Firewalker (The Saga of Java Mountainstand Book 1) Read online

  Firewalker

  The Saga of Java Mountainstand, Book 1

  By Loren K. Jones

  Twilight Times Books

  Kingsport Tennessee

  Firewalker

  This is a work of fiction. All concepts, characters and events portrayed in this book are used fictitiously and any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental.

  Copyright © 2018 by Loren K. Jones. Expanded and revised from a previous electronic edition published by e-Quill Publishing, Brisbane, Australia 2010 with title “Firewalker.”

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, except brief extracts for the purpose of review, without the permission of the publisher and copyright owner.

  Twilight Times Books

  P O Box 3340

  Kingsport, TN 37664

  www.twilighttimesbooks.com/

  Revised Electronic Edition: April 2018. Author’s preferred version.

  Published in the United States of America

  For my wife Pamela, and children, Cimmaresa, Alexander, and Dana, who tolerated me while I was writing these books.

  Loren K. Jones

  Table of Contents

  Timeline of the Brondian Continent

  Preface

  Prologue

  CHAPTER 1: RECRUIT

  CHAPTER 2: HELL WEEK

  CHAPTER 3: SCOUT

  CHAPTER 4: THE BORDER

  CHAPTER 5: ENEMIES

  CHAPTER 6: WARRIOR

  CHAPTER 7: MAGIC OF MALICE

  CHAPTER 8: DEFENSE!

  CHAPTER 9: LOVER

  CHAPTER 10: NEW RECRUITS, NEW PROBLEMS

  CHAPTER 11: BACKLASH

  CHAPTER 12: TROUBLE COMES IN THREES

  CHAPTER 13: CHAPERONE

  CHAPTER 14: THE FOURTH TRIPLET

  CHAPTER 15: LADY JAVA

  CHAPTER 16: LESSONS TO LEARN

  CHAPTER 17: MISTAKES

  CHAPTER 18: SHOCKING REVELATIONS

  CHAPTER 19: MOUNTAINSTAND COUNTY

  CHAPTER 20: UNCERTAIN WELCOMES

  CHAPTER 21: GREENSBORO

  CHAPTER 22: PEERS

  Timeline of the Brondian Continent

  NOTE:

  BL stands for Before Lux. FR stands for Frander

  Year 6715 BL

  A bored dragon called Dandarshandrake decides to experiment on humans, making them better

  Year 4796 BL

  Dandarshandrake's experiments begin to show promise.

  Year 2239 BL

  The people Dandarshandrake is experimenting on separate into clans: Chosen, Cat, Artisan, Servitor, Common

  Year 1628 BL

  Dandarshandrake's "pets" begin to build a civilization

  Year 1018 BL

  Lux (the word for city) is founded

  Year 843 BL

  The people of Lux begin conquest of other tribes

  Year 357 BL

  The people of Lux permanently stratify and take up signifying prefixes: Chosen (Zel), Cat (Kel), Revered (Fel), Honored (Bel), Common (Del)

  Year 00

  The Empire of Luxand is Founded by Dandarshandrake, saying they are his "Chosen" people

  Year 414

  Luxand conquers 70% of the Brondian continent

  Year 1599

  Sahrendrake is hatched

  Year 1899

  Lebawandrake is hatched

  Year 3057

  Sahrendrake joins her sire's experiment and becomes Lady Sahren the Nurturer

  Year 3186

  Lebawandrake joins his sire's experiment and becomes Lord Lebawan the Cutter

  Year 5316

  Dandarshandrake embraces oblivion

  Year 5327

  The empire of Luxand fragments without the unifying force of Dandarshandrake

  Year 5411

  Queen Fiora Zel’Kanis of Farindia banishes her father’s Royal Guards to Kel’Kavin

  Year 5608

  Marydyth Zel'Karyn is born in Coravia

  Year 5624

  Marydyth Zel'Karyn joins the Army of Coravia

  Year 5627

  Knight of Justice Marydyth Zel’Karyn goes to Evandia

  Year 5631

  Knight of Justice Marydyth Zel’Karyn renounces the path to may Carlstan Zel'Fordan

