The Epic of Garthel- Parts I-III, page 1
part #1 of The Epic of Garthel Series
The Epic of Garthel
Parts I-III
Nathaniel Sullivan
Publisher’s Note
© 2017 Nathaniel Sullivan. All rights reserved.
This book is a work of fiction. Characters, concepts, places, events, etcetera, are all a product of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual people or places or events, is purely coincidental.
First Print Edition, 2017
Any reprinting or reproduction of any part or whole of this book without the author’s written approval is subject to legal prosecution.
If you have questions/comments, or want to read more, feel free to contact the author.
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ISBN-13: 978-1515324515
ISBN-10: 1515324516
Books by Nathaniel Sullivan
______________________________
The Epic of Garthel I-III
“Forced to abandon his family, trapped on the wrong side of a civil war, and unsure of who to trust, a young wanderer is caught in a bad way.”
https://www.amazon.com/Epic-Garthel-Parts-I-III-ebook/dp/B00FPLEUKA
The Epic of Garthel IV-VII
“A brilliant mastermind in a fantasy world gradually enacts his plan for world domination, drastically changing the lives of everyone. Some will try to stop him, others will try to aid him, but few will survive the struggle...”
https://www.amazon.com/Epic-Garthel-Parts-IV-VII-ebook/dp/B07BHFG3QC
Tales of Harrec the Mercenary
“Harrec has lived a long life. His story starts to the south, and to the east, and the west, and anywhere else a man can travel. He’s been to the coldest regions of slow death to the hottest places of worldly hell.”
https://www.amazon.com/Tales-Harrec-Mercenary-Nathaniel-Sullivan-ebook/dp/B0721PFXGF
The Penguin Who Said: “Enough!”
“Filled with exciting illustrations and clever rhymes, this book will entertain all who open it.”
https://www.amazon.com/Penguin-Who-Said-Enough/dp/1502952459
CONTENTS
Part I
Prologue
I
The Death of Noble Nobility
II
The Dawn of a New Beginning
III
Life on the Northern Road
IV
The Tower of the Raven
V
The Moving City
VI
Travels in the Woodland
VII
Snow of Red
VIII
The Plyith Mountain
IX
River Snowstorm
X
The Frosty Cordial
Part II
XI
The Cold Winds
XII
The Ocean of Ice
XIII
Seaport
XIV
Icquariouse
XV
Dangers of the Night
XVI
The Corrupt Lord
XVII
The Siege of Arancea Bay
Part III
XVIII
To Flee the Battle
XIX
Among the Cliff Quarries
XX
On the Battlefield
XXI
The Ambassador
XXII
Erosis the Dragon
XXIII
Flight
XXIV
Gothor was Right
XXV
The High Conspiracy
Epilogue
The Archives
About the Author
Part I
The Explorer and the Lord
Prologue
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Far across the waves of the Arancean ocean, far past the golden sands of Dunar and its many tribes, past the Mingeta Steppes and beyond the rolling hills and meadows of Sanaria, deep within the Genyack Sea, a beast hid in the water. It did not hide on purpose. It had no need for stealth. If the fishing ship riding the waves above noticed the beast it would have had little consequence.
Their fate was sealed.
For the large sea monster was muscular and shaped perfectly to do two things—speed through water and consume anything in its path.
Its finned tail waved back and forth in the water propelling the creature at a steady speed as it kept pace underneath the boat. It had hundreds of teeth in its wide mouth, each the size of an arm. It had no fine fingers or dexterous protrusions—it didn’t need them. All it needed was its huge mouth and powerful tail. The monster’s skin was dark blue, a camouflage to lurk among the ocean’s depths. It swam through the water blissfully ignorant of its potential power to rule the five seas.
All it cared about was the dark shape riding the waves above.
The monster eyed the ship longingly through five of its ten eyes. Its stomach growled. It was hungry.
Almost all the fish in the sea were wise enough to stay away from the sea monster by its distinctive smell. Food was becoming hard to get. But the desire to attack the boat was more than just hunger. The beast had a craving for chaos. It was its purpose, its religion.
The beast could feel that the men on the ship above were scurrying about the deck, changing the sail, scrubbing the wood, laying out nets, turning the navigation wheel, giving and taking orders. It was all so methodical.
It angered the beast. It let out a current from its gills that made the boat rock back and forth slightly more than normal. The men on board took little notice. To them it was just a strange wave.
Land was close by. The sea monster could hear distant waves crashing against a beach. The monster knew that it had to act quickly if it was to have the satisfaction of a meal. A school of small fish swam by the monster. He eyed them briefly, but chose not to pursue them.
The little fish had gotten lucky, not that they were intelligent enough to enjoy it.
