Dark Soul: The Craelis Chronicles, #2

By Lucky Caballero

Book Two of the Chronicles of Craelis: For a deliciously bewitching  read, step into  the enchanted world of the Kingdom Craelis, that is inhabited by of the survivors  of the New Earth and other worldly creatures...known only as the Craelis.In a world that has become the new Eden, deadly forces lie in wait, lurking in the deep shadows of the forests. Luna SilverWolf finds herself once again battling Lucero's evil followers in a world meant to be at peace as everything goes horribly wrong.  Luna's daughter, Selene has reached her sixteenth birthday and only her closest family members are aware of her constant internal battle with the evil that grows within her, as Selene finds herself struggling with a terrible choice as she discovers the mysterious  and shrouded truth of her own birthright .Drawn towards the ever growing darkness, Selene must decide her own fate and the path she will journey. Torn between the powerful evil that calls to her and the people she loves, Selene stands to lose not just those she loves and the world she knows, but her soul as well. Will she succeed in conquering her demonic half or will she become a pawn in the rising battle for power, led by the shadowy realm's survivors?            
   Prepare yourself... plunge into the dark, enchanting world of the Craelis...Immerse yourself in this intriguing story filled with memorable characters, shocking twists and turns you'll never expect.. you'll never guess how it ends!  

• Language: English
• Publisher: C-Corp Publishing
• Release date: May 7, 2022
• ISBN: 9798201351465

Lucky Caballero

Lucky Caballero is the author of Never Let Go, and Edge of Night; Psychological Crime Thrillers. Lucky writes fast paced, gripping, action-packed thriller/mysteries. Her characters are witty, clever, fearless, and captivating. She’s best known for writing Paranormal Mystery fiction; The Claire Thomas Murder Mysteries, including the Supernatural Dystopian series, The Craelis Chronicles. She also writes humorous, exciting modern romances, and is contemplating finishing an epic fantasy novel she had started several years ago and never completed. She writes books in multiple genres.Before Lucky started writing Crime Thrillers and Paranormal Mysteries, she broke wild horses for a living and rode broncs in the rodeos, traveling the entire United States, became a wife, and mother to a daughter and two sons, grandmother to two granddaughters and seven grandsons. She now writes full-time. A transplanted Alaskan, she is a lover of dogs, cats, and horses, currently residing on her ranch, StoneHaven, in Tucumcari, New Mexico, the wonderful town on the historic route 66 that she loves. If you want to know when Lucky’s next book will come out, please visit her website and blog at http://www.luckycaballero.com, where you can sign up to receive an email when she has her next release. For information on new series, releases, including new covers, descriptions, giveaways and pre-order links.

Book preview

All characters and events in this publication, other than those clearly in the public domain, are fictitious and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. No one should feel or believe they are a character in the author's novels, for they are not and are fictitious creations, as are some areas described. Certain areas of the State of Alaska are used purely as an intriguing backdrop in these novels. The moral right of the author has been asserted. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, without the prior permission in writing of the publisher. The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal and punishable by law. Sale of this book by  any other seller than the retail establishment that the author has permitted in writing, is unauthorized by this author and cheats the author as she does not receive any payment from those sales.

Please purchase only authorized paperback/electronic editions and do not participate in or encourage electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author's rights is appreciated. The publisher does not assume any responsibility for third-party Websites or their content. This novel, its characters, incidents, and some settings are created purely from the author's imagination, with no likeness or similarities to any persons living or dead are ever intended.

Dark Soul, The Craelis Chronicles, Book Two

Copyright© May 2022 -July 2019 by Lucky Caballero

First Printing: April 2018 Lucky Santoro

C-Corp Publishing

www.luckycaballero.com

Printed in the United States of America

For information contact :

http://www.luckycaballero.com

Book and Cover design by Desi Novak

First Edition: April 2018

Logo, company name Description automatically generated

10  9  8  7  6  5  4  3  2  1

For My Loves:

You know who you are.

Acknowledgments

To my family for their support. To Jared Michaels thank you for the hard work in editing, and to Amber Mathews, thank you so much for all the long-distance, hours-long phone calls! I love you; thanks for all you have done for me.

1

The world had become almost an eden after Lucero fell. Humans and Others lived among each other with little conflict, living and working side by side, as nature had intended eons ago. Gone were the cities, pavements, all things of the old world. Swallowed whole by the yawning earthquakes that had rocked the entire planet. The past wiped clean of man's destructive influence.

