Mendoria: The Descent of Hellborn

By Claire Gailer

From the ashes of Earth’s demise, the beautiful and peaceful world of Mendoria was born. In it, every creature is born under one of the six elements – earth, air, fire, water, dark and light. However, Mendoria’s peace would soon come to an end.

When a group of lowlife fire bandits attack an innocent village, it leaves a young boy, Cademon Velenture, parentless and hungry for revenge. But his quest quickly leads to an unsuspecting turn when he starts to grow a connection with Mendoria’s higher deity, the Goddess Superior.

However, when things begin to turn south, he becomes something no one could have foreseen. As his mind, body and heart start to descend and decay, can he still win his beloved immortal’s love?

Dear reader, read at your own risk. For opening yourself to such a world can bring both beauty and danger. In order for us to embrace the light, there must be darkness. After all, what would you do if everything you loved was taken from you?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
• Release date: Mar 31, 2023
• ISBN: 9781398483897

Claire Gailer

Claire Gailer was born in 1997 in Sydney, Australia. As she grew up, she saw the world differently from the people around her. It was this uniqueness that piqued her interest in drawing. From there, she found herself drawing and creating new characters and worlds which eventually sparked an interest in writing. Drawing inspiration from art, music and more, she pictured intricate universes and after many years of writing different characters, plots, and journeys, she finally decided to share her unique worlds with an audience.

Book preview

About the Author

Claire Gailer was born in 1997 in Sydney, Australia. As she grew up, she saw the world differently from the people around her. It was this uniqueness that piqued her interest in drawing. From there, she found herself drawing and creating new characters and worlds which eventually sparked an interest in writing. Drawing inspiration from art, music and more, she pictured intricate universes and after many years of writing different characters, plots, and journeys, she finally decided to share her unique worlds with an audience.

Dedication

I would like to dedicate this book to my best friend Vivien, my beloved father and my family who have always believed in me. Without them, this book, and therefore my dream of writing it, would never have come true.

Copyright Information ©

Claire Gailer 2023

The right of Claire Gailer to be identified as author of this work has been asserted by the author in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

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, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.

Any person who commits any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

A CIP catalogue record for this title is available from the British Library.

ISBN 9781398483880 (Paperback)

ISBN 9781398483897 (ePub e-book)

www.austinmacauley.com

First Published 2023

Austin Macauley Publishers Ltd®1 Canada Square

Canary Wharf

London

E14 5AA

Acknowledgement

I would personally like to thank Austin Macauley Publishers and everyone behind the scenes who spent many hours dedicated to publishing my book and making it the best it can be. All your hard work is greatly appreciated.

Chapter 1 –

The Rising Fires and Ash

Fire burst around him, causing the ground to shake and rubble to fly through the air. Panic shuddered and pulsed through every bone, muscle and nerve. All around him, creatures were being thrown and set ablaze, the town merging into a heated blur of bloody bodies and acrid smoke. He felt his throat begin to close up and shivers travelled down his spine.

Another blast, but this one sent his ears ringing, a piercing shriek so disorientating that it drowned out the taunting howls of their assailants. Desperate to numb the pain, he clawed at his ears as he tried to dull the sound, but cringed as blood slowly trickled down his ear instead. Horrifyingly, the shriek which echoed in his ears only grew stronger. Consumed by its harsh pitch, his knees gave way as he let out an agonised scream.

He peered ahead at the villagers scattered throughout the area. In an effort to reach safety, those who had fallen gripped the dirt below them as they tried to flee the scene. All of them were caught and roasted alive.

Having heard stories of the cruelty of those born in Flaxxon, risking a long, gruelling trek across the border just to massacre a foreign village was a new low, even for them.

Slowly, he tucked his elbows inward towards his chest. As he crouched over the ground, he used his elbows to dig through the dirt as he dragged himself through the thick haze of black smoke towards the village outskirts. Though the smoke blinded his path, he found comfort knowing it too would provide a protective layer of shelter above him. Something that in turn would hide him from the prying eyes of the attacking bandits.

As the ruins of his once home crumbled around him, tears flooded down his cheeks, the water scorching his skin as steam rose off it from the impact, burning him harsher than he thought it would, yet he pushed onward. Through the dirt, something new captured his attention. A taste. Of what, he wasn’t certain, but it was not a welcomed flavour. Alarmed, he reached into his mouth, he frowned as a deep red substance lined his fingers.

