The Sky King

By James R. Wylie Jr.

Once a citizen of Earth, Lieutenant Eymi Mohs has crashlanded on an unknown planet. Her spaceship went down in an area the locals call Southland. They refer to their world as Pael, and although she is unsure of her chances for long-term survival, Eymi makes her home among a tribe of women who fight to escape the yoke of male domination in their culture.

Together with her newfound friends, Eymi accepts a quest that could change the dynamic of Pael forever. The women of Southland plan to take the Long Journey of the Kings without any help from men. They travel with the kings daughter to face a powerful warlordalthough the difficult quest is but a small part of their grand trial.

Ultimately, they must face the stone dragon responsible for the destruction of cities that do not comply with the Travertine Kings desires. Eymi and her small troupe of brave women travel alone and are pushed to their limits. However, they will face up to the feared King of the North and stand up to his wrath. The world of Pael will soon be changed forever as the incredible strength of women challenges expectations and breaks boundaries.

• Language: English
• Publisher: iUniverse
• Release date: Dec 26, 2017
• ISBN: 9781532038532

James R. Wylie Jr.

James R. Wylie Jr. has a bachelors degree in secondary teaching with a major in mathematics. He and his wife have two daughters and one grandchild and live in Petersburg, Michigan.

Book preview

LOST TO THE PLANET BELOW

A MAN DRESSED IN a tight green suit from neck to toes sat up on the edge of a long bed with an open lid showing its white biomedric lining. He yawned and then coughed.

Celeste? he called while stetching arms and legs.

Yes, Captain Janus. Would you like the lights brought up thirty percent? answered a woman’s voice from above.

The man stood up and stretched his back, Yeah, where are we?

Low Uranian orbit exactly thirteen thousand kilometers inside the orbit of the moon Cordelia, just like you planned.

Have you heard from Oberon? he asked.

No nor have I heard from Gibraltar 2 and only traffic from Triton 4. Janus walked out and down a narrow passage to a room with many reclining chairs that all faced the same wall. Each had similar instrumentation and viewing screens attached to their arms. The captain dropped into one and after touching a few screens and buttons, the room lit up with thousands of lights and a great outer door rolled aside. It slowly revealed a blue-green planet so close that to see its edge one would need to walk up to touch the glass.

Celeste?

Yes, Captain Janus, she replied. Her voice was pleasant and tractable.

Bring up the air pressure.

Yes, I am also increasing the humidity and oxygen levels and the temperature two degrees.

Good. Are all the crew asleep? he asked.

Yes, crew and passengers on all six ships are still in their dozers. Do you need someone wakened?

No. Where is Mary? he asked as his chair spun around.

Mary is on level D changing seals on the tenth nitrogen pump, Celeste’s voice was confident and smooth. Do you want me to let her know you are awake?

No. He stood up. Don’t ask Mary, give me an estimate of how long she will be working on the seals.

Two hours fifteen minutes give or take a few minutes, she said. The man smiled.

Good. Celeste, I want you to monitor the bridge and stay out of Level G crew’s quarters, dozers and my quarters, he said and then walked out.

Somewhere on a level far above in a long room with a short ceiling and filled with pumps, tanks and lines there was the sound of someone at work. Mary, do you require help? Celeste asked. A young woman with light brown hair and holding a wrench with greasy hands dropped the tool in a small toolbox and wiped her hands on a rag.

Celeste, tell me how you propose to help me finish these, Mary asked.

I was just making conversation, Celeste said.

No need for help, the replacement seals don’t look good, Mary said. I’ll wait until we get to Gibraltar 2. She started putting her tools away.

Mary?

Yes?

How long have we worked together?

Mary smiled, Forever.

Mary, I know that you are being funny, ha ha. In all of our time together, do you ever remember me disobeying a Captain’s order? Celeste asked and at this Mary slowly stood and looked up without tilting her head.

Never, asked Mary, Celeste, Why do you ask?

Because Mary, Captain Janus is awake but did not want you to know or me to see what he intends to do in the crew’s quarters. Mary dropped the rag and ran off.

Janus stood before a long slick and shiny black box with rounded edges and corners. It looked rather like a sleek coffin than a bed. He touched the surface in a few places and lights flickered on and off on the surface. A small light on the surface came on and he touched it. Another came on and he touched it. That was followed by a snap and an escape of air and the lid opening up completely. A beautiful young woman lay in front of him with tubes and wires attached to her in a hundred places. She had dark hair and was tall and thin. Janus slowly moved his hand across her skin and the wires and tubes disengaged wherever he touched. She only moved her head slightly.

