Avania

By R.R. Adams

Avania is a mantle, a kingdom, and an enslaved Spirit Mage.

The country of Avania is peaceful; however, this peace is nothing but an illusion. A facade that conceals the thousands of slaves that sustain it. And I, a Spirit mage, am only one of these thousands of slaves.

Burdening the mantle of Avania from a young age, as a nameless weapon to protect and serve the crown, the only thing I let myself dream of is remaining by the side of the one person who sees me for who I am. I would do anything to stay with him, even if it means living a life in the shadows, only watching from afar.

But, I have learned that a slave who dares to hold on to something will find the simplest wish broken. When war breaks out between my kingdom and another, I am torn from my delusions, falling behind enemy lines.

I have spent my entire life wearing a mask. This time will be no different; I will hide amongst the enemy, biding my time until I can rid Avania of its greatest threat.

If I cannot dare to dream, then I will shatter what destroys my dreams.
I will be death dressed in deceit.
I am Avania.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Gatekeeper Press
• Release date: Dec 24, 2019
• ISBN: 9781642379310

Book preview

story.

CHAPTER ONE

Spirit Mage

It was taboo for a Spirit Mage to bind the soul of a powerful and unwilling creature.

Yet, here I stand at the Queen's behest in the middle of the night to do exactly that.

My only company on this brisk evening were a few disgruntled guards, four powerful stone-faced Mages, and one very impatient Captain of the Guard, Garrick.

The spirit that writhed above me in the night air was magnificent.

Coal-black hair cradled a heart-shaped face before cascading down her back, sweeping the verdant grass beneath her slippered feet. Her slim, feminine silhouette was clad in a loose black robe and a tightly cinched white obi that shimmered in the moonlight as if it were woven from starlight. Delicate points broke the curvature of her ears, and her eyes were a stark cerulean blue that glowed with feral magic in the countenance of the high-fae.

Reaching towards the air and fire woven cage trapping her, I tried to spark a sense of solidarity between us. We were both caged by the same demons. My eyes begged for her understanding, if not her forgiveness.

We were both averse to the path thrust upon us, and seeing my anguish reflected in those cerulean eyes, I was irreconcilably sorry for who I was and who I had become.

Eyes burning and lip quivering, I swallowed the bitterness by turning towards the wicked gray spire castle of Avania that shot through the jagged mountains and loomed over us.

A single tear escaped my control and slid down my pale freckle-dusted skin, falling silently to the ground of the secluded rocky field we stood in.

Taking a deep breath to steady myself, I tried to mentally prepare for the orders I had been given at the beginning of the evening by the Queen, who, without warning, requested for me to return from Caolas Academy.

Bind it, tonight. Was all she commanded through a slim square of hastily written parchment accompanied by Captain Garrick. 'It' was the most ridiculous creature the Queen had forced me to link with.

Even the mermaid from a fortnight ago was somehow less outrageous.

Still mentally weak, I see, Captain Garrick sneered in disgust at my unkempt display of emotion, and yet, we continue to waste time physically strengthening you and putting off your inevitable downfall. I have yet to understand why the crown prince does not supplant you. The haughty guard's voice was barbing; the words were delivered with a level of cold pragmatism that did not permit human fragility.

His idea of 'supplant' involved me dying and my successor taking my role. Death was the only path to succession in Avania. I hoped my childhood friend and only ally did not see me as quite that disposable.

Ah, Garrick's contemptuous voice continued, unprovoked, Maybe he keeps you around because it takes a beast to tame a beast. He motioned towards the ethereal soul caged near us in the middle of this empty field. Or maybe, you have taken the role of the Prince's fiancé too seriously. He paused for what could only be for theatrical effect, Providing him with other comforts, are you?

Garrick, always trying to extort a rise out of me, just to have an excuse to punish me - the sadist. At this very moment, the only beasts I can see, present, are this Captain, and whoever slaughtered the poor creature.

This is it, the heart of Avania, my country and namesake, represented by men like this swine.

Avania was built by such bigots, and, regrettably, as a slave in service to Avania, the role of the Prince Heir's personal guard, was all I had. The position wasn't something that you left alive, and no one hired a branded slave and lived to tell about it.

I didn't even have a name of my own. Avania had stripped me of everything, including my identity, forcing me to wear glamour that makes me appear to be Prince Kyne's insufferable fiancé, 'Roselle.'

I pinched my expression: rosebud lips, stormy blue-gray eyes, and a delicate heart shaped face twisted into an ugly image I knew the shallow Roselle hated. These small acts of rebellion to my regal appearance along with the freckled face and calloused hands that marred Roselle's beautiful façade were the only aspects of self-identity I held.