  Year 5646

  Marydyth (Mary Death) Zel’Fordan dies defending Evandia

  Year 5849

  Stavin Kel'Aniston goes to the dragon's cave above Kel’Kavin

  Year 5850

  Stavin founds House Kel'Aniston and saves King Kalin

  Year 5851

  Stavin saves King Kalin for the second time and Princess Marina goes to Kel'Kavin

  Year 5852

  Stavin becomes Prince Stavin and receives the Sword of Zel'Hallan from Shovar

  Year 5853

  Evandia annexes Old Farindia and Stavin leads the force that brings Farindians into Evandia

  Year 5856

  Stavin becomes King of Coravia to save it from Lebawan's priests

  Year 5859

  Stavin goes to Reynadia and becomes the Blessed of Arandar, then saves Reynadia from Ravashanal

  Year 5866

  Stavin and Shari go and find Klamath, the Capital of Vaskan

  Year 6019

  War breaks out between Luxandia and Evandia, soon involving all of the Old Empire kingdoms

  Year 6026

  A mage from Luxandia calls forth the Dershal Plague, killing 80% of the population of all six kingdoms

  Year 6033

  The Dershal Plague runs its course, finally dying out but leaving few survivors

  Year 6121

  Survivors isolated from the plague cautiously re-establish the kingdoms

  Year 6592

  400 years have repopulated the Brondian Continent

  Year 6980

  A mage released the Red Death Curse, killing most of the people in the southern part of the Brondian Continent

  Year 6981

  The Kingdom of Forinstan arises on the eastern part of the continent, below the Great Bay. (FR -548)

  Year 7416

  A foolish boy makes a rash request of the God of Chaos and becomes Amberdrake, heir to Dandarshandrake as the greatest mage that ever lived (FR -113)

  Year 7494

  Blackmoore Javinson is born to King Javin and his queen, Morval. (FR -35)

  Year 7519

  Blackmoore Javinson ascends the throne over the body of his murdered father. (FR -10)

  Year 7526

  King Blackmore begins his fall into madness

  Year 7528

  The Forinstanian Revolution begins

  Year 7529

  Amberdrake ends the Forinstanian Revolution by killing King Blackmoore

  Year 7645

  Prince Kaster of Greencastle marries Werrin, a Silent Clan assassin. In the Duchy of Rey, Adept Mage Frander leads a coup against the duke and proclaims himself King Frander

  Year 7654

  Prince Arten of Hiddendell marries the former mercenary, Naria Grantsport.

  Year 7668

  Java Mountainstand joins the Firewalkers

  Preface

  The Kingdom of Forinstan had filled the eastern quarter of the Brondian Continent, inhabiting the lands that had once been called Reynadia, Luxandia, Kavadia, and Coravia, though those names are only remembered in tomes of ancient history. For more than five hundred years the kings of Forinstan ruled over their kingdom wisely, and watched it prosper.

  Then Blackmoore Javinson came to powe
r.

  King Blackmoore murdered his father to gain the throne. He believed the kingdom existed solely for his pleasure, and he indulged his every desire. Exotic foods, menageries, and entertainments of every conceivable form filled his days. Sex slaves taken by his elite guards filled his nights. No whim was too small, too petty, or too expensive for the king.

  After ten years of Blackmoore’s excesses, the taxes he levied on his dukes became so ruinous that something had to be done. A rebellion sprang up. The dukes refused to pay Blackmoore’s taxes, killing the king’s tax collectors and holding the money back for themselves.

  King Blackmoore amassed an invincible army of Magi to ruthlessly put down the dukes who opposed him, until they had a fateful encounter with the dragon Amberdrake. Amberdrake, the mightiest Dragon Mage to ever live, left Blackmoore dead in a pool of dragon dung, then burned him and scattered the ashes of the king and his “invincible” army in the spring breeze.

  In the years that followed the rebellion, the remaining dukes fought a bitter civil war against one another in an effort to claim the throne. Alliances formed and fell as blood-relatives of the late king laid claim to his crown.

  Twenty-three years of civil war reduced the once-prosperous Kingdom of Forinstan to a sparsely populated ruin. Fully two-thirds of the population fell to famine and disease while men fought and died for the glory of their overlords.