Don’t worry Eymi, you never remember these first few minutes, his hands moved across her. Her face moved to the right. You are so beautiful, he said as he stroked her face and neck. He leaned over and gently kissed her lips and she tilted her head to the left. He laughed and his eyes moved across her curves. His hand caressed her closest leg.

Lieutenant Mohs must be your girlfriend, Captain, Mary’s voice came from behind him. Janus swung back and struck Mary across the face sending her into the hallway.

Mary, you rust bucket, he said then pulled her up only to knock her back down the hallway.

Captain, you are so good to your crew, Mary said as she stood up laughing. Do you rub each of them when… He smacked her and she went down again. She continued, Rub each of them when they wake up?

Mary, you have to be the dumbest ship’s bosun this side of Earth, he said and then lifted her to her feet.

I consider that a compliment Captain, she said smiling. Janus punched her in the stomach and she fell to her knees.

Your emotions program is running isn’t it? he asked as he stood her up. Why don’t you turn it off, and save yourself this agony?

It wouldn’t be fair.

Fair? he asked looking her in the eyes.

Well Captain Janus, you can’t turn off being a sick pervert, Mary said then smiled. Janus pushed her back and she fell on the metal stairs that went up to Level F. She moaned in pain and climbed each stair on hands and knees.

Eymi sat up with her toes on the floor. The last of the biometric patches and sensors had released and her head was clearing. Celeste, how many crew members are awake?

Just Captain Janus and of course Mary, Celeste’s smooth voice replied.

I asked you not to wake me up early for a change.

Lieutenant Mohs, I did not wake you.

Well, who did?

Captain Janus did a few minutes ago.

Janus, Eymi said. She frowned, Why?

I am not one hundred percent positive, Celeste said.

Then guess.

The Captain wanted to have a few minutes alone with you after he opened your dozer. Eymi held her arms around her belly tightly.

She said slowly, What did he do? Celeste paused.

He touched you for one minute and five seconds and then was interrupted by Mary.

Where is he now?

On the staircase from the bridge up to Level F. Eymi stood up.

What is he doing? she asked.

Celeste answered, Beating the dog snot out of Mary.

Mary got to her feet and ran up two stairways through the secondary cargo on level D and hid behind a tank.

Captain Janus, Celeste politely called.

Yes, Celeste, said the man as he walked but looked up at a camera.

Try not to damage Mary beyond repair.

Mary, let’s talk, Janus said as he carried a portable plasma cutter he had taken off the wall. And you better turn your emotions program off. He approached the tank and looked right at Mary. Come on Mary, I need to be careful in here with this thing. The plasma line increased as he squeezed the trigger.

You jerk, Eymi yelled as she struck Janus in the head. It caused him to tumble over and slice another tank which sprayed the far end of the room with a blue liquid. A blue-white foam started to grow on all the newly wet metal. An alarm sounded and Celeste was yelling instructions as Mary dragged Eymi up a flight of stairs. Just as they were almost on level C, Celeste started sealing all hatches.

Janus ran screaming across the room still clutching the cutter. He had white foam dripping off him and it was taking with it skin. He hit the window and the cutter punched a small slit in it. With a constant howl the blue liquid was then sucked across the room and in a moment, Janus and most of the other contents of Level E were pulled out into space. The blue foam grew.

Move, yelled Mary and she yanked Eymi in a hatch that was closing. It came down on Mary’s left arm just above the wrist and pinched it flat. She screamed, transferred power to her arm and shoulder and pulled away from her hand, and then disconnected her emotions.

Mary, Lieutenant Mohs, there is nothing I can do. We are going down, Celeste said.

Have you alerted the Captains of the other ships? asked Eymi.

No, they are safest where they are, she said. It will take between three and six minutes for them to wake up and in one minute and forty seconds we will be in the atmosphere.

Celeste, what do you suggest we do? asked Mary.

Lieutenant Mohs needs to get to a dozer, Celeste said. In space sleep inside a dozer her chances of survival will increase fifty times.

Great, I just woke up from a long sleep, Eymi said. Wait, we can’t even get to crew or passenger bunks.

