Children of the Plague: The Red Death Book 2

By Sandy Addison

They got married and lived happily ever after.

If you listened to the bards, getting married is the end of the story and the end of your life. However, once Sasha and Miri are married, they find that the fun is just getting started.Wanting to get their lives back on track they help a new God by escorting his first missionaries to a city still scarred by the Red Death, the deadly plague that killed over half of the world’s population some 20 years ago. There the now married Sellswords discover that the world is getting much more complicated as mortals and immortals alike take a growing interest in both them and their charges.

They also discover the truth of an age-old axiom: Save the world that's easy.

Changing it for the better: now that’s hard

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ 'I'm ready for round three.’ The Barefoot Gypsy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sandy Addison
• Release date: Jul 20, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005480103

Sandy Addison

I'm a 50 year old neurodiversified guy who had come to writing thanks to the websites deviantART and Smashwords, and the encouragement of some really good friends. I started posting adult stories under a pen name got some good feedback and kept writing because I firmly believe in the 10,000 hour theory and that ultimately writers write.After posting a couple of stories on deviantART I checked out Smashwords and seeing how easy it was to publish an eBook and all the different things people were trying I decided there really wasn't any excuse for me not to throw my hat into the ring.

Book preview

Acknowledgements

Once again, a big callout to Matt O and Cliff A for all their continued support editing help through this project. As well a thank you to my beta readers for their time and feedback.

To Scott P. 'Doc' Vaughn (www.warbirdsofmars.com) the artist who created another wonderful cover for one of my books.

Dedication

This book is booked is dedicated the memory of my friend and boss Cathy Grant. She supported me and my writing unconditionally at a time when others through I should just stay small.

Not a day goes by that I don’t think of you still.

Chapter 1

On the day after the winter solstice, Miri and I were married. Riley suggested the day as being very symbolic for us. A dark day, but one of promise; of more light coming into the world. To this day I’m not sure how much I actually agreed to the marriage, but when the mortal you care for most of all wants to have your vows declared in public and a newly minted God says he’s willing to officiate, it is very hard to say no.

When Miri and I announced our intentions to get married, the Germeide, the Community that lived in the Abandoned Monastery to the now deceased Goddess of the Sun and Light Aigle went a little, well, crazy would be the best word. I really can’t blame them. We had just survived a demonic attack, saw a major demon destroyed by our leader who miraculously survived the encounter, only to then find out that the reason why he survived was because the Goddess that they had kept faith with for years had sacrificed herself so that he could live. Which led to the real kicker: because of that sacrifice, the leader of our community had become the new God of Light and the Sun. I say ‘our’ because at some point in all this chaos Miri and I had been adopted into the Germeide and we had decided that we were okay with that adoption occurring.

All of that happening in less than an hour, would make anyone question which side of crazy they were on. But, something like a wedding: that was a normal abnormal thing that people could wrap their minds around. It also displayed perhaps the most important piece of philosophy that I’ve learned from all these wonderfully insane people. That in this ever-changing crazy world, the only thing we’re in control of is our own actions. And when you are feeling out of control the best thing you can do is help others: to do good by them. I find it amazing, but it is truly the most powerful way that I have found to help regain a sense of balance within oneself.

Of course, when an entire village decides that you are the centre of their good work, that can be unbalancing and chaotic in and of itself. When we announced the date, the Germeide had two weeks to prepare for the wedding and of course the feast afterwards. I say of course because the last thing I was thinking about in all this was the party after the marriage.

I know I sound like the great betrayer to mortal female kind, but I never really gave a lot of thought to what my ‘special day’ was going to look like. Now to be fair, by the time I was of age to be worried about this kind of stuff, I’d been struck by lightning and was focused on learning how to control my magic. Not to mention trying to dodge overly helpful Dwarf aunts who were trying to fix me up with a hole string of ‘nice boys’, Human, Elf and even a Dwarf in one instance, when I was really far more interested in the other nice girls that were also supposed to be waiting patiently for their true love to come in and sweep them off of their feet.

