Our Glorious Empire

By Erin Ellis

Once the Epigaea Empire was free of evil, but that prosperous past has since decayed into a desolate future.

When a Fiend, a monstrous soul forsaken by the gods, destroys his village and slaughters his family, Reiner loses all hope of his peaceful future. Traveling the deserts of his region, he meets Tsumugi, an elderly man from the eastern stretches of the Epigaea Empire. Though vitriolic, they build a rapport from their mutual loneliness, and Reiner is enlisted by Tsumugi to become a Saint, a crusader who protects the world from Fiends, among the many other threats to their empire. Suddenly, a young boy with no special training or attributes is a paragon of society. Though deep out of his element, and often overshadowed by far more talented and worldly peers, Reiner remains determined to pursue excellence and become a Saint strong enough to bring his world back to its long-forgotten paradise.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Tellwell Talent
• Release date: Oct 4, 2021
• ISBN: 9780228858300

Erin Ellis

Erin Ellis studies English at Dalhousie University. Since childhood she has been fascinated with storytelling, eventually leading to the creation of her debut novel, Our Glorious Empire. Erin adores literature and reads a book a week, always enjoying the aesthetics of the style as much as the content itself. The simple yet elegant prose of classic children's literature will always be her favorite and is what she tries to emulate in her own writing. Erin lives with her family in Dartmouth, Nova Scotia.

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Our Glorious Empire

Erin Ellis

Our Glorious Empire

Copyright © 2021 by Erin Ellis

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other non-commercial uses permitted by copyright law.

Tellwell Talent

www.tellwell.ca

ISBN

978-0-2288-5829-4 (Hardcover)

978-0-2288-5828-7 (Paperback)

978-0-2288-5830-0 (eBook)

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

For my sister Robyn and the rest of my beloved family.

Chapter 1

The death of Tsumugi’s beloved was no surprise, and stirred little reaction. He looked upon her with cold eyes as her decrepit body lay on the floor. Her haggard face, long since gone from it the beauty of decades past, lost its remaining color to dark gray.

While her death was tragic, and his soul suffered great anguish, he pushed it aside to deal with the matter at hand. His duty had been pushed back for years while he stubbornly believed it did not need to be done. Now, with Silvia dead and himself sixty-five and losing fighting prowess, amassing the fifteenth generation of Saints could be delayed no longer. And so, mere moments after losing his comrade of fifty years, Tsumugi settled down into his desk chair and began to write.

Letters asking for talented students proved inadequate. Tsumugi wished to select only the best of the best, and while he trusted the word of his acquaintances, which included the Emperor Zephaniah, he wished to look at the potential trainees himself. The process became a personal recruitment mission. Through recommendations only nine children consented of the already miniscule pool of potential applicants. Tsumugi therefore had no choice but to scour for more niche sources. Twelve students were necessary for him to begin teaching. He promised Emperor Zephaniah he would have them amassed and ready to meet him by the end of summer, but just meeting all the eastern children had already taken most of the spring season.

His travels led him to an old friend, General Draugma. In the western reaches of the empire his friend resided, training young students in his dojo when he was away from military service. The south-west of the empire was hot and dry and grew so little life that Tsumugi felt weak just being there. It was very different from the other provinces, which were cool and vibrant and had the perfect amount of rain – rather it was more like the Dark Continent, the land outside the empire’s boundaries, where the lands were similarly barren. He wanted to keep his travels there brief, if only to avoid enduring the weather for long.

Things were amiss in Draugma’s dojo, and Tsumugi noticed this as he set his first foot through the interior gates. There were people huddled in every corner, too many people in proportion to the small area of Draugma’s abode. They were clad in tattered clothes, worn out from days without being washed, and the children were being tended to by townspeople. Several were injured and were being re-bandaged by Draugma’s apprentices. Tsumugi wondered what could have transpired, although the most plausible explanation was a Fiend attack. Fiends had terrorized the empire for at least 800 years, but they were appearing more and more often since the turn of the millennium.

Tsumugi set aside his concern for the villagers and got to business with Draugma. He greeted his old friend, and the two sat down in Draugma’s personal quarters for tea and conversation. It was free of the chaos in the main rooms, but still held the lingering scent of rotting wounds and medicinal herbs.

Tsumugi kept idle chatter brief, and soon talked about why he came to the dojo. I assume you received my letter from three months back?

