutally treated before being put to death. Because of these actions, he would come to be called Aldor the Cruel not by just the Humans but also by his own people.

However, many Beasts were still inclined to stand with him. He was unlike the other beasts, he had a goal in mind and this Orc’s lifelong dream was to rule all. His skills as a fighter and his mind had set him apart from the rest. All but the Humans, had pledged allegiance to him, a race he had hated since his youth.

Aldor developed a plan to cease a road that lays passage to Unodos’ capital, Maredos. From there he could access the main trading roads which would lead him to the other kingdoms’ major cities. One morning, he carries out the plan with fresh troops, bent on taking out a heavily fortified Human outpost called Fort Corfu, situated along the road. A small but prepared garrison awaited the beasts. When the beast army began their attack, the defenders of the outpost made a stand. Archers were on the walls and protected by the main line of Unodite infantry, these troop’s skills paled in comparison to their allies, but they were well armed and well armoured. The archers opened fire when the beasts got within range of their arrows. They relentlessly fired volleys of arrows, trying to capitalise on the disorganisation of the enemy army. The beasts then broke into a speeding frenzy and charged, Aldor was in the front, leading them.

The infantry lines collided, the Unodites took a beating on impact. However, their deadly arrows were causing casualties, impactful but the beasts just kept on coming. This battle continued as both sides were slugging it out, fighting for hours on end. The Unodite soldiers were able to hold the line long enough for their King, Paulos to ride in with some fresh mercenaries from the other kingdoms to aid the troops already fighting, for they knew that if they lost this battle their city would fall. The opposing forces were now balanced in power resulting in a long battle between two equivalent forces.

The sky was an eerie dark colour as the battle continued into the evening. Aldor had to do something to break the deadlock, his answer came when winged beasts began to appear over the horizon, wyverns and gargoyles had finally arrived as the final addition to his reinforcements. They struck terror into the hearts of the soldiers and descended upon them in vast number, hurling deadly debris and attacking the Humans, tipping the battle in Aldor’s favour. He pressed on the attack and his newly encouraged troops mercilessly slaughtered the Human force.

Nightfall, the beasts stood on the battle field in full possession of it. The number of dead was alarmingly high for both sides, even the valiant King Paulos was laying lifeless on the ground, a thrown axe, lodged in his chest. All the Human soldiers were killed in the battle and even though the beasts were victorious they suffered enormously this time. Aldor’s own brother had died in this battle. These forces had bloodied each other till the point that victory for the beasts meant little more than nothing.

Both sides were exhausted, yet they remained at war. The next day, the beasts marched to take Unodos’ capital, Maredos. The beast army was ten times larger than it had ever been on a battlefield. But there was nothing to stop them from taking Maredos. There were no troops present outside the city to greet him for a battle, neither did any archers mounted on the city’s massive stone walls. Aldor was dismayed at this, he then ordered an assault on the city gates. The beasts’ battering rams went into action and they began to break down the great gate.

After breaking through, the beasts poured into the city, ransacking, and burning it, only to find not a single Human in the city, it seemed they had all fled to safety. A Goblin and wyvern scout party were sent beyond the city to find them. On returning they bring the news to Aldor, they tell him that the Humans had fled to the closest sustainable city, Ohith, the capital of Hetheil and are now taking refuge there. Both Aldor and the Humans knew that if Ohith falls, so does the unified resistance of the Humans. In preparation to end the Human’s unity, Aldor and his forces plan to strike Ohith directly, the heart of the leading kingdom of Hetheil. His forces are not suitable to attack during the winter, so he and his army will wait patiently for winter to end and attack the Humans right at Ohith. This troubles him as he knows the Humans will have more time to prepare themselves for this battle. King Henriet seethed with hatred, to see so many Humans perish, the tragic death of his friend and ally, King Paulos and the destruction of the Kingdom of Unodos at the hands of an Orc. Innocent and saddened people were now flooding from Unodos into the other kingdoms as refugees. The beasts must be stopped and the only way to do that is the death of their leader, Aldor the Cruel.

Winter had come, darkening the skies, and replacing earth with snow. Henriet longed for this war to be over, he wants to focus on his people and their futures and the only way to do so is in a time of prosperity. At the same time in the land of the Trolls, Traulda at its core, a bustling town of many Trolls. These are the most sensitive of the beasts, friendly yet fierce fighters. These beasts had pledged their allegiance to Aldor and his cause except for a few including a young mother named Nava, her husband, the strong Gorof and their infant son, Trolgar. Under the cover of darkness and snow, this family decided to flee to wherever fate would take them, they disliked war and could not live under the control of an oppressive Orc.

