Solar Shock: Ramin Rising

By Calvin Woodill

In the time of Tubal-cain after the fall of man but before the Great Flood of Noah, the world is one landmass. The far east lands of Nod are divided into five regions: the Highlands, Demon Lands, Flatlands, Jungles, and Dragon Lands. However, the story mainly focuses on a boy named Ramin raised in the Highlands, following the young prideful warrior Ramins rise and fall from grace, his first love and loss, as well as his encounters with biblical figures and locations before the Flood, also with his encounter with a mysterious man called the magic king, whose past and future are obscured even to himself.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jul 10, 2014
• ISBN: 9781499046830

Book preview

CHAPTER 1

A Boy Named Ramin

Years ago our world was called Pangaea, a great world of only one landmass, and swords and sorcery and ancient powers were new; many different tribes lived and thrived through conflict and peace. In the time of Tubal-cain, a large area far east in the land of Nod was divided into five different lands that held many creatures and people. These five lands were called the Dragon Lands, Demon Lands, Jungles, Flatlands, and the Highlands. The Dragon Lands were a vast area with many forests, swamps, cities, and a few plains that held many dinosaurs and unnatural creatures. This area is considered the territory of Ashian’s descendants, a second generation from the line of Cain. The Demon Lands were a wasteland of burning bogs and held many dark forces that only wish to bring pain and suffering and was considered to be a reflection of hell itself and was the territory of the demon-born descendants from Cain who follow the ways of Lucifer and the magic king; not much is known about him, but he caused great terror and is said to have come from another world. After the Demon Lands were western Nod and Enoch, the first city created by Cain, and beyond Enoch, they could get to the lands of Eden that held the place called the Garden of Eden; where all life came from before the fall of man. The Jungles were an endless forest filled with poisonous or coniferous plants and animals and was considered the territory of the children of Thunder Crow who were called foresters due the area they lived. The Flatlands were a small area mostly filled with nomads, cannibals, and trolls. The Flatlands were considered the flatlanders’ territory but was mostly treated as a neutral area for most tribes who descended from Cain, Seth, and Adam. For the longest time was under the control of Klerg and his family who were called highlanders due to them living in the Highlands. The Highlands were large mountain ranges that expanded to the ends of nearly every other nation and held many large villages each well protected by the rough terrain and small pathways that led to the villages. The Highlands held few animals, mostly mountain lions, wolves, rabbits, and a few birds that varied from small to close to the size of a horse. This region was considered being the territory of the highlanders; they were descendants mostly from Cain, but some who came from the line of Seth were said to be among them as well.

This story begins in a small village in the Highlands were Klerg’s family and descendants lived. It was also the place where the greatest fighter of the highlanders was born, and his name was Ramin.

Yer son has done ae great service for thee highlanders today, Klerg announced proudly while patting Ramin on the head. Klerg was an old but strong man; he wore a blood-red shirt and a kilt and knee socks with the colors red, green, and blue plaid design. The kilt was made as a standard for all in the highlands to wear to show whose family they came from. Thy never thought ae boy only seven years of age could kill three armed demon-born bandits and cut the hand off of thee leader. Haha ya.

It only happened a few moments ago when the highlanders were all meeting in the great hall; they didn’t worry about putting up guards, for not many outsiders knew the small village of the highlanders was secretly the place where Klerg stayed. For most people thought he stayed in the main highlander cities located in the center of the highlander’s parts of the Flatlands. Ramin being a young boy couldn’t go to the feast, so instead he was out with Borash practicing his sword fighting.

Hey, Ramin, stop it, that hurts. Ye remember what me dad said if ye end up breaking my arm again, Borash whined while holding his skinned up arm.

Ramin scowled. Please, Borash, yer father won’t do ae thing. Do ye think if ye were in ae fight yer opponent will be so nice?

Borash had a heavyset build and messy orange hair, and due to his half troll blood, he could knock over a tree when he got mad, but there was one minor problem. He was a wimp. Whenever he was bullied, he ran either to his dad or Ramin instead of knocking the poor sucker out, which always left Ramin to do it for him.

Ramin was very different from Borash. Ramin has a slim build, shoulder-length blond hair, dark blue eyes and was quick on his feet and with his mouth. Ramin never backed down from a fight though; because of his aggressive behavior, most people found him hard to get along with and often tried their best to avoid the boy. Ramin and Borash, despite their differences, were best friend, and Ramin would do anything to keep that friendship strong; but he also wanted his friend to have more confidence in himself instead of relying on others to protect him.