Did I? Draugma laughed heartily, slapping his thigh. Quite the high demands you brought forth. He sent his primary apprentice out of the room so they could speak in private. Tsumugi watched the boy leave. He was the perfect age for recruitment.

Not a chance, Draugma said. Tsumugi’s intentions always seemed to show on his face. He’s on the fast track to being my lieutenant. Tsumugi was about to speak, but Draugma lifted a hand. And you’re not getting your hands on any of the other students either. Almost no one is willing to drop their lives at the whims of a stranger, Tsumugi. These kids have families. None of them would want to live with you all the way across the empire.

So, there is no one you have to recommend?

Are you that desperate? That’s what you get for insisting they be certain ages. I know it’s too late to change your decision, but know everyone thinks ill of you for choosing children. Draugma crossed his burly arms and sighed. There is one kid you might be interested in. He lost his family in a recent Fiend attack on a neighboring village. He came to me and asked for directions to the provincial temple. He’s traveling west right now; you’ll catch him quickly if you follow the path to the Rust Mountains.

Any more information than that?

Eleven years old, solid build, wore a red tunic. Don’t know much else about him. But he’s got spunk. I know you’ll get a kick out of him.

Tsumugi stood up and dusted off his robes. Well, an actual recommendation lives in the Rust Mountains anyway, so it will not be out of my way to see this child.

An impressive child to be sure, Tsumugi thought as he left the town to go further westward. Few people go unaccompanied to the Viraegis Temple.

The Viraegis Temple was one of the five temples in the empire. One temple resided within each province, housing the key religious scholars of the region and providing baptism via their adjoining sacred springs, but the Viraegis Temple was lackluster. It was so out of the way most residents of the province ignored it entirely, and the ones who did go for baptism often hired soldiers to guard them. The winds and heat of the mesa became increasingly fierce the closer one got to the south-western coast of the empire, which happened to be where the temple was positioned. To say nothing of the mesa’s notoriety for housing wandering Fiends and dangerous animals. To see the Viraegis Temple, this boy Draugma mentioned had to be in dire need of the priests’ guidance.

Chapter 2

A young boy climbed through the Rust Mountains, a determined expression forever branded on his face. With his determination boiled a need for vengeance. His family, his village, all destroyed by a Fiend.

Fiends took infinite forms, and this one’s form was anathema to the village – its skin blended into the surroundings and it was not spotted until it had claimed its first victim. Despite its size, its flat stomach could squeeze through small spaces, making it immune to the traps the villagers hastily devised to try and stop its rampage.

He was one of the lucky ones. He was tilling the fields that day, far away from the commotion. He had time to run to the neighboring village and get help. He did not see the destruction firsthand, but had later snuck away from the other survivors to search in vain for his family.

His house had been destroyed. His father had died in the collapse of the house. His mother and two younger brothers were torn apart by the Fiend as it continued through the village.

Why were the gods so cruel? Though it gave him a heavy heart to admit, he knew it was punishment. Most of his village, full of those who never lived by the gods, were killed, while he, the one so devout they all called radical and ridiculed, was spared. It had to be a message that the village’s long-standing apathy to the gods was not going unnoticed.

The boy’s name was Reiner, and he was determined to get to the temple and receive his baptism. Reiner had always been devout, even though no one had taught him. There was no church, and no priests or books or statues in his village, so he walked to the neighboring village at least once a week to pray in its humble church. Sometimes the pastor there gave him books to read, though Reiner could not understand them – he had no schooling and was almost illiterate. Though his knowledge on the specifics was lacking, he was a boy with a natural disposition towards the gods. And for it, he had been one of the only survivors in his village. But he was unbaptized. No one else in the village had been baptized either. They did not want to bother making the trip because the Viraegis Temple was on a dangerous path, and the temples in the other provinces were far away. They all thought it easier to just go without.

Reiner had always wanted to go, but until now he had been too young to make the trip on his own. At least that was what his parents had always said. Now there was no one to tell him not to. He had asked the man housing the refugees in his dojo for directions to the Viraegis Temple and did not care if the trip killed him, even though that was a common concern in the sparsely inhabited western deserts. Either it killed him, or it did not, and if it did then he at least would not have to worry about what to do with his life.

