Destinies Beyond the Mythos - Ahyoka's Story

By E.H. Bradley

The age of Mythos is dawning, magic has become wild. Unable to control it, the tyrannical mages that wielded it have been overthrown. Years after losing her mother in the same night as magic fell, Ahyoka and her adopted brother Fenik live on the street and steal to eat. Their lives are simple enough until the wild magic warps Fenik into something in between animal and human. She guards Fenik and his secret past as they travel through lands of hatred and fear in search of a place where a boy with scales can be just a boy. But Fenik might not be the only one stricken by magic, and a safe place for Fenik may not be safe for Ahyoka.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Saryis
• Release date: Jun 17, 2019
• ISBN: 9781733569620

Book preview

Destinies Beyond the Mythos - Ahyoka's Story

Destinies Beyond the Mythos

The Story of Ahyoka

Book 1 of the Mythos trilogy by E. H. Bradley

2019

First Printing, March 2019, First Edition

© 2019 and published by Saryis

P.O. box 9696, S Lake Tahoe, CA 96158

All rights reserved, except as allowed for fair use.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

ISBN: 978-1-73356-962-0

Fiction, Fantasy, Action/Adventure

Dedication

When I was sixteen I was first shown how to write a fictional story and given the encouragement to write something new. That story was nothing like the book that it eventually inspired, but it laid a foundation for me, a desire to create a story. Writing fanfiction and writing on forums refined my writing until I was able to finish this novel, and my editors and friends helped me polish it to something I can put out into the world.

This book was written through more than half of my life, and I would be unable to list all the people who it was inspired by and who helped me continue writing, but there are a few I need to mention specifically.

A thanks to my Phoenix, who never let me give up.

A thanks to my Sister, who kept my creative mind spinning.

A thanks to my Dad, who made certain I would have this opportunity.

Chapter 1. Two Children, Full of Dreams

Ahyoka was used to running, and so was her little brother. What they weren't so used to was running away from the mayor himself, who was screaming at the top of his lungs and swinging a fancy sword around as he did it. His too-large robes flapped behind him like flags, all white besides the dirty edges that normally trailed on the ground. But Ahyoka clutched the loaf of bread, and her brother Fenik held a single cucumber, and they ran like their lives quite possibly depended on it.

The town of Echarton, named after the terrifying old man chasing them, offered a scant half dozen alleyways that the children could duck down. Before too long they'd run out of places to hide and were faced with the town guard blocking the path back to their home. While they might not stop for the mayor, they respected the head of the guard enough to abruptly stop in front of him, catching their breath and almost toppling over as they tried not to run into him, while he nimbly took the food they'd stolen out of their hands.

In soft tones he directed one of the guards to take the food back, while another took the children off to the guard house up on a hill.

Echar, red faced and furious, came puffing up the road to confront Leo, just as the children were led through the gate that protected the guard house. They couldn't see how Leo reacted to him, but they quietly followed the guard inside and sat down in their cell without fuss. It was a place they were almost at home in, the grey stone and black bars holding them time and time again.

But even in this familiar place, Ahyoka couldn’t sit still. Years and years of running had left her restless, a constant anxiety constantly at the edge of her awareness. She stood and walked up to the bars to lean her forehead against them. It was the last hot day of summer, and the cool iron bars offered Ahyoka an escape from the heat and forced her to stand still instead of pacing or tapping her fingertips against the floor, a habit she’d picked up so long ago she couldn’t remember its source.

In only a few days fall would bring cold nights and shivering breezes, but those thoughts were too distant to find comfort in as the morning light poured through the two barred windows to warm the jailhouse like a stone oven. Looking down, she could see Fenik sitting patiently next to her with his back against the bars, his gaze on his tattered shoes.

The light slowly moved away from him, until just his toes still glowed and the heat in the cell finally began to recede to a tolerable level.

Fenik’s rough-cut brown hair spilled over his ears and down to his shoulders, dark brown skin with scabs and marks across his hands making for an ordinary appearance in this region. His pale grey eyes that darkened to black at the edges looked confused, cold, or numb most of the time, but Ahyoka knew him so well that she could see through his appearance to the emotions beneath, flickers of joy or fear surfacing behind his cold eyes.

