Kindred of the Sea

By Raina Nightingale

Two common soldiers, caught in a war they did not sign up for.

 

Corostomir and Aderan joined the Army to protect their people against pirates. Now they are called to attack Elethri, home of the sorcerous elves and new haunt of the nightmare – but when they march into the forest and wake from their dreams unharmed, they can't escape the suggestion that the story they've been told might not be so true.

 

They would rather not die for a war they don't believe in. That leaves only one option: find a way to desert that won't get them killed, just as surely as pushing the elves too far will.

 

This cozy fantasy is a tale of platonic love and adventure that will take you to new worlds and magical beings, including the dolphins in the seas of Alaer.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Raina Nightingale
• Release date: Jun 24, 2022
• ISBN: 9781952176197

Raina Nightingale

Raina Nightingale has been writing fantasy since she could write stories with the words she could read (the same time that she started devouring books, too). Now she writes “slice of life” and epic dawndark fantasy, for fiction lovers interested in rich world-building, characters who feel like real people, and spiritual experiences. Raina thinks giant balls floating in space can have the same magic that fairytales teach us to look for in oak trees and stars. However, she has a lot of universes and while not all of them have giant balls floating in space, most of them have dragons of one sort or another!

Book preview

Forward

Kindred of the Sea is a little cozy fantasy that ties Areaer – the planet where most of my novels have taken place so far – to its sister world, Alaer. And it is very special to me – as all my novels are – and quite different from a lot of epic fantasy.

It is written from the perspective of the side characters in another story: Corostomir and Aderan have their role to play in the events of their book, and their choices matter, but they – especially Corostomir, my main character –  are on the fringes of what's happening, and he's certainly not someone that those who see only the game of power would recognize as an important mover! He is chosen – by his asexual lover Aderan, by the dragon Aglarath, by the dolphin Arlas – but he is no Chosen Hero, and neither is he a Hero Who Was Neither Prophesied Nor Chosen. It is another character who you will meet later in the book (and if you find it to be fun, you can try to guess who) who could be considered a Chosen One and whose relationship to the major events is more like that of a typical main character.

Another thing about Kindred of the Sea that's very special to me is that it is a story about an intimate, committed asexual relationship with – perhaps? – a dash of romance. One friend described it as like a romance story, but all bromance. It is very important to me personally to show a relationship that is entirely asexual, but also very close and loving. It seems to me most asexual characters in books either end up loved – and falling in love with – more sexual people and eventually having a sexual relationship with them, or else they tend to be fierce, often appearing to me to be emotionally distant, or possibly flat, even if they have strong emotions and care intensely. I don't have a problem with these stories, I don't even dislike them, but love, tenderness, and intimacy that exist without sex – or even romance – also needs to be shown.

I hope you enjoy the journey of choice, love, and truth to a new world, and that you have love in your own life to embolden you to embrace your journey!

~Raina Nightingale

Color Map of Ellenesia

Alaer

Emblem of the Kindred of the Sea on wood pendant (such as worn by Adreen)

Portrait of Corostomir

Were the singer of the storm

To sing his waves to cover me

To wrap me round-about, o sea

In shackles of his flowing, changing form

That never binds, forever free

~~~

Ride on the wings of fire

On the back of the rising wind –

Nothing can hold you against

The burning of your desire

~~~

Could I follow out from fear

In night's guarding, concealing shroud

And through the crash of breakers loud

That thunder of my fear-mistaken bier

When far from shore no fear is dear

~~~

Ride on the wings of fire

On the back of the rising wind –

Nothing can hold you against

The burning of your desire

