The Chosen (Council of Shadows Series, Book One)

By William J. Simpson

In the ancient land of NeaVall, things have changed since the Dragons left. The land flourished and people prospered. Now, NeaVall has fallen into chaos. Poverty and sickness reign. The leaders do their best to make life better for everyone, but a single group continues to cause difficulty regardless of the continued strengthening of the military.

Llider, a young boy whose only dream is to serve in the King’s army, and Azailia, a girl in search of her parents, are thrown into the chaos. Whether they like it or not, they must fight to survive and discover the true cause of the destruction. However, a terrible secret lies beneath it all that could change everything!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Prominent Books, LLC
• Release date: Mar 28, 2018
• ISBN: 9781370530793

Book preview

Prologue

The air was crisp as the sun slowly settled behind the horizon. Its final goodbye recognized by the streaks of light cast across the ground. A lone dragon soared through the air at a lazy pace, the remaining sunlight reflecting millions of tiny colors off his scales. The wind was strong, causing ripples to permeate through his wings. His tail moved back and forth, keeping his body steady. Two horns shot out from the back of his head and curved towards his tail.

The dragon tilted his body downwards. As he came closer to the ground, he saw many black dots below him. He flew towards them, curious. A whistling noise pricked at his ears. The sound grew louder and louder.

The dragon released a stream of fire at the group of black dots as he noticed they had become arrows. They were flying directly at him. The fire incinerated many of them, but another volley was already coming at him. He beat his wings as hard as possible to try to dodge the second cluster.

It was too late; thousands of arrows made contact with his body. The dragon roared. His scales provided good armor, but there were too many. His wings were shredded as arrows sliced through them. Some of them managed to pierce the softer, vulnerable parts where his scales met. The pain ripped through his body as he began to go limp, his wings giving out. He fell.

The impact of this sizable creature was like an explosion, sending hundreds of pounds of dirt, brush and rocks some fifty feet in the air in all directions. The impact shook the ground. The trees trembled, sending a group of birds scattering skyward. Blood poured from his wounds.

A dark shadow slowly rose before him. The dragon blinked once, and death came over him as a blade slid straight into his head.

The Dark Ages had started in NeaVall. Dragons had been revered as the Supremes, until now. When the first dragon fell, the land erupted into chaos.

Over the next few years, dragons were continually hunted and killed. The responsible parties were never found. Finally, a decision was made. The thirteen rulers were called together to meet in Khali’Gas.

It was a dark night when they met. Thirteen robed men stood in the clearing in Trilay Forest. They all looked up as a thunderous noise erupted in the sky. A massive dragon landed in the clearing, causing the ground to shake. He was all black, but his scales reflected every little bit of light that hit them. He had a long tail and massive wings. His neck had spikes running up to the top of his head where huge horns curled back. His eyes blazed blue.

Each one of the thirteen bowed. Karn, they all said with respect.

Karn lowered his head to acknowledge them. What has been happening in the land has gone too far. Karn’s voice filled each one of their minds. His voice was deep with a hint of a growl. I have summoned you all secretly. The dragons are leaving.

An instant feeling of nervousness could be felt. The thirteen looked at one another, but they dared not speak.

We are leaving. However, we have decided to take thirteen people with us. We will teach these thirteen our knowledge. When they are ready, they will return to cleanse this land. They will help repair it, bringing it back to its former glory.

Once this is done, the dragons will return. Tonight, I am going to cast a spell. This spell will mark thirteen people at random—one from each of your towns.

They all bowed in agreement. Karn walked forward towards the center of the field. He lowered his head just above the ground, his scales shimmering as he blew an opaque mist from his mouth. The mist gathered into a sphere as he closed his mouth and backed away. The sphere began to shine brighter and brighter and then exploded upwards into the air. When it reached the sky, it shattered into thirteen smaller spheres of light and shot off in different directions.

In six months, those thirteen are to gather here. As a warning, if anyone arrives with a fake mark, they will perish. His eyes flared, and a feeling of importance fell over the others.