With intense nationalism, they felt an Orc having mastery over them was impossible and it was dutiful for them to leave this service under Aldor. Their escape did not go unnoticed, a lone Gargoyle serving as Aldor’s personal informant flew high above them, after spotting them and with his muscular stone wings he flew off to tell Aldor the news of his discovery. Aldor had returned to Orctown before he was to besiege Ohith at winter’s end. His gargoyle informant arrived to tell him the news, Aldor’s celebrative mood, turned to anger and yelled with a club in hand, Kill them! Spare no one and ensure they bow before my rule, before they are cut down.

A small task force lead by the Gargoyle was sent to intercept the Trolls before they could escape. The Trolls managed to get as far as Stunt Stream, a small riverine near the undiscovered but peaceful village of Stunt Valley. The cornered Trolls knew they were being followed and knew they wouldn’t make it out alive, the instincts of the Troll is to ensure the future of the infants, the tearing Troll mother laid the young infant in his casket, then placed him in the stream and she uttered we will always love you, stay strong Trolgar, you are destined for great things then placing her necklace stained with tears that read Trolgar, around his neck, before letting go. As she turned away from the infant she now knew would be safe, she saw an incoming cluster of Aldor’s warriors coming for her and Gorof. Gorof turned to see it as well, tightening his grip on his axe and embraced death as it came and with Nava. The group of opposing warriors attacked and encircled them. The Trolls made a last stand swinging their mighty axes cutting down Aldor’s minions until, eventually they had succumbed to their blows and were overpowered by superior numbers of gargoyles and Goblins, for Trolgar it will be the last time for him to see and remember the parents he was loved so deeply by.

The casket containing little Trolgar, floated down the river and into the Stunt Sea. Helm Stiller, a farmer from Stunt Valley saw this mysterious casket stuck between a cluster of rocks, this peaked his curiosity and he went forth to check what the casket contained, to his surprise, it was a baby Troll, its adorable and innocent eyes pierced his soul. He smiled and picked this creature up in his arms. You poor thing, it’s freezing cold out here, let’s take you in and get you warmed up said Helm. The village knew him as Stiller the friendly, he was a kind-hearted man of many words. He adopted this orphaned Troll and called him Trolgar after the necklace he was wearing, the Troll’s name never changed. The village of Stunt Valley was unlike any other, its inhabitants were racially diverse, including a handful of Orcs, Goblins and Trolls who have been peacefully co-existing with the Human population for centuries.

The village was self-sustaining as the entire population focused on farming and hunting, producing skilled farmers and master hunters. Its location and its little to no contact with the outside world allowed it to be undiscovered, most people and beasts were there by accident, yet they have learned to work together to survive and live in peace. This was paradise to those who lived there, no war, no problems, just living the life all were at first meant to live. Stunt Valley will be where Trolgar will grow up under the watchful eye of Stiller the Friendly.

Aldor learns of the deaths of Nava and Gorof but when one of the raiders tells him they failed to locate the child, he becomes furious and has the messenger executed. The other beasts begin to see a change in Aldor, he is becoming mad and lashes out at everyone around him. After this incident, the Orc king instigated a reign of terror. In the dead of winter, he marched to each of the beast homelands, killing whoever opposed his rule.

Most submitted for fear of death, respecting Aldor’s eligibility to lead but those who refused to bow to him, he slayed on the spot, he took no pity on age, race, rank nor wailing childhood.

He would return to his base for operations, the now ruined city of Maredos, just southeast of the city of Ohith, with even more troops and arms, fresh additions to his already huge army. Aldor’s armies were upgraded and ruled the skies thanks to the winged beasts, Wyverns, and Gargoyles. They had adopted ancient human war weapons such as Ballistae and Stown throwers.

Henriet had been preparing for the final battle from the start, finely forged Unodite weaponry were used to arm all Human soldiers as well as volunteers, these troops were well supplied with food and materials from the Kingdom of Diamonheim and the troops were well cared for by the skilled medics of the Kingdom of Koros. King Henriet was greatly impressed by the newly found quality of his men, who were far from the men they used to be. Time passed, both sides had been preparing well for the battle, yet neither was excited.