~~~

Ever and all, the waves embrace

'Tis love, not freedom, owns my heart

Freedom, not fear, my ways chart

Whether to the coast or ocean grave I race

The waves slay none in their own place

The sea slays none who've seen his face

~~~

Ride on the wings of fire

On the back of the rising wind –

Nothing can hold you against

The burning of your desire

Table of Contents

Forward

Map of Ellenesia

Emblem of the Kindred of the Sea

Portrait of Corostomir

1: Spell of the Forest

2: An Old Acquaintance

3: Secrets with the Sea

4: Storm of Dragons

5: Land of the Elves

6: Hospitality of the Elves

7: The Ways of Elethri

8: Shadow of the Nightmare

9: The Name of Fire

10: Into the Mountains

11: Whisper of the Sea

12: Nightmare Stalked

13: Two Fires

14: Upsides, Downsides

15: The Great Green Serpent

16: The Sea Slays None

17: Thoughts of Fire

18: Fractured

19: Night's Edge

20: Together

21: The Healer

22: The Tears

23: Another Way

24: A Dragon Near

25: Relationship Matters

26: Two are One

27: Plans of Piracy

28: The Right Reason, the Wrong Thing

29: The Farthest Sea

30: A New Land

31: Dolphin Magic

32: Shaped by Storms

33: Solutions

34: Irresponsible

35: The Gates of Heaven

36: Epilogue

Spell of the Forest

COROSTOMIR'S gaze locked upon the elven forest with trepidation. How could two humans fight through the Land of the Five Rivers? According to legend, the Elethrians fought as no man could fight. Their powers, their arts, and their skills rendered them much stronger than any human; according to the legends, it took ten men to a single elf. Perhaps they could hold their own against the elves if the elves were the invaders, but it was hard for Corostomir to believe that even all the forces the Valor Alliance could call up would be able to take Elethri. The forest … it was so alien, so foreboding. It was a place that the elves could navigate effortlessly, a place to which they were born, a place that would camouflage them perfectly. Without being seen by human eyes, there could be hundreds of elves nestled in those trees, ready to rain arrows down upon them as they approached, and then, still unseen by the Valor Soldiers, those elves could retreat and fire again … or, really, whatever they chose. They could jump on them with flaming swords stretched out and cut down dozens of them to a single elf before the Valor Soldiers even knew what was happening.

Aderan clapped his friend on the shoulder. What are you worrying about, Corostomir? Is it the forest again?

Of course, said Corostomir. "Now that I see it, it's worse than I thought, and I never thought we stood a chance at invading these Elethrians' homeland. It's not that I don't think the cause is just. The cause is perfectly just. It's just that they are so much stronger than we are. We should never have had an alliance with them in the first place; they're almost nightmare creatures themselves."

Aderan shrugged. I know we're not accustomed to fighting in woods, and they know woods from the moment they're born, and doubtless have natural affinity for trees, but it won't be too bad. Legends are always exaggerated. I doubt they ever had a half, or even a tenth, of the power they were rumored to have and, in any case, their magic is fading. I hear they're scarcely more than men now. They can no longer do most of the things they once could and, any way, they lost the elf-swords long ago. We won't ever have to face the fabled Elethrian Flame. Not that it would do anything to us, either. It was made for fighting orcs.

Can you really tell me, asked Corostomir, that you don't feel any fear looking out at those trees … don't feel like the eaves of the forest, which almost shade us even now, are our mortal enemies? Don't feel that only death and terror awaits us within the embrace of that forest?

Of course I feel some trepidation, some dread, but mostly it's just superstition, and the normal apprehension one feels before the unknown and before a battle, said Aderan.

Somehow, I think what I feel is much more than that, said Corostomir. I think it is evil magic.

"I know you're no coward. I'm also very doubtful it has anything to do with sorcery. I think you're just mistaking the normal apprehension before battle for something more. I've talked to others of the soldiers, and even some Valor Knights, and apparently it's common to feel very unwell in certain ways before something bigger than anything you've ever been part of, before. And this is going to be a bigger fight than the border skirmishes with the southern nations, or raiding bandits on the coast," said Aderan.

Well, said Corostomir, swallowing past the lump in his throat, we have to make camp here anyways.