The sea monster had bigger things on its mind. It felt the current again to be sure of the ship’s weakest point. The monster nudged the boat gently with its sensitive nose and it could instantly smell the flavor of the men that manned it. They smelled of a foreign aroma that the monster didn’t normally taste in the sea. They smelled delicious and exotic, and the monster could hear that they were making strange noises.
It briefly listened.
“That fallen’ star’s a bad sign is what it is.” One of the ships sailors said, pointing into the sky with half an index finger. One of the men beside him scoffed as he untangled a large net.
“You think everything’s a bad sign. It ain’t nothin’ but a star that’s sick o’ shining in the sky,” replied another.
There was a pause and then a new voice spoke. “I’d say it looks like it’s getting closer.”
None of these words meant anything to the sea creature. But it too did see something up in the sky through the ocean waves. It appeared to be a strange ball flying through the sky with an orange tail of fire and smoke. Gradually it got bigger. Beneath the waves the sea monster watched in fascination, much like the sailors.
The fiery star got bigger still, it plummeted in and out of a cloud, and still down it fell with fire in tow. The water begun to shake uneasily as the object approached, aimed strait for the ship.
“It’s coming at us!” One man yelled in terror. The men panicked and dived to the wooden ground, and the star passed over them with a loud noise. As it did, it steadily lost elevation as it traveled over the ocean and then it crashed with a ground-shaking slam into the beach of a sandy cove. It created a trail of rubble and fire in its wake and the star itself was smoking and looked brown and uneven as it sat partially submerged in the ground.
After a few moments the sailors climbed to their feet and looked at the wreckage in the distant sand. “Damn!” A sailor cursed out of fear and wonder, “Is that what a star looks like?” And all the other sailors had things to say too.
“I never did see a more fantastic thing.”
“Do you suppose it’s valuable?”
“Should we go and fetch it?”
“How would we haul it on the boat?”
“I thought you said it was a bad omen?”
“That was when it was headed straight for us.”
“What’ll it be Cap’n?”
“Are we done fishing for the day?”
They continued talking for quite some time about what the star was and what should be done with it.
But the sea monster didn’t care about the fallen star anymore. It had stopped shaking the water and making the loud ‘vooshing’ noise and that was all the beast cared about.
Now it could hunt again in peace. It eyed the boat once more. It looked weak and awkward sitting in the water like it was.
The monster swam back a few paces and readied itself for an attack.
One man noticed the strange stirring in the water. “Shut it lads, these waters ar’ bein’ strange.” The captain by the wheel commanded, staring at the waves, not the fallen star as the rest of the crew was.
A man leaning over the ships railing peered at the sea, “It could be a—” but he got no further. The ship made a sudden lurch in the water and he was thrown into the ocean. The sailor splashed about in fear, and then he came face to face with hundreds of sword sized teeth that gnashed and impaled him.
The sea monster purred as it swallowed its first victim. It tasted as good as it smelled, the creature thought, then it charged the boat again, eager to consume more.
The boat was rocking dangerously back and forth from the monster’s poundings. The captain clutched the wheel and pulled himself to his feet. “We got a sea monster!” He roared, “Grab your spears! Man the starboard side! You two, grab that net! See if we can’t kill the damned bea—”
The boat was rammed again, this time the lower deck took a plunge in the salty sea, and part of the hull was torn open and filled the rest of the boat with water. A dozen men were thrown into the sea as the ship suddenly turned on its side. The sea monster swam through the water with its mouth open plucking men from the sea like weeds from a garden. The ship’s lower decks weighed down the boat and many leaks caused it to slowly sink sideways.
The sea monster ripped apart what was remaining of the boat with its jaws and found men and ate them. When the monster was done with the craft only some driftwood remained floating idly in the sea.
The sea monster enjoyed his feast, and he took his time killing the three remaining men that struggled to stay afloat. The monster thought it was funny how poorly the men swam in the water. He played with them and flicked one sixty feet up into the air with its powerful tail and caught the man in its mouth as he came back down. Another man was particularly good sport—he was still clutching a spear and when the monster swam up to him he poked it in the side.
Slightly irritated, the beast charged the man and snapped his spine. Then, out of sport, the monster charged the man again and again until his body was broken in so many places that it looked unrecognizable.
The third man was clever. While the monster had been playing with the others he had swum for the beach… and almost made it. But the monster saw him and swam towards the man and ate him just before the sandy beach was within his reach.
The monster couldn’t remember a time in its life when it was happier. Then again, a sea monster wasn’t said to have a particularly long memory. But ignorance can be bliss and for this creature it certainly was.
Out of animal curiosity, the monster looked inland where the star had fallen. In the distance upon the beach it saw a glowing blue arch become etched into the fallen star. There seemed to be an optical blue light shining from within it.
