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The snow melted in the wake of the Sister’s footfalls, and the path she weaved through the forest was visible wrapping around mountains and through iced forests. Snow coated the mountains; leaves of ice and snow were glued to branches. Bark cracked off trees like shattering glass. Only the path of the Sister of Death marred the perfect white sheet that covered the Eastern lands. Green lightning crackled across the southern horizon, announcing the approach of a violent storm. Mounted clouds stacked on top of one another, prepared for the next onslaught of storms on the East, creeping darkness towards the north.
Her four layers of cloak coiled around her body in colors of umber, black, olive and then black again. Not even the chilled snowy breeze was able to waft her garments that clung around her body like a mummy’s shroud. At the top, the umber garment reluctantly gave way to a cowl, but she didn’t need to see with her eyes. Unlike most creatures of her power that detected the rhythms and presence of life, she sensed death and how life interrupted its course.
But on that day, the Sister of Death was on a quest to create life.
A cage followed; a rotten wooden platform greened with mildew. Warped bars unevenly spread from its bottom and were tied together at the top. Its legs were extensions of metal bars that scurried behind its dark mistress like a centipede. The cage was filled with two souls, one of life and one of death. Both were Esnor, a father and son.
From fear and cold, they shivered violently and clung tightly to each other to shield themselves from the freezing air that their natural fur could not ward off. The father and son were gifted with yellow underbelly coats and a reddish brown fur that smoothed over their backs. Whatever clothing they once wore was stripped from them; a few shreds of material still clung on the metal bars. The hair on their heads was frizzled in spikes that accentuated their wide doe eyes.
Sister of Death quickened her speed at the reassuring sight of the Lava Mountain that fed the underground Two Rivers of Sauns. One of water and the other of lava, Two Rivers was in perfect balance. The mountain fed the lava, and the Breath Lake fed the river.
From the south, Death heard the renewed sounds of grinding wheels from the brandy shop that specialized in Two Rivers Brandy. There was a time when the Sister enjoyed the taste of brandy on her lips, the feel of flesh against her own and the concoctions of drugs to fill the gaps of pleasure. Now, the power overwhelmed her. She devoured souls and enjoyed the taste of their blood. But today, she will attain something new, recreation of life… to destroy all others.
Her path would cross beneath the Convergence of the Two Rivers of Sauns, the lava sliding under the waterfall and then dipping beneath the river. The mountain’s hot temper was cooled by the river like two cousins of opposite births coming together in balance. The Convergence was also known as the Biopartitio. Here, the water was too hot to swim, indicating why the Brandy shop took advantage of the unique spring farther down the river.
When the Warlock had ruled these lands, the river was damned farther south, and the shop and adjoining lands were devoid of free life. Only the Warlock and his cruel minions roamed unabated in the East. That changed when a young Nagling journeyed on a simple quest that destroyed the Warlock and unified the people in the East. The revival of hope was something that the Five Sisters could not allow to continue; it hindered their efforts in the West.
The Sister of Death stopped outside the Biopartitio. By her feet, a funnel of snow dipped into a hole, sliding deep within the earth. Beneath her cloak, her body shifted in an unnatural manner, wriggling in places a normal creature should not have been able to do. Then, she stopped.
The funnel of snow melted in a perfect circle expanding the hole like a straw sucking it out. The earth quivered and then crumbled, sinking beneath the roots, stone and river. A wormhole was revealed, a natural tunnel and ramp leading into the Convergence. The Sister descended the ramp; its spelt cage obediently followed.
Death descended into the depths of the Lavaworm nest, a torch wagging between her umber and black cloak. The path coiled towards a platform scrolled with cursive inscriptions; the letters woven in endless circles. After winding down the ramp, Death paused at the platform to read the ancient tongue of a dead race. Death’s casual look towards the cage commanded the bars to twist and latch onto the smaller Esnor, the son. The bars wrapped around the child, stripped him from his father’s grasp and then presented his shivering soul to Death. The father clutched at empty air, trying to reel his son back to his arms like he was using his own magic of love.
Her hood draped down from her head and folded against her back. She clutched the boy’s face and pulled it close so she could glare from her gentle blue orbs into his quaking pupils. Gills marked her sharp cheeks, her trim nose wrapped around and her elongated ears ran from the head and along the neck. Her youthful face entranced the boy with her beauty. In one graceful move, she slit his throat, cupped his blood and then poured it in the center of the platform while simultaneously cutting her own arm. Her blood mixed with the boy’s, pooling into the stone center.
From below the platform, a latch cracked and snapped, and unseen mechanisms started to grind and whirl. At the sound of wheels turning, the platform dipped suddenly before slowly descending into the heart of the Convergence. The platform cranked for several seconds before it halted with a thud. At the bottom, a round doorway opened to another chamber. Inside that chamber, a whirlpool of lava swirled around a waterfall that thundered through its nucleus. Coating the beige sandstone, flares of lava spurted from its violent spiral.
Casting shadows in the air with the silent words hissed under her breath, the Sister of Death pulled at the air like she was coaxing incense into it. A ghostly shape emerged from the lava pool and clawed out; it grappled from its tormented terror.
The Droth, the mercenary, the bartender, Crey’s ethereal soul was extracted from the lava whirlpool and then thrust into the unwilling and weeping father. The father spasm and collapsed onto the cage bottom.
Sister of Death removed a handled vase from beneath her olive garments, opened and directed it over the whirlpool. Yanked from the waterfall nucleus, red and beige stone crumbled into fine sand and then sifted into the vase. She tucked the vase beneath her cloak and returned to the platform to ascend the Convergence. Obediently, the caged bars strapped around the submissive Esnor and then followed the Sister of Death as she gleamed with the cold satisfaction of sacrificing three lives for one.
Copyright 2008, 2010, 2014
by Jax E. Garson
The second volume of the Fires Trilogy
The Three Sisters return to the east to re-conquer it. The loss of the Warlock and the advent of a stronger Eastern army has them troubled. Tree of Sorrow is a powerful symbol to the East and now it will be lost in the hands of the Three Sisters.
Queen Fenarius leads a mixed army of races to defend against the Three Sisters. With all their strengths, they are no match against the Sisters of Terror, Pain, and Death.
As the Blentiun army fights to maintain control over the Tree of Sorrow, the Pendle is causing Ka (the liberator of the East) immense pain. The magic weapon that helped destroy the Warlock is now useless in her hands and she must remove it before it kills her. Ka and Grodic seek out the Firthtins, hoping the power of such tree creatures can alleviate her of the mysterious weapon.
King Grove investigates the isolation of Parisonia. Many allies joined the Blentiun Kingdom in wake of the Warlock‘s fall, but now their alliance is fraying . His grasp on his kingdom is only skin deep but his loyal General is always there to prop him up. Between the oddly long and violent winter, the missing messages from Parisonia and the lack of news from his wife has King Grove concerned. He tries to present a hopeful outlook on the face in the midst of so much doubt, dread and dismal thinking.
The Three Sisters conjure a vile creature to stalk Ka. They know that Ka's destiny interferes with the desires of the Sisters. Stalked by a monster, shunned by her people, burdened with pain, worshipped by believers and followed by a thief, Ka feels trapped between her hopes and her destiny, in the face of so many believers.
She now must make a choice to follow her destiny or abandon the races. Both choices leave her alone and abandoned.
Contains fantasy action
Watch this trailer:
Tree of Sorrow Trailer
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