Discovered, p.1
Discovered, page 1
Copyright © 2020 Beca Lewis
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or by any information storage and retrieval system, without written permission from the author, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.
Published by:
Perception Publishing
This book is a work of fiction. All characters in this book are fictional. However, as a writer, I have, of course, made some of the book’s characters composites of people I have met or known.
All rights reserved.
One
It should have been beautiful, Suzanne thought as she approached Aaron’s Palace. But instead, it was barren, empty, and ugly. Aaron had stripped the land so that the Palace and all its glitter would be the only thing people would see. Aaron and his greed were on display.
She was exhausted. The trip from the Islands of Lopel and Hetale had taken much longer than she had expected. Her envy of other shapeshifters that could be anything had reared its ugly head more than once during the trip.
She thought she had gotten rid of that envy long ago. But as she traveled, Suzanne thought how much easier it would have been if she could shapeshift into something other than a dragon.
If she could turn into a mouse, she could have traveled with Bolong’s crown of dragons through time and arrived days ahead. She could have hidden away beneath one of their wings, Sawdi none the wiser that they had a stowaway.
But no. She had to be only a dragon—a very distinctive one at that. In the earth realm, she had often passed as a pileated woodpecker, and that red stripe on her head remained even here on this god-forsaken planet, Thamon.
God-forsaken was the right term for it. It had been god-forsaken ever since Aaron, Stryker, and Sawdi decided to make up a religion, turn Aaron into a God, and banish all other gods and even magic of all kinds. Yes, god-forsaken, but hopefully not for long.
She and the rest of the rebellion were ready to fight. She hoped nothing significant had happened while she flew to the continent of Edes where Aaron lived. Stryker and his crown of dragons and Warrior Monks were so far ahead of her they had time to prepare whatever they were going to do next. Their trip had been easy, unlike hers.
Suzanne’s trip to Aaron’s palace was exhausting. Not only because of how far away it was but because she had to travel without being seen. All dragons except Sawdi’s were killed on sight, no questions asked.
But the journey was so long, many times she needed to stop to rest on islands, or even rocks, that jutted out of the ocean. She tried to pick places where no one was living, but sometimes that wasn’t possible. Ironically, her last stop had been the one that almost did her in. She thought it was a deserted strip of land, but had spotted a group of people right before landing. But she had no choice; she was too exhausted to keep flying. The people saw her and started pointing and yelling.
She had no idea if they were pointing because they were planning to report her to the local Kai-Via or simply because they hadn’t seen a dragon for so long that they were curious. Either way, after she landed, she quickly shifted back to being a woman and ran into the woods and hid for the rest of the day, sleeping within a cavity of a tree.
That night, under cover of darkness, she stole food from one of the farmers, wishing she had something to leave in return. She had consoled herself, saying that she was on a mission to free these people from the tyranny of Aaron-Lem.
She hoped that if they knew that they would have fed her. Still, she couldn’t take any chances, because at the moment most of the people on the planet of Thamon were completely under Aaron-Lem’s spell.
She had thought she would see some evidence that people were revolting. Aaron’s new decree commanded that the people give him all their gold and jewels and a large portion of what they earned either as craftspeople or farmers. But on that tiny slip of land, there was no sign of rebellion. Perhaps Aaron hadn’t gotten to them yet to ask for anything.
Suzanne made a quick pass over the Palace, flying high enough that she hoped no one would see her. After getting her bearings and locating the cave where Bolong had told her he and his friends lived, she flew over a low range of hills a few miles from the Palace and descended into the woods behind them, praying that no one saw her.
Suzanne hoped that if she were spotted, since they were so close to the Palace, they would think that she was one of Sawdi’s dragons. Except that Sawdi’s dragons remained dragons and would never turn into a person, let alone a woman.
Bolong had shared the story of how he and the other four dragons had been placed under a spell by Sawdi a long time ago. Now they would be men, or so they assumed, having never been able to shapeshift again.
The only people who would know that she wasn’t part of Sawdi’s crown of dragons were Sawdi or Aaron. Hopefully, neither one of them was nearby. They are too busy plotting evil, Suzanne thought as she started walking towards the cave.
If Sawdi or Aaron had walked the woods once in a while and listened to the animals that lived there, perhaps they might not have turned into the men they were today. Where she came from, everyone knew that magic and nature were intertwined, and they lived within the harmony of that awareness.
Well, most people. Her sister, Meg, had been too busy being full of herself to notice and had run away to Thamon. Now they were in Thamon where magic was banned. And instead of harmony, there was the fake god Aaron and his false religion of Aaron-Lem.
She had plenty of time to think as she traveled across the ocean to join forces with the dragons and the other rebels waiting for a revolution to begin.
On the Islands they had already begun, and won, their revolution, giving them hope that they would succeed on the rest of the planet.
Now that tiny band of rebels had split up. Many of the rescued Mages had stayed to protect the Islands after saving them from Sawdi and the Warrior Monks. It was their magic that had helped cloak the people of the Islands when the Warrior Monks had come looking for them.