A creature stepped out of it clad it chain-mail and clutching a large double-bladed axe. Its skin was dark green, and in most other ways it resembled a large barbaric man with thick black hair and rippling muscles. Another stepped out of the portal behind the first, and then another, and another still.
Soon dozens lined the beach with war bands, and swords and axes. They beat on deep drums and sung a harsh song in a harsh language. A few of them roared out in a bloodlust rage, and all the while more kept pouring through the blue portal. The sea monster watched for a moment in fascination from the warm, tropic ocean. Then it grew bored of the new creatures and dived back under the sea, headed for its underwater den where it would further digest the men in its belly and sleep a much earned nap.
The sea monster had just witnessed one of the greatest events to ever befall the planet, and like any good animal, it hadn’t a care in the world.
I
______________________________________
The Death of Noble Nobility
Arovehar was in a tight spot. This wasn’t altogether unusual, as he was never a particularly dull or sedimentary person. What was unusual was the severity of his problem.
Normally he’d get into trouble for simple things—like having one too many shots in the local tavern and then singing an inappropriate song, or getting on the wrong side of a relationship with the farmer’s daughter… he was used to those types of things.
In fact, he rather enjoyed them. It preoccupied him as he wasted his life away in the small town of Aren.
But now the stakes were too high for comfort—his head to be specific, and all because he’d insulted a damned noble.
Ah, but the fellow was a pretentious bastard if ever you’d seen one. He wore colorful and extravagant cloth bought from the distant shores of Sanaria, his hair was combed to form long lusty waves of golden locks and his teeth shone brightly despite his insufferable words. It was a miracle that he still had any teeth left in his mouth at all, but there had to be some benefits to belonging to an inbred royal family that’s in cahoots with the local law.
Arovehar was beginning to sincerely despise it all. He’d never been particularly fond of nobles, the guards, or anyone else with too much power, but now he deeply hated them. Who are they to make me stand trial? He thought in outrage, if I insult a fellow commoner he’ll call me a bastard and be on his merry way…
He glanced over at his home in the distance. The family manner was large and very old. He had a big family that lived there—six brothers, a mother, a father and grandmother that had just reached her hundredth birthday. They were a good bunch. They didn’t deserve any of his problems.
He cursed again at his own recklessness. I should have known better. He felt a jab at his side and he turned to give the aggressing guard a look of defiance.
“Stand before the crowd!” The guard demanded, and shoved Arovehar up onto the public stage. At least their being quick about my sentencing, he thought. He’d only spent an hour in the guard’s custody since the incident—a rather impressive turnaround time. Apparently people were fast to kiss-up to the local lord.
He stumbled slightly and faced the small crowd. They roared in excitement—they were hoping for a beheading, or a lashing at the very least. Arovehar wasn’t sure what to expect. It all depended on the mood of Lord Clifton Darc—the bellyaching noble who couldn’t take an insult like a proper man.
Arovehar glanced over at the gallant protector of Aren and tried to find a single redeeming quality about the man.
He was young, in his mid-thirties, and even with his ill-temperament and large nose he still had a certain measure of charm that attracted the ladies—most of it due to his wealthy family. He was wearing his usual colorful attire and he had an unpleasant smile on his face as he locked eyes with Arovehar.
“What charges do you press against Arovehar Silo of Aren?” The local judge asked Lord Clifton.
Clifton faced the crowd of onlookers and shouted, “Assaulting royalty!”
The crowd cheered—now they knew that they were going to get a show. “Hang the pig!” Arovehar heard a particularly enthusiastic woman shout. He vaguely recognized her face and cursed under his breath. In truth, he had insulted the lord, and little more. It’s an outrage to charge me with assault. Lord Clifton was not taking the slight lightly. I must have hit a sensitive nerve.
“Do you agree with these charges?” The guard asked Arovehar.
Hell no, he thought, but he decided to modify his statement to the observers’ taste. If I can win the mob over to my side, not even our beloved lord will harm me.
Arovehar stood up straight and addressed the crowd, “Assault of royalty? By Stormont’s thunder does our dear lord look like he’s taken a beating? Do you see blood dripping down his regal face or even a red scratch on his soft skin?” He glanced over the rabble and continued before anyone could answer. “No! His body is free from mark because he hasn’t taken a beating. The most I did was comment on the good lord’s taste in clothing and style of leadership, which I admit was perhaps a bit outside of my specialty. After all, I’m just a humble working man, not some eastern prince with foreign lineage,” he said in an attempt to appeal to the crowd’s old-fashion sensibilities. In spite of the High King’s recent eastern allegiances, many people in Terthland were still skeptical of the foreign culture.
