Echo of the Ages

Book 1 – The Crown of Fire

Part 3 – Scion of the Wyrm

Chapter 8 – The Veiled

The building to which they made their way was secluded far from the rest within the Old City, off to the north east, where the walls climbed up through the hilly ground. Trees grew in thick profusion around it and if not for the path that led towards it, it would have been almost impossible to know of its existence.

Continue reading The Crown of Fire Part 3.9

Echo of the Ages

Book 1 – The Crown of Fire

Part 3 – Scion of the Wyrm

Chapter 7 – Myths and Legends

Kathri’s walk back to the library was a slow affair, deep in thought as she was, trying to process all that had happened and that she head heard.

Voadia is alive.

That would take some getting used to, after all the time she had thought her dead, and the mourning she had done for her.

Continue reading The Crown of Fire Part 3.8

Echo of the Ages

Book 1 – The Crown of Fire

Part 3 – Scion of the Wyrm

Chapter 6 – A Ghost from the Past

Kathri made her way back through the library and exited, back out into the semi-wilds of the Old City. There had been the temptation to explore the library and even read through some of the works stored there, but she had no idea where to start. Nor, she suspected, would the Mages be welcoming of her using the opportunity to research up on old ruins and tombs that might still hold valuable treasures for her to recover. As for asking for assistance in locating appropriate books would raise too many question. There was forwardness and then there was foolishness, and that fitted into the latter category.

Continue reading The Crown of Fire Part 3.7

Echo of the Ages

Book 1 – The Crown of Fire

Part 3 – Scion of the Wyrm

Chapter 5 – The Old City

It was not without some trepidation that Kathri approached the great gates that led into the Old City of Ciosala, the seat of power of the Mages. Always she had associated that with being captured, of being dragged there to stand trial before the law of the Mages. Being a citizen of the Conclave Kingdoms in some manner made it worse, for she had been raised knowing of the law of the Mages, and could not claim the ignorance of a foreign birth.

Continue reading The Crown of Fire Part 3.6

Echo of the Ages

Book 1 – The Crown of Fire

Part 3 – Scion of the Wyrm

Chapter 4 – Reasons for Concern

The trio sat around a long table that dominated the dining room of the house. It had been made of costly woods, carved and polished until it gleamed a rich golden red in colour. A pair of ornate silver candle-holders were set upon it. They held the white wax candles that only the rich could afford, not the yellowed tallow ones that most were forced to use. Not that they were needed, for a series of yellow glyphstones had been mounted on the wall, ones, that Kathri suspected, would provide far more light than any candle.

Continue reading The Crown of Fire Part 3.5

Echo of the Ages

Book 1 – The Crown of Fire

Part 3 – Scion of the Wyrm

Chapter 3 – The House of Abravante

The Street of Antiquities had emptied to some degree by the time Kathri returned to it, alongside Esarrio and Braethir. As the middle of the day loomed, work slowed down as people rested up. While a peculiarity of the Conclave kingdoms, it was most prominent in Ciosala. The afternoon rest, often marked by lengthy meals, entertainment and socialising had long been a part of Vigosan culture. Visitors found it a little hard to get used to at first before adapting to the more laid back attitudes of the Vigosans. Kathri had found it a useful time to establish contacts with merchants and other middle men in the game, not just in Ciosala but throughout the Conclave.

Continue reading The Crown of Fire Part 3.4

Echo of the Ages

Book 1 – The Crown of Fire

Part 3 – Scion of the Wyrm

Chapter 2 – The Archivist and the Agent

Kathri turned off from the thoroughfare that was known as the Street of Antiquities, one of the main road through Ciosala, leaving behind the thronging masses. The street she entered had its shops as well, though they displayed no wares out on stalls and did not even advertise their existence. Those that needed to know of them did. It was in one of the unobtrusive shops that Kathri’s main contact in Ciosala did his business.

Continue reading The Crown of Fire Part 3.3

Echo of the Ages

Book 1 – The Crown of Fire

Part 3 – Scion of the Wyrm

Chapter 1 – The Street of Antiquities

Crowds gathered thick in the market street, pressing in tight around Kathri as she made her way along it. She was as much carried by the crowd as made her own way, so tight packed where they. Pushing against the flow would have been a major struggle, but they were headed in the direction she wished to go and so she did not fight it, even if it was against her nature to be pushed around by others or to enjoy it. The noise of the crowd, of talking and shouts and laughter swirled all around her, a cacophony of many languages all blending into a solid mass. She shut it out the best that she could, concentrating on trying to pick a path through the throng.

Continue reading The Crown of Fire Part 3.2

Echo of the Ages

Book 1 – The Crown of Fire

Part 3 – Scion of the Wyrm

Prologue – The House of Light

A vast crowd had gathered, packed tight within the walls of the forecourt of the House of Light. About them there swirled a frantic edge, one pressing close to panic. A loud rumble of voices rolled through the courtyard, bouncing from the high red walls and rising up into the sky above, voices arguing, debating, pleading, feeding off of each other and heightening the fear that touched each one there. Whether dressed as rich noble or humble labourer, whether Hajanri or one of the subject races of the Empire, all were united by the moment, prejudices forgotten in the face of troubles.

Continue reading The Crown of Fire Part 3.1

Echo of the Ages

Book 1 – The Crown of Fire

Part 2 – Song of the Earth

Chapter 8 – At The Ridge

Dawn had broken by the time they reached the range of hills that marked where the desert wastes ended. The ride during the rest of the night had passed uneventfully. They had spotted no riders, and no other people until they neared the hills. Men, some on horseback and others on foot, moved around the hills, following trails that criss-crossed it, leading to openings cut into the side of them. The entrance to the mines saw steady traffic as miners began their working day, scraping away deep beneath the ground seeking out the sparkle of frozen fire that would mark a find of opal.

Continue reading The Crown of Fire Part 2.9