As Ahyoka looked away from him she thought of the descriptions people had used for her in the past. Eyes like fire. Ribs showing through her skin, starved. Skin like deer hide, tanned and ashy. Only her hair was similar enough to Fenik’s to make them feel like family. Only she called him her brother, no one else seemed to believe it, but she would still be put in any cell trying to feed him.

At least they were both similarly filthy, months having passed since their last bath in the creek, a pastime they only enjoyed when they already had food.

Ahyoka looked down at her brother again and sighed.

It's not my fault, the boy said quickly, looking up at her with wide innocent eyes.

She didn't reply, looking through the bars at the table across the room from them. On it lay a cup of clean water, some bread, dried fruit, and a ring of keys. Only a few strides away but Leo’s interrupted breakfast was well beyond her reach.

She held out her hand through the bars as far as it could go, focusing on the keys completely. She turned her palm up and went through the steps of a ritual that she’d only ever had the chance to use once, long ago. She curled her fingers in one by one and imagined clearly in her mind the keys coming to her. Some power deep within her surging out and imposing her will on the world. Desperate, she whispered one word.

Please...

Nothing happened, and she sighed again, letting her arm fall and eyes close. The magic in her was gone, and if it was going to come back, it wasn’t going to come back for her, of all those with the talent.

Ahyoka?

It's nothing, Fenik, she said quickly as she wrapped her hands around the bars and shook them, rattling the door against its frame, her frustration with once again being hungry and helpless bringing up a rare surge of anger in her.

A moment later, they could make out a humming from outside. It was a gentle tune that the children didn’t know but called to mind a happier day, there was only one person they knew who would hum it, or sing if you asked nicely. The door set into the wall to Ahyoka’s left opened, and a short man walked in.

Only a little taller than Ahyoka, he wore thick leather over his legs and arms, and a tunic of chain maille that glinted a dull silver color covered his body. A sheathed dagger hung on one hip; his cleaned and sharpened wood axe swung from the other side. He didn’t often carry a sword.

He hummed to himself but cut it short as he closed the door against a slight breeze and walked up to Ahyoka to face her through the bars, a question in his eyes but silent.

We're hungry, Leo. Haven't eaten since yesterday.

The man's scruffy face and frown might scare most, but Ahyoka had been his guest in the jailhouse so many times that she knew to watch his eyes. He couldn't hide his sympathy very well, if you knew how to look at him.

Ain't got much, he finally concluded, voice low and gentle, trying to ward off the disappointment she had shown in the past when given only a little to eat.

It'll be enough, Ahyoka replied as he turned and went to the table.

She'd learned that disappointment and anger only hurt Leo, rather than bringing her any more food than she would've had without it. As she weathered harsh winters, she'd learned that it was better to make friends with those who might loan her firewood, rather than spite them for only giving so much.

Leo tested the bread on the table, finding it hard from a morning of laying out in the sun, and fetched a half loaf of bread and packet of dried fruits from a high cupboard, delivering it all into Ahyoka's waiting hands.

You have my thanks, Ahyoka said as she ripped off some and gave it to Fenik before starting to eat her own.

Don't let Echar hear of this, he sighed with an apologetic smile. "Says it encourages you two. Keep getting in trouble for free food.

We're given it, or we steal it and get tossed in here, Ahyoka said with a cheery smile. I think it's better if we're given, fewer merchants threatening us.

Aye, but Echar'd say you're not learning your lesson.

What lesson would that be, Ahyoka asked as she leaned her shoulder against the bars to eat the bread. That orphans of sixteen and ten years old should starve?

That you can't take what don't belong to you, Leo corrected. He'd give you food at the church if you went.

Ahyoka reached to her neck, where a golden locket lay hidden under her shirt, the only jewelry she had. She didn't look to Leo, instead staring off into the sky through one of the windows opposite the sun.

No. He wouldn't. Not without my pledge that I'd call all magic evil and treat others like he does. That's not giving. That's bribery.

Leo hesitated before deciding to stay, pulling a chair away from the wall next to the table and dropping into it heavily enough to cause it to creak and groan, the unvarnished wood flexing a bit under him.

