The 4Th Breed Ramanuk

By Mark Ihada

Dwendel Williford, a fourteen-year-old boy from Anthor, was caught in the middle of a struggle for survival between the human race and the vicious dogmen of Arthorias called the Alvenrus Bludgens. Following Dwendels quest of unearthing Hordess magical tome, the humans have claimed victory in their battle against the dogmen. Human lives were saved, and peace was restored, or so they thought.

Unbeknownst to Dwendel, the battle for human survival had just begun. Everything he knew that existed in his world would be destroyed by an awakened evil force more powerful than the dogmen theyd fought in Plaenoras. If he didnt find the cure to the preternatural curse that beleaguered the humans for centuries and free the nameless unicorn, then his life and the lives of the people he loved would end soon.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse
• Release date: Jun 27, 2016
• ISBN: 9781524615116

Mark Ihada

Mark Ihada, an information technology professional born and raised in Manila, Philippines, is a science fiction movie buff by avocation. His enjoyment of the genre awakened his passion to write fiction novels. Ramanuk is the second installment of The 4th Breed trilogy. Directed toward young and adult readers alike, the trilogy has been written to gratify their quest for exceptional reading material. Mark Ihada, his wife, two children, and two four-legged companions call Nashville, Tennessee, their new home.

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THE 4TH BREED

RAMANUK

Mark Ihada

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AuthorHouse™

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.authorhouse.com

Phone: [phone]

© 2016 Mark Ihada. All rights reserved.

No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author.

Published by AuthorHouse 06/25/2016

ISBN: 978-1-5246-1512-3 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-5246-1511-6 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Contents

Acknowledgment

Chapter 1 The Traitor

Chapter 2 An Invitation

Chapter 3 A Banquet of Surprises

Chapter 4 Vagabond

Chapter 5 Wailing Words

Chapter 6 Hunter & Prey

Chapter 7 Miss Silu

Chapter 8 The River’s Tale

Chapter 9 Of Dreams & Nightmare

Chapter 10 Filling the Hole

Chapter 11 Changing Colors

Chapter 12 Drifting Conversations

Chapter 13 Big Fish Eats Small Fish

Chapter 14 The Bolbonic Rockfish

Chapter 15 Come & Go

Chapter 16 The Confession

Chapter 17 The Shrilling Floo

Chapter 18 The Fallen

Chapter 19 Rise and Shine

Chapter 20 Coming of the Keeper

Chapter 21 A Warm Welcome

Chapter 22 The Departure

Chapter 23 Rise of Ramanuk

Here’s a sneak peak at The 4th Breed:

Breaking Curse

Chapter 1 An Untold Story

To my lovely inspirations…my adorable wife, Mary and my beautiful children, Margaux and Marcus Wilsev.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

This book could not have been written without my parents, whose soothing words comforted me during the most difficult times. Thanks to my brothers and sisters for their endless support. They not only served as my inspiration but also encouraged and challenged me throughout the complicated and often a time-consuming process of publishing the book.

Special thanks to editor, Kate Eglan-Garton, Mr. Deepak Joshi for his stunning illustrations and Mr. Patrick Gomez for my photograph. I also thank my friends and families too many to mention. I thank them all for this accomplishment.

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CHAPTER 1

The Traitor

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D arkness swallowed everything in its path as the booming thunder broke the silence that lingered in the woods for hours. The bolts of lightning flashed once and then twice, impairing Threandel’s vision for a moment while his whip crackled behind his horse.

After darting through the treeline, a path of knee-high grass opened in the distance. Threandel bared his fangs. His keen hearing had perceived the sound of the wind streaming in his direction. The breeze seemed to be coming from a mighty pair of wings. He pulled his steed’s reins to a skidding halt and honed his ears to the breeze. In the midst of the rustling leaves and creaking tree branches, the wind began to blow hard in his face, whipping his cloak all about his shoulders.

He raised his hand over his head to protect himself from the powerful downdraft and snarled when his muzzle picked up a pungent scent of pine in the air.

Khaz’ans! Threandel belted.

Just as he was about to set off, something from the sky struck his jowl with a loud pop, twirling him to the ground. He screamed in pain as if a fist-sized hail from the heavens had smashed against his face. It hit his jaw so hard that he could barely feel and move his mouth.

