The Return of the Ancient Ones

Gary Sr. Caplan

Description

The Return of the Ancient Ones was awarded WINNER status for the Fantasy Category in the 2011 National Indie Excellence Awards.

The 2011 International Book Awards have been announced and The Return of The Ancient Ones has been honored as a "Finalist" in the "Fiction:Fantasy/Sci-Fi" category.

Extended Description:
Second in The Chronicles of Illúmaril series, author Gary Caplan's The Return of the Ancient Ones is a distinct tale that illustrates how one's fiercest enemy can become one's most aggressive ally. As dramatic as it is playful and sublime, Caplan has a knack at weaving the enchanted world of fantasy into the tension of a good old-fashioned cloak and dagger thriller. His incredible instinct for action rests on a spellbinding prose, yet what distinguishes his work in this genre is his ability to consider an otherworld culture as it reaches its pinnacle, rather than upon its downfall. In thirty-one chapters with titles like "Tyl University and the Academy of Spellweaving Arts," "Back to the Order of the Platinum Griffon and Duty," and "End Game," readers are reintroduced to Illúmaril, a land that patiently awaits its heir apparent. Once hidden on Earth, Gideon Finelen, as a birthright, holds the legacy that he and his ancestors are the only ones who can use the Sword of Order. Gideon's advisors, Tauri Ragan and Lord Talmor, hold great hope in Gideon and his Companions of the Sword of Order, but it is their enemy's enemy that first instigates a bold move. And while the Darkspawn have no intention of giving up their power, the return of Thatos and his twelve evil sorceror generals from their ancient, watery graves disperses Darkspawn's allegiance to temporarily help the armies of the Free Peoples against Thatos, his mercenaries, and other chaos warriors. For Gideon, the quixotic irony in all of this is that Darkspawn leadership is just as fixed on revenge as it is with maintaining its stronghold over Illúmaril. As he pits foe against foe to claim Illúmaril, the Sword of Order has a chance to triumph over Chaos.

Sujets

• Fantastique
• Epic Fantasy
• Fiction
• Fantasy

Informations

• Publié par: eBookIt.com
• Date de parution: 21 février 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781456604868
• Langue: English

Extrait

THE RETURN
OF THE
ANCIENT
ONES

GARY CAPLAN
 


Copyright © 2010 Gary Caplan
All rights reserved.
 
Published in eBook format by eBookIt.com
http://www.eBookIt.com
 
ISBN-13: 978-1-4392-7283-1
 



FOREWORD

This story is somewhat different from typical fantasy sword and sorcery stories in that Illúmaril civilization has not collapsed with some resultant loss of knowledge. Many stories have a loss of magic, or it is rare, because the elder civilization is extinct, dying out, or there are few teachers. With that type of background, there are fewer possible complications or less interference by the elder peoples or even interaction with wiser or more powerful individuals. On Illúmaril, several of the ancient, the wise, and the powerful still exist. There are still great teachers called the Tauri, and there are well-attended academies of learning.This adds a new dimension, as it’s possible for there to be several learned or powerful beings present, or varying degrees of lords of power, present in that kind of civilization.
There is still a balance on Illúmaril, as there are lords of power on both sides of things, for good and evil or for Order and Chaos. Such blends, in my opinion, allow for a greater potential variety. With more people of differing ranges of abilities, from the average to those with very high ability or knowledge, there is still an interesting story to tell. As a result, I have not written about a collapsed civilization, loss of magic and education, or a fall into a dark age; I write of still-growing and diverse cultures with perhaps changes or small lapses. I prefer to write about the possibilities and intricacies of a complex world.
 



DEDICATION

I would like to dedicate this book to all the great authors who wrote in this genre that inspired my imagination and to write. To J.R.R. Tolkien, R. E. Howard, M. Moorcock, S. Donaldson, T. Brooks, and many others, thanks for the inspiration. I have had these ideas since I was a young boy. I just had to find the time to write. I would also like to dedicate this work to my parents, Martin and Merri Caplan, who inspired me to learn, and to friends who helped me work through some ideas, my brother Mark, my friends Brian Godshall, Bob Fedic, and David St John. Last but not least to my oldest friend Basil Varian for his contribution of ideas, names, and imaginative artwork.
 
