Starius Duro is forced to leave his home after a duel for his sister's honor ends badly and the family and adventuring team of the nobleman he fought are out for revenge. He, along with his two best friends Taj Xavier and Gunnar Holt, flee their beloved city of Eternis in the middle of the night joined by a priest named Callenleigh Virgo. The four start on a dangerous adventure, fighting bands of lizardfolk and meeting both friends and enemies along the way; including the legendary father of all vampires. The team is joined by an outcast half-breed, a master of all disguises, and a talented wizard as they take on more challenging, dangerous missions. Taj, the son of a legendary adventurer and the lover of Starius' sister Destiny, begins a life he's always dreamed about as an adventurer who gains fortune and fame, but as friends are made and lost as the team continues to travel further and further away from their beloved homeland, Taj begins to wonder if this is truly the life for him. When the team is hired by a mysterious moon elf named Silverleaf, they begin a mission that takes them all over the world and lands them in more trouble than what they bargained for. Unbeknownst to them, they are being followed by another team set out for revenge against Starius for killing their leader. As they face down the team in a bloody bittersweet battle, the rest of the world is being threatened by a creature more volatile and more powerful than any they could have ever imagined. The team is soon divided into heroes and cowards as some choose to fight a losing battle to save their world while others watch as Thedia's apocolypse approaches.

Medieval

The Book of LossBy Dallas S. Paskell

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2010 Dallas S. Paskell
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4520-0597-3

Contents

Prologue........................ixChapter 1:......................1Chapter 2:......................25Chapter 3:......................51Chapter 4:......................65Chapter 5:......................79Chapter 6:......................91Chapter 7:......................107Chapter 8:......................127Chapter 9:......................147Chapter 10:.....................167Chapter 11:.....................189Chapter 12:.....................211Chapter 13:.....................229Chapter 14:.....................251Chapter 15:.....................275Chapter 16:.....................295Chapter 17:.....................315Chapter 18......................337Chapter 19:.....................359Chapter 20:.....................377Chapter 21:.....................397Chapter 22:.....................417Chapter 23:.....................437Chapter 24:.....................461Chapter 25:.....................481Chapter 26:.....................499Chapter 27:.....................517Chapter 28:.....................533Chapter 29:.....................549Chapter 30:.....................567Epilogue........................579

Chapter One

It had been one year to the day since the induction of the new calendar; officially year two of what had come to be called "The New Age" on the mainland of Thedia. Early in the first year, Eternis was under constant attack by random groups of monstrous hordes. Nearly eight months into the new ten-month year, a Thoxen human named Agromordeus was discovered in the Mystic Mountains and then determined to be behind the assaults. The powerful Necromancer wickedly resisted all that Eternis had to offer before falling to a small band of adventurers. For the final two months of the year, Eternis and its surrounding areas were finally able to enjoy peace.

Dominick Gabriel Xavier, an Eternian human born and raised, had spent the better part of an epic tale away from his home as a traveling adventurer, duelist, and acclaimed hero. He resembled the storybook representation of his city's people. He kept his blonde hair nicely groomed and always wore it down, an Eternian tradition. His eyes were as blue as the mid-summer sky and the heart he carried for Eternis radiated from them. His wife, Genevieve Kavanaugh, now Xavier, was also an Eternian. She was a carnival knife-thrower by trade that fell for the professional duelist and adventurer and soon joined the team he had been a part of for so very long. She too carried the golden hair and blue eyes associated with human Eternians.

For the past seven years since his retirement, his thoughts tended only to raising his children with the love of his life and wife, Genevieve Kavanaugh Xavier. Dominick was against his two sons falling into the lifestyle he chose. He had lost so many friends and allies and so much time spent away from his family that he could never get back. He had fame, fortune, songs of his heroic efforts and many a victory as a duelist, including one over Thoxen Archmage Valdimus Skine. Such feats gave him little joy, rather they acted as a cruel reminder that he could not replace the lost time with his wife and growing children or the absent friends and allies he'd lost along the way.

Dominick's understanding of the world was exquisite and he knew there would always be bad blood between Thox and Eternis, akin to a bittersweet contest between rivals. When Thox allied with Eternis only to attempt to seize it as a new capital city, Eternis found allies and heroes plentiful and, since Thox was overextended from its other wars, Eternis was able to break free from Thox's grasp. From that struggle onward, Dominick had worked to build relations with merchants' guilds, trade guilds, mercenary groups and neighboring nations so as to strengthen the economy of Eternis.

Today was a good day. He had been gone for some months on an important business trip to Port Agatha where he had been negotiating possible treaties and trade opportunities with a high end merchants' guild. Dominick knew, surrounded by everything that made up his life, he was truly lucky to have lived through it all, to be where he was, and to have the love of his life and his two loving sons.

After a long journey, Dominick finally made it to his growing land and home. He had acquired quite a bit of wealth during his time in the armed service, and then as professional duelist and adventurer. Rumor had it the only reason he was originally hired on by the other adventurers of the group was to attain wealth and fame for them through his dueling prowess. He spent most of his wealth investing in Eternis itself and giving back to the community he felt had done so much for him and the rest of the world. His wife too gave back to the community; though she secretly hoarded the majority of her earnings should any emergency arise. No matter what happened, her children would still be taken care of. Even with two nearly grown children, Dominick and Genevieve both kept themselves in remarkable shape with only scars and war wounds revealing their true age, of which Dominick could boast only a few more. Indeed, the sharp features of Genevieve's face still earned her cat calls from young lads when she went to market. Though in his fifties, Dominick still occasionally practiced with the young warriors of Eternis and even those traveling from distant lands when he was able. He had yet to be defeated in singles combat.

Dominick reached the twin oak doors that had haunted him for so many nights. They were the doors to his Eternian manor and family. Running his worn hands through his hair pulling it back, Dominick gazed up at his beautiful home that he had longed to return to for so many months. His black and green courtier's garments had seen better days. He cracked open the door allowing the warm sun's rays to slyly sneak in. The large doors opened without a creak to reveal the wide marble foyer that bled straight into the main living quarters. He crossed the threshold for the first time in months, but the dreams in his mind of home weren't exactly the reality he had just returned to.

As a young warrior and adventurer, Dominick was always gone, never staying in the same place for very long. At a time, he was considered the greatest melee fighter alive and some still claimed he was. In those distant days, he held ties to nothing save for his own band of adventurers, friends, just as they were tied to him. He hadn't much family and always felt that during his stops in Eternis he would pay his rightful tithes. For many years this was his way of life. But now, now for so long, he has lived here and seen these walls every day. Genevieve was a part of his everyday life, Adrian and Taj as well.

His home was empty; he hadn't taken two steps into the place and he knew there wasn't a soul at home. It was odd for his family to be out since they knew his ship was arriving today. They knew how much he had longed to be home with them. Why would they not be here when he arrived? Dominick dropped his bags and belts and raced throughout his marble and ivory decorated home. Both upstairs and down, he could find nothing, no sign of his family. Eighteen years of dungeons, caves, caverns and castles had heightened Dominick's intuition and in entering Taj's room he found something more horrific to him than death itself. The pair of swords he had specifically and specially crafted for Taj were gone, no longer were they above the artificial mantle in his room. Those...