Threandel shook his head and slowly raised his trembling body. Dazed, he looked around and peered through the shadows to find what struck him hard in the jaw. While regaining his balance, he glimpsed at a man dropping from the sky. He had a light armor, similar to that of a Plaenorian Khaz’an scout — straps of leather draping down his knees, a round silver buckle with the king’s insignia of an eagle and a greatsword held in its claws. A pair of a large bird’s wings that stretched to about twenty feet from one end to the other was sticking out of his back. The Half Eagle Half Man approached Threandel, retracting his wings to a neat fold as he landed to the ground. His dragon pommelled sword left the sheathe as a smile formed on his face. The blade glinted before his beady eyes under the moonlight from two crescent moons that outlined the hilt all the way to its tip. He knew that the being approaching him was a Plaenorian captain, a sworn enemy of the Alvenrus Half Dog Half Man Breed.

Overwhelming fear raced alongside his beating heart. He bolted to mount his steed and flee when hands from behind grabbed his arm and shoulder with an iron-clasp grip and started pulling him away. He struggled to look over his shoulder while his horse wailed hysterically. Armed with a long spear, a bow, and arrow, which are raised a few inches above their shoulders, two low ranking Khaz’an scouts, clad in the same armor, dragged him away.

Where do you think you’re going, Threandel? The Khaz’an captain asked. You seem lost. The way to Plaenoras is in the opposite direction.

Threandel barked, Leave me alone you filthy birdman!

The Khaz’an captain approached him and struck his stomach with a bawled talon like fist. Threandel jerked backward and coughed out blood from his lips.

Evithos’ plan to take over the human kingdom has left thousands of Bludgens and men, dead and wounded. Evithos, your Alvenrus Bludgen leader was wrong to invade and attempt to destroy the human kingdom with the puny army he had mustered before Plaenoras’ wooden walls. He was indeed both reckless and unwise. The Khaz’an captain said.

Threandel laughed. His belly shuddered in malevolence.

The Khaz’an captain blurted, What’s funny about what I said?

Threandel’s paw-like hand was twisted to his back by the Khaz’an scouts. His smile turned to an agonizing groan. With curled lips, he said, I don’t serve Evithos or his followers.

If you are against us and our human allies then your loyalty is with him alone.

Oh, but you are mistaken birdman. There’s a much powerful being that we serve. Evithos is weak, like you and your human friends.

What do you mean, Alvenrus mutt? Evithos led the assault and noone else.

So true. But do you not realize that he’s just a selfish pawn that had his own plans. He ran amok in this scrawny attack he led against Plaenoras? Threandel laughed again.

Who’s this greater being you speak of?

Let me be and I shall tell you. Threandel offered.

No. I will not let you go. You will have to answer to our king for your treachery.

Threandel moved closer to the Khaz’an captain, but was quickly pulled away by the scouts. Hear me grieve, ole Bludgen brother.

The Khaz’an captain’s eyes squinted. Brother? I’m not your brother.

Did the humans poison your puny mind, birdman? You’ve forgotten that the Khaz’ans [Half Eagle Half Man], Boones [Half Horse Half Man] and Alvenrus [Half Dog Half Man] all came from a cursed human blood. Threandel draws in a deep breath. Yes, we are sons of man cursed by Hordes. When he found out that his precious unicorns were slain by man, we were all created as their punishment. The very people you protect and serve now should pay for their mistakes, not us. They don’t value the lives of Hordes’ unicorns. We were sent here to settle man’s debts. This is why the humans must die!

The Khaz’an captain lowered his head and pressed his fingers on his cheek to ponder what Threandel just said. But the Khaz’an’s green eyes shifted their focus from the ground to the Alvenrus Elder. I know very little of our history but times have changed now. We must move on and forget the hurtful stains of our past. Never did King Genese wish to remove our freedom or the harmony of life surrounding us here. We can choose which side to take and my people, the Khaz’an tribe of Plaenoras, have decided to keep our loyalty among the humans.

Threandel spat at the Khaz’an captain’s feet and smirked. His reckless demeanor made him blurt out the identity of the beings that he had not intended to share with the Captain. You’re a fool to believe that taking the human’s side shall keep peace in our lands. Since Hordes is dead, we now owe our lives to the Immortals, the Nazgods. They helped Hordes unleash the Bludgen curse. We owe them our allegiance. We owe them many human lives as they must feed on human spirits. But with Hordes’ prophecy about to bring lasting peace upon our lands, warring tribes will find solice and the Nazgods shall diminish and die.

You read too many tales, old mutt.

Threandel had learned of Hordes’ powerful book being unearthed in Plaenoras. He could not confirm the story but realized the defeat of the Alvenrus Bludgens in the recent battle had to be a precursor of what their fate might become. The prophecy of the Keeper and the cursed unicorn was about to come to pass.

The Nazgods will end the prophecy. They shall do everything in their power to stop the Keeper.

Enough of your lies! The Khaz’an captain interrupted, brandishing his hand before the dogman. You will tell our king everything you told me.

Your stupid king is but a human. He will not understand.

