Dawn of the Fallen: Book 1

By Valeria Karaica and Yvonne Pinter

Not everything seems as it appears. Sometimes the bad intentions can be best decision if you are able to see beneath other people`s mask.

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Jul 22, 2020
• ISBN: 9781728354781

Valeria Karaica

Valeria Karaica is 17 years old girl who came up with an idea that her mother Yvonne Pinter helped develop. They moved to Ireland from Osijek, Croatia 5 years ago and this is their first novel.

Book preview

DAWN

of the

FALLEN

Book 1

Valeria Karaica

&

Yvonne Pinter

78360.png

AuthorHouse™ UK

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Bloomington, IN 47403 USA

www.authorhouse.co.uk

Phone: UK TFN: 0800 0148641 (Toll Free inside the UK)

UK Local: 02036 956322 ([phone] from outside the UK)

©

2020 Valeria Karaica & Yvonne Pinter. 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 07/22/2020

ISBN: 978-1-7283-5479-8 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-7283-5478-1 (e)

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models,

and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

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.

Book 1 - Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Chapter 18

Chapter 19

Chapter 20

Chapter 21

Chapter 22

Chapter 1

Caelia was a heavenly beautiful planet with cloudy green land and turquoise water and ocean. Over the years, dark-purple leaves became light and then changed colour back into the same shades. Flowers in unusual colours smelled of enchanting spices while animals played in the meadows. All year, sun bathed Caelia’s ground just enough for everything to blossom and enjoy the light. If there was rain, it would be just enough for flora to grow.

It was a tranquil time for the gods of Caelia. After eight thousand years, boredom had become almost as natural as air they breathed. They lived in harmony, alone. Their lives usually last around 1,500 years, and each one of them had a power. Some they received at birth and some were inherited on a parent’s deathbed. Each generation became stronger.

Centuries passed in perfect unity. But true peace, some of them reminded, meant that nothing would ever change in their world. They wanted challenges to make them feel alive, to make their lives more meaningful. And so they started to create tests for themselves. Some of them would use their skill against others not to harm but to fool. They realized this was tiring after a while and so they played mind games, entering their dreams and forging illusions that would last even after they woke up. This led to bitterness for some, but others found it amusing and accepted the game. Caelians were wise but passionate, good but vengeful, compassionate but cruel. If anybody could have so many opposite temperaments, it was them.

Celestial gods always used their reason with others. Emotions were just a nuisance for them. They couldn’t handle feelings, so they suppressed them in a way that left them empty and sad. Thinking rationally, and they saw no reason to allow emotions to rule them. They liked mind games and could devote centuries to playing with others. They liked equal competitors in that game. That was food for their soul and a substitute for every emotion they would cover up.

Their eyes had silver flames, and their hair was silver blue. Some had a lighter and some a darker shade. They had sculpted athletic bodies and could travel with their minds, but they were not fast. Wherever they wished to be, they could teleport themselves.

Ocean gods were gentler and more intuitive than the others. Their eyes would flame in many shades of green and blue. They were light-skinned and slim, and they could see and sense what words and behaviour others tried to disguise. Their advice or answers gave more satisfaction to others. They were always on the borderline between incredible love and dreadful hate, and no one wished to experience their hate. Their minds were untouchable to others. Ocean gods were fast swimmers and could breathe underwater. For passing further destinations, they used a dragoncel, an animal with the head of a seahorse and the body of an eel.

Earth gods’ eyes burned in many shades of amber and green. They could run faster and jump higher than anyone. They were famous for that skill because they would win every tournament ever held in Caelia. That was a primary reason no one wanted tournaments to continue. It was no fun to see the same contestants win.

Earth gods were stable in their emotions but blunt in their communications. They were not sensible like ocean gods, though they felt strong. They didn’t care about the reality of celestial gods. Hard-headed as they were, they were always in some kind of conflict. With all that variety, conflicts became only conversation. After thousands of years of constructive living, earth gods turned to destruction.

Caelia was a living planet with the soul of an ancient force from which it was created. She suffered seeing her children sinking into the void of their discontent. She realized she must act before her world fell apart. She must reach out to show the gods what was going on and what would happen if they didn’t change. Time was ticking, so she spoke to the wisest of them.