The Sparkle has two dozers, said Mary and both women ran down a hallway. An explosion somewhere beneath them made them both stumble and the ship lost its artificial gravity. They started to feel light and their feet came off the floor. Both women started feeling the effects of the change in inertia and the ship began to shift and shake. Using mostly their arms, they reached a large dim bay with a small white ship strapped down to the floor. It took them a precious minute to reach the door to the Sparkle, get in, and seal it again.

Are you gonna be fine? Eymi asked as Mary helped her get hooked up in a dozer.

Yeah, I’ll be fine. The ship began to hum violently and the noise gradually got louder and louder. See you later, yelled Mary. Eymi could feel chemicals and hormones poured into her system. The lid came down and locked and the interior closed in tightly on every inch of her body. She felt the familiar cold beginning in her fingers and toes and moving to her face. Her sight darkened, her ears stopped and she became numb all over. And then nothing but calm quiet. Eymi was unaware that Celeste had made it through the bluegreen upper atmosphere mostly intact, or that the five piggy-backed ships had made it through also. Before she lost consciousness, Mary was the only one to feel the hull of the main ship rip in two and know that the Celeste and the other ships bounced around the sky each on their own path to a place of rest.

Unlike the other ships and the halves of the Celeste, the Sparkle sailed into the southern reaches of the planet. Plumes of white smoke from each of the seering hot ships and parts of ships striped the sky. The streaking wreckage could be seen from far away. Mary had just enough time to strap her right arm and left leg to a seat.

She had only a few moments to feel the amazement of what she saw. Certainly no one had ever seen the surface of the Sky King. Until that moment all of her data banks and every artificial memory that she had been given had never suggested even the possibility of solid land on the Uranian surface.

Mary was so jostled that her mind went as black and cold as Eymi’s. On the surface, had they been awake, they would have heard a terrible sound. The desending and crashing ships made long echoing rumbles like the sound of a thousand landslides and many lightning strikes.

But there were those who heard it. Three men on horned horses arrived at the smouldering shell of the small craft and watched it for a time. It was opened up like a discarded mussel and appeared empty. One man with a black and purple cloak dismounted and pulled a dagger. He walked into the opening and it was silent for a while.

It appears that there is only one thing of value, he said as he walked out carrying a young woman. The other men just stared at her. She wore pants like a man wears but that was not the strangest thing about her. She was missing her left hand. Out of her forearm came metal rods and wires.

One of the men dismounted and held her handless arm, A mechanical woman?

THE LAST LONG JOURNEY OF THE KINGS

I T WAS A time after the Great Northern War but before the fall of Kryna. Myncyn metal had been discovered and the orange lady slept unnoticed and dreaming—but was about to be found. The Travertine King, the feared King of the North, had destroyed the Kingdom of Rhodnia and the Silver King.

No one could claim to have ever seen the Great King of the Northlands but he was feared by most including the royal families of the other eight Great Kingdoms. His words were law and they were written and displayed near his mountain stronghold in the far north. A few men from every kingdom were sent to read it so that every man from every kingdom would obey.

One law described how and when each of the nine Kingdoms was to take a princess to the Travertine Castle to be wed to the King. Since they were to be flawless and of a certain age, these girls would be known from birth by all.

Seven of the great Kingdoms also feared the great Kingdom of the South. The Southern Kingdom had proved to have superior steel for they had mastered a metal they called Myncyn. Nevertheless this brought little peace to them. They were often busy defending themselves.

And now, the Steel King’s daughter was soon to take her trip to the Northern King; A trip known by the Kingdoms as the Long Journey of the Kings. No one knew that her sacrifice was to be the last one for all who planned her marriage continued as the Kings’ had before her. The peace they enjoyed always depended on the rituals for giving each princess. Thousands of lives were saved at the cost of only a few.