Bring this old mutt back to Plaenoras. The Khaz’an captain said to the scouts.

Threandel shuffled his feet and managed to free his paw-like hand. He grabbed the Khaz’an captain’s arm and pulled him straight to him close enough to smell the Khaz’an’s foul breath. Hear me…our lives will be more endangered if we do not help the Nazgods in stopping the prophecy. They shall unleash a powerful being much stronger than any breed you’ve heard of, more cunning than any known marauder, more vicious than any known killer, and much furtive than any known hunter.

What is this monstrosity? The Khaz’an captain held his breath.

"They are known to the very few as, Werewolves!"

Silence fell.

The Khaz’an captain’s face hardened like stone. With this grim look, Threandel trusts that the captain’s rising fear could set him free that evening. This time, he told someone the truth about how the Nazgods shall respond if Hordes’ prophecy would be fulfilled. As an Alvenrus Bludgen Elder — life spanning hundreds of years — their instinctive knowledge about the past, present and future proved to be explicitly clear. He knew that if the Nazgod’s lives were threatened, they shall free a horde or monsters to destroy everything in its path. This explained why they wanted Evithos to succeed in the battle and overthrow the human leadership. This was why they wanted to poison and kill the human king. They do not want peace. They only want death to satisfy the Nazgod’s appetite to feed on countless human souls.

Alas! We must go and bring him to the king. We still have a long flight ahead of us. The Khaz’an captain said.

Threandel looked at the scouts’ welling eyes. He felt his shoulder and arm lighten from a tight squeeze. Terror must be brewing inside the scouts’ minds after his remark, causing them to loose their focus and attention.

Free me and I’ll ask the Nazgods to let you all live. Threandel muttered.

NO. We must leave now!

The Khaz’an captain’s command resonated inside Threandel’s ears. Soon after the orders were carried out, one of the scouts removed his grip on his shoulder, flapped his mighty wings and shot up through the air. The scout then snagged Threandel’s shoulders with powerful claw-like feet and brought him to the sky.

Too afraid of heights, Threandel cursed and cursed. Now fifty feet above ground, he looked down and glimpsed at his steed. His ride galloped far away towards the cluster of trees and he squeezed his eyes shut when a strong wind whipped on his face and rocked his body back and forth like a pendulum. He hoped to survive the flight to Plaenoras and breathe with a smile on his face once his feet touched the ground.

Threandel shook his head and screamed, Your ignorance shall kill all you mongrels!

CHAPTER 2

An Invitation

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D wendel’s excitement grew when Redrein told him that King Genese had invited him to stay for a few days in one of the royal guest bedrooms. The fourteen-year-old boy had never expected to be rewarded for bringing the Boone’s Medallion of Hope to the King or finding Hordes’ ancient tome. He just did what his heart told him to do.

King Genese, Dwendel, Redrein and Dimnar, all agreed to uphold the secrecy of the Book. Dwendel felt so lucky to have Redrein and Dimnar by his side during this time. He remembered how he thought his old friend, Dimnar, was gone forever. The pain during this time had been excruciating. Redrein, his new friend, kindly brought him to this haven when everyone else would surely have killed him and his pet fox.

The scripts hidden in the Book’s pages could easily lure one’s evil mind to use the written incantations and magic to destroy anyone who favored the will of the Keeper. But as fortold in Hordes’ prophecy, only one person could be the Keeper of the Book and only that person could protect it against any Bludgen or Human who desired to use the powers held within. These powers were so strong that the entire people of Arthorias could be annihilated with a few spells. A part of the prophecy had been fulfilled. Dwendel Williford, a direct descendant of Hordes, was now the Keeper of the powerful tome.

Yes, thought Dwendel, remembering all too well the perils that had brought him here, I am quite lucky.

Afternoon rolled by. Dwendel and his grey fox, Gendrich, raced to the stairs in the right wing of the castle in search of the guestroom. They spotted a door with an iron knob shaped like a lion’s paw. The absence of a keyhole lured Dwendel to investigate. He had not been given any keys by the king or the king’s servant.

Dwendel sheepishly turned the knob and heard the latch click. As he slowly nudged the door open, a downdraft came from one of the open windows situated at the corner of the room, bringing a scent of flowers coursing into his nostrils.

Stepping into the guest room, four huge gilded windows shot prisms of light onto a cluster of roses and tulips that sat in a water filled vase in the room’s corner. Antiquated but lavish-looking shelves held hand carved figurines greeted him and Gendrich. As they walked to the center of their bedroom, Dwendel came to a stop to take in the room’s majestic beauty. A tinge of white and black marble was carved around a recess in a wall. Playful animals damascened the backs of four chairs that had red leather cushions. They were spotted around a long sofa that rested on a russet colored sheepskin carpet. These elaborate designs of the ornamental furniture heightened the inglenook of the marble fireplace.