WORLD MAP
Chapter One

THE TWELVE STIR

The sky was dark with lightning crackling, as the waves rolled across the great Tharn Sea, which was actually a vast brackish lake. One of the Twelve was moving from the seabed where, for millennia, he had lain buried. Galvarex, who had once been a king and a powerful sorcerer and warrior, felt a tingling and then a rush of energy. His head moved, and he felt trapped in something. He had been commanding naval forces when enemy forces under several Alor lords, including the lords of Lindorien and Andrim, defeated his armada. By using a discharge of chaotic energy, he released himself and moved up through the lake floor muck and began his ascent out of the wreckage of his ship. He realized he should be cautious; as time had passed, none of his troops had come to dig him out, so more than the battle had been lost. Lord Galvarex was a powerful undead and, although not sure how much time had passed, he did not care to present himself as an easy target to the Alor or their allies.
“I need to look for the others,” Galvarex said aloud, after he reached the surface near the shore. He moved out of the lake waters and sensed that the level of the Unlife was higher than he remembered. Something must have happened, he thought. He had felt a surge of energy. It had been enough for him to awaken and extricate himself from the wreckage of his ship. Rising out of the waters of the Tharn Sea, he looked like a demon of darkness wearing a branil and zetheric alloy plate armor that appeared only well worn, since it was enchanted and had not rusted. Galvarex’s eyes radiated a green unearthly light. He still wore his magical crown attached to his specter-like visage. His robes had not been as highly enchanted and had been damaged and soiled by the sea muck. Once he got to the beach, the boots that matched his armor clanked, since the support leather had mostly disintegrated long ago, and only his immersion in the muddy bottom prevented total loss.
Galvarex thought back to when he lost the battle supporting naval forces of Lord Dormas. He had already participated in preparing his master’s seclusion with most of the other members of the Twelve. “The Alor used dampening spells and weakened me, then defeated the crew and sank my flagship,” he said aloud. He recalled that he was supposed to have met with a few of the other members of the Twelve to obtain a construct army for Lord Thatos. My memories are sluggish. I am still weak, he thought. I must undergo a ritual of imbuement if I am to continue with our plans. Then he wondered how much time had passed.
Galvarex looked about and saw some fishing ships heading toward a town on the great lake’s coastline; they were Urshkaar fishing ships. He would follow them and seek answers. Hours passed as his energy slowly increased and, as he walked, he briefly sensed several lesser undead skulking in the woods. Wood wights. They will not bother me. After traveling for a time, he came upon some Urshkaar children who ran away at his approach. He continued toward the town, able to hear music from a tavern that carried on the wind. Then he received a telepathic communication from another one of the Twelve known as Neston, once a living Eldren.
 
‘My brother in arms, much time has passed. I may have reawakened before you and, perhaps, since I was not stuck in the depths of the Tharn Sea, I have had more time to be about. We need to gather with our brothers and sisters. I sense Lord Thatos stirs as well,’ Neston intoned in mind speech.
‘I was stuck in the muck at the bottom of the Tharn Sea,’ Galvarex responded in mind speech. ‘Last I remember I was fighting Alor naval ships.’
‘I have been awake for many months as one of the Ancient Ones. Lord Nossus-Thoth was on Illúmaril,’ Neston said. ‘However, only a few weeks ago there was a recent passage of dark energies across most of the continent of Ascalon, released by a master wizard known as Mordru. I felt mildly invigorated by it.’
‘Yes that is what I felt and its boost helped me to dig myself out of the muck of the sea bottom,’ sent Galvarex.
‘Yes, once you restored yourself some I sensed you,’ sent Neston.
‘Do you know about the source of the energies?’ Galvarex asked.
‘I heard that the energies traveled across Khanuur, Ilmarien, and Dagornan provinces and across the eastern and southern borders of Morthaurnan; those energies trickled into areas that had, up until then, been relatively free of the presence of Unlife.’
So, that is how the Tharn Sea was affected,’ Galvarex responded, as he continued to walk toward the town. ‘But how could, as you say, a master wizard, not even an archmage, do such a thing?’
‘I learned that those energies released by the wizard Mordru were from a fragment of a source crystal. Somehow he acquired a Quellien crystal,’ sent Neston ‘That and other strange and powerful energies released by Nossus-Thoth in the battle in the Greenway region several weeks before had a side effect that affected creatures of Chaos as well as those of the Unlife.’
‘We and those like us are descended partly from lesser lords of Chaos and Entropy as the Alor call them’, remarked Galvarex. ‘Yet, because of our dual parentage, we’re anchored to Illúmaril. Our leader Thatos is more powerful than several of us combined; surely he is now awakened by the previous entrance of Nossus-Thoth.’
‘I have not yet been in contact with Great Thatos and, Galvarex, it seems you are one of the last of the Twelve to return. I have already communicated with Delvos and Markuz, and they with most of the others,’ sent Neston.
“Good, the time is nigh for us to make our enemies pay for daring to strike at us,” Galvarex spoke aloud. He sensed that some greenish-skinned Urshkaar and a few dark Alor had finally noticed him or his aura and were heading toward him. ‘Neston, I will meet you in Urundi Province in what will probably be the remains of your citadel. First, I must converse with these allies and gain my own answers.’ Neston’s mental presence faded, and Lord Galvarex, still looking more like a shambling undead than a dreaded member of the Twelve, moved toward the Urshkaar leader to get some answers.
Chapter Two

GIDEONS JOURNAL

Gideon glanced over his journal after he finished writing another entry. He had been thinking about many things, about his heritage, his mixed lineage, and why he had been hidden on another world, even made to blend into that society. Ragan, one of his mentors, had called the world Kara, but which he called Earth. Gideon was working in one of several of the Order of the Platinum Griffon citadels in Calendor Province, where he shared an office with another squadron wing officer. The units here were completing joint training with the Order of the Horn, Order of the Owl, The Grey Legion, and the Order of the Shield. Over the year, such joint training with different orders or militant groups was part of the normal training for the more regular members of most orders.
For just a moment, Gideon shuddered, recalling relatively recent events when he and some of his companions had confronted an extremely powerful dark entity called Nossus-Thoth, during the battle in the Greenway region. It had been several weeks since the Lord of Chaos and Entropy Nossus-Thoth had been summoned by the Darkspawn leaders and had succeeded in breaching on to Illúmaril. During the battle, great releases of energy had then been sent in a wave across the land to stir anew the Unlife. Gideon learned that, originally, the negative energy force, re