Moonfall

By Austin Findley

A former scout teams up with a self-taught engineer, a closeted priest with super powers, and a mercenary with a tragic past, to stop a king from taking over the world.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Lulu.com
• Release date: May 6, 2019
• ISBN: 9780359639939

Book preview

Moonfall

MOONFALL

BY:

AUSTIN FINDLEY

Chapter 1: The Great Stag of Navenport

It was eleven o’clock; the first of May. Pine trees littered the landscape. Under the pine trees, was brown soil. Above the cones of the fern, was white sky. Robin Beaulieu was a tall, lean-built man. He wore a green hood made of dark wool, with a chestnut tunic made from cloth; to adorn his wardrobe.

On his back, was a six-foot elk longbow; that included a weave basket with a quiver of two foot broad-head arrows. They were made from four sharp blades that would deploy on impact; the projectiles were two feet long.

He wore brown denim pants; supplemented with chestnut boots. He was equipped with a brown leather belt that held: a knife, flint, and salt with pepper for the road.

He unsheathed his longbow as he saw a deer he was about to make his target. He gripped an arrow from his quiver and loaded the arrow into position. The arrow was dancing with the string of the bow; but he didn’t care. He let the arrow go, as she began to sing tunes in the air; as the arrow rode through the wind. The arrow stopped dancing, as the arrow chose the deer as a mate. The arrow penetrated the deer in the eye, as he stumbled into a tree below the hill.

Robin snuck up to the animal on his tip toes from tree to tree, to avoid suspicion. He looked at the deer as he closed its eyes, He yanked out the arrow, as it was stuck in the eye. The stag had reddish-brown fur with two-foot antlers on each side of his head. His eyes were obsidian-coloured. His ears were oval-triangular shaped, angled at forty-five degrees from his antlers. His snout was chiseled like a horse; while his fur was shiny. Already, the deer had an odor of metallic malicy.

Robin murdered the Great Stag of Navenport! He took the deer and lifted him up as he was walking back to the village. He was stopped by several armored guards coming from the stone road. They wore steel garments with open visors.

Robin Beaulieu, stop right there! A guard placed his right hand up to signal stop, as Robin placed the deer gently on the ground. He spoke in defense.

Do you know I have a village of people who want to eat more than bread and stew? Robin unsheathed his cowl to reveal chestnut hair and a defined jaw. His face was littered with stubble as he looked at the guards in the eye. His eyes were dark brown and his skin was champagne coloured.

Are you aware it’s a crime to hunt livestock in the King’s hunting grounds? Robin looked at him smart.

If that’s the case, then why aren’t there alternatives to acquiring meat? Robin stood defiantly in their presence.

You…are under arrest for hunting the King’s livestock! The guard lunged at him as Robin took out a knife from his belt and used it to lock the sword within the knife; like a shield. He elbowed the guard as the guard came tumbling down. Robin saw a spear lunging for him as he dodged the end and rammed a guard within the spear, impaling him. He looked around the woods and saw nothing. Until…

Clank! He went down. The guards dragged him from his feet into the darkness as the scene blurred into obscurity.

Chapter 2: Hello, Navenport

Robin woke up in a room made of moldy stone, from wall to ceiling. He looked at the water dripping from the ceiling and thought, what am I doing here? All this for hunting stag? There’s got to be more to this. Robin started to lay on the bed as a prisoner started talking to him; from the left side of the room, split by metal bars.

So, I heard you killed the Great Stag of Navenport? That would have taken some skill and merit, concerning the fact that the Stag weighed in at five hundred pounds. How did you lift that thing? Robin looked at him with an eyebrow raised.

I’m stronger than I look.

What’s your name?

Robin, Robin Beaulieu. Merchant by day, warrior by night. I hunt animals and sell their meat to the market.

Before you woke up in a jail cell, I heard you used to feed Navenport all the meat it could handle. How did you do it?

I’m really good at these kinds of things; hunting, kinds of things. It takes a lot of work, feeding four-and-a-half thousand people.

So, how did you find yourself in jail?

It’s a funny story. I was hunting stag one morning, and the next minute, four guards came with an arrest warrant, saying I hunted the king’s livestock.

Did you? The prisoner asked.

Yeah, but King Don Piero isn’t much of a hunter. So far, there’s no alternative to hunting for game, other than, Don Piero’s Hunting Grounds.

But weren’t you trespassing his property to hunt game? Robin looked up at the prisoner and spoke.

(This is kind of a grey area in the law.) I have the proper license to hunt, carry, and conceal weapons; I don’t understand why I would get arrested the way I did.

Maybe you were set up.

Maybe.

I got in trouble for not working hard enough.

You did? How come?

You’re not familiar with labor laws? If a peasant in this country doesn’t work hard enough, determined by the land owner, then they can be thrown into jail.

I’m not a fan of the law either, but there are universal truths, such as: death, taxes, and laws. Those are things that every person must heed to; even if that person is a king. A man with the tag of Ser Laguna de Marzo started to walk towards Robin’s cage. He wore a black business suit with red markings of a foreign language. Underneath, he bore a crimson tie with a white button up shirt. His skin was golden brown, and included red spiky hair with aviator goggles.

Ser Laguna de Marzo looked at Robin and said, You’re Robin Beaulieu?

Yes, that’s my name.

The King thinks you can be of some use to him.

What? After having me thrown in jail? There’s got to be a reason for that.

There is, he wants you to excavate some ruins. Robin Beaulieu looked up at Laguna de Marzo with crossed arms.

Why don’t you do it?

Because this is something that even an ambassador to the King can’t do. You are one of the best archers in all the known world. You haven’t been a scout for the Jack of Hearts since that incident ten years ago.

I don’t want to talk about that. Robin shoved up his hand to Ser Laguna de Marzo as he frowned.

Then fine, rot in this…hellhole of a dungeon. Ser Laguna de Marzo began to walk off as Robin spoke.

Wait, what if we keep the past confidential? The present, unknown? The future, purely imagination? If I go with you, you should let me know, that my past will never be brought up again, that I will be a new man after this. Ser Laguna de Marzo started to turn frontwards to Robin as he grabbed a chair from a desk and slid it across the floor, making a deafening sound. Ser Laguna de Marzo sat down on the chair, and stared at him.

What do you want, that the government can provide? Ser Laguna de Marzo sternly asked Robin as Robin spoke his commands.

A team of well-trained, well-disciplined soldiers.

You’ve got it, but remember, Ser Laguna de Marzo walked away from his cage and paused, "There’s to