He took up his cup from the table and sipped the warm water before shaking his head.

There’s no magic left, why not let it be called what it’ll be called, hm? No mages left to be upset about it, Leo said as he passed the cup to Ahyoka, outstretched hands barely meeting between the chair and the bars.

There's still magic, Ahyoka said quietly, before drinking and passing the cup to Fenik.

Far away. Maybe in the burned cities, but nobody being hurt by Echar's scorn. Not out here.

Except those who carry symbols of magic and the mages, Ahyoka pointed out. Or refuse to show the same hate. Or who read too much. Or disagree with Echar's ways.

Fine, Leo sighed, holding up a hand to get her to stop. But it's his town. He built it, gathered us all up, he's got a right to run it how he wishes.

Where'd he get the church? Ahyoka asked, refusing to relent as she leaned on the bars, eyes fierce with anger. It isn't like the other buildings, it's a church of the Green Lady, the nature God from long ago. What happened to those who built it?

Leo turned away, face a little pale, and looked at the ring of keys on the table. After a moment he put them on his belt and stood.

I'll be back with more food, but I'm keeping you two through the night. Festival's tonight and I don't need Echar trying to catch you two all night.

What did he do to those who lived in the church, Leo?

Leo left through the same door he came in by. Ahyoka huffed, turned to lay her back against the bars, and slide down them to sit next to Fenik.

Fenik stayed quiet while Ahyoka scowled and wiped tears from the corners of her eyes.

It's fine, Fenik, she mumbled as she stared at her fistful of dried berries. Don't matter, really. Can't do anything about it.

They were quiet, and they watched the sunbeams travel across the floor. Fenik was scared of her when she was angry, it was easy to tell, his eyes wouldn’t meet hers and he once he finished eating he clasped his hands and scratched scabs on his fingers. She had to do something, so he’d meet her eyes again.

Let me tell you a story, Fenik.

Fenik sat up, grinning at the promise of a story.

Is it of magic?! Fenik asked eagerly, his eyes losing the tightness of fear and becoming wide and innocent again.

Of course, it's of magic, Ahyoka said as she settled into place, smiling a little as though his mood had grabbed hold of her. Of... my sister.

You don't have a sister, Fenik said quickly, causing Ahyoka to roll her eyes and smile a little more.

He loved to correct her, to figure out what she was saying that was true and what was a lie. She wasn't afraid of lying, she did it all the time, but he always picked them out, trying to sort the whole world into solid things, so he could know what was true.

For this story I do, she retorted.

He nodded and smiled, undeterred by her response.

In this story I was very young, and my sister was learning how to be a mage. Do you know what a mage was, Fenik?

He nodded quickly, but she prodded him with a finger and he changed it to a shake of his head quite quickly. The story would be very short if he only let her tell the new parts.

A mage, Ahyoka continued, Could feel magic all around them. Like swimming in water, they could splash or cup the magic in their hands and do things with it!

Really? Fenik asked on cue, his eyes wide as he eagerly played along with Ahyoka, seeking the new details she would work into the familiar story.

Well, back then, she was learning how to... she paused for a moment to think of her past lessons, before smiling as she remembered the lesson she’d tried to repeat so recently. Make things float! She would hold out her hand. She reached out with her palm down, thumb and pinkie tucked in so that three fingers were extended flat. and she would concentrate on something, something small. In her head, she would make a string between her and the thing, and then turn her hand.

As Ahyoka rotated her palm to face upwards, she laid her thumb and pinkie flat so her whole hand was flat. She was faintly disappointed that the old dried piece of bread in the corner didn't move, but she continued her story.

She would lift her hand, she said as she did so, and the thing would float up as though she was holding it, even if far away.

Could she lift a whole person?! Fenik asked, excited and lost in the story.

Ahyoka paused, realizing that she didn't know the answer, so she made a guess. No, she could only lift as much as she could lift with one hand. Magic can't make her stronger, after all.

Fenik accepted the explanation without question, nodding as he waited for the story to continue.