The earth, no longer smothered beneath the trappings of mankind, had blossomed into a world of exquisite beauty. The once barren, broken planet renewed herself, quickly flourishing into brilliant emerald glory as the forests healed their wounds and the mountains teemed with wildlife, the rivers, and streams that snaked through the valleys were once again pure, the waters ran sparkling and sweet.

Tall green grasses and meadow flowers of golden yellow, violet, and poppy red thickly crowded the open fields. To the north lay a forest, dark, silent, and foreboding. The trees seemed to stretch their ghostly fingers, tangling in the clothing and hair of any rider who entered its shadows.

A dark, unnamed terror whispered on the chilling winds, the dark trees glittered with an unholy glow as shafts of transparent moonlight clung to swaying limbs, leaves rustling in the half shadows in warning to any who dared enter the Obsidian Forest. The forest where Lucero fell, defeated. He was cast back into his own dimension, but it seemed as if he had left a pervading essence of his evil behind. Everyone knew that evil lived within.

To the south lay the settlement that the Source had chosen for the freedom fighters. Nestled snug in a flourishing valley with a wide river sweeping through, the inhabitants, both human and non, farmed and hunted alongside each other. To the east, there was the land of heavy mists that shrouded the valley and beyond.

It was known as the Valley of Mists; the mountains of the east remained hidden even on the hottest, clearest of days. The realm of magic, many believed. No one would go near the valley. Stories were told around the fires at night of strange ghostly apparitions and sounds echoing through the mists.

To the west lay the sea. Before the final battle had finished, earth had fallen into the rising waves of the ocean, swallowing whole states until the tides came to rest in what used to be known as Denver, curving its way down through New Mexico and Texas. Mexico had separated, now its own island.

Georgia remained and parts of Tennessee, but the Smoky Mountains barely kept their summits above water as large mountains had thrust through the earth, taking their place. The rocky mountains remained only where the claw-like fissures had not destroyed it. A peace had reined for over 15 years. And for the past three years, those who guarded the Outer Posts returned to the settlement with dark warnings that an ever-growing band of Lucero's followers had taken over the Obsidian Forest and been strengthening their magic in their plan to conjure Lucero back to their plane of existence.

Luna and her daughter, Selene, felt the shifting of magic, and it shook them to the core, affecting each much differently. Both were utterly aware a powerful unease had moved closer to the settlement, a pervasive evil darkened the winds, moving ever closer.

2

Luna moved with surefooted steps up the rocky out cropping. Something was wrong. The birdsong had ceased with a suddenness that left the surrounding forest deadly quiet. 

She froze, her lithe form still, as she scanned the forest below with sharp eyes that probed the darkening shadows. Luna detected a heavy pervasive sense of evil. The dark cloying rage of evil touched her moments before she heard the scream from the deeply shadowed brush below.

She perched soundlessly near the large boulder that hugged the wall of the mountain. Luna's nostrils twitched as the sulfuric odor of rotten eggs wafted up to her, eddying around her crouched form as if embracing her in its vile tendrils. She knew that smell. She cursed, knowing she should never have gotten this close to the Obsidian Forest. She knew it still held the evil of Lucero, who had tainted the forest as he died.

Luna was strong and fearless. A warrior who had faced down the pure evil of Lucero and won, she reminded herself. An unease enveloped her that she couldn't shake off. Luna brushed a thick tendril of red-gold hair behind her ear as she cocked her head to hear. Black storm clouds streaked with silver and gunmetal gray roiled across the darkening skies, and a deep rumbling spilled from their ladened depths.

Wind, sharp and cold, sent icy needles of driving rain into her exposed flesh. She pulled her cloak tightly around her, re-securing the wide silver clasp of a wolf's face with ruby eyes at her throat.

The sounds of something animal-like scurrying beneath the outlying brush caught her attention. Movement caught her eyes as they turned to scan the northern forest along the distant range just beyond the edge of the settlement, seeking the source of the strangely familiar smell.

A hatred so ancient, so powerful in its laser-like focus, it seemed to burn her flesh. The tiny hairs stood up on the back of her neck, sending chilling awareness down her spine, despite the hot acidic air that now sprang from nowhere.

Sudden realization engulfed Luna as a glowing red flame caught fire in the tallest bush below her. A sign of Lucero she knew well. This evil held Lucero's promise as it caressed the wind, and for the first time in over a decade, Luna felt slightly afraid.

The familiar magic that twisted itself throughout the forest below Luna left her no doubt that Lucero had returned. The very thought of him propelled her into action. She leaped down to the trail below. Her feet made no sound as she landed on the mossy stones and late spring grass. She moved quickly down the path, her eyes searching through the growing darkness.