So when suddenly every woman in the village, and to be fair, a large number of the older and supposedly wiser men, suddenly started to pelt me with questions and advice I really felt out of my depth. Fortunately Riley was there to come to the rescue, coming up with quick answers or a sudden distraction to allow me to escape.

This didn’t stop The Germeide’s ongoing plans though. The workout area was converted back to a temple, and the walls were cleaned as best they could, given the freezing temperatures outside. An old store of white Spermaceti candles was brought out and readied, and the seamstresses were working overtime converting wool into every cloth imagined with the Fae cloth transformation rituals, I had taught them earlier. The older people related stories of the large weddings of local princesses and nobles that had been the seasonal events prior to the Red Death. With wedding colours, themes and the participation everyone within the event discussed in great detail. That they were talking about the wedding as the ‘event of the season’ will give you a good idea of the scale of people's feelings towards the size of the marriage that the community felt that Miri and I deserved.

And no one was going to take no for an answer despite my best attempts at keeping things at least within the realm of normal. It got so bad that I was convinced that in the last few days before the ceremony it appeared that, except for Riley and me, the entire world had completely lost their minds. Everyone was frantic getting everything perfect for the wedding. Miri was lost in wedding details and had banned me from our room because she didn’t want me to see her wedding dress. Even Alger had gone off the deep end; endlessly going over his part of the ceremony.

When I asked him why he was so nervous, he gave me this incredulous look and said. You don’t understand Sasha this ceremony will be the foundation of how my followers become married in the future. Think about how many problems I’d be creating for people if I don’t get this right. Not to mention how the structure and formula of the wedding will be used to shape other ceremonies. Really Sasha, it may be your wedding but what I do here will echo throughout the centuries.

I would have hit him with a full force lightning bolt right there, if Riley hadn’t pecked me hard on the ear.

It’s not a good idea to cast magic at a God, let alone one that’s going to officiate at your wedding, he said in his soothing and calming voice. He used that tone when I was about to do something, he thought, was incredibly stupid. I decided the Raven had a point, so I reached up and cuffed the God of Light instead.

Riley looked at me aghast. Okay granted a de-escalation, but still you shouldn’t hit a God, he said to me firmly.

Despite Riley’s concerns, my action did have the desired result. Alger realized what he just said and immediately turned red with embarrassment, and said, I’m so sorry Sasha, of course this is yours and Miri’s day, and I promise not to do anything to upstage it. It’s just these thoughts about dogma are rather overwhelming. My every action has a larger consequence that I just can’t avoid. I don’t have the luxury of do overs.

Might I suggest that not making one of the brides of your first wedding blast you with a bolt of lightning and having her run off crying her eyes out is a good place to start? suggested Riley.

It was then, in an unprecedented level of self-awareness, that I realized that maybe Riley was the only sane being left in the village.

Anyways the day finally arrived, and we all took our positions for the big performance. Since this day was a lot more important to Miri than to me, she decided that she should be the centre of attention while I would take a subordinate role usually filled by the groom. I can’t say I was entirely displeased with this situation. It meant I could get away with wearing my Hussar based Company dress uniform that our friend Sariel had designed. Not having to be constantly fussed about while the seamstresses created a wedding gown for me was a relief.

This did not mean that the uniform hadn’t been brought up to the standards of this wedding event. The red and silver coloured braiding on the sides of the too tight, silk and leather reinforced pants had been replaced entirely by silver braiding. The knee high, black leather, riding boots had been buffed to an inch of their lives and now shone like mirrors. Both the inner dolman and the outer pelisse jackets had been recoloured; a simple change thanks to Sariel’s magical rituals. The garish red of both garments had been changed to a more appropriate black, with as much silver braiding and buttons as a mortal seamstress could fit onto them.

Riley, sitting on a specially crafted perch, stood by me as best man (best male was more accurate, given that he was in fact a Raven) looking very pleased with himself. Behind me I could hear Alger muttering his lines quietly making sure he got everything right.