So, my sister was learning how to lift things, with her magic, Ahyoka repeated, imagining this mythical sister in her mother’s place on the shore of the lake. and she would pick up rocks and throw them out into the river, to watch the splash. Well, as she's throwing rocks with her magic, she picks up a little turtle!

Pet turtle! Fenik declared eagerly.

No Fenik, it was a wild turtle, a baby. You can't make a wild animal a pet, Ahyoka said quickly, the same lie she’d been told by her mother rolling easily off her tongue. It won't survive, it has to be free. So, my sister had a wild turtle, and she'd picked it up in her magic, so it was squirming around in the air

The door opened as Leo returned, the story interrupted abruptly.

I got ya some fresher food, Leo said gently as the children watched him. Just a bit o’ rye bread ‘n butter.

Fenik leaped up, grinning. Butter?! he asked with all the energy of a believer witnessing a miracle.

Ahyoka wasn’t so eager, knowing that Leo’s kindness might be due to his guilt from not answering Ahyoka’s questions about the church of the Green Lady. But she couldn't afford to refuse food. She hovered just behind Fenik.

Just for you two, Leo nodded, setting down a small ceramic bowl of butter and a still-steaming half loaf of bread.

Thank you, thank you! Fenik cheered as he tore off a chunk with his dirty fingers and scooped up a lump of butter with it before shoving it all in his mouth, grinning with such enthusiasm that Ahyoka felt some of her fear fading.

At least her brother was happy.

She brushed her fingers off on the hem of her hopelessly dirty blouse, before tearing off her own piece.

Who made the bread? Ahyoka asked, trying to disguise her search for more unguarded food as just more conversation.

This’ll be the last batch ‘afore winter, from the Alders, he replied, watching her eat with an expression of concern. You know, you're old enough to work the mill, Ahyoka.

She did her best to ignore him, knowing that if she worked at the mill, she'd only get enough food for herself, and a place to stay. They wouldn't give her enough for Fenik. She'd have to steal again, and she'd be treated even worse for having tricked them.

Thanks for the bread, Mr. Leo, sir, Fenik said, breaking the silence in his usual polite and friendly way.

It worked. The tension faded as Leo smiled at Fenik and Ahyoka focused on the bread.

My pleasure, Fenik, Leo said as he returned to his seat and groaned in relief. Too many tired days for me. I aught ta come out ta your little cabin some time and hide there. My two best troublemakers already holed up there, so I shouldn’t need to work, he joked. I'd bring food.

Oh, yes yes! Fenik shouted into Ahyoka’s ear, making her wince despite her smile.

Well... Ahyoka paused as she realized that she wouldn't mind it, really. Leo already knew that their little home was unusually humble. I suppose you're welcome to, Mr. Leo. So long as you bring food.

Leo seemed not only surprised but honored by the declaration.

Really, even an old guard is welcome in your home?

It's as much your home as ours, Ahyoka said, never settling in, never considering any place they stayed as truly their home. We just got there first.

You've made it your home, Leo insisted in the gentle tone that he usually used with the children, smiling a little. Maybe if I come up, I’ll aim to fix it up a little. I helped fix up the church after all. I know quite a bit about fixing up old buildings.

A roof! Fenik said loudly, making Ahyoka and Leo chuckle.

Yes, Ahyoka admitted. We could use some fixing up on our roof.

Well... I’ll look ‘round for some thatching. You’ve eaten today but how about… Do ya know how ta hunt? Leo asked curiously.

The children looked at each other as though he'd asked if they'd ever flown from the trees.

"No, what would we hunt with?" Ahyoka asked as if it was obvious.

Hmmmm, that’s a good point, Leo sighed before unbuckling his hand-length knife in its scabbard from his belt, weighing it in one hand as he looked over the children, judging them. Ya both need ta eat. But ya need to stay away from town for a few days, okay? I'll give this to you, if you two try hunting tonight and tomorrow, instead of coming to the festival.

Leo eyed Ahyoka as he mentioned the festival, clearly having guessed at her plans for the evening if they hadn’t been caught.

How would we hunt? Fenik asked incredulously, but Ahyoka thought quickly of how they could be independent, never returning to the jail or having to sneak into the church to slip coins out of pockets.