Ibris, the Preacher, and Dax, the head of the Islands’ Kai-Via, stayed too. Having been the ones who helped convert the people in the first place, they knew they needed to stay and support the people as they adjusted to living without Aaron-Lem. It would not be an easy task.
A few of the rebels had taken some of the survivors of the prison camp to the Sanctuary on Turva. It was where some people, following the warnings of the prophecies, had gone to hide before Aaron-Lem took over. At least Suzanne hoped that was where they were.
Of course, Stryker had betrayed them all. He thought he had outwitted them by running away. But he was wrong. They had set him up to run so that Sawdi and the Warrior Monks would leave the Islands and go after him.
Suzanne ducked under a tree branch and thought about how the last few months had been filled with betrayals, twists, and turns. She knew that wasn’t over yet. There would be more.
In the meantime, Stryker was heading to where he thought he would find the next part of the pendant. The rest of the rebels, including Suzanne’s sister, were on Captain Lira’s ship, the Eos, trying to get to the pendant before Stryker. Her job was to find Bolong and get caught up on what had happened since she saw him last. Then they had their own rebellion to plan.
But first, rest. Because no matter what Bolong told her about what was happening, and how anxious they were to begin, she needed to rest first.
Two
Once again, Stryker was on a ship, and he hated ships. They rolled with the waves. They smelled. They were filled with Ordinary men. But most of all, they were slow. And he was in a hurry.
If he could access his power to transport himself, he would. But he couldn’t. He told himself that it was because he didn’t want to reveal that he had some magical powers. After all, he was responsible for banning magic and killing Mages and shapeshifters everywhere he found them. He couldn’t let on that he had some magical ability.
Not much, to be sure. But some. Or at least he used to. Now he wasn’t so sure, and he was having a hard time admitting that to himself.
Once, a long time ago, he had transported himself somewhere. It had been such a thrill he had wanted to repeat it, and never could as hard as he tried. Now he wondered if he had actually ever transported himself at all.
Was it because he hadn’t practiced, or because he didn’t have that ability or any magic at all? Both thoughts were disturbing, and either way, he was stuck on the Soleis as it traveled slowly across the ocean to where the map was leading him.
He wasn’t going to bother stopping at Aaron’s palace to attempt to make peace with him and Sawdi. Because once he had the last piece of the pendant, it wouldn’t matter if he had magic or not. He could use the pendant’s power to control everyone, including Sawdi and his Warrior Monks. No, he was going straight to Turva, where the map had shown him that he would find the final piece of the pendant.
The idea that everyone, including Aaron and that freak Sawdi, would be under his power, was enough to make Stryker almost forget how much he hated ships. Almost.
But this ship was going so slow he could swear that it was going around in circles. He hadn’t remembered that it had taken this long to get from Aaron’s Palace to the Islands of Lopel and Hetale before.
Maybe it felt slower because last time he had that cook and his men making him food and waiting on him. Th
Although he still demanded that one of the men taste his food first, it was not what he was used to, and as much as he threatened them, it didn’t make any difference. Captain Kosti said that they hadn’t been expecting Stryker and had not prepared anything special.
That was true. Kosti hadn’t been expecting him. Being on the Soleis was a last-minute lucky escape from the rebels on Lopel.
Yes, he had betrayed the people on the Islands. Why not? He was sure they would have betrayed him if they had a chance to. Karn had hidden the second part of the pendant from him with the promise that if Stryker helped them defeat Sawdi and his Warrior Monks, they would give it to him.
But he hadn’t waited and hadn’t helped. When the map showed him where that shapeshifter had hidden the pendant piece, he grabbed it and ran. Falcon had secured the ship for him, and they had left the Islands just before Sawdi arrived, and a massive storm swept over the Islands.
Between Sawdi, the Warrior Monks, and the storm, Stryker figured the people on the Islands were probably dead. Hopefully, at least the rebels were killed. How could they have escaped the fury of those three things?
But a tiny part of Stryker hoped that a few of them had survived. The ones that he had trained, Ibris, Dax, and even Karn. They were his boys. Even though he had betrayed them too, he would miss them. But, once he had the pendant, he wouldn’t need preachers, warriors, or the Kai-Via.
A huge rolling wave passed under the Soleis, and Stryker grabbed the nearest post to keep from falling. He swore under his breath. Yes, he hated ships, and he hated this one the most.
*******
As Stryker struggled on the deck of the Soleis, Falcon and Captain Kosti mind-spoke to each other. Although Stryker thought that his being on the Soleis had been random luck, it wasn’t. Kosti, Karn, and Falcon had planned it.
However, there was one thing that Stryker was right about. Yes, the Soleis was barely getting anywhere. Instead of a straight line to the continent of Turva, they were going in slow spirals. The spirals were small enough that it looked as if they were always heading in the right direction. But they were moving as slowly as possible in the process.
Stryker was also correct in that the waves were worse than he remembered, thanks to careful steering by the crew. All of them were enjoying Stryker’s discomfort and did everything they could to make it worse.