This battle was not a long awaited one, both sides knew this battle would bring the greatest losses as they were both fighting for high stakes, the beasts were fighting for total supremacy and the Humans, their survival, and the future of their race.

However, not all the Humans were willing to fight alongside Henriet, a man known as Lumbre Redwood was in the Human army. To him there was nothing worth fighting for, he was without a family and he didn’t have a place for a home. He has not had a good life, when he was born, he was taken from his parents and was left on the roadside to die. A local Human criminal took pity in the child and decided to raise him. However, at the age of four he witnessed his guardian being arrested by soldiers of the king, he retaliated and one of guards in self-defence, struck him with his arm, that dark incident scared him so deeply, nothing in the land meant anything to him. He had grown up on the dusty streets of a town in Unodos. A hard childhood made him grow into a criminal.

At the age of seventeen he had assaulted a soldier. Afterwards he was sentenced to life in prison, then at the beginning of the Great Tri War, he was conscripted into the army and sent into the Kingdom of Hetheil’s service as a mercenary from Unodos. Lumbre Redwood has had a dark life, he has grown away from Humanity and he has pledged allegiance to no one. Darkness has clouded his mind and he will come to betray his fellow soldiers because he knows they will just put him back in jail later.

Later that winter in the Human army camp, just outside of the city’s southern wall, Lumbre came out of his shared tent and peered out into the camp. It was nightfall, and all were asleep in their tents, no one wanted to be outside during the harsh cold of a winter night. He used the winter night to his advantage to leave the camp. His objective was the beasts’ camp, to him the Humans were going to lose the war and eventually their lives, so Lumbre decided to see if he could strike a deal with the beasts if he offered them his services. Once he left the camp and covered a fair distance he spotted smoke from a predictably large fire coming from the northeast. He trailed it and found the beast encampment, he hid behind a bush to observe the camp. The camp was far larger than that of the Human’s, obvious given the beasts were physically larger. There was a long fence that faced the path to the Human camp, after every four spikes, there would be a severed head of both a beast and Human mounted on the spike, side by side. Lumbre brushed away his fear and tried to approach a beast on the outskirts of the camp.

He saw an Orc patrolling along the wall, armed with a club, he looked viciously ugly even for an Orc. He quietly moved down the hill to approach the beast. Hey ugly whispered Lumbre, the beast got startled and immediately turned to face him. A Human? This is not where you belong I will bring your head to Aldor! yelled the beast as he raised his club. In response Lumbre drew his sword and he blocked the incoming club before shouting Stop! And listen to me, okay Human, talk and then I will smash your skull said the angered Orc. Let me speak to Aldor, bring me to him, I have no bad intent on you, ugly said Lumbre. I am not ugly, Human filth, I am actually the best looking in my town! Also, King Aldor says that all are to bring death to messengers, there is no need talk to them they are the enemy responded the Orc. No, I’m not a messenger, I do not wish to serve the Humans anymore, I would prefer to help you beasts win and be alongside you when you do after my help said Lumbre as he lowered his weapon. Human filth is to betray his own people, well if it benefits us, follow me I will bring you to see Aldor.

The two entered the camp and proceeded to Aldor’s tent, along the way the Human was shouted at and attacked, but he managed to get to the tent with the help of the Orc. Brother Orc, why did you bring this Human into my tent, it’d better be a good reason, if he is a messenger I will kill both of you, I will find out myself, leave us said Aldor as he sat on his thrown. Come and sit at the table Human and tell me why you have brought yourself here said Aldor as the ugly Orc left the tent. I have come to join your cause against the Humans, I cannot serve Henriet and the Humans anymore, let me serve you as an informant and a fighter said Lumbre. You would betray your own people? asked Aldor. I am a Human. So what. There is no use fighting for them when they will not fight for me said Lumbre in distaste for being an outcast to his own society. I will accept your help because we see eye to eye on humanity.

The long winter ended, on the first day of spring Aldor summoned his armies and marched towards Ohith with crazed haste. King Henriet who had gotten very little sleep the previous night rallied his reformed forces to meet the beasts, just outside of the city. The Humans knew their enemy well, for having battled with them before. Two devastating defeats were still not enough to break the Humans.