Masono and Sophicius, god of justice and god of dreams, were her sole salvation. She sent out two birds; each sang a song that called Masono and Sophicius to save Caelia before is too late. They didn’t show up because they thought it was a trick. They saw nothing wrong with Caelia—until one night.

The summer breeze was swaying the leaves, and everybody was enjoying a lovely evening. You could hear the giggling of children, the singing of birds, and the pleasant talk of servants. It was one of many similar evenings, and no one noticed when the wind ceased and the birds silenced. Then the sun disappeared and the sky turned pitch black.

Children rushed to their parents but couldn’t see where they were going. They lost their sense of direction the moment the darkness fell. Fear overwhelmed them, and they screamed for help. The parents tried to calm them but were feeling the same panic, like some force had control of their bodies.

Then suddenly, the wind whistled, creating a voice that sounded frightening and fascinating at the same moment. The voice shouted with such anger and sorrow that everybody who listened understood her emotions as she cried out,

‘You who I created and handed over everything a mother can give to a child are murdering me with your indolence, malice, lies, and hypocrisy. You assume you are here to receive presents and give nothing in return? You are mistaken! I will take all I gave—powers and longevity—if you don’t do what I asked you to. I will make you equal to the servants you made. You will be the same as them and learn your lesson! None of you has learned anything. Even if I give you a thousand years more, you will still be ignorant and arrogant!’

The voice demanded,

‘Masono! Sophicius! I give you one day to come. If not, next time I’m coming to destroy you!’ Then the sun returned to the sky, the birds resumed their song, and the wind became warm and peaceful as before.

Everyone turned to stare at Masono and Sophicius—some with questions, some with fear, and some with anger. But they all sought answers. The two gods calmed people and assured them they would do whatever Caelia ask of them. There was nothing to fear; they would work it all out. They didn’t trust her message, but after this, they knew she was real. Until now, she had been a legend, a myth passed down through generations.

Sophicius ran faster than ever. He didn’t even know where he got this swiftness from. It was as though Caelia herself was leading him. How foolish it was of me to assume I possessed this myself, he realized. It was she who was guiding me all my life, and now she gave me more power to preserve her. It seemed as if he was coming home. The closer he got to the tree, the more he felt a comfort and peace he hadn’t had for years. It was a peace that made him happy, not annoyed. Sophicius was proud to be called out among all other gods.

Masono simply transferred himself to the tree. He didn’t share his fellow god’s excitement. He found Caelia’s apparition dramatic and unnecessarily. It didn’t intimidate him; it annoyed him, because of the people’s reactions. He hated drama and turbulence, always assuming you could not solve anything with that. She should have come straight to me, he thought, even if it meant rejection before acceptance. Why drag everyone into this? Now we must inform everybody. It creates an unnecessary nuisance. And I don’t want to justify everything that I do. I just hope I can cooperate with Sophicius. We may differ too much to collaborate.

Once the two had arrived at the tree, Caelia appeared.

‘Looking at you, I was proud of my creation,’ she told them. ‘But as the centuries have passed, I have observed your fall into the darkness of your perfection. You have lost meaning. You don’t understand that each of you has a lesson to learn and transfer to the next generation. For the past year, I have been figuring out how to develop you, how to show you your true purpose, and I decided you will do what I have done: you will make creatures to whom you will give one of your virtues, one good and one bad, and you will guide them and take care of them through your existence. They will be your children, like you are mine.’

‘But we already created them,’ said Sophicius. ‘They are our servants.’

‘No,’ said Caelia with a smile. ‘Your servants differ from what I demand from you. They do what you order them to do; they don’t have free will. They cannot fall in love or hate. These creatures will be different. They will never serve you, but they will worship you as gods. They will not live by your rules but will choose rules by which to live. You will not be able to control them, but you can discipline them or reward them for their actions.’

Masono and Sophicius looked at each other. It would be more fun to make, research, and guide these creatures than waste time on parties and fooling other gods. They accepted Caelia’s suggestion and returned to their fellow gods as quickly as possible. They explained what they had heard. Everybody was excited and agreed to meet on the frontier of all kingdoms, where each one of them would create one creature that looked the same as the servants. Each god would provide a creature with a trait, free will, and the breath of life.