1

NEWS FOR THE NORTH HALL

F OUR MEN ON horseback leaned into the southerly cool breeze and made their way up the gently sloping trail. They rode single file on a wagon path overhung by deep grass laced with heather and clover bunches. Nearby trees waved and many leaves showed their light-colored undersides. They continued south through the smell of sweet wildflowers and the songs of birds and tree frogs. In the morning they rode by a company of men on horseback. One of the four raised a banner that he had at his side showing the royal colors of the Southland and that was all the others needed to step back and allow them to ride by. Two of the four men wore purple with the crest of the Steel King and one had the black trim that told that he was a highwayman. The last two men had bits in their horse’s mouths. The third man was wearing red and white with a gold crest of the Ruby King of Barbutha. The last man rode a hazel and cream horse with two horns on its head. The man was tall and thin and wore a long black hooded cloak that kept most of his head covered. His skin was pale and his bony fingers were long. He held a long black scythe whose blade was made of flint and he didn’t smile. In the afternoon they crossed the Noordyn River at a place where it was quite wide but was only a few hands deep and then rested at a farm. The shadows were beginning to grow long and the grey owls were out. We are close to Mycyna but we are not to arrive too late in the day, said one of the men in purple as he mounted his horse.

The other responded as he readied himself, There is an inn over the next rise, I’ve been there before. They rode on ahead and found the farm with a large main building and barns with cattle and horses and they made it just as the sky was darkening.

A farmer’s young son agreed to ride on to Mycyna, the City of the King. The men paid him five deridds which was more than he could earn running errands for a season. When the boy reached the city he rode up to the nearest gate and presented the purple banner which the men had entrusted to him. While he waited a man came by and lit the lanterns around the gate. Give me the banner, said the guard.

No sir. I was told to give my message to the chamberlain and then return the banner to the man who gave it to me, the boy said as he held the banner close. The guard swore under his breath and led the horse through the gate and down narrow streets to a massive stone and wood building.

Don’t move, the man ordered and entered the building. The guard was gone for a time and the only comfort the boy felt was that the few city people who walked by paid him no mind. The boy looked up to see a large bald man step onto the porch of the building.

You have a message for me? the man asked as he yawned.

Are you the King’s chamberlain? said the boy.

Yes, said the bald man who seemed to be barely listening or at least appearing tired.

News from the Seven Kings Council will be here at mid-morning, said the boy as if he had practiced it all the way from home.

How many in the company? said the chamberlain who was now looking at the boy.

Four, said the boy and then added, but two are the King’s men and one of them is just a highwayman.

The large bald man nodded, Tell them tomorrow, the King will be keeping council in the North Hall. They may present themselves to the King and Queen there, the chamberlain then turned and walked back inside. The boy urged his horse and the guardsman guided him back out of the city. He then made his way back to the inn with the news.

Early the next morning the four men sat at a table and ate a meal of twisted bread and spicy sausage. The woman of the house bent over them and asked, Did you come from beyond the deep vale? I have seen it several times but of course I have never been across it. We have water if you want it. I say, you must have come from the north. Once in a while we…

Are all the people of the Southlands this nosy? asked the man in red as he fed his face. He added, You’re a good cook though. The men in purple laughed as the innkeepers shrunk away.

Get the boy, one of them yelled. And he better have that banner. The men got their news and their banner and left without a wave or a word. The morning light was now casting shorter shadows and a cool breeze blew again. The wagon trail led to a high and wide road leading directly south. The men urged their mounts to a gallop and soon the towers of the palace were in view.

The north hall was magnificent. A wide peaked room made of pink marble out the north wall of the city. From the throne a succession of short tiers preceded north that ended several dozen reaches outside. There was no north wall there only a very tall and thick set of curtains. The King and Queen had an array of men and women to either side of them some sitting and some standing.

Apart from the attendants there were a few individuals who stood out. Fhooga the Queen’s champion stood near the door. He was dressed in Myncyn steel armor and purple dyed leather and silk. For his age he was still a great swordman. On the other side stood the giant Baot who was twice a man’s height and three times the breadth. It looked as if his coat was made from the skin of a great river cow.

There were other armored warriors and also a few armored war dogs. But most stood or sat away from the center of the room. The clopping of hooves on stone turned everyone’s attention to the open wall where the four approached. The sound of swords being unsheathed was followed by the chamberlain’s voice barking out orders. Shut up, said the King.

Yes, your highness, he replied as he bowed to the man on the throne. The four horsemen moved inside the room with the two wearing purple coming in after the others.

Alright, who are you and what do you want? said the King.

I am Suzerain, your highness, a messenger from the Seven King’s Council, said the man in red. And I bring a word. He held out a scroll in his left hand for someone to take.

The hooded man on the cream mare just faced the Queen although no one could see his face to tell if he was staring or not.