Yes, Ahyoka said firmly, a little too loudly, clearing her throat and nodding. Yes, Leo. We would like to have the chance to hunt. And I think I have a book that teaches how to hunt, too.

Leo nodded, got up, took the keys from his belt and unlocked the cell door, handing her the knife and setting them free.

You both stay safe, he urged. Hunt somethin’ small first, just so you’ve got some food. But don't come back ta town ’til the day after next, alright?

Ahyoka carefully took the knife in one hand as she held the rest of her bread in the other and nodded, thanking Leo before they rushed out of the guard tower door and into the daylight, laughing giddily at their rediscovered freedom, pausing for a moment to take in the town spread out below them, and enjoy the soft breeze.

Thatched and tiled roofs scattered out across the brown, sun baked valley, fading into the irregular fields that held only withered stalks and patches of dirt. From the top of a stone wall that surrounded the tower and the hill it sat on, the pair of guards on duty watched as the children approached the old rust-flecked iron gate, wary but upon seeing Leo nod, letting them pass onto the cobblestones of Market Street. This time the children set their steps towards the far side of town, heading for a line of trees on the horizon.

We won't have to go back, ‎Fenik.

Ahyoka took a bite of her bread and nodded with all the confidence in the world, as he grinned around his own mouthful.

‎We’ll learn how to hunt, get plenty of food, sell the furs... We could even buy seeds, Fenik!

Her brother’s eager smile made her feel like her heart was soaring, the possibilities laid out before them in shining gold. So often, Ahyoka had become used to pulling back from this sort of blind optimism, denying the idealism and hope that turned out to be false too many times. But Fenik’s awe and eagerness was infectious this time, and she allowed herself to try seeing things the way that he seemed to see them. A wide horizon of possibilities without anything standing in their way.

It will be great, we could eat something but bread all the time! he added gleefully.

A shop owner down the road eyed the troublemakers suspiciously, but despite glass windows displaying rich cloths and furs, they passed without causing any trouble. He didn’t know that soon they would be rich according to their ambitious dreams, and the rich had everything they needed.

‎As the children reached the far edge of town, a crumbled but familiar structure came into view.

It was a stone hut buried in the edge of the forest, most would only see the ruined thatch roof, and the collapsed front room, rightfully marking it as a long-abandoned building. The kids didn't know the story behind the place, or how it had come to be built so close to the trees which the other homebuilders had avoided due to the risks of animals or falling branches. But it had been their home for as long as Fenik could remember, though Ahyoka remembered coming here from a city far away that was even bigger than this town; a city spread around a lake that she still thought of as home.

Their torn and dirty shoes ground against pebbles strewn in front of the wide flat stones that were once the doorstep, creating a shifting sound like running water. Fenik would occasionally sit for hours, running his hands through the stones, thinking of little while enjoying the sound mixing with the music of the nearby stream.

Let me see if my books can help us learn to hunt, Ahyoka said, leading the way through the inner door, and into the only real room left in the structure.

One corner of the roof ‎was completely gone, having fallen in long ago, but the place offered them more shelter than most of the other places a pair of orphans could hide. Four solid walls, enough of a roof to keep them dry in the rain, and a sturdy stone floor that cooled them in the summer.

Tucked into the opposite corner of the stone brick room, away from the open section of the roof, a rough sack held everything that they owned. A few copper coins, a few books, some thread with a lone rusty needle, and a pitted and chipped ulu. The ulu was a blade shaped like a half circle attached to a small rounded handle in the center. Next to the sack, three blankets of varying quality and cleanliness made their meager bed. Fenik laid down on it, the fabric still chilly from the night, even as the sun streamed through the roof and lit up the room in a soft gold glow.

Ahyoka settled in to read, as she did most nights.

The book she chose to search for information on hunting had once belonged to her father. He’d been a simple and calm man, with a passion for supporting the incredible healing and natural magic that Ahyoka’s mother was skilled in. But magic didn’t put food on the table as often as needed, and hunting was a reliable skill. The book was a guide he’d been in the process of writing. A guide to teach the town’s children how to hunt if he passed before they were old enough for him to teach them.

Ahyoka had never had the tools or bravery needed to put the lessons to use before this day, and she