Some gods decided they would give only positive traits. They didn’t want to be responsible for bad ones. They were afraid of what these creatures would do with free will. They decided between them who would grant which traits. Sophicius was one of these. He realized that evil was a greater responsibility and didn’t want to run from that after Caelia’s words. It was her wish and as well her command, and he didn’t want to betray his creator.

The gods created small buildings similar to houses in which their creatures could live. In each was a table full of food and water and cosy bedrooms. They wanted the creatures to feel safe while adapting to one another.

At first, the gods watched their creatures from afar every day. As time passed, they reduced their supervision until they agreed that the creatures were ready to be left alone. Proudly, they named them mortals. Longevity was one thing that servants had but these new creatures did not.

Time passed slowly for mortals. They aged, fell in love, had children, and died in the blink of an eye for the gods. Each generation was both better and worse than the previous. Those with good qualities were admirable and lovable, but those with bad qualities were evil and cruel, hurting, robbing, abusing, and slaughtering others. The gods were devastated and angry when that happened. They couldn’t interfere because the creatures had free will, so they sought the guilty within their own ranks. Those gods who introduced bad traits were the ones held responsible.

‘If mortals are like that to one another, we can expect same from you!’ the gods who had given out good traits yelled at the others.

‘We did your work because you didn’t want to dirty your hands!’ the others shouted in return. ‘You are hypocrites!’

Masono and Sophicius looked on without speaking a word. They both knew the time had come to consider the next step, because the current situation would lead to Caelia’s fury and destruction if they didn’t fix it. How could they fix mortals if they couldn’t calm their fellow gods? Masono decided he would organize a meeting in private for all gods who provided good qualities. He said nothing to Sophicius, knowing it might look like he is creating a conspiracy.

Sophicius ran to the forest to get to the prophets as quickly as possible. He suspected something terrible was going to happen. The only way to resolve this feeling was to learn what was waiting for him. He knew things were going to change. Once he reached the prophets, he realized he was right.

‘We were expecting you,’ said a woman in a crimson robe, ‘but you have arrived too late.’

‘No, that cannot be,’ Sophicius responded. ‘So far, nothing has happened. We can still make it right with the mortals.’

‘You still don’t understand,’ continued the woman. ‘The problem is not with the mortals. The problem was always within you, the gods. You never listened to anyone outside your ranks. We tried to warn you of what would happen years ago, before Caelia spoke, but you never listened. And now, revelations are taking place, and we can do nothing to help you.’

‘Then tell me what will happen next,’ pleaded Sophicius.

‘We can tell, but you must promise us you will listen till the end.’

‘I promise.’

‘Everything will change,’ the prophet began. ‘On the night of a Blood Moon, they will banish you from Caelia. You will lose your powers but gain much more. So don’t fear it. Embrace it. They will call us to make a ritual of transferring, but we are coming with you once the transfer is done. We have finished our mission here.’

‘Why will you come with me?’ Sophicius asked.

‘We’ve been told that whoever comes to us asking for advice and guidance, we must join him. For thousands of years, no one ever came… Until now.’

Sophicius stood there without saying a word. He didn’t know what would happen, who to trust anymore, and who would come with him. He felt terror at leaving his home. But even worse, he felt the rage of being betrayed. Sophicius still didn’t know what had happened, but he left them in a hurry. If he stayed a thousand years, the prophets would not say a word more. He had to trust them and at least be ready when it happened. The night of the Blood Moon was coming close, and he did not have much time.

Masono gathered the gods. They were upset and angry about what was starting to happen. They agreed that something had to change for them to live in the peace they created. Now that peace was lost, they realized how they had taken it for granted. They were afraid the powers of gods could be used against them. But none of them saw solution until Masono spoke.

‘We saw what mortals can do, what bad traits of gods can create,’ he said. ‘And it is something we can’t fight. All our good powers are useless against theirs. We have only one way to stop this. They must leave Caelia for good, including their children. We must talk to them to find out their point of view, but we must stand our ground.’