Cherry colored walls shaded the room even darker than normal but in an imperial type of way. There were no signs of scuffmarks on the smooth surface or time enhanced abrasions. Dwendel surmised that the servants must have cleaned it regularly to preserve the pristine condition or perhaps, no one ever stayed in this well-kept room that would do harm. Not until today, that is.

The fox leapt on the cozy white quilt. Thin linen crisscrossed along the beams of the wooden bed frame to protect guests from any pests.

It did not take long for Dwendel to notice another door behind the thin sheets of curtain that draped the twelve-foot ceiling. The knob-less door peaked his curiosity. How would he open the door?

He gripped the slight depression with his right hand and pulled it sideways. The sliding door clicked open and the cool air rushed through the gap.

Once he opened the door, Dwendel heard victory chants coming from the crowded streets. While the raucous cheers pealed on every corner, Dwendel marveled at the sky’s auburn beauty before shifting his eyes straight toward the horizon where the mountains tugged at the sun, beckoning the end of the day.

He walked outside and closer to the barrier that surrounded the compound and craned his head over the railing. Dwendel saw a sea of dancing lights, emanating from lit torches, swaying candle lights, rolls of tobaccos puffed by locals while blazing bonfires illuminated the busy streets. Humans, Bludgen Boones (half man and half horse) and Khaz’ans (half man and half eagle) cheered their great victory over the Alvenrus Bludgens.

A faint smile tore across his face as he noticed the blissful sight of children playing about the bonfires. They were singing, chanting and dancing with enjoyment, celebrating the freedom that was finally theirs.

He then looked at the sky and saw two crescent moons that were just beginning to appear. The two hook-like discs seemed to puncture through a few clouds of dusk like a gigantic beast’s white claws and move slowly toward the center, encircled by the stars. All of a sudden, his right hand tingled with an unusual chill, but the feeling abruptly ended. He cast it aside and marveled at everything that had happened that day, finally ending with this miracle of nature blanketing the night sky.

He noticed a marble lion statue perched on the end of the balcony’s railing. The lion’s eyes were wide open, overlooking the darkening horizon. As Dwendel walked toward the statue to witness its majestic beauty, he glanced down at his right hand and turned them over as the same pricking sensation troubled his skin. What’s going on? Dwendel wondered aloud.

Not seeing anything in his hand, he once again put his attention to the lion statue.

Just when he drew himself closer to the animal sculpture, Dwendel heard a loud knock on the heavy eight-foot door that led inside his room. The annoying din was followed by a man’s raspy voice. The King wishes you to join us for the feast, Dwendel.

Dwendel realized that his friend, Dimnar, had paid him a visit. Ah — er. I’ll be out shortly, said Dwendel, still startled.

Is everything all right? asked the voice on the other side of the door. May I come in?

Um, yes, you may, Dwendel hesitated.

The door swung open and heavy footsteps battered the wooden floor, breaking the sounds of the cheerful townsfolk. Dimnar pushed himself between the gap of the sliding exterior door and the wall. He was holding a lit red candle in his hand as he limped toward Dwendel.

Dwendel greeted Dimnar with a nod.

How are you feeling? Dimnar asked.

The neck’s a little sore but I’ll be fine, said Dwendel, raising his right hand and rubbing his neck. Garganoth’s hand mark has left quite a bruise and it would take time for it to heal. A vivid reminder of what had happened inside Hordes’ burial chamber and how Dimnar, along with Redrein, had come to his rescue.

I hear our Boone friend has something that can take care of that. D’ya want me to—

Dwendel stopped Dimnar before he could finish his sentence. No, no. I’ll be fine. Others need the Healing Water more than I do. said Dwendel.

Dimnar replied with a nod, Well, okay. That beast deserved his fate, wouldn’t you agree? Who would have thought that he would return to try to kill all of us?

Dwendel smiled slightly but did not agree with Dimnar. He knew that Dimnar and Garganoth had once been old friends. Dimnar might have been surprised that his friend turned against humanity but Dwendel was not. Garganoth may not have acted on his own accord and was probably coerced by Evithos for he had an evil plan to acquire Hordes’ Book and destroy all men. Garganoth was just one of many tools he used to advance his plan. Dwendel also knew that defeating Evithos in the battle of Plaenoras was not the end of Evithos. It was only a matter of time before he would return to try and conquer the human kingdoms in Arthorias.

Are you about ready to come down and join us for supper? asked Dimnar, trying to ignore the troubling look on Dwendel’s face.

Not yet, said Dwendel. He walked over to the bed, removed the sack that contained