The Avania, was a trained fighter that worked as the King’s shadow and the Queen’s body double. We were the fighters that were required to give everything, including our lives, in service to protecting the King and Queen. Or, future King and Queen in my case.

I know that many people, including Roselle, want me gone, but Prince Kyne, the only decent royalty to come from Avania, won't let that happen.

Why a high-fae? I asked, not deigning to respond to the short declamation, bringing myself to my full height, that effortlessly glimpsed over the short and pudgy General's head. Yet another stark difference between Roselle and I that she loathed. Glamour only hides so much. Isn't this unconscionable?

I'll stick to propriety for now. It isn't worth the flogging; more importantly, it isn't worth this swine's sick satisfaction. I always toed the line, and rarely spoke up, but this was stupid, undeniably and irrevocably insane.

An arm whipped out from Garrick's side and shoved me against the barrier. Water rose from the earth to create a shield between my face and the flickering barricade that trapped the fae.

Thankfully, binding a mermaid, though extremely dangerous, means I can call water to protect me like a shield, sometimes...

Do not question. Do as I command. If possible, the Captain of the Guard's voice lost its final semblance of humanity. His head lowered to mine, and his words were only a whisper to avoid sowing dissent in the ranks that surround us. They knew that I was not Duchess Roselle Gaea right now, but I still wore her face, and they might see this as a direct threat towards her.

General, I speculated coolly against the cage, I am not Roselle. I couldn't help but stress the word 'not' and pause for dramatic effect in mockery of his earlier monologue, We have one immense difference, and it would be best to remember it.

Roselle was Mundane, the General was also Mundane, but I was not. In this country, I was a feared anomaly because I controlled the power of any spirits bound to me. Stronger than the typical elemental Mage.

Too bad I could barely control the power.

The Mundane's had a rumor that the Avanian Royals had a Spirit Mage who could turn humans into puppets.

Garrick became visibly flustered, releasing me immediately and regressing to his former stance in fear. The corners of my lips started to curl into the slightest self-satisfied smile.

I guess even the Royal Guard isn't immune to rumors.

I would kill you where you stand for your continued insolence, but we have already wasted so many resources to afford you with this opportunity. The words left him in a rush, and he spit on the ground to accentuate his thoughts on my low status.

Coward. Frequently abusing his power and station.

As a protector, I also played a proactive assassin, eliminating potential threats to the kingdom, and eradicating men like this made the role easier on my conscience.

The ethereal fae-like form sparked and erupted into the flesh of an ancient dragon spirit: long, lithe body covered in starlight colored scales. Her blue-black hair had flowed and solidified into jagged sapphire spikes on her back. Some dragons had wings, but she writhed through the air like she was swimming in water. I gasped in awe, and my lips quivered in unshed grief. The only other remaining sign of the dragons once human visage lay nestled in her unaltered serpentine eyes.

The Captain of the Guard slid calculatingly away from me and the barrier, leaving me to gather myself. I stepped back to get a better look at the spirit by tucking loose auburn curls behind my ears.

Not another high-fae.

My body relaxed at the revelation.

Only a lesser dragon spirit, or maybe a shapeshifter? She couldn't be a high dragon, there might only be a few left. They are quite rare and most people in the Empire of Caolas believe them to be extinct.

But my body still recoiled, and my heart faltered at the thought of binding something powerful and beautiful. The dragon's maw widened in silent anguish, claws swiping out at the invisible cage surrounding her. Her touch causes the barrier to lash out and singe her spirit with malicious magic.

Beneath her raging form, carved up viciously on the soft white underbelly from maw to tail tip, her corporeal body lay discarded on the ground, only identifiable because of the identically shimmering scales.

I contemplated the men around me.

I hope she did not meet a planned demise at their hands; spirits that faced a violent end tended to endure in the living world as violent spirits.

I hoped it wasn't true, but the thought still plagued me.

Maybe the Queen had her captured and slaughtered?

Four Mages and a few guards clad in Avania's military uniform surrounded the dragon. Two wore the red of Fire Mages, and two wore the gray of Air Mages.

The Queen went through great lengths to assign some of the few Fire Mages in Avania to this task.

The simple Avanian imperial red tunics of the Mundane guards stood out in stark contrast to the elegantly flowing Mage attire.

The guards wouldn't last long if the dragon weren't restrained by the Mages.

Get on with it, Avania. Garrick nearly growls behind me in impatience, and when I didn't immediately heed his command, he repeated it: Beast, Garrick growls, spitting the insult against my back, bind it, now!