That we do, said Aderan. Both men ceased their evaluation of the forest and their own feelings and joined the rest of their comrades at settling in. A cold lump of fear settled in Corostomir's stomach, however, and he could not stop looking at the forest, which seemed to him to be stretching out tendrils of chilling malice towards the human army. But trees did not have souls. It had to be demons, who dwelt in the cover provided by the shadows of the forest, that were tormenting him. Corostomir wondered what kind of demons they were and what their goal was. If they were only sprite-demons, sent to turn the men into cowards, then all that would be necessary was to pray to the gods and summon his courage, a courage which he now found woefully failing. How could he feel so frightened of the forest, or of combat, or of being slain, or whatever it was, when he used to recklessly play in stormy oceans with Aderan when they were younger?

Corostomir's sleep was full of dreams of dark, shadowy forms that never quite took on a definite shape. He woke with a feeling of deep unsettled-ness, as if the earth had shifted under him while he slept, as if the ground were no more settled and firm than the waves of the sea but without their rhythm.

He woke early in the morning, restless. He tossed back and forth on the ground for a while, before sitting up and beginning a prayer ritual. At least, he would not willingly allow his soul to be dragged down to the netherhell, if that was what this was about. If he felt the demons, and not Aderan, because this was the day of his death and he was in peril of being cast down to the netherhell, he would at least do all he could to secure the safety of his soul.

Aderan woke in the morning to see his heart-brother kneeling at his prayers. Aderan had said his the night before, and was reasonably at peace. At least, he thought he was as at peace as any man was likely to be the morning before marching into an unfamiliar forest to fight an enemy who was, doubtless, superior in their forest. He knew he had a very good chance of dying. He and Corostomir were only common foot-soldiers. Their lives would not merit any special consideration, except to each other. Furthermore, Aderan had doubts about this war in the first place. Why was it so important to attack Elethri? If Elethri and Elethrian policies were such a problem, Aderan thought it would have been sufficient to re-inforce the border and issue an edict for the imprisonment of any Elethrian caught on the Valor Alliance side. He and Corostomir had joined the army because, while the southern states needed a standing militia to guard against the unfriendly southern nations, the northern states needed one to guard against the nightmare corruptions that still prowled the Icecrown and swarmed around Nightshade, and also as some protection against bandits and roving pirates who still managed to get through the Valor Navy to loot sea-side villages. It was mostly those that Aderan and Corostomir had expected to fight. Since the death of Wizard Falkur a decade ago, there had been a marked decrease in encounters with the demons, but they had still occasionally dreamed about being heroes together and saving the Alliance from the nightmare. Somehow, that felt like an entirely different prospect from marching on the forest nation of the elves.

Coro? whispered Aderan.

Corostomir turned to look at him. Good morning. How are you?

As well as any man can expect to feel before a battle, said Aderan. Dying as a hero was one thing. Dying as one out of thousands doing something the good of which he did not even see was another, but he could not share these thoughts with Corostomir right now. He would too easily be overheard and then executed as a traitor. That was an even more unappealing death. However, he had determined that once in the thick of things the only thing he was going to concern himself with was keeping himself and Corostomir alive. How are you? he asked Corostomir.

His friend shrugged, and Aderan knew what that meant. Neither the night's rest nor all those prayers had done Corostomir any good at all. Aderan wondered if his friend was simply coping less well with the apprehension before a battle or if there was something else going on.

Well, said Aderan, stretching, time to get up now. It will be 'grab-a-bite' time any minute now, and then into our armor and march. He sat up.

The forest closed around them in foreboding darkness. Marching in line through the trees – except that it was not in line, since so many trees and thickets and bramble quite prevented an orderly march – Corostomir still felt something dragging him away from his comrades, out of line. He was quite confused. The forest felt alive around him. Still, eerily still, but with the stillness not of a dead man but of something alive and waiting. The quiet was unearthly, but not quite silent, as if a backdrop of audible darkness pressed in on his mind and tingled in his ears, just out of his range.

He hurried his steps, since they were already so out of march what with having to step over logs and under branches and around thickets. He placed his hand on Aderan's arm. Aderan!

Aderan looked over at him. What is it, Coro?

"Do you feel it now?" he asked.

It took Aderan a moment to answer. "Yes, I think so, but still, it could be nerves. Those can do weird things to one at times like this."

I don't think it's nerves, said Corostomir. I think it's magic.

"Good gods, you really could be right, said Aderan. I feel much sleepier than I ought to at this time in the morning, and I keep finding my feet turning me out of line, and have to correct myself."