‘That is unnecessary,’ said the goddess of the ocean. ‘They have the same right to be here as we do. We all belong to Caelia.’

‘We do, but not all of us are restless and create chaos to feel complete. They are never satisfied. They intrude on our privacy, entering our minds and dreams just for the sake of play. They seduce for a game and pretend for fun. They are not like us!’

‘But without them, who are we?’ she asked.

‘We are gods of Caelia!’ yelled Masono, annoyed by her questions. ‘If you don’t like it that way, you can leave with them.’

She wanted to say more, but her husband, god of the ocean, whispered into her ear, ‘Do not say a word more. He has already decided. You will jeopardize us and our children. We must leave this place before they send them away. I don’t want to be part of that cruelty.’

She realized her husband was right and said to Masono, ‘I am sorry, but we must leave this meeting. Whatever you do, you do without us. My kingdom will not be part of it. Leave out the ocean. From now on, my people will have nothing with yours.’

The moment she said that, they left room and never came back.

Their action surprised Masono, though he hid it. He was hoping no one else would do the same, but some gods were starting to ask the same questions, and he knew he must take control while he could.

‘Listen,’ he said, ‘you don’t have to support me in this matter. But the fact is, you all see what their faults can cause. Now imagine that being used against us. Their faults are much stronger than in mortals. How can we fight that? They are stronger than us, and if we don’t unite and expel them from Caelia, we will be the ones who will leave.’

No matter how much they wanted to believe otherwise, the others recognized the truth. They had to do something before these other gods turned against them. And Masono had a solution. But how to bring it about?

‘We will seek prophets to create a transferring spell,’ he said. ‘There is a planet close to here, Chaos, where they will be sent. And we can restore peace here and help other mortals to live their life how they are supposed to.’

‘What will happen to the evil mortals?’ someone asked.

‘They will be transferred there,’ replied Masono. ‘We will let those Gods deal them as they want. They will not be our concern.’

Everyone agreed to that. The plan sounded impeccable. They decided to gather the gods on the night of Blood Moon and to cast the spell of transferring without telling them. The prophets agreed to that, which convinced Masono his idea was perfect. He called the gods with their families and mortals on the night of the Blood Moon to gather on the frontier; everyone came but the gods of the ocean.

Sophicius was restless, looking around himself as he is expecting someone. He knew what would happen and that he must not interfere, but something wouldn’t let him be silent. He noticed the prophets preparing for the spell. He even noticed a disturbance in the gods who had been called. Some of them didn’t know what was happening; others knew but were afraid the plan would fail.

Everyone was waiting for Masono to come when one prophet, the woman with whom Sophicius had spoken, began with ritual. Other prophets appeared to be mumbling something in a strange language. They created a circle around the gods who were to be cast out. Some of them tried to escape, but the magic was too strong.

Then Masono came, smiling, with satisfaction in his eyes.

Sophicius said to himself, This is it. The beginning of our end is now.’ Then he yelled, ‘Do not think you have won, Masono! You are making a mistake. And one day, if not you, then your descendants will pay for your impudence and betrayal. You will never be rid of us! We will rule Caelia!’

The circle around them became lighter, like fire. It only took seconds to complete the spell. Masono still had a smile on his face, but the words of Sophicius created a scar on his heart. He was about to say something when he saw the prophets enter the circle.

‘What is the meaning of this?’ he screamed.

But he did not get an answer. Instead, he watched as the light grew brighter until none could look at it. Masono couldn’t see what was happening. He couldn’t hear anything, so loud were the prophets. He tried to stop what was happening, but words could not pass his mouth. The prophets are part of them; they could not leave Caelia. They need the prophets to guide them, and yet the prophets were standing by those expelled. The prophets had betrayed him, turned their back on him. And he would never forgive them.

Chapter 2

On a longest night in the year, when the moon turned pitch black and the night lasted for eighteen hours, a girl in her mid-twenties, Amaryll—who had beautiful eyes, such a deep turquoise you could almost drown in them, and hair a heavenly blue against her light skin—was walking on the shore with sadness on her face. Amaryll was a goddess of the ocean on Caelia, and she had no luck or happiness in life.