He hadn’t seen this before. At least, not on himself. He’d seen it caked on all the bodies around him, a sign that they’d been injured. He too might have been injured. The thought frightened him and for the first time in his life, Cademon Velenture was left in a kind of helplessness that not even his nightmares could conjure.

That small moment of hesitation was all one of the bandits needed in order to emerge from the smoke in front of him. Fire trickled around his hands, which mirrored the flow of water. It felt worse than the heated blasts. He could almost feel his insides fill up with the disgusting liquid he tried so hard to avoid.

Cademon took in the cruel atmosphere of the man. His eyes peered down in a cold, blank stare and Cademon couldn’t help but let out a nervous whimper. In a desperate attempt to escape the man, Cademon scurried backwards. He was barely a distance away from the flames when their eyes met. Darkness and destruction emitted from the bandit’s eyes, revealing an emotionless state.

Though it was clear of the man’s origins, what felt hazy was his motives. Emptiness could not breed darkness, yet in that moment, his emptiness was far more dangerous than any dark element creature. Cademon’s mind became a mess of prayers to the Goddess as he mentally begged her for help. But he failed to notice that his prayers were voiced out loud until the intimidating figure before him scoffed darkly.

She wouldn’t save a worthless runt like you, he growled menacingly.

He tilted his head to the side, which made a loud crack. Victory sparked in his eyes as the young teenager before him began to squirm and tremble. His continued squirming set off a sigh from the man as if Cademon was quickly turning into an inconvenience.

Frozen in fear, Cademon’s eyes followed the flames that catapulted from the bandit’s hands. An evil smirk tugged at the bandit’s mouth. As the flames made their way toward Cademon, shivers ran down his spine and his eyes pulsed. Instinct took hold as he turned his head and threw his hand out towards the incoming inferno defensively.

Expecting to be doused in flames, Cademon slowly frowned as he felt nothing but a slight warmth in his palm. Strangely, the warm sensation started to flow throughout his body as if he himself was becoming a conductor. Cautiously, he opened his eyes and turned his head. Before him, the bandit’s fire hovered by his own palm, almost caressing it.

He had caught the oncoming attack. Through his palm, he had changed its destructive path into one of a calm and gentle nature. Fixated on the beauty of the fire that so elegantly flowed with him, the world around him began to disappear. The shrill ringing in his ears, the screams of his fellow villagers – all drifted away. Every way his hand turned, the flames followed obediently. It almost seemed to understand and become part of him. He had heard rumours of creatures guided by the fire with enhanced abilities, yet he had never suspected he could wield such power.

Suddenly, he was seared in the face, and he screamed as the blast set his coal-black hair alight. He could feel the heat of more blasts coming towards him and tried to jolt back quickly. As he silently accepted his fate, he looked back to the village in burning ruins. Soon, he too would burn with it.

More fire. However, this time something stopped it – a dome, transparent with a delicate, glittering-white smoke that radiated off it, formed around him. Every ball of flame that shot his way immediately fizzled out upon impact with the dome.

As his every attack was thwarted, he growled darkly. He became enraged and flexed his hands out at Cademon, a continuous trail of fire erupting from his palms like some overpowered flame-thrower. Every spark that came out of him immediately fizzled out on impact. Slowly, the man stopped and stood tall, panting as he shot a glare at Cademon.

The corners of his mouth pulled into a slight leer as he growled, "You’re him, huh? Good. This will make things easy."

Once again the man’s hand clenched as he raised it in the air, though strangely nothing came out.

The inner walls of the dome began to sink. A foreign, watery, golden substance drizzled down onto Cademon’s hair and soothed his wounded head. Unlike the searing pain of normal water, this liquid felt warm and familiar, like fire. Eventually, the dome began to expand. With its increased size he was able to stand on his feet. The bandit stepped back in fear as Cademon moved forward, the dome following suit. It was quiet for a moment, then at an instant, the dome exploded outward. The bandits flew through the air from its harsh blow and landed in the blood of their victims. Like the cowards they were, they fled from the scene.

The dome’s explosion doused the fires that burnt through the village, which salvaged what little was left of it. Slowly, Cademon gathered his courage and moved towards the village. Knowing he would see friends, loved ones, people he had grown up with being horribly scarred at the least, he could barely find the strength within him to keep moving. His legs barely left the ground as he moved forward, shuffling his feet along the ground slowly and as they reached the entrance of the main village road, he began shivering.