"It doesn't feel like morning in here, said Corostomir. Let's hold hands. That way the magic shan't separate us at least."

So they grasped each other's hands and continued onward into the woods.

Where am I? wondered Aderan. His head felt strange. He could not remember it having ever felt so clear and light, as if each thought were sharped to a needle-point of crystal. Yet a rhythm swayed through it. For a moment he mistook it for the rhythm of waves, but something about it was clearly off. It was not waves. What sort of dream had he been having? He could not quite remember. Something very bright, but with a lot of deep shade in it. No, it slipped him completely now. He wished he could get back into it.

He shifted, trying to ease his cramping muscles. Now, that was strange. What had he been doing yesterday that would make his muscles feel so cramped after sleeping? But his train of thought was interrupted. The crystalline clarity of the music in his head fuddled his thinking enough, and then he struck sharp branches in several places as he moved.

Where was he?

Slowly and cautiously, Aderan wiggled out of the branches and sat up. His throat was parched. Too parched.

Corostomir's voice greeted him. Are you all right? he asked.

Umm, yes, just thirsty, said Aderan. He opened his eyes to see his friend sitting up with his back against a tree trunk. He was wearing just the tunic he wore under his armor. Why?

At a second thought, Aderan realized that he was similarly attired. And where were they? This was a strange forest!

O-o-oh! Aderan realized. They had marched into Elethri, and this was what had happened!

You were right, Corostomir, he said, around a thick tongue. The forest was full of magic.

You were right, too, Ad, said Corostomir. "It wasn't evil magic. It did us no harm. It simply put us to sleep and stripped us of our armor and weapons. Is there a nicer way to fight a battle?"

Aderan shook his head. No, he answered. "But the priests will tell you that you were right. That it is evil magic, designed to lure us into thinking it is good and thereby into losing our souls."

Do you think they would be right? asked Corostomir.

Aderan shrugged. No. But right now I am thirsty and I think I will have a splitting headache as soon as the rest of this spell wears off.

Then, said Corostomir, let us see what we think after we have gotten out of this forest and away from its spells, and have drank and eaten.

That sounds like a plan, said Aderan, rising. As he rose, the headache hit him and he swayed. He had to put his hand out for a tree to keep himself from falling back on the ground.

"I hope we can find our way out of this forest," said Aderan.

North. If we can keep ourselves going north, which should be easy enough in daylight, we should get out of here eventually. If we can't get out of here, if the forest won't let us, that would prove it sorcery and witchcraft, said Corostomir. But I don't think it will. I think the magic is more interested in ejecting us than in keeping us.

An Old Acquaintance

COROSTOMIR put his platter on the stool next to Aderan's half-unfinished meal, and dropped himself down on the pallet next to his friend. Aderan, he began, then, realizing what the unfinished meal and prone form might mean, amended his question. Are you feeling ill?

No. I'm just tired, and I've already heard the news, Coro, said Aderan, flipping himself over.

Why does it depress you so much that they've ordered all the soldiers to participate in an exorcism? asked Corostomir, genuinely surprised. He was more pleased than otherwise at the news. It meant they would not have to make the decision whether or not to seek an exorcism, in case evil spirits or influences had been attached to them in the forest and were influencing their thinking or souls and that, if they did decide it was worth it to seek an exorcism, they would not have to pay for it.

Aderan heaved a huge sigh, and sat up. "Corostomir, they want us to be willing and eager to fight for them."

What are you saying? asked Corostomir.

"That we have no more reason to trust the magic of the Valor Priests, than we do to trust the magic of the elves, said Aderan, almost into his friend's ear. Leaning away, he saw that Corostomir did not, or was refusing to understand him. The Valor Alliance wants to fight Elethri, he explained, scarcely less quietly. There was enough noise he did not think that even if anyone was listening at the side of their tent that he would hear their words over the general buzz of the camp. If something good or neutral in Elethri is making us unable or unwilling to go into Elethri and kill them on their land, then won't the Valor Hall command their priests to influence us to think that Elethri is evil? It may not be an exorcism, so much as an influence of its own."

As Aderan spoke, Corostomir's eyes widened. Then – then you felt it too?

Yes, said Aderan. "I did not just sleep. I dreamed, as I suspect everyone else here has."