Throughout the next month, the Thirteen were marked and sent on their journey.

Six months had since passed, and thirteen smaller dragons sat in the clearing awaiting them.

A man walked into the center of the clearing, the dragons making a semi-circle in front of him. He bowed and removed his hood. The dragon on his far left moved up to him.

Show us your marking.

The man rolled up his sleeve. On the inside of his forearm was a mark. It was a triangle, the tip facing his hand. Inside, two lines came from the back corners to meet a third line, closest to the tip. On the backside was the Roman numeral for one.

The dragon bent down and touched the symbol with his nose. The symbol flared a bright white light. The dragon bowed to the man.

Thank you. Let us be off.

The man climbed on the dragon, and off they went. Over the next couple hours, eight more people arrived and went through the same ritual, but each of their markings had a different Roman numeral.

The tenth man arrived. He walked up to the center of the field. Four dragons remained—one directly in front of him, one on his left and two on his right. The dragon on the far right stepped forward.

Show us your marking.

The man revealed his arm, the symbol showing the Roman numeral for nine. The dragon stared down at the symbol.

That is your marking?

The man nodded, his body starting to shake. The dragon could sense his nervousness. He bent down and touched his nose to the symbol. This time the symbol flared red. A blinding light filled all of Khali’Gas. The man let out an ear-piercing scream. When the light faded, all that remained was a pile of clothes. Together, the dragons roared, fury exploding within them.

The remaining four arrived one by one shortly after. As they arrived, the dragon touched their marks. They flared white, and together they left. As the thirteenth flew away on a dragon, Khali’Gas went silent. There was no evidence of what had transpired.

The Thirteen were called the Chosen.

Ten years passed when they finally returned. The land had worsened. They attempted to repair it to no avail. A plot was set in motion, and the Chosen disappeared, considered dead.

Llider sat crouched in the underbrush of the Trilay Forest. He was motionless, a wooden bow held in his hand. About thirty yards away stood a large deer grazing in the open. Llider slowly reached behind into his quiver, which rested on his back, and pulled an arrow from within. He notched the arrow and drew back the string, keeping his arm steady. He took aim, careful to aim for an instant kill. He slowly let out his breath, his arms steady, and released the arrow. It flew through the air with a soft hissing noise and not moments later lodged into the deer’s neck.

Llider stood up and slipped his bow around his back. He walked into the clearing and stood over his prey. The deer was completely limp. He pulled the arrow out of the deer, causing blood to erupt from the wound. He knelt down and wiped the arrow in the grass, removing the blood, and replaced it back into his quiver.

The sun was fading fast, so he knew he needed to hurry. Being in the woods past dark was not wise. Plus, having a fresh kill, the smell was bound to attract bigger prey at night. He quickly field dressed the deer.

When he was done, he looked around the clearing and realized he was in Khali’Gas, the sacred land of the dragons. The area was flawless. Each tree had been burned in a perfect circle with no flaws. The grass remained one length—never too long or too short and never dried out or too moist. It was the perfect place for all wildlife to graze.

Khali’Gas always made him feel weird. A nervous energy always seemed to pulse through his body when he was there. His arm started to twitch as he looked around. He reached up to rub his arm, shaking his head as he tried to rid himself of the strange feeling. This revealed his birthmark.

It was very unique. It started on his shoulder creating a half spiral and wrapped around his arm once, ending right above the back of his elbow. It wasn’t anything too peculiar except for the shape. In fact, it was almost impossible to see because it was only slightly darker than his skin color. Other than that, Llider was fairly normal. He stood about six feet tall and had dirty blonde hair that covered his shining green eyes. He was in great shape having grown up working on a farm.

Realizing the sun was falling faster and faster, he shook off the feeling and took the rope from his shoulder, unwinding it. He tied a knot in one end creating a loop. Then he took the other end and tied the deer’s four legs together, tightening the rope so it was fairly short, just enough to drag the deer right behind him. He took one last look at Khali’Gas and made his way out of the clearing, back into the woods.

