The rising, p.1
The Rising, page 1
part #3 of The Onis Chronicles Series
THE ONIS CHRONICLES
* * *
THE RISING
From the Series:
REIGN OF THE ANCIENTS
PART 3
By: R.E. DAVIES
Copyright and Disclaimer
ISBN: 978-1-7374498-7-4
Copyright © 2022 by RE Davies
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be used, reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the author. For information email: redaviesauthor@gmail.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author’s imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.
Original dragon cover illustration, used under license from Shutterstock.com: TStudio/Shutterstock.com
Cover design, artwork, and editing by RE Davies
Book design and production by RE Davies
Map illustrations © 2020 by RE Davies
All Character Illustrations © 2022 by RE Davies
Song Composition © 2022 by RE Davies
www.redaviesauthor.com
MAP OF ONIS
Welcome to the land of Onis!
Double click the map to zoom and expand.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
TABLE OF CONTENTS
NOTE TO READER
PROLOGUE: or the final chapter of “The Dragons”
CHAPTER ONE: Different
CHAPTER TWO: Accommodations
CHAPTER THREE: Impress
CHAPTER FOUR: Divided
CHAPTER FIVE: Angst
CHAPTER SIX: Momentous
CHAPTER SEVEN: Roco
CHAPTER EIGHT: Lieutenant
CHAPTER NINE: Reveal
CHAPTER TEN: Encounters
CHAPTER ELEVEN: Lyson
CHAPTER TWELVE: Abashed
CHAPTER THIRTEEN: Disbelief
CHAPTER FOURTEEN: Thas Duar Moran
CHAPTER FIFTEEN: Royals
CHAPTER SIXTEEN: Impression
CHAPTER SEVENTEEN: Commander
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN: Company
CHAPTER NINETEEN: Othsuda Theora
CHAPTER TWENTY: Connections
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE: Roots
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO: Home
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE: Glimpse
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR: Reinforcements
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE: Tactics
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX: Hindering
CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN: Aftermath
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT: Absence
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE: Broken
CHAPTER THIRTY: Wanting
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE: Unguarded
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO: Masters
CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE: Gathering
CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR: Truth
CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE: Reception
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX: Conundrum
CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN: Passage
CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT: Darkness
CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE: Rising
CHAPTER FORTY: Falling
CHAPTER FORTY-ONE: Grace
CHAPTER FORTY-TWO: Purgatory
CHAPTER FORTY-THREE: Renew
EPILOGUE
EMERALD EYES SHEET MUSIC
GLOSSARY
PRONUNCIATIONS
BESTIARY
ANCIENT LANGUAGE
DROW LANGUAGE
DWARVEN LANGUAGE
ELVEN LANGUAGE
WOODLAND LANGUAGE
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
NOTE TO READER
Thank you so much for continuing this journey with me!
Between writing “Part 2: The Dragons” and “Part 3: The Rising” I decided to share my character sketches with you. All eight illustrations for Part 3 have been included throughout the book, but if you missed any from Parts 1 or 2 and would like to see them, you can find them on my website listed below, under the gallery tab.
I’d love for you to connect with me, R.E. Davies (@REDaviesAuthor), on Facebook, or you can sign up to my Readers List via my website for news about giveaways, upcoming books, links to songs, maps, and other great information! Be sure to check your inbox and spam folder for your confirmation email. You will not be subscribed until you confirm your email address.
As a new author, I humbly request that you remember to leave a review or rating for the “Reign of the Ancients” novels in order to help others discover Onis for themselves. Your feedback is very important to me and greatly appreciated.
Enjoy!
RE Davies
www.redaviesauthor.com
This book is dedicated to my children; the reason I fight and pray every day for a better future.
“The day the power of love overrules the love of power, the world will know peace.”
—Mahatma Gandhi
PROLOGUE
or
the final chapter of
“The Dragons”
There was an eager anticipation resonating throughout the group of two-leggeds. Laila knew how much the dragons—aside from Astryma—were not keen on the idea of having the two-leggeds ride atop their backs but were all in agreement that it was the only logical solution to their predicament, and that would just have to do for now. Only with the speed of the dragons would they even stand a chance to cover the rest of Onis before Aeris could thwart their plans and cause them to fail in their quest.
With everyone ready, the dragons lowered themselves against the terrain as much as they were able, flexing out a leg for their companions so they could hoist them up.
Laila noticed that Glondora’s excitement had waned, and the dwarf was standing forlornly by her dragon. She recalled the last time Glondora had scaled onto the Blue’s back, and her husband had to help her up. Reaching out her concern to Astryma, the Blue dragon looked at Laila and sent back a mental nod.
The elf maiden rushed over to the dwarf and reached out to her. “Would you like a hand?” she asked.
Looking at her appreciatively, Glondora took Laila’s outreached hand and went with her over to Astryma’s paw. From there, she climbed up onto the creature’s foreleg and reached up her side. Laila clasped her hands together and crouched for the dwarf to step onto them while Laila lifted her up with her elven strength toward the dragon’s back.