It was strange where my mind went while we waited patiently for Miri to make her big entrance. Given who was with me, I found my mind drifting back three weeks ago to Alger’s study where Riley told us about his past. The study was perhaps the one piece of luxury the old knight had allowed himself; being a small room full of books, a proper fireplace, a desk large enough to work on without being ostentatious and three surprisingly comfortable leather chairs.

I sat in one chair while Riley stood on the desk; Alger, deciding that as a new God he deserved to be in on this conversation, sat in another chair. Miri would sit in the third; once she got everyone, including Riley, large glasses of schnapps. It was in these times of crazy that Miri’s sense of priorities reminded me of why I loved her.

I downed half of my drink without even feeling it, and then finished the last part in another large gulp.

Right, explaining, now in order, I said, my words perfectly clear.

Riley then turned to Alger and said, You might not have learned all of this, but you will know it on an instinctual level; at least, well enough to know if I’m telling the truth or not.

Alger just nodded his head, not breaking the silence that was building within the room.

Riley took a sip of schnapps and then said, Right, I guess the best place to start is at the beginning. So here it goes: in the beginning there was the Magic.

We don’t have to go that far back Riley. Just start with what you are, said Miri.

"I’d love to, Miri, but to understand what I am, you have to understand what has come before, and you need to understand some secrets that the beings you call Immortals do not want you to know.

That statement made me sit up and take notice. I looked over towards Alger who just shrugged and said, Sounds reasonable to me.

Thank you Alger, said Riley, "Now where was I, oh yes: in the beginning there was only the Magic. An infinite void that was full of nothing but magical energy.

Wait a minute, I interrupted How can a void be filled with anything? A void is an empty space.

First, I’m dealing with concepts that are currently beyond our language to express with full accuracy; second, this is meant to be scripture so can I have a little poetic licence please! said Riley testily.

I was about to say something when I felt the dirty looks that both Miri and Alger were giving me. Fine, but this goes against everything you taught me about how the world works Riley.

The Raven gave me a withering look and continued As the Magic moved within the void, it’s eddies and currents sometimes concentrated so strongly that it spontaneously created matter that would then just as quickly be unmade. Then one day the Magic swirled together in such a way that the first intelligent being was created. A creature of pure magic, it liked existing and chose not to be unmade. However, it grew lonely and desired someone to share its existence with. The Magic felt that desire and for the first time, the Magic responded to the thought of another being and created more intelligences. These were the first Primordials.

Riley paused, wanting to see if we understood just what a climactic event this was.

Seeing that we did, Riley continued, To shorten the story a bit; most of these Primordials divided themselves into two groups, those that like to create and those that liked to destroy.

Ah; the Titans and the Demons, said Alger using the terms that we were all familiar with.

Yes, though those terms really didn’t come into popular use until the God War a millennia ago, replied Riley.

These two groups kept themselves in balance for... well since time hadn’t been invented yet let’s just say a very long time, and leave it at that, the Raven continued.

What do you mean invent time? Time is time, it just is, I said.

Really? How were they supposed to measure it? You’re immortal; you don’t age, or change at all unless you want to. There is no day or night: Gods above no one even had a heartbeat, Riley retorted.

I opened my mouth and then realized that I didn’t really have an answer to Riley’s question. I also realized that the chances of me leaving this room without being drunk, having a massive headache or both, were very small.

Seeing that he had shut me up again Riley got back to his story. "To get back to the story: now the two groups kept themselves in balance until one of the Primordials got the bright idea of creating something that created itself. And thus life was started.

"This threw everyone into a tizzy. Life could reproduce itself faster than those who liked to destroy could destroy it; while those who liked to create, loved the idea of life. So much so that they either tried to improve on the concept or created accessories to it: like the world.

It was then that things started to get really nasty as the two groups, which I’ll call Titans and Demons just to speed the story along, decided that everyone needed to choose a side, and the vast majority of the Primordials did so. But not everyone: there was a very small group of Primordials who like to both create and destroy and didn’t feel the need to choose.