I'm the beast? That's comical.

Spirit Mage, or what the people of Avania eloquently called a Beast Mage, bound spirits to us to enhance our abilities. Souls melded seamlessly until the Mage was something more than human but didn't fully assume the magic folk's nature either.

There was a contract between the Spirit Mage and the spirit, a willingness of both parties. Without an agreement, there was a potential for the Spirt Mage to lose their humanity.

Metal ground against metal as Garrick pulled the sword tied to his back from its sheath. A barely veiled threat had now become imminent.

I breathed out a sigh of defeat.

For the record, to whichever deity hears me, this binding is not a choice I would make, even if the spirit were to agree to a contract.

Pulling a dagger from my knee height boots, I grasped it firmly as the metal bit reassuringly into my palm.

Unlike the guards, I wore Caolas Mage Academy's black status-less military fatigues and supple leather boots.

Raising my hands, my chipped nails curled around a thin, intricately carved ceremonial silver knife.

I pulled back the light knit black sleeve that covered part of my palm and looped around my index finger.

I drew the honed end of the fine silver blade across my palm, creating a shallow wound, waiting until blood trickled down towards the mark of a Spirit Mage on my wrist. Three solid black lines were slowly being matched by three blood-red lines parallel to the symbols. The inky slave shield brand of Avania blazed gold, acknowledging my obedience to the Queen's orders.

It's Doubtful that the brand is smart enough to know more than the fact that I am commencing a binding ceremony; regrettably, I think Garrick might be smart enough to realize if I try to bind something other than the dragon.

So many regrets today. Like answering that knock on my door.

I pressed my bloodied palm against the cage surrounding the spirit. The shield gave way without protest, allowing me into the enclosure.

Most Spirit Mages… That were still alive. Bound lesser mundane creatures like animals to improve speed, agility, eyesight, strength, and endurance. But, no-

The dragon before me stilled transfixed by my appearance within the cage. Her prudent distrustful serpentine eyes weighed the need to attack.

People avoid binding rare or strong magical creatures. The powers gained from the mundane and the lesser magical beings were enough for most Mages.

Maybe I’m weak. Or, perhaps I know the biggest weakness of the near-invincible Spirit Mages was sharing the same vessel with stronger creatures.

The looming problem before me was a beautiful and indomitable dragon spirit I would soon share a shell with.

The second reason people avoided the taboo of what I was about to do was the potential it would interrupt the balance. Binding meant the soul could not be immediately reborn to take their place in the cycle. Most Spirit Mages avoided binding the high-fae for the same reason.

Okay, maybe I recited texts when I was anxious and mumbled in my own mind.

Now, Avania! The voice commanded again, the sound of steel battering the shield made me thankful he cannot get into the enclosure during this ceremony.

Garrick clearly doesn't care about the potential consequences. Remember Gods, he and the Queen are the fools, not me.

I shook my head, standing tall with outstretched arms and clapped my palms together and while chanting the binding contract. The ancient words of the magic folk flowed over my tongue in a voice that sounded more melodic and endearing than my own.

I had learned questioning the decisions of superiors was for those with free will and choice. Neither of those luxuries was afforded to me.

If this was what Avania wanted, if this was who they wanted me to be, this is who I would be, regardless of the cost.

I edged closer to the dragon before me and with a feather-light touch, softly placed both of my hands on her celestial form.

Please be a normal magical creature. Please, please be normal.

The dragon's body arched, and she erupted into a roar of both defiance and agony. I watched as her serpentine eyes darted to me in anger. Her teeth were bared to attack. She raised her claws to strike. But, as our souls were already tethered, her form could only loom over me in bitter hatred.

She began to shift her massive form from one side of the cage to the other. Ramming it into the unyielding barrier causing both of our souls to singe. I watched in awe as conjured flames rippled over her form trying to singe the barrier that held us.

I want to help you. I whispered in the chaos. I can only help you if we are together. Dragon… You no longer have a living form.

The dragon paused, eying me. Absolute desolateness clouded her eyes. Even as she shifted to her humanoid form that empty fear in her eyes did not disappear. In her palms she cradled a blue flame, which she raised towards me in offering. Against my better judgment, I found myself reaching for the blue flame. As our hands touched, her spirit shattered into pieces of starlight. The shards of starlight and blue flame crashed into my body, throwing me back. All the souls I felt around me were quiet. Except, there was a tangible anticipation in the air.

As I sat on the soft earthen bed of grass, I reached inside me to see if anything was different. Everything inside of me was still, even the mermaid and fae souls did not shift or swirl