His family gone, his village destroyed. He had always planned to carry on working on their humble potato farm as his father, grandfather and great-grandfather did. The same, peaceful plot of land they had resided on for almost a century.

Now what? Reiner wondered if the Viraegis Temple would take him in and let him become an apprentice. He hoped he could do that. A priest did suit him greatly – he had spent all his free time in the village trying to spread the word of the gods, so he would make an excellent pastor. At least he would if he learned how to read.

Deep in his heart, though, he knew a scholarly life was not for him. He had spent every day in the fields, and when he was not laboring, he was rough housing with his brothers. The rebuilding of his village was his very first idea, but the survivors had already talked about moving to eastward towns. Annunheim was gone forever. Living there had always seemed a pain, but now he would trade the world for that simple life of tilling fields and caring for his brothers.

Reiner hopped from one boulder to another, crossing the rarely traversed Rust Mountains. After three days of traveling, the daunting terrain of cliffs and the blistering heat of the sun had already ceased to bother him. In the distance he could see smoke from a town which resided within the cliffs of the mountains. He had heard of that place – Ferrumheim. A town within the face of the mountains, famous for its mining of copper and other precious metals. It was the livelihood of Viraegis economy in the broader scope of the empire. He had also heard that it was close to the temple. Reiner picked up his pace in anticipation, but got too cocky and slipped off a boulder, landing on his back with a loud thud. As he winced he graciously took a hand which helped him up, then panicked, for he had not seen anyone since leaving General Draugma’s village.

Are you off to the temple? The man who helped him up asked.

Reiner shifted his eyes, shielding them from both the midafternoon sun and the man’s enthusiastic smile. Yes.

I am Tsumugi. What is your name?

Reiner, he said hesitantly. The man was a little strange, asking him his name so quickly and with such passionate interest.

Say, Reiner, are you from Annunheim?

Yes. How do you know about my village? You don’t wear clothes people here wear. Are you from a different province?

Keen eye you have. I am from Reishizen.

That was the largest province to the north-east. It was the most prosperous province, and the one where the Emperor resided. The Tsumugi fellow looked like what Reiner would expect, elegant and slender, a true dandy despite his sagging skin and gray hair. He wore faded white and gold robes which looked like they should be on a much younger person.

Reiner was not interested in this man, even if he was from a foreign province. Under regular circumstances he would be enchanted by a new face in his small world, where everyone thought and looked the same, but right now an unfamiliar presence was a mere nuisance. He kept moving, crawling onto the boulder he had fallen from. He clambered through the rocks, trying to ignore that the old man was following him. When Reiner almost slipped again and Tsumugi helped him back up before climbing up himself, Reiner snapped his head back in anger.

What’s your deal? Stop following me, it’s creepy.

Just an eccentric, Tsumugi said. And my deal is that I might want your help. You look very strong. Reiner’s anger dissipated. He was weak to compliments. Though your attitude could use some work.

And his anger flared again. Reiner tried to outpace the old man, but Tsumugi grabbed him by the wrist to stop him.

I was kidding! About Annunheim. Your whole village was destroyed, was it not?

What does that have to do with helping you?

"Well, you have nothing to live for now, right?

Are you always that blunt? Reiner paused, heart cracking at the terrible reminder. A Fiend took them all down. Because they’re all heretics. Everyone except me rejected the gods, and they were punished for it. What do I care if they’ve died? I don’t! Not any of them except my brothers, at least.

Draugma did not tell me you were so religious. Tsumugi sized up Reiner in contemplation, putting a hand on his chin. Do you want to be a Saint? He asked.

A Saint?

Do you not know what Saints are?

Reiner blushed. I’ve heard the word before, but not really.

Tsumugi and Reiner walked side by side, Reiner now too curious to try and avoid the old man, and Tsumugi told him his story.

Twelve people watch over the empire as stand-ins for the gods’ children. I am the last of the fourteenth generation of these people. As per custom, I am searching for a new generation.

I couldn’t be that. Reiner said. Noble kids should be that.

Not so. I had nothing before I became a Saint. And you know, being a Saint is not a great thing. Almost no kid I have asked has agreed, and if they have, their parents said no. Understandably. There are few chances for stability and seeing family. It requires traveling around the empire, defeating evil and heretics until your death.

Defeating evil? Reiner asked. Heretics?

"The light in your eyes tells me I have resonated with you. You have