What is your name, sir? the Queen asked as she looked at the man in black. He balanced his scythe in front of him and pulled back his hood. His hair was long and grey but it could not hide his face which was gaunt and pock marked. He smiled but no one smiled back for it was a strangely fake smile. His lips matched his skin which was ghostly pale.

I am known as Nezerrett, your highness, he said and slowly bowed his head. There was something familiar about his voice but not so much his face.

Where are you from? the queen asked while she studied him.

I am from the Travertine King, the Great King of the North, said the thin man as he observed the whole of her. May I linger in your great city so I may see it for myself and report back to my Lord? The Queen realized that she had long hesitated as she studied Nezerrett’s face.

You may, you are welcome to stay the day before you go to the, the…before you return north, she stammered. Somehow the Queen was disturbed by this north man.

The only person who moved to receive the scroll from Suzerain was an old man in long deep brown robes. The man in brown pulled back his hood which showed his tattooed forehead. And after a moment of reading he turned to the throne.

It is from the Seven Kings Council, he said slowly as he gave a worried look to the Queen.

Angrily, the king demanded. Uwain, what is it?

2

THE CRYSTAL POOL

I N A SPIDER mine east of Mycyna near the village Greylyn there were two miners gleaning small crystals; a man and his daughter. The only stones left in the abandoned tunnels were of a poor value but a handful could bring a deridd or two. Terrin, hold the lantern, the man said as he stooped under a rotted beam. The father moved into an irregularly shaped section of the tunnel that was filled with tiny orange stalagtites and stalagmites.

Can you see? said the young woman with short hair and dirty skin. She had very short hair. It was quite rare in the southlands to see women with hair short enough to only touch their shoulders. This young woman’s black hair was so short that almost the entire length of her neck could be seen—even from the back. Still, she was very beautiful and dirty.

She began to bring the lantern closer to him.

Stay back, he ordered, I don’t know how good the ceiling is in here. There seems to be some type of orange hair on these rocks. The girl held the light as close as she could but she couldn’t see the slowly shifting rocks above her father. With a quick sliding sound a large stone came down knocking him onto his behind and pinning his legs. He gave out a grimace and then a partial scream of pain.

Terrin rushed forward but stopped when he yelled at her to stay back. The sound of dripping water made them both look at the ceiling above. Drops landed on the rocks near him and the dusty surface began to bubble.

Terrin move back now, ordered the father and she took another step back. The dripping liquid began to increase until it was a stream. It grew to drizzling from a dozen places. Terrin’s father screamed and frantically tried to pull himself free.

The man grit his teeth and held his hands up to shield his face. As he screamed he held his hands to see them. Blood poured from open holes and they both looked in horror as his skin peeled away to reveal white bones beneath. The splashing liquid was burning him and Terrin watched unable to free him. He then held his face and fell forward.

As she screamed his steaming body gradually stopped moving and she saw his skin begin to melt away. In a moment he was surely dead and the liquid was beginning to come down like a waterfall filling the end of the tunnel and pouring in toward her. She wiped back the tears and fled the mine.

The exit was in the middle of a grassy field and after she freed herself she flung her sack away and collapsed in shock staring into the sky with tear-filled eyes. Three crows flew away to the north.

He’s all I got. Sobbing uncontrollably in the clover, Terrin soon fell asleep and her thoughts drifted off and she was transported to a bright hole in the ground where she climbed in and opened a box and inside was as bright as the sun. A woman was singing and someone behind her was saying Go. She felt herself fly up and past bushes and trees and over hills and rivers. The voice continued but her dream started to fade. Darkness took her and she became calm.

She woke up dizzy with dirt stuck to her face. As she lay near the entrance she thought of her father. He was always whistling or humming or giving her advice. It was Terrin who was normally the quiet one of the two. And now he was gone and she could only hear the calls from the crows.

What had happened in the mine? Where had all of that water come from? And why did it…? Terrin’s mind then paused. She remembered the steaming pools that she had walked by earlier that morning on the way to the mine. Once she had seen a dog jump into one of them but then bark for help. The water bubbled around him and he was eaten up alive in only a few moments. She ran in the direction of where she thought the tunnel was under the surface. After a small

Reviews for The Sky King

[Crystal Wylie · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Girl Power! I was looking for a fantasy world meets strong women and I found it.