She could find no peace in her burning heart because she couldn’t have children—the one thing in her life she wanted so much. The highest god of them all, Aralik, didn’t want to grant the wish she was yearning for. On the night she went to beg Aralik to grant her the wish, he rejected her like so many times before. Amaryll left the palace in a rage. When she started screaming and crying out loud, a strong storm from all four sides of the realm began. Nobody in the kingdom knew what was happening. It scared everyone; villagers went to the palace to hide from the horror that was happening.

But there was one woman, with dark hair and eyes that were as red as if thousands of souls burning in them—a woman who Amaryll had never seen before—who approached to her.

‘Sweet, sad girl,’ said the woman, ‘who could have done something so evil for you to cause such a mess in this beautiful kingdom?’

Amaryll stared at the woman’s eyes for a few moments before she spoke.

‘The god of justice and visions denied my wish to have a child. He said that a goddess of the ocean is not supposed to have a child.’

The woman touched Amaryll’s hand and spoke with a voice full of rage, her eyes burning.

‘It’s such a cruelty to deny someone of a child but tell me—do you want badly to feel how it is to be a mother?’ she asked.

‘Yes, I want to,’ said Amaryll, wondering how the woman knew her name.

‘Then I will grant you the wish of feeling how it is to love your own child,’ the woman said.

Amaryll looked at her suspiciously.

‘Dear woman, do I need to give you something in return?’ she asked.

‘All you have to do for me is to give birth to your child,’ the woman said with a smile.

‘How will be done?’ asked Amaryll.

‘Leave that to me. You just make sure you Don’t leave your room for next two days.’

Amaryll didn’t give it a second thought; she agreed to the pact. The storm that had terrorised the kingdom ceased. Everything went back to normal. The gates of palace opened for villagers. Gods and goddesses went back to their homes, thinking they were safe. But the highest god knew that something wasn’t right.

‘Call the guards!’ he shouted.

‘Yes, God, you were asking for us. What is it you need?’ asked the guards when they arrived.

‘What happened tonight has never happened before. I think something strange will happen, but I didn’t get any visions at all. That is why I’m even more suspicious that something will happen,’ Aralik said.

‘Yes, what happened today was strange,’ said one of the guards.

‘And what did you want us for?’ the other asked.

‘My wife is giving birth to my child in two days. I need you to guard her and defend her from any evil that tries to contact her while she is giving birth. Listen now carefully, for what I will tell you no soul is supposed to know. If you do as you should, I will reward you highly,’ said Aralik.

‘What is it that we should do?’ the guards asked.

Aralik gather them close and lowered his voice as he explained, making sure no one else could hear him.

* * *

That night, the guards agreed to a plan that in two days would make them rich. Two pacts were made, but none of them knew how much pain these would cause—not only to them but to everyone around them.

‘I didn’t know you would come to bed tonight,’ said Soora.

‘Is my child all right?’ asked Aralik.

‘I don’t know,’ said Soora in fear.

‘How do you not know? You are his mother. He is in your womb!’ shouted Aralik.

‘I am not sure. Since the storm, he has been kicking so hard, my stomach hurts so much, I feel weak,’ said Soora, weeping.

‘I don’t care how you feel. You can’t lose this child and bring shame upon us again!’

‘I know. I am sorry,’ Soora mumbled.

‘I need to have a male heir,’ Aralik fumed. ‘Do you even know what I have done for our child to get the throne when I pass away? I have denied Amaryll having a child ever because the law says that if I don’t have a male heir; the throne goes to the heir of the ocean goddess. I have denied her having a child ever because that is the only thing that I, as the highest god, can do. When I pass away, I don’t want her heir to be on my throne when it’s supposed to be my son on the throne! So you better not lose this child! If you do, I will take your gift of a dream from you, and you will live in shame for ever!’

‘Aren’t you some good god of justice!’ Soora yelled at Aralik.

When his wife spoke those words, a fury overtook Aralik. He pushed her into the golden mirror where she could see dreams—a push so hard she fell on the floor. She tried to touch the mirror to regain her strength, but she couldn’t. Something was stopping her. As she looked at the mirror, she saw a face—a well-known face—laughing at her.