Slowly moving through the village, he found very little sign of life - just blood and an occasional skull here and there. Stopping in front of the village leader’s house, he slowly looked inside, his eyebrows furrowing nervously as if he knew what was coming. As he stepped inside he looked around, and nothing appeared out of place.

Moving over to the mantelpiece, he picked up a small family photograph. The corners of his mouth drew into a small sad smile as he saw the happiness of his younger self, arms wrapped around his older sister and parents – not a care in the world and his father wearing the commanding uniform of their village. However, now there was no sign of his family or other villagers.

He was about to turn to leave again when out of the corner of his eye, something red stood out. He tried to swallow around the lump that had suddenly formed in the back of his throat. He wanted to leave, but something told him he had to keep going. Turning towards the red, he frowned as he saw his parent’s bedroom door closed, a pool of red blood trickling out from underneath the gap in it. His stomach dropped. He slowly moved towards it, hesitating before opening the door.

Immediately, all the colour drained from his face and his jaw hung open, his strength leaving him as he dropped to his knees. Tears sizzled off his cheeks as he sobbed at the sight before him. Rope wrapped around the neck so tight it had half separated head from the body, and his mother hung from the ceiling. Her fragile skin was pale and her eyes glazed over, bulging out from their sockets with red, raised veins covering the whites of them. The words ‘Flaxxon whore’ were plastered across her white silk gown, written in her own blood. His father’s torso was completely separated from the lower half of his body, the two halves across either side of the room and the floor was completely soaked with their combined blood in a pool of horrific and soul-destroying red.

Pain, stronger than the burning of his tears had ever been. He felt as if his heart had been torn from his chest a million times over and every second he looked upon their defiled corpses, the pain was just as strong as the second he first saw them. He was frozen, utterly broken from the pain and fear.

A light started radiating from the doorway. It was the same white glowing light that came from the dome that protected him from the bandit and was just as magnificent.

Sniffling and not bothering to wipe his eyes as new tears would replace the old, he looked over to where the light was coming from.

Before him stood a woman, golden in colour with a white smoke gently diverging off her and the smile she gave to him was both sad and comforting. Slowly moving her hand out towards him, she wiped the tears that stung his cheeks, drying them to try and ease the physical pain. Entranced with her beauty and holiness, he watched as she gently grabbed his hand and lifted him slowly to his feet.

Without saying a single word, she started to lead him out of the house. With every step she took, she seemed to be getting smaller and smaller, less human looking, and glowing brighter, until she finally let go of his hand and transformed into a small glowing ball of white in front of him.

It was her. The one whom all of Mendoria spoke of and worshipped – The Higher Goddess.

He followed her where she led, out of the village wreckage and towards the shore. As the water came into view he started to become nervous. He worried that she thought he was as destructive as those Flaxxon bandits and that this was her way of finally defusing the situation.

Hesitating, he stopped following her but she quickly moved back to him, showering him with a calming white light and her figure glowed brighter in a way that told him he would be safe. Following her once again, he reached the shoreline and as she moved to the side, he found his older sister lying on the ground.

She was breathing, but just barely.

Rushing to her side, he took the shirt off his own back and pressed it firmly on her open wounds. Even if his sister, Pyemora, was the only one in his village to survive, he wouldn’t be alone and for the moment being, that was all he craved.

The Goddess slowly transformed back into her more human form and stepped closer. She gently touched the wounded girl’s open infliction and to Cademon’s surprise, he watched as it slowly started to heal itself, the skin stitching back together magically. As it completely healed, she opened her eyes and gasped deeply for air, Cademon hugging her tightly as she sat up. He checked over her to verify that she wasn’t injured further. Pulling away from her, he turned to thank the goddess for her kindness in protecting both him and sparing his sister, but she was already gone. He looked around in all directions but she was still nowhere to be found.

Come on Cade, we have to get out of here! she shouted as she grabbed his shoulders and helped him up to his feet.

His eyes darted around the place again in search of the Goddess, hoping to thank her one last time. Fearful that he would never see her again, he strained as his sister grabbed his hand and tried to tug him away. As he fought against her efforts, drops of beaded sweat formed on his forehead, scorching small circles into his already burnt skin. He had a lot of strength within him, but she managed to wrench him away anyway, pulling him away from their village and through the neighbouring forest towards one of the larger cities in the Chaotrine Syndicate, one that had always supplied their village when asked – a rare trait for a city of the fire element.