Huffing and hawing, Glondora crawled her way up and placed herself squarely atop the beautiful sapphire dragon, its backfins flattened for her comfort. “Well now,” she said once settled, “this isna’ so bad.”
Then the dragon raised herself from the ground until she was standing solid on all fours, and Glondora held on for dear life, hollering as they moved. Once Astryma was still again, the dwarf chuckled, embarrassed, and pat her dragon, wondering why she had agreed to do this so readily. Without Hort there to give her strength and the knowledge that they would be airborne this time, she was much more unnerved by the experience than when they had been preparing to swim across the sea.
Content to see Glondora established, Laila strode off to check on the others to see how they were managing. Nearing the high elf, she caught him looking at her oddly. “Is there something wrong, Salyaman?” she asked while approaching him.
The elf smiled at her, and it felt strange. It wasn’t that his smile looked more strange than any other smile. It was actually quite nice, happy even. The oddity was that it was on the lips of the stern elf prince even though standing next to a dragon, which was truly a momentous event to see.
“Before we leave, I wanted to thank you, Lady Lailalanthelus Dula’Quoy,” he told her wholeheartedly. “Serving you on this quest has been my greatest honor. To make history now as an elf and dragon come together to form a United pair is an unprecedented miracle and would never have been possible without you. Whatever is yet to come, I believe that you have already created change in this world for the better.”
Falling to old habits, Laila wrapped her arms around Salyaman in a friendly embrace and said, “Thank you.” To her surprise, he wrapped his arms back around her, holding her tightly for a moment before letting go.
The elf prince then bowed regally to the Omi Méa and turned to the powerful, golden earth dragon. With cat-like reflexes, he effortlessly scaled the mountain before him and positioned himself almost naturally on the dragon’s back.
Seeing her friend Davion experiencing a similar dilemma with his gigantic Red fire dragon as the dwarf had with Astryma, Laila went and joined the two of them next. “Would you like some help?” she asked as she approached.
The human was reaching up the side of Gothäzer rather lamely, and he huffed, turning to face her. “Do you have a ladder?” he asked her, smirking.
Laila was encouraged at his attempt at humor, seeing his spirits slightly lifted, even though she knew he was still full of pain from losing his uncle so suddenly. She smirked back and told him, “Sort of,” then raised her hand in his direction.
As his feet lifted off the ground, Davion began screaming at her, disliking the lack of control over his own body. His heart pounded in a panic as he floated up overtop of the dragon, flailing his arms and legs about.
“I still don’t like this!” he exclaimed.
As she lowered him down gently atop Gothäzer’s back, he took a deep breath and clung to the dragon, contented to be back on something solid.
‘You do realize th at you are about to fly much higher and faster than that?’ Gothäzer snidely pointed out.
‘No, dragon,’ he replied. ‘You will be flying much higher. I will be holding on with my eyes closed and imagining I am somewhere else completely.’
The mighty Red rumbled a chortle at his human and replied, ‘We shall see.’
With Davion settled, Laila headed back to Turathyl and Nikolean patiently waiting for her to join them.
“Ready, my love?” Nikolean asked her, greeting her return warmly.
She smiled back at the dark elf, approaching the Silver air dragon. Before she could reach them, Laila was startled as her unicorn-elkah thrust herself between her and the others, neighing and rearing wildly. The mystical creature kicked her hooves dangerously close to the elf maiden’s head, causing her to jump back in alarm.
“Anaksula!” Whoa! Nikolean yelled in Drow while rushing forward, ready to challenge the beast.
Raising her hand to halt Nikolean, Laila looked into the beautiful hybrid’s eyes, perceiving a feeling of great distress emanating from her. “It’s okay,” she told Merimer reassuringly. “They won’t carry you. You are free now. You can go.”
The elf maiden reached out to take her snout lovingly and say goodbye, her heart aching. She felt as though she were parting with a piece of herself. Yet, before she could touch her, Merimer abruptly yanked her head away from Laila’s hands. The hybrid screeched as she reared again, sending the elf falling backward to the ground.
Instinctively grabbing his dagger, Nikolean headed for Merimer, and Laila raised her hand again, forcing him back with her mind.
“Send her away then, before she hurts you!” he called at her, frustrated.
‘Laila,’ Turathyl said softly. ‘Just force her aside while you hop on my back, and we shall leave. Merimer will be alright.’
Getting back to her feet, Laila sent the hybrid calming thoughts and commands for her to settle as she went to take a step toward Turathyl, but Merimer squealed, placing herself between them again. Laila could sense that she was adamant not to let her pass and knew something was severely upsetting her beyond the thought of being parted from the elf maiden.
Despite the hybrid’s disobedience, Laila wouldn’t harm the creature in order to force her away. Instead, she raised her hands passively, mentally sending warm affections along with her adherence to the unicorn-elkah’s wishes. Nickering softly, Merimer stopped her misbehavior and stepped toward the elf maiden. She lowered her head low for her to pat, and Laila stroked her friend’s muzzle.