The face in the mirror spoke to her:

‘Dear Goddess of Dreams, didn’t I tell you when you were younger that this would happen to you if you stayed in Caelia, and yet you still picked Caelia over Chaos. You could have been our goddess of nightmares, but you wanted to be good, and look at yourself now. You gained nothing by being good! Your husband had a vision two nights ago, and I can tell you, your ending won’t be good at all. You married an evil god. You and I both know he is a wolf pretending to be a sheep.’

Once the face disappeared from the mirror, Soora slowly fainted from the pain.

* * *

That same night, Amaryll had a dream. She was lying on a silver bed in the middle of a dark room illuminated by candlelight. She felt warmth, and the smell of incense was pinching her nose. She didn’t recognize the smell, but it was so calming. She felt like it was waking up a passion in her—a passion she had thought she didn’t possess. There was no sound or anything around. She tried to leave the bed, but the moment her foot touched ground, she felt cold. It was as if her foot was touching ice. She went back to bed, wondering what kind of place this was.

‘Do not fear, my dear.’ The words came from a well-known voice—a voice so deep and yet so gentle. She tried to see the man, but it was so dark, she couldn’t even see his silhouette.

‘I have waited for you for so many years. I am so glad you finally came to me. And for that, I will make sure you will never forget me.’

When he said those words, he showed himself. Her heart stopped beating. He was tall and slim, with silver-golden hair and green eyes that made her body shiver. It was her love, the one she had lost years before. She had thought she would never see him again, not even in her dreams, and yet here he was now.

When he touched her, her skin reacted. Although she had felt fear a moment before, it was gone. All she felt now was passion for him. He smiled at her; she realized she had forgotten his smile, victorious and seductive at the same time.

Oh, how I missed him, she thought.

He kissed her lips with fire; she melted. He pulled her close; she sighed. He gave her the pleasure she was yearning for years, touching her mind and soul and body at the same time.

If this is a dream, I Don’t want to end it. Ever … she thought. Then she realized it was a dream. He had entered her dream, or she had come into his. She didn’t like the thought of it, but she gave herself to the moment. She’d never had a dream about anything; she didn’t even know what dream was, so this was appealing. That her first dream was so vivid and bursting with emotions she had lost a long time ago only made it more so.

She couldn’t stop looking at his eyes. The more she looked, the more she felt love for him. She could see his childhood, his youth, his adulthood. She saw him become the man he was right now. It was even more seductive than feeling his body.

Oh, if I only had your child after you were gone, she thought, smiling to herself, caressing his body. He saw her smile and smiled back. He kissed her passionately, held her head with his hands, felt the softness of her hair. She was sensual, and he enjoyed the feeling she gave him. He felt she had not been loved for years, and it only made him feel even more thrilled. Her skin was cold and gentle, like water under his fingertips.

Moments of passion turned into minutes and then into hours for her. She felt as if this would last forever. Then suddenly, she woke up in her bed feeling somehow overwhelmed by a dream she’d had—like it was real the whole time. She still felt his fingers on her breasts and his body next to hers. What kind of dream was it? What kind of dream felt so real?

Oh, she thought, why is it over? Why was this not real? I would die in his arms to stop this pain that I am feeling.

* * *

He came back through the portal that had led him into the chamber where Amaryll was. Illusion faded, and instead of a man with golden hair, there was a man with black hair with red highlights and red-flamed eyes. Satisfaction was all over his face. He had done what he had waited for years to do. Amaryll would give birth to his child.

The first part of magic was finished perfectly, with no interference. But now, a harder part of plan needed to be done. And for that, he had to be fast. He dressed and created a new portal. It took him to a dark and warm place like a cave. The only light there came from torches. He walked fast toward voices. Through an open door, he saw men and women in crimson robes of different shades, depending on their rank. The one in the darkest robe was their leader. She looked at him with expectation in her fiery eyes.

‘Is it done?’ she asked.

‘Yes, I planted the seed,’ he laughed. ‘Now your part of work must be done. We have little time.’

‘Do not worry, Thaerone. We prepared everything while waiting for you. We will go right away