The deer, being bigger than he expected, made his return slower than he had hoped. He was only at the edge of the forest when the sun disappeared behind the horizon, causing rays of pink and orange to scatter throughout the sky. Llider decided that the best place to set up camp was right on the edge of the forest before the clearing. He unraveled the rope from his arm and threw it over a tree branch. He grabbed both ends and pulled down until he could comfortably hang freely without the branch breaking. Satisfied that the branch wouldn’t break from the deer’s weight, he let go of one end, tied it to the deer and hoisted the deer above the reach of other predators. The loose end was pulled and tied on a small root sticking out of the ground.

Once that was complete, he picked up some loose brush and placed it in a pile on the ground, surrounding it with rocks. He pulled out his knife and hit it against another rock, spraying sparks on the brush until a flame appeared. For the next few minutes, he nurtured the fire, blowing on it lightly and placing small sticks and pine needles in the small flame. When he got the fire up to a decent size, he kept it going by placing larger sticks on top.

He sat down beside the fire and, using his knife, shaved the end of a stick into a point. He then pulled out several pieces of raw meat from the pouch tied to his hip. He skewered them and placed the meat over the fire. He rotated the meat for several minutes, and when it was cooked to his liking, he pulled it off the fire and quickly devoured it so the smell would not attract animals.

After his meal, he gathered dirt and swept it on the fire, extinguishing it. Then he found the nearest climbable tree. Scaling it quickly, he found a spot where two branches connected, too high for curious animals. He positioned himself on the branches and then tied himself down. He lay down and closed his eyes, listening to the night’s music as he drifted off.

The night seemed to last forever. He was awoken many times by passing animals and odd noises throughout the forest. Finally, he was able to fall into a deep sleep.

His dreams were very unusual. First, he was the King of NeaVall. Then, instantly, he was roaming the desert in search of something, and a swirling red mist appeared in front of him. He laughed, unthreatened. As he moved closer, the mist solidified into the shape of a bear and lunged at him. Llider threw his hands over his face and screamed, falling backwards out of his dream.

He instinctively tried to sit up but was restrained by his ties. Coming out of his dream, he blinked furiously and rubbed the sleep away. When he could see clearer and his focus came in, he laughed. Just a dream. He untied his restraints and climbed down the tree.

The sun was just starting to rise, so he decided to pack his things. He made sure the embers from the fire were completely out and cleaned up anything that was left over. He threw his quiver and bow around his back and then went over to the deer still hanging safely in the tree. He untied the knot and lowered it to the ground. He then shortened the slack between himself and the deer and started his way home.

He made his way over the land separating Mirafol and the Trilay Forest fairly quickly. He traveled for the next two days out of the forest, and by early morning of the third day, he could see smoke rising in the distance from the town. He made his way towards his house, which was at the most southern part of town. He passed many places including the blacksmith, butcher, the tavern, some public lodging, and some few random traders. He nodded to many of the people he passed. He grew up in this town, so most people knew him as a mischievous little kid. He was much better now, but that label had stuck. Regardless of his label, everyone loved him. He was always helping nowadays and made everyone’s life easier.

When he finally arrived at his house, his father, Tere, was outside chopping wood.

Welcome back! he said heartedly. I see you were successful, which is excellent; we just finished the last of the other meat!

Llider smiled as he replied, Yeah, it took me a few days, but I finally got him. I found him in Khali’Gas. I seem to have good luck there all the time.

Tere frowned. He always hated when Llider went near that place, much less kill an animal in it. Although weird things were not proven to happen there, there were many stories, and these stories were believed as it was a sacred place. Tere left the matter alone, hid his anxiety and put on a smile as he walked over to Llider.

Let me have that, he said as he took the deer from him. I will handle it from here. He paused and looked the deer over. Damn she’s a beaut’. You did good this time; she’s huge! He smiled with approval and walked off, disappearing behind the house, dragging the deer.

Llider let a small laugh escape from his mouth as he looked at his house. It was very