The putrid sweet smell of burning flesh assaulted her now as she attempted to pass the flames. Luna caught her breath in horror, bringing her hand to her mouth to stifle the scream rising in her throat. The corpse at her feet stared up at her, glassy-eyed and empty.

His flesh red and blackened by the flames that no longer burned. His clothing disturbed her as she saw he wore a long heavy black velvet robe, decorated in thick gold braid and symbols of ancient magic; she readily recognized its hood, now molded by the intense heat to his scalp. She backed away from it, nausea rising from her belly.

Luna had seen him within her own settlement the day before. A stranger, she had assumed, was just passing through their small, tight-knit community. Luna had paid him little attention. He was like scores of others who wandered through her settlement on their way to the next settlement hundreds of miles away, primarily drifters.

Her heart caught in her throat as her blood thickened in fear as a sudden crashing sounded within yards of her position, deep within the shadows of the leafy forest. Luna had to move before whatever remained watching in the woods caught her. The forest was now deathly still.

She moved fast, running parallel to the forest she had hunted that morning. She sprang across a narrow spring, and her feet carried her quickly towards the well-worn trail that led into the settlement. Luna felt as well as heard the hot breath of her pursuer behind her, yet she could see nothing each time she cast a fearful glance behind her as she ran.

Her leather shoes made no sound as she pursued the trail down the dark shadowy forest. She entered nervously; Luna didn't like being inside the Obsidian Forest with Lucero's henchmen hot on her trail. She felt vulnerable and afraid- two distinct feelings she hated. To her, it was weak and unacceptable, yet she could not control her rising fear.

She headed for Summit Hill, a woodland area she rarely visited, though it was thick with fresh blueberries during the summer months. It also was the favorite haunt of the grizzly bears that spent their entire summers on the summit. 

The cliff of the summit overlooked the settlement, but the treacherously twisting rocky trail down the mountainside made it dangerous, as it was prone to landslides. Luna would just have to chance it. She crossed an open patch of a meadow as the moon moved out from behind the mountains she had just run from.

Shoving back her dark green cloak's hood, she listened hard. Nothing. She cast out with her magic, allowing it to roam the countryside as its soft tendrils touched everything. It was risky, casting with Lucero's henchmen still nearby, perhaps even watching. She felt weak. She tried to reconnect to the Divine source, but her fear repeatedly severed the link.

The scent had dissipated somewhat. An overpowering feeling of evil hit her as her magic touched upon something close by. Terror filled her as she shut it down. She had foolishly exposed her position, and now whoever pursued her knew exactly where she was.

She doubted a protection spell would help, but she cast it anyways, murmuring the incantation softly as she picked up speed. Panic had caused her reactions to slow, and the pursuers magic was clouding her judgment. Luna's mind felt like she was in a deep fog, slowing her mental processes down as it seemed to feed on her growing fear.

The rocky trail had led her to a darkened, shadowy area of the forest and then disappeared. Luna stopped, confused as she peered into the black shadows that surrounded her. Would Miguel be able to find her, she wondered as she moved slowly forward. She did not doubt that he knew. Their binding connection was strong.

An idea suddenly forced its way through her muddled thoughts- She could pull strength from their connection to clear the mind mist spell her pursuers had thrown on her. She began to draw energy from Miguel; her mind focused on him as she trod softly through the ancient leaves of the past years, her feet soundless as they carried her through the now pitch-black forest.

She cursed herself for not bringing a horse. She had let Miguel take Moon, her gleaming black morgan stallion. Moon was as connected to Luna as Miguel was, and their bond was a powerful thing to behold. He knew her thoughts before she spoke them. It was as if they became one when she sat upon his back, their thought in unison.

Luna began to feel stronger, her mind clearing as she moved on at a steady pace. She had started to cast an invisible spell around herself when a hand gripped her arm from the shadows on her right. She silenced the scream that rose to her lips as her eyes darted around in terror. A small dwarf stepped out of the blackness of the low branches of the tree next to her and looked up into her eyes with wide round blue eyes shaded with fear, his thick stubby finger held to his lips in silent warning.

She recognized him instantly. It was Jenae, the young dwarf who idolized Miguel.  Jenae pulled her quickly behind him, moving fast for one with such short little legs. Luna could not resist the pull that drew her eyes to look behind her as she followed the Dwarf. She saw nothing, but she didn't expect to- but she was sure they were there, close behind. He led her towards an enormous tree, its bark dark and rough. Long low hanging branches thick with glistening emerald leaves parted as if by themselves, revealing an exceedingly small door that