And you're not suspicious that we're under a demonic influence? asked Corostomir. In a sudden leap of intuition, he thought he understood. He leaned into Aderan and put his arm around him. "Maybe you are. Maybe you don't know what to suspect, and you don't know which side is under a demonic influence, and that's why you were lying here depressed with your meal half-uneaten."

Doesn't that sound like how you would feel? asked Aderan, a wry smile gracing the corners of his lips.

It does sound reasonable, said Corostomir. I suppose. But how can the Valor Hall be under the influence of the demons? The Valor Hall and the Valor Knights are all about fighting demons!

For a few moments neither man spoke. Then Corostomir said, We really ought to have a better place to have this discussion.

I don't know how, Aderan whispered back. "We're bound to be watched if we go off somewhere."

"Yes, but it's not safe to have it here. It borders on treason, and even if we're not killed, because they assume we're under a spell, we'll still have what freedom we have taken away." He bit down on his lip to keep from saying more. It was their fault they were here. Though, Corostomir wondered if it really was. The Valor Alliance drafted unmarried men, and neither he nor Aderan were married, or had any interest in marrying. If one married, that meant time and energy and work to take care of one's wife and children. It meant less escaping to swim in the ocean on a stormy night, less time to sit around a fire and chat. He and Aderan had had long conversations about their decision to join the Valor Army, and one of many topics they had covered was the fact that if one was going to be drafted, one might as well have joined ahead of time.

There was a long spell of quiet, and then Aderan said, at a normal, conversational volume, You know what? Let's see if we can find Sir Clindan.

Corostomir vaguely remembered the Valor Knight with whom Aderan had spent some hours in discussion. Why him? he asked.

He's fought nightmare creatures before, said Aderan.

Instantly Corostomir understood what his soul-friend was thinking, but he still wondered if it was really safe to trust Clindan. Nonetheless, he could see the sense of Aderan's plan, and agreed to it.

Shall we eat first? he asked.

Sure, said Aderan, but he only picked at the rest of his meal. He had not eaten half of what was left on his plate by the time Corostomir had finished his, and shoved it towards Corostomir. You can eat this if you like.

Corostomir shook his head. No. You really should eat it, even if you don't feel like it, and I'm quite full.

Aderan smiled at him. No. Maybe tonight. I want to talk to Clindan as soon as possible.

Together, they rose to seek out the Valor Knight.

They found Sir Clindan on the edges of the officer's tent. Corostomir remembered their first introduction to him. He was about ten years older than they were and, knowing how close they were, had counseled them against applying to the Valor Knighthood. One of you might pass, and the other might not, and once you apply it is nearly impossible to get out if you're passed, and much better not to, he had said. He was from a village several coves over from the one where Corostomir and Aderan had grown up, and Aderan, whom Corostomir knew to be exceptionally good at remembering and recognizing faces, claimed he had seen him once or twice at festivals when he was a young boy. He had just been fighting nightmare demons in the foothills around Icecrown when they met him, and it was that which Aderan had remembered and which had given him this idea.

When Sir Clindan saw them, the smile he gave them showed clearly that he recognized them, though there was something about his posture which suggested that he was deeply disturbed. They greeted each other shortly and politely inquired after each other's health, at which point Aderan said, Hey, do you have a place where we could chat for a bit without being so much in everyone's way?

Of course, said Clindan, smiling. Come with me.

I think that was code for 'we need to talk about something sensitive. Do you have a place that's private?' thought Corostomir as he followed with Aderan.

Clindan led them through the camp and out past the perimeter. He paused to speak briefly with the guards and drop a comment about how he was going for a walk in the village with some childhood friends with whom he had been unexpectedly reunited, since he had some free time. Once they had been traveling for a while, while they were passing through a meadow which sang with the noise of disturbed insects as they passed, he paused and said, Now, what is it, friends?

Are we well alone? asked Aderan.

Positive, said Clindan with a surprisingly boyish smile. Unless they're using magic to spy on me. Also, I can't guarantee we won't be overheard by elves. But I'm a trained Valor Knight, and I'd know if there were anyone else in this meadow. So speak softly, and we won't be overheard. The insects and birds are singing beautifully, if there's something downwind.

You said you'd fought nightmares before, said Corostomir.

I have, said Clindan. It's no fun, but that's what I'd been doing right before I met you two, if you remember correctly?