So you’re one of those Primordials who couldn’t make up their mind? I asked, trying to shorten the story.

No; though sort of, in a way, Riley said.

Which was when I got up and poured myself another large shot of schnapps, and both Alger and Miri signaled that they wanted another as well.

Once we got our drinks, Riley continued: "The Primordials, who didn’t want to choose and were now known as Loners, were forced to live in the furthest reaches of the void while the others started to gather around the world and all the life that was being developed there.

But the Loners decided upon a plan that would permanently screw over the other two factions. They created several forms of life that were as complex as any that had been formed so far. They then shattered themselves into thousands of shards which then went into these life forms and created the first mortals.

So mortal’s souls are really shards of a suicidal Primordial trying to give the finger to the other members of its family? I asked. The schnapps was starting to hit my system and I was feeling less forgiving.

No: souls are unexpected consequences that are separate from the shards. Almost like cells that a body creates to fight an infection, Riley replied.

So you’re one of those shard things, which got stuck somehow in a Raven? asked Miri, speaking up for the first time.

"No, I’m a creature made up of thousands of those shards. Like Sasha I am a child of the Red Death. With the plague killing so many people so quickly, millions of shards were released over a very short period of time. Those shards were attracted to each other and formed into, well swarms I guess would be the best description. When they reached a critical mass they developed their own identities, from all the identities within the shard fragments. They couldn’t really interact with the world and they mostly wandered, not really sure what they should or could do.

"Around six years ago one of those swarms was wandering near a Dwarven village and it heard the cries of a young girl who had just come into her magic. Attracted by the raw possibility that that magic represented, it moved to the window of the girl’s room. She seemed distraught and unconsciously she reached out with her magic and forced the swarm into the shape of a Raven. When that girl saw the Raven she smiled, and called it ‘Riley’. Along with that name, came everything that name represented. And that’s when I became what I am. The form and personality created by a child’s mind, the power of the Magic and the fragmented memories of thousands of shards that remembered a time before time.

So you helped me because that was what I expected you to do, or because you wanted to? I asked.

Yes, replied Riley.

But which one, I pressed.

Does it matter, Miri asked. He was there when you needed him, and has been there ever since. In my books that says more than some story of how he was formed. Sasha, like I said to you before all this happened, were all entitled to our secrets, and we should be judged by our actions in the here and now. That includes Riley.

I thought about what Miri said and the rational part of my mind could see the logic, but a childish part of me couldn’t let go of the feeling that my question was an important one, at least for me to trust Riley again. Looking towards Alger, I hoped he could provide an answer.

Returning my gaze the newly minted God of Light shrugged and said, I agree with Miri. Riley isn’t malicious, I know that better now than before. I also know now that though he’s a magical construct, he feels far more like a mortal being than anything else I could describe. I would also point out that less than two hours ago he stepped up and stood beside you as you were getting ready to kill yourself to stop a great evil. If that doesn’t say where he stands nothing does.

My stroll down memory lane was broken by a musical fanfare that indicated Miri was about to enter the hall.

Here we go, said Riley to both Alger and myself.

I was about to reply to Riley, but looking up I saw Miri enter the room and was struck dumb by the sight.

As she moved towards us, all I could think was: how on earth did I ever get this vision, this perfect being, to fall in love with me?

As has been pointed out before, white has never been Miri’s colour. This made it difficult to find a suitable wedding dress. After hours of consultation with almost every person within the Germeide, accept me, a rather radical idea was adopted as the only solution.

The upper portions of her dress were all black, at least the portions that were there. Elves' body type has been long seen by other mortals as the closest representation of physical perfection. Therefore, Elves have long dressed in more revealing fashions to show off that perfection, and Miri’s dress was definitely designed with Elven sensibilities in mind.

The dress was an off the shoulder affair which left my lover’s arms and shoulders bare except for the tattoos that she had gotten to cover the scars of her trade. What material there was on the upper torso was mostly an intricate black silk lace that left much of Miri’s back and sides