Legends of Marithia: Book 1 - Prophecies Awakening: Uncut and Extended Second Edition

Legends of Marithia

Book 1

Prophecies Awakening

Extended and Uncut Second Edition

-by-

Peter Koevari

Copyright © 2012 Peter Koevari

www.peterkoevari.com

All rights reserved.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may
be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or
mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any
information storage retrieval system without the written permission
of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in
critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the
characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this
novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are
used fictitiously.

Special thanks to my wife for all of her
support. Thanks to my literary editor Rohan Fenwick, proofreaders
David Greenlees, and Holly J Fox for their support

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Cover art by Claudia Bartoli-McKinney –
www.phatpuppyart.com

Back cover art (King Arman), Kassina,
Helenia, Elven Warrior, Vampire Assassin, by Guido Leber -
http://goor.deviantart.com/

Map of Marithia drawn by Holly J. Fox

Kassina by Nicola Mcintosh -
www.nicolamcintosh.com

Map of Marithia - By Holly J Fox

Prologue: Shadowed Origins

“There are those who say that time can heal
all wounds, but what would it take to cut someone so deep that you
sever their very soul?

There have been many
in history who foolishly committed heinous acts within a mask of
fear.

Even now, we remain in hiding, awaiting the
time to face the sorceress of the demon’s prophecy. The one who
those of darkness believe will destroy all who live and
breathe.”

(Queen Nymira of the Dragons)

The blisteringly cold air howling over the
castle walls forced their teeth to chatter and their naked bodies
to shiver uncontrollably. Their skin burned as the hemp ropes were
fastened around their wrists. Three knights kept their swords drawn
and pointed at the prisoners’ chests as they forced them into
position, the knights’ shaky grip revealing their nervousness.

“Off with their heads! Heretics!” the crowd
chanted, shaking their fists in the air and spitting at the ground
in disdain. As the knights tied the ropes around the posts, the
horizon slowly began to brighten with the first hint of dawn.

King Grueber raised his hands high in the air
and bellowed, "Enough!”

Although the king was best known in Marithia
for his love of filling his stomach and his resulting plump
stature, he had a reputation for cruelty that was famed across the
lands. Grueber Saber was the outcast of the Saber royal family, cut
off from their plentiful purse for his crimes on their people and
provided with a small castle to rule as his own. Castle Praethorne
overlooked the lowlands which separated him from Greenhaven and the
Elven Woods. It was a land which he dared not cross, as it was said
to be cursed by Shindar.

Separated from his family and living a
comparatively poor existence, he had renounced his title as a
prince and chosen to ignore the rule of Marithia’s true human king,
Robert Saber. Grueber had crowned himself Praethorne’s king and the
people obeyed him out of both fear and desperation.

His red garb hung loosely from his gut and
jiggled with his speech. “In these times of peace, we
must
be vigilant in keeping our city free of unwanted visitors. We have
lost countless lives to the demons and plagues that have threatened
our very way of life.”

The crowd cheered in response, and Grueber
bathed in their admiration with a gleeful grin before waving their
cheers down to continue his speech. He turned and pointed at the
wooden posts. “We have discovered a traitor who has not only lived
within our walls, and has been trusted by all of us as our high
priestess sorceress, but has had the
gall
to harbour a
descendant of the Vampire King and defy our sacred laws by bearing
his child. This act of treason cannot go unpunished!”

The crowd erupted into another chant. “Punish
them! Punish them!”

At the base of the nearest castle wall was a
young girl, barely in her teens. Her clothes were torn and covered
in dried blood; her sweat-drenched skin was revealed in the tears
of her dress. She was caged behind the crowd, under heavy guard,
and whimpered in fear as her cage was dragged into view and placed
by her mother’s side. Kassina’s cage was made from solid wood, save
the metal bars clamped into place over the opening.

"She's just a little girl!" cried a woman in
the crowd.

“A little girl?” repeated King Grueber
incredulously, pointing at the cage. “This
abomination
, half
vampire and half sorceress, cannot be allowed to survive and live
among us. In your eyes, she may be nothing more than a little girl,
but when she grows, she will become a danger to us all! As your
king, I sentence them
all
to die. The sins of the mother and
father shall be punishable to their forbidden offspring. Bring me
their heads!”

Kassina cried with a wavering voice, “No!
Mummy, save me! You have to do something!”

Niesha looked down at her pleading daughter
with tearful eyes, her voice breaking as she spoke. “My darling
Kassina, I failed you… I am so sorry. There is nothing I can do!
These blasted Rings of Silence—”

"Enough!” The king sliced through her words.
“Niesha, to think that the people
trusted
you to guide them!
And you thought you could hide a descendant of the Vampire King?
And get away with it? You sentenced your own daughter to death the
day that you conceived her. What could you possibly have to say for
yourself before you die?”

She looked to the crowd desperately and to
her frightened daughter. The realisation that the situation was
helpless hit her like a shield to her face. Niesha raised her eyes
furiously to meet the king’s and spat her words through quivering
lips as if they were weapons laced with venom. “I love Danton! He
has never harmed me or our daughter. You brand me a heretic and try
to shift the guilt of your sentence, but it is
you
alone who
are about to murder an innocent child. You are nothing but a
cold-blooded pig, completely blinded by your hatred of anything you
do not understand. You are no different from the demons you claim
to be saving us from.”

The crowd gasped and went quiet; only
Kassina’s sobs could be heard. They all stared at the king in
shock.

Grueber’s face contorted and his voice
growled, “You
dare
accuse your king of being a murderer? I
believe my informants, and the creature to whom you bore your child
is indeed a vampire. But as your king, I can show mercy. I make you
this promise: if, in the next few moments, Danton is not burning
from the touch of the sun, then I will let you all go. How is that
for a so-called pig?”

Kassina shook her cage so violently that the
skin on her fingers broke and blood trickled down the bars. “No!
Please, just let us go!”

“Shut your trap, freak!” grunted a guard,
smashing his fist hard into her cage. The other guard hit her
knuckles with the hilt of his sword. Kassina hunched over and cried
out in pain as she gripped her throbbing hand.

“Damn you to the endless fires, Grueber,”
spat Danton as the sun began to rise. “You are nothing but a coward
with inherited power. I swear to you that our murders will be
avenged, and that when the day of your death comes, your last
rotten breath will be of this day’s regret.”

Danton gritted his teeth and growled as his
skin began to blister and burn. The stench of his decay filled the
air and the nearest of the crowd paled as their stomach turned.
Once the rays of the sun had breached his skin, he could hold back
no longer and let out a blood-curdling scream.