Of course, said Aderan, though I remember faces and people a little better than time and place.

This provoked a chuckle from Clindan, but he merely folded his arms and waited.

Elven magic is pretty unnerving. I still feel so shaken up after going into the forest, but it wasn't what I expected, said Aderan. Corostomir listened, wondering where this was going. Was Aderan less confident in Clindan than he had led Corostomir to believe?

Clindan nodded again. It is fairly strange in there. A kind of magic I've never encountered before. They keep the forest differently than we keep ours. It's … well, I don't like it that much.

All right. This is really weird, thought Corostomir. He just said 'I don't like it that much' in a tone that did not quite fit. And every time it seems like they are going to get to the point, they veer off again as if this were a completely different and casual conversation.

Aderan shuffled around, looking for a good patch of grass big enough for all three of them to lie down, and they sprawled out in the sun. Corostomir was the last to settle down, and he remained half-sitting. He noticed that Clindan remained very alert, but was fairly certain he would not have seen the signs if he had been a couple feet farther away.

The convoluted conversation lasted for several minutes longer, with Clindan occasionally glancing at Corostomir. Finally, Corostomir glanced at Aderan over Clindan's shoulder and gave him an utterly confused look.

Aderan beckoned to him, and Corostomir settled lower down. Sir Clindan's our friend, he said.

Corostomir raised his eyebrows. What?

Clindan chuckled lightly again. I think I was right in my advice to you, you know. I'm pretty sure Aderan could have done it, but you're better at other things.

What? Huh? Corostomir's brain spun. Then, as things settled into place, he barely clamped down on the words, So, you're not certain this is completely private. If they weren't saying anything, but using lots of irrelevant words and statements that sounded like the rest of their conversation, so that if anyone was listening downwind and caught some of their words it would seem they were having a more-or-less casual, unimportant conversation, given the circumstances, then they would not want him to say that. Curse it! he thought. Curse it to the netherhells! Sea of Tears! He hated this. He desperately wanted to be able to have a plain, simple conversation, to say what he meant and thought without all this subterfuge. Wasn't there anywhere they could go to speak plainly?

He caught Clindan watching him, smiling, and trying to look as if he had not been smiling.

And what about the issue Aderan mentioned, about the priests and the exorcism? Have they discussed that yet? It is so hard to follow their conversation! It makes my head spin.

After some time, they rose and continued their walk. They settled into a rowdy inn at the nearby village, where Clindan bought them a meal and the loan of a room for a few hours to eat by themselves. Once there, still concerned in case they were followed, the Valor Knight took out parchment, and they proceeded to write using his paper and inkwell. Sir Clindan wrote the first message: My caution may seem excessive, but if we are discovered we will either be considered in need of an exorcism and probably spend the rest of our lives in prison or be executed, so I judge it appropriate.

Corostomir scribbled next: I agree. But isn't it more dangerous to have this written on paper?

Sir Clindan: I'm going to burn this before anyone can see it. It won't raise suspicion. But this is a little expensive, so no wasteful conversation.

From there the conversation turned to plotting out how to avoid the mandated exorcisms which, Clindan revealed, were to begin that evening. This scribbled conversation irritated Corostomir only less than the previous audible one. He was also very uncomfortable. He desperately wanted to have a truly free conversation about his thoughts and fears and suspicions. Even Sir Clindan's revelation that what he had encountered in the border-woods of Elethri was nothing like the nightmare he had fought in the foothills of Icecrown, that whatever the sorcery of the Queen of Elethri was, it had nothing to do with that nightmare, did not fully assuage his fears, his concerns about going against the Valor Alliance to which he had sworn himself and rejecting the blessing and exorcism of its priests and gods. And as for Sir Clindan, why would someone dedicated enough to be a Valor Knight so easily turn to committing acts that would be considered treasonous for so little cause and evidence?

Finally, Corostomir felt that he needed to know something. He took the pen and scribbled one of his rare messages. I need to know, he wrote. Why are you doing this, Clindan?

Clindan flashed him one of his youthful smiles and wrote, seeming to understand his need: "Because I joined the Valor Knighthood to defend the Alliance from the Nightmare. I was willing to participate in wars against other nations and to defend our southern border if necessary, but my main desire was to defend humankind from the evil that lurks in Icecrown. I have