Thy don’t understand ye, Borash, but thy have no intent un being yer protector so thy got to make ye stronger. With that Ramin dashed at Borash and dropped the wooden sword on his skull, knocking Borash out cold. Oops, ye should of blocked that. Ho well, ye’ll wake up eventually. It’s so nice tu have ae friend tu practice with now and then, Ramin mumbled as he walked away.

Then out of the corner of his eye, Ramin saw faint torchlight in the distance and knew something wasn’t right. No wone should be out at this light cycle and all thee adults er at thee great hall. Thy em going to check this out, Ramin said to himself as he pulled a dagger out of its leather scabbard then started to sneak toward the torchlight. As Ramin got closer to the lights, he saw a group of thirty demon-born warriors dressed in black leather outfits that kept their face covered. Then he saw another demon-born wearing armor made out of something that looked like bones from different animals and some parts looked like human parts built into the armor. He wore a large human skull on his head to hide is face. Ramin figured that one had to be the leader for he was the only one who stood out.

Ramin knew he had to get to the great hall and warn the adults about the pending attack, but he needed a way to slow the demon-born down first. So Ramin silently ran back to Borash to find him playing with a mountain lion the big kid somehow had tamed when it was a newborn. Ramin ran over to Borash and kicked him in the back, sending Borash with a hard crash to the ground. Borash quickly rolled over and frowned. Why did ye kick me fer?

Thy needed tu get yer full attention ’cause there’s ae band of demon-born warriors er coming tu thee village and I need ye tu slow them down, Ramin said quickly.

What! Thy don’t knew how tu slow down ae band of crooks.

Ramin knelt down to Borash’s ear and shouted, Allow me tu explain it fer ye, ye go and knock down ae few trees un tu thee pathway tu make it hard fer them tu get intu thee village!

With that said Borash got up and went to distract the demon-born warriors while Ramin ran off toward the great hall. Ramin was known to be a fast runner, so getting to the great hall wasn’t a problem; his only fear was if the adults would believe him, for none of the tribes have ever tried to attack their village before since most of the tribes didn’t even know the village existed. So the idea the demon-born attacking may seem a little unlikely. Ramin stood at the door of the great hall for a minute weighing the logic in his thinking; then he decided that even if at first they didn’t believe him, it wouldn’t be long before they found out for themselves. So the young highlander went into the hall praying that he would know what to say. Ramin walk very carefully down the hall, unsure what kind of reaction the adults will have, but he knew that this was something that had to be done.

The great hall was a place built for a combat advantage and a place to hold feasts. It was one of the only buildings in the village made completely out of stone. The main floor was well decorated with weapons, tapestry, and paintings of Klerg and his sons. There was only one corridor that leads in or out. The dining room was located at the end of the hall; it was a large dome-shaped area with a large table that was big enough to seat everyone in the village if needed. The dining room also had an upper balcony that could only be reached by climbing a latter. On the balcony was Klerg’s throne, which he only used when holding court. Ramin liked the look of the place, for the corridor walls held many stories of past battles, but knew he hadn’t the time to examine it all; so he continued toward the dining room. As Ramin came closer to the dining room, he could hear the music the bards were playing and the laughter of the highlander men increasing. When he stood at the door, he took a deep breath then pushed open the door.

The door screeched as it opened; immediately everyone stopped and looked at the young highlander with a slight disgust and worry.

Klerg was first to speak. Young lad, why have ye entered this hall? Ye know that the younglings aren’t allowed here. Klerg was always calm for he believed everyone has a good reason for doing anything.

Ramin took a minute to get his courage up then spoke with great control in a tone more serious than he thought he could speak. Kleg, thy am Ramin, son of Gaerther thee Half Blade. Thy come bearing news that may seem hard tu believe.

Well, spit it out, lad. Thy haven’t got all night. Klerg growled tiring of the boy’s long-winded opening speech. Even though Klerg was an understanding man, he wasn’t one to listen to full drawn-out speeches.

Ramin flushed a little feeling embarrassed that he had gotten a bit carried away. While out playing with Borash, son of Garlet thee Strong Arm and Keitha thee Radiant Troll, we spotted ae band of thirty demon-born heading this way.

Klerg’s eyes darkened, trying to figure out whether or not he should act on what Ramin had said, but before he could make his decisions, the demon-born busted into the main hall holding a badly battered Borash who was too scared to try and get away. Ramin felt sick to his stomach; his only friend and sparring partner didn’t have the guts to try to get away from a demon-born that he could easily throw to the other side of the village with a single toss. The leader of the bandits stepped forward, his muscular body and bone-crafted armor making him look like a demon of death, and chuckled as he spoke.

"People of the highlands, I am Mirrikh the Slaughterer of Nations, and I order you all to kneel down