Then on the plains around Ohith the two armies faced each other. The beasts were not taunting as they usually did which made it eerily silent. King Henriet and Aldor knew that both could die, victorious or not. There was tremendous fear from both sides as they stood idle for a full hour, mentally preparing themselves for the battle.

The great king of Hetheil addressed the soldiers that stood ready to defend Ohith. We stand before our beastly foes today to do battle, a battle that will decide your fate and the lives of your people, win and go home to your wives and children as proud men and see them again, die and you would have died trying, you would have died among your brothers in defence of your homelands and in the future of us Humans, honour your people and fight, I will fight alongside you my brothers, together we can triumph! Fire began to burn in the hearts of the Human soldiers, they started beating their weapons against their shields.

The beasts began their elaborate taunts on the Humans and Aldor bellowed a terrifying loud roar that sent chills down the spines of everyone on the battle field. He raised his Warhammer into the air and the other beasts unleashed blood curdling roars. These roars were extremely terrifying and creepy.

Aldor ordered his stone throwers to begin a heavy bombardment on the Human troops, to his surprise, the Humans automatically began to spread out to minimise the damage done to them by these weapons. The Humans then returned fire by using their more powerful artillery, catapults and onagers to fling deadly flaming rocks into the densely packed and less agile beast force. After this brief skirmish, the beasts with their leader at the front, charged at the Humans and the signal was given to the Wyverns and Gargoyles to scale the walls and eliminate the deadly accurate archers perched on them. These archers lit their arrows and began rapid fire at the winged beasts, many arrows found their targets which sent so many winged beats crashing into their allies. Aldor had underestimated the difficulty of attacking a walled city.

The Gargoyles and Wyverns still managed to cause great casualties to the archers and a few got into the city, however inside the city they were met with unexpected resistance from armed Human citizens, women and children armed with clubs, pitchforks, spears and bows that were putting up a struggle.

Meanwhile outside the city the highly decisive land battle raged on, and the Humans were being pushed back by these larger and more numerous adversaries which included Lumbre. He was observed by Henriet and his troops, hacking and slashing at the other Humans with an indescribable anger. The unsuccessful winged beasts were recalled and reorganised and used hit and run tactics on the infantry. Though they did manage to disable the catapults in the city that were firing over the walls, before ending their unsuccessful raid inside Ohith.

When all hope seemed to be lost, the gates opened, and the citizens of Ohith ran out to join their fathers, brothers, sons, and husbands. The Humans refused to give up and threw everything they had into the fray. Aldor continued his relentless attacks on the Humans, frantically trying to break them for good. Both he and Henriet were in the thick of the battle, fighting alongside their soldiers, continuously spurring them on and encouraging them to fight.

The battle went on into the early evening, but the men and beasts were still fighting. Human and beast corpses laid motionless all over the ground, turned into obstacles for the fighting.

In the chaos of the battle, Aldor spotted Henriet, the two locked eyes once more and the beast charged at him. Spearing his opponent, he turned to face a beast that is responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of both beasts and people. Aldor rushed to meet him and they stood face to face, the beast towered over Henriet who stood his ground against such a terrifying monster. Aldor began the duel to death by swinging his hammer, the swift and skilled Human warrior, moved back and crouched to dodge, after crouching, he plunged his spear into the unprotected belly of Aldor, the beats roared in pain and dropped his hammer, furthered angered he breaks this spear into with the metal tip still lodged in his gut, he swiftly raised the spear and smacked down onto Henriet, causing him to collapse as the immense strength of Aldor was too much to bear even with a strong helmet made in Unodos.

The beast hurriedly grabbed his Warhammer and attempted to crush him, Henriet then grabbed a dropped shield and managed to stop the hammer from hitting him, the hammer got stuck as it made a hole in the shield. Henriet drew his sword and went straight for the chest of Aldor, lodging it into the chest of Aldor, who soon dropped his weapon.

The dying beast wrapped his massive hands around Henriet neck. With his last ounce of strength, Henriet pushed the sword deeper into the beast’s chest, Aldor’s head fell backwards and he lost balance before slumping to the ground, bringing Henriet down with him. Henriet watched the life fade away from the dark eyes of this beast, Aldor was at last slain. He then drew his sword from the dead beast’s chest and with one clean swing, decapitated his head.

Witnessing the Orc king die at the hands of a Human, the remanence of the beasts lacked the discipline to continue fighting this battle, soon