Once again before him, the Goddess appeared in her white and gold brilliance. Longing to thank her but unable to find the words, he reached his hand out towards her. Pausing, she simply smiled sweetly and nodded gently in understanding. Reaching her hand out towards him, she remained in place as he got yanked further away from her, but he could somehow still feel her hand touching his palm. For a small second, it stung a little.

He pulled his hand down, eyes widening at the mark of the goddess that was now burnt into his palm – a worldwide sign of affection by the Goddess herself that she could use to find those who were worthy. It was seen as the highest honour a person in Mendoria could have. He quickly raised his head up to where she had been but she had completely disappeared and the environment around him was rapidly changing the closer they got to the comforting boundaries of the nearby city of Tricerren.

Chapter 2 –

Compliments of a Lord

Lord Garrothe? You have guests. The old maid’s timid voice shook as she spoke barely louder than a whisper, her voice raspy from age.

Standing tall upon a platform beside his wardrobe was a large-bellied leader with unruly ginger hair. He moved his arms out to his sides as his servants dressed him in glorious robes. Upon hearing the sound of footsteps behind him, he turned around. Two children stood beside his favourite maid, but when he smiled at them, they didn’t smile back. Instead, their eyes darted around the place, refusing to meet his own. Politely, he dismissed his servants before leaving his platform to greet the maid and children.

Thank you, Jill.

She smiled back frailly and nodded, her delicate frame hunched over as she slowly shuffled out of the room.

Lord Garrothe moved over to the two battered children before him, standing in front of them and with a wide smile plastered across his face. Welcome! Cademon and Pyemore Velenture, correct? It’s been many years since I last saw you both! You, dear boy, were no bigger than a Bunnette! How are things going back home?

Cademon lowered his head and wrapped his arms around himself, hands clenching them as though trying to soothe himself. At this, the Lord frowned.

Sir, that’s why we are here, Pyemora began, we were attacked by bandits of the Flaxxon region. Our village is gone.

He stared at them in shock and gave a small sorrowful smile. With worry laced in his voice, he gently breathed out. And your parents?

Pyemora was silent for a moment before gently shaking her head.

As a deep and genuine apology escaped his lips, he turned his attention to Cademon when he heard soft sniffles and searing sounds coming from the young boy.

With a small smile, he placed his hand on Cademon’s shoulder, grabbing his attention as their eyes met. Fear not, dear boy. You are safe here.

He pulled his hand away from Cademon’s shoulder. His fingers clicked, the sound of which echoed around the silent room. In half an instant, the doors burst open and two young servants dashed in, bowing as they approached Lord Garrothe.

Please, show our guests their new room. See to it they are properly taken care of. He started to turn away from them. The servants took them by the shoulders gently and led them away. The lord once again piped up. Oh! Would you also set two extra seats at the dining table? I will have them join my son and myself for dinner.

The servants nodded at his request and continued to lead them out of his quarters and down what appeared to be a never-ending hallway. It was filled with closed doors to countless rooms on either side of it – countless possibilities and places to explore.

Cademon slowly glanced around the place. Though he wasn’t small for his age and his eyes were blurred by tears, the entire place seemed to be larger and grander than any castle he had ever seen before. At first, he was hesitant about going to a city for help, but unlike the other cities in the Chaotrine Syndicate, this one had been especially kind in providing his small village with the supplies they needed to stay afloat.

The servants smiled sweetly at the new arrivals, leading them into what could only be described as the most breath-taking of bedrooms they had ever seen. Their entire village could have fit into this one room. Red, pure silk curtains hung from a large window that took up almost the entirety of the west wall of their room, and it held a beautiful view of the rest of the city.

It’s just one of the many small cities within the fire nations, and unlike the rest of Mendoria, they don’t even have a large city, which was typically also known as kingdoms, as many of the fire element creatures didn’t believe in having one single ruler. However, even for a small city, this place was ginormous. The room had two king-sized beds, one for either of them, as well as an en suite for each of them. Everything was perfectly colour coordinated with the bed sheets matching the red silk of the curtains and gave off an odd mix of modern and vintage in a way that made it look more expensive than the rest of the city.

Pyemora appeared to temporarily forget about their hardships as she hesitated before running over to the bed closest to them, leaping onto the silk sheets and sighing with relief as she wrapped herself in the gentle embrace of the bedsheets. Cademon was less enthusiastic, given the horrific state he had seen his parents