Kosti and Falcon were old friends or had been when Falcon was a boy—before Sawdi turned him into a Falcon and gifted him to Stryker. Kosti had also been at Stryker’s training camp for boys, but had escaped one night and never looked back. He had been sailing the seas ever since. For years he had done his best to stay away from anything to do with Aaron-Lem.
But when Falcon approached him and his crew to help him, Kosti couldn’t say no. All he had to do was make sure it took Stryker a long time to get to Turva.
It was Karn Kolbe who had made the arrangements with Falcon long before he had gone to the Islands to help his wife, Wren, and the rest of the rebels.
If Stryker knew how many of his past students were now fighting against him, he would not have believed it. He thought he had trained them to serve only him. What he didn’t realize is that they had served him out of fear. Now they were bonded together with something more powerful than fear.
There was more Stryker didn’t know. After the Warrior Monks couldn’t find anyone on the Islands, Sawdi had abandoned his plans to chase Stryker and headed back to Edes and Aaron’s Palace.
Stryker didn’t know that everyone had survived. Stryker didn’t know that some of the rebels were rushing to the Continent of Turva. They planned to find the last third of the pendant and destroy it before Stryker. Once they destroyed that piece, the pendant, and Stryker, would be powerless.
Falcon prayed that it would work. And he prayed for something more. He prayed that the curse that Sawdi had placed on him could somehow be lifted. He didn’t care how, just that it would be.
Three
While the Soleis traveled as slowly as possible, the Eos was moving as quickly as it could. So fast sometimes, Meg wished that it would slow down. Like Stryker, she didn’t like ships either, and for many of the same reasons.
Mostly, she hated the rocking and rolling. No matter what she did, she constantly felt sick. Everyone tried to help. But nothing they suggested worked for her. Finally, after watching Meg suffer and grow weaker each day, Tarek gave her permission to transform into a raven and fly along with them. Sometimes Wren and Silke joined her, and watching them circle and swoop above the ship made everyone feel better.
It felt so glorious that Meg almost didn’t care that turning into a raven was the only thing she could shapeshift into now. And at night, and in the dark, she couldn’t do anything at all. She was no longer the shapeshifter that she had once been.
Now she wasn’t sure what she was. But at least it seemed as if she was useful. Although she had been told what happened on Lopel, she had no memory of it.
The last thing she remembered was standing with the rest of the rebels, supporting the Mages. They were cloaking every person on the Islands to hide them from the Warrior Monks and Sawdi. The next thing she knew, she found herself lying on a cot in the main room, covered in blankets, and surrounded by her friends.
The story they told was hard to believe. She had been enveloped in fire. Karn pushed her into the circle of Mages. Then a beam of light shot out from her into the sky, turning the Warrior Monks away.
The whole story sounded made up to Meg. But because everyone had confirmed it, she knew it must be true. But why and how was still a mystery to her. However, it didn’t appear to be a mystery to Silke or Wren, but they wouldn’t talk about it. They would only say all would be revealed in time.
Once Tarek had relented and let her fly during the day, Meg’s sickness passed, and she could enjoy the food with the rest of the crew. Captain Lira had put Leon and his men to work cooking for the crew and the passengers.
If they hadn’t been speeding towards Turva to stop Stryker, they could have probably enjoyed it more. But even though Raven had told Karn that the Soleis was far behind them, they still worried.
Besides trying to beat Stryker to the pendant, they had to worry about Aaron and Sawdi. Eventually, Sawdi and his Warrior Monks would come after Stryker again, and since they were all heading to the same place, they would once again be battling Sawdi.
No one thought that they could fool Sawdi twice with the same trick. They couldn’t do it anyway. There were too many people on the continent of Turva to cloak. Besides, they didn’t want to make Sawdi suspicious of what they had done on the Islands so that he returned to them. As far as the three men who ran Aaron-Lem were concerned, there was no one left on the Islands.
Of course, sooner or later, they would try to find out where the people had gone, but the rebels planned on stopping the three tyrants long before they turned their sights back to the Islands.
Meg surprised herself when she realized that she felt homesick for the Islands. She hadn’t been there long, and the time had been filled with turmoil. But there was something about them that she loved. They had left friends on the Islands to protect it, and to help the people recover from their conversion from Aaron-Lem. She missed them too, especially Ruth and Roar.
The fact that Ibris and Dax would be leading the healing of the people seemed impossible. It wasn’t as hard to believe about Ibris. He had been betraying Aaron all along, just in his own way.
What was harder to believe was that Dax, the man who loved to fight, and had done so much to destroy Mages and Shapeshifters—had betrayed Stryker and Aaron. Now that was surprising. Without Dax’s help, they wouldn’t have survived. He had turned from being the man who persecuted them to a man determined to protect them.
Meg knew about transformation. She used to be only for herself, caring for no one. All she had cared about was her freedom. But the Islands and the people she met there had changed her. Perhaps that was what happened to Dax.
