Preserving the Ingenairii (3 page)
Read Preserving the Ingenairii Online
Authors: Jeffrey Quyle
From Oyster Bay Alec leads an army to help the Duke of Goldenfields battle the lacertian invasion.
Alec joins a squad that fights behind the lines, cutting off the supply lines for the lacertii invaders.
The ambushers are then confronted by lacertii forces, and flee towards their own army forces.
In the process, they become ensnared in the climactic battle, and Alec calls upon an extraordinary exercise of his powers to save his friends and himself, sacrificing his powers to keep them alive.
Against the Empire
, the fifth volume of the Ingenairii Series, finds Alec awakening after the lacertii battle, stripped of his powers, alone and despondent.
Determined to regain his ingenairii energies, he travels alone to the Cave of John Mark, where he is healed, but then unexpectedly thrown to the far-off land of Michian, an empire whose culture is alien to him, but which is initiating an invasion of the Dominion.
Alec participates in the great tournament, then is betrayed and fights a demon to escape back to John Mark’s cave.
Alec journeys from the cave, and is reunited in Frame with Bethany.
They resolve their relationship, and return to Oyster Bay, where Alec begins the process of reforming the army that will now be needed to fight the Michian invasion.
Imelda has meanwhile gone on her own with the forces of Bondell to settle frontier skirmishes, and with Rashrew, she faces the daunting task of trying to slow down the Michian army they unexpectedly confront in the mountains.
Before he leaves Oyster Bay to fight in Bondell, Alec travels with Bethany and Aristotle to the northern lands of Oyster Bay’s control, where he meets an elderly man who knew his mother, and who placed Alec in the orphanage as an infant.
The man confirms that Alec’s father was the heir to the throne, and Alec now realizes he is the rightful claimant to the Dominion throne, if he wants to be.
Uncertain about the crown, Alec nonetheless continues as the leader of the Dominion’s forces, and sails to southern Bondell, then marches with a small force deep into the mountains of Bondell, where he confronts the Michian invaders.
He battles them so effectively they call upon a demon to fight on their behalf, and Alec is only able to defeat the deadly foe by taking it with him back to John Mark’s cave, where the monster is defeated by the holy power of the cave, and the Dominion is consequently saved from the invasion.
Section 1
The Life before
Chapter 1 – John Mark’s Cave
Alec opened his eyes.
He was looking out at a bright morning on a midsummer day.
He saw trees off in the distance, their limbs covered with green leaves.
He sat up abruptly, and realized that he was in the upper chamber of the
Cave
of
John Mark
, looking out over the
Pale
Mountains
.
His body felt stiff and sore, and his leg had been healed of the demon-inflicted injuries, but suffered residual pain.
His mind though, was both scarred by the contact with the demonic force and calmed by the soul-saving salvation he had been offered, allowing him to escape from Hell.
“Welcome back, my son,” he heard, and he turned to see John Mark standing by the open doorway.
“What has happened?” Alec asked.
“You have scored a great victory.
You have given your Lord great pride and hope and joy,” John Mark said.
“You accepted the burden and carried a demon back to Hell, from whence it will no longer trouble your world.”
“What has happened in the war?”
Alec asked.
“Did we win?
“Are Rubicon and Nathaniel and Moriah alright?”
“Your friend Rubicon did not live after his encounter, but the other two warrior ingenairii have survived, and your nation is now mostly at peace.
A much smaller remnant of your army remains in Bondell dispatching scattered fragments of the invading army and protecting against any further arrival of restorers,” John Mark assured him.
“I didn’t know what I was doing,” Alec said, turning to stare back out the window.
“I never would have done that if I had known what the demon would do to me,” he shuddered.
He thought about the loss of Rubicon, who always was able to use good humor to pass along advice or to defuse a tense situation.
Alec felt a sense of loss and pain.
“The sacrifice you made has made many good things possible, and many lives better,” John Mark assured him.
“For example, your friends Rander and Rief were married to each other a month ago.”
Alec smiled at the thought, amazed at how quickly the two had become attached to each other.
“I could tell you things all day long,” John Mark said.
“But the best way for you to find out everything you want to know is to get out of this cave and on your way back to your domain.”
“Is
Bethany
alright?
Is she waiting for me?”
Alec asked.
“Is she mad at me?”
“She is waiting for you, sitting on the throne as your queen, supported by Rander and the Palace Guard.
She and Kinsey and Aristotle expect your return, and they are scoffed at by many others.
Oyster Bay is almost in a state of civil war as it awaits you.
False claimants and pretenders to the throne, along with those who love trouble, are stirring unrest in the city.
It’s been nine months since you arrived here; your body and soul needed a great deal of time to recoup from the horrors you suffered.
Now, you are needed there.”
“I’m ready to go,” Alec said standing, ready for John Mark to whisk him away.
He was surprised by the notion of nine months’ passage, although he’d experienced similar long unconscious convalescences when visiting the holy places for cures and treatment.
He was already anticipating the look on
Bethany
’s face when he first would be able to face her.
He hoped it would be a surprise, catching her unguarded when he appeared in a doorway.
He wanted to watch the features of her lovely face change from surprise to joy as he appeared out of nowhere, months after their last moments together.
“Here’s the door then,” John Mark said with a gentle smile.
“This journey must be a physical one, Alec.
If I were to send you with my powers, you would have to come back within a week.
“I am very proud and pleased Alec.
You have been everything that you needed to be, and more.
The lord is pleased to know that under the duress of such challenges, you were faithful to his ways, and have been a light to your nation.
You will make a good king and you will make the Dominion a land the Lord will favor,” he gave his blessing, and watched Alec step through the doorway.