“My lady, just leave her,” Nikolean urged.
“No.” Laila shook her head. “I will ride with Merimer. She has already shown that she can match the Red’s speed and likely won’t be carried, and she has no intention of letting me leave her behind.”
“Are you sure, my lady?” Nikolean asked trepidatiously. “Wouldn’t it be safer if you were with us?”
After sending reassuring thoughts to Merimer, Laila stepped around her toward Nikolean and took his hands in hers. “I’m sorry, Niko, but it appears you will be making this flight without me. We will follow on land.” Seeing the worry in his eyes, she added, “At least it isn’t very far to Mira. It will be over in a moment.”
“I don’t like this. This should be your flight if anyone’s,” he told her sincerely.
She stared up into his eyes and smiled. “I will be close, I promise. But this is how it must be.”
He brushed some hair from her face, then leaned in and kissed her lovingly while holding her in an amorous embrace. As he looked back into her eyes, wishing he didn’t have to go without her, he knew there would be no changing her mind. Sighing disappointedly, Nikolean nodded and kissed her forehead softly. “As you wish.”
Following a last soft peck, she grinned as she watched him turn and flit facilely up onto Turathyl’s back. Then, grabbing hold of Merimer, she mounted and patted her comfortingly.
It was a strange feeling seeing them all atop the dragons, the early afternoon sun warmly gleaming down on them. It had always been her dream to fly through the skies as one of the ancients, observing the world below. Yet, she was strangely content nonetheless as she sat on the mystical unicorn-elkah, believing this was where she was meant to be.
“Canna’ we jus’ ‘ave a quick practice flight first, get a feel fer each other?” Glondora hollered nervously to the others.
Laila could sense they were all feeling the same nervousness being atop the mighty beasts and thought it was a great idea.
“Who’d like to take the first flight?” Laila asked the group.
Turathyl raised her wings while Nikolean smiled down at Laila, but Davion would not let him steal this as well. Gothäzer immediately spread his mighty wings also, hastily plunging them to the ground, lifting off into the air while Davion tried to let go of his fears. Turathyl and Nikolean stood down willingly, and everyone squinted against the sun as their eyes fixed on the heightening Red and rider.
Davion’s heart was throbbing intensely with fear and excitement as he watched the ground drift away from him and felt the wind whipping fiercely across his face. He held tight to the quills on the dragon’s back, tensing every time the dragon’s weight shifted. Albeit, after only a brief moment, Davion smiled elatedly as he began to feel a strange new connection to the beast beneath him, feeling the immense strength and power of the mighty dragon like an extension of himself. It wasn’t long before he could predict his movements, adjusting his posture, moving in unison with the dragon as a single entity soaring through the sky.
Even though he was feeling no anger in this pivotal moment, and all his feelings of despair had temporarily floated away on the wind striking across his face, he could feel his inner fire boiling up forcedly within, threatening to erupt. He tried desperately to take deep breaths but was unable to quell the internal flames.
Gothäzer sensed the human’s distress, but he was also experiencing a similar problem himself and veered back toward the group so they could land. They both knew that something was seriously awry.
Coming back into view of the group, Davion abruptly screamed, unable to hold it in anymore as his whole body expelled fire all around him. He frantically watched as the flames spread beyond him and gasped as more fire seeped out from the dragon’s very pores as well. The blazing fire was encompassing Gothäzer and Davion in their entirety, all the way to the tips of the dragon’s wings and tail.
Below the glowing display, the group all held their breath as they looked in terror upon the monstrous flame-engulfed dragon and rider in the sky, unsure of what they should do or if Davion and Gothäzer were even alright. Laila knew Davion’s powers had been growing, but she had no idea to what extent and wondered if he had caused this. She tried reaching out to Gothäzer, as did the three other dragons, but they were all being blocked by whatever was happening to the Red and the human.
The pyromancer gasped, confused, then closed his eyes as he threw back his head and screamed boisterously into the sky while the dragon echoed him. The human and dragon alike were completely aflame. Yet, they did not scream out in pain, but in excitement, for the flames were cool against their skin, and Davion was ecstatic with the power he felt surging through his veins.
Stretching out his arms wide, he opened his eyes and looked around. He was in shock again when nothing looked as it should. Everything appeared blurry and peculiar at first as he tried to adjust his sight with extreme vertigo. Then he realized his joining was even more significant with the dragon below him as he was no longer seeing with his human eyes. He could feel the dragon’s thoughts coalescing with his own, their sight shared, their bodies moving as one. Their very souls had merged, and their bonding was now complete.
Feeling as powerful as the dragon he was mounted upon, Davion wailed his excitement out in disbelief of what was happening to them. But, as he opened his mouth, he discovered that even their voices were as one when a dragon’s elated roar bellowed out from between his human lips instead.
With the transformation completed, Davion’s and Gothäzer’s minds opened back up to what was going on around them, and they could hear all the concerned roars from below as Turathyl penetrated back into the Red’s mind.