  Stability finally came to the duchies when the last vestiges of their civilization fell. The Kingdom of Forinstan fragmented, with each of the twenty-six duchies becoming a kingdom in its own right, and each duke a king in all but name.

  For over one hundred years, civilization clawed its slow and painful way back into existence as the population recovered. Trade, the true life’s-blood of peace, slowly resumed. Alliances formed and fell between the duchies with the birth and death of the dukes. Raids and border wars limited growth as ancient grievances were dusted off and voiced anew.

  Now a new tyrant has arisen from the ashes.

  Adept Frander Bramwell, one of the most powerful human magi to ever walk Dracana, has decided to bring his utopian vision to the people of Forinstan. One hundred and twenty-six years after the death of Blackmoore, he seized power in the Duchy of Rey and brought the people under his will, proclaiming himself King Frander.

  Then he began attacking his neighbors.

  When the four duchies that bordered Rey were under his control, Frander named himself Emperor of Forinstan, seeking to claim the glory attributed to the ancient Emperors of Luxand. Three additional duchies fell, one by one, to his armies. Now, with his empire stable and the population of the eight duchies pacified, he is once again on the move.

  Frander found the conquest of the duchies easy for the first fourteen years. The isolationist policies of the dukes, necessary for peace in the beginning, were their downfall. No duke could overcome the years of petty squabbling and bad blood to weld together a sufficient force to defeat Frander.

  A new kind of leader is needed. A leader who can unite squabbling neighbors against their common foe. A leader with blood-ties to none, who will defy tradition in the name of love.

  This is the story of that leader.

  Prologue

  The estate of Equintain was famous for its horses. Lord Phillip Ahern took well-justified pride in the horses he bred. His servants were another source of pride. Well-behaved and obedient, other lords envied him for how good they were.

  Mostly.

  The butler’s daughter, fourteen-year-old Java Mountainstand, stood staring at her father in disbelief. “Jallan? Father no!” she cried. “I won’t be bound to that beast.”

  “Java, it has been decided,” Ambrose Mountainstand said to his oldest daughter in a stern tone. “You will be wed to Jallan on the next day of rest.”

  “No, I won’t! I’m only fourteen! You can’t make me marry anyone until I’m sixteen!” Java was wide-eyed with shock as she looked at her father. Daddy?

  “You will do as you are told, Java,” Nightingale Mountainstand said as she moved forward to stand beside her husband. She was taller than Java, but still barely topped her husband’s shoulder. “Lord Ahern thinks getting married will settle you down. Give you somewhere for your excess energy to go.”

  “Mother, you know what Jallan’s like! There isn’t a girl on the estate that he hasn’t tried to bed. And you know as well as I do what he did to poor Restin when she finally said yes. He broke her!” She had tears in her eyes as she stared at her mother. “You helped nurse her back to health. I am not going to let him break me like that! I’m not some mare! He can’t break my spirit!” Java was standing with her fists clenched, desperately trying to find some way to deny their announcement.

  “Java, you have no choice in the matter,” her mother said softly. Her expression had softened to show some regret as well. “You are a bound servant of Lord Ahern. So is Jallan. You will wed Jallan, and your children will one day be servants here, just as you are.”

  Java backed away from her parents two steps, then turned and fled. Tears clouded her vision and she sought some privacy. They can’t do this to me. Not Jallan. Restin still can’t walk right. She hid in the stable, wedging herself into the corner of a stall until she was completely under control. There has to be a way out of this.

  Her little sister, Debran, found her some time later. “Java, I heard. But it isn’t all bad. I mean, marrying Jallan means you’ll stay here, at home. You won’t have to go to some other estate where the only family you’ll have is your husband. At least mom and dad will be here for you.”

  “Like they are now, Deb?” Java asked in a glum tone without looking up.

  Debran shook her head. “Java, we’re not slaves, but we’re not really free, either. Mom and dad could rightfully leave because they don’t owe Lord Ahern anything, but we owe him for raising us all those years when we couldn’t do any work. He fed and clothed us, kept us warm, got healers when we were sick. His generosity wasn’t free. You’ve only been working since you were ten. Jallan is only sixteen. Both of you are bound to Lord Ahern by your debt. Even if you were marrying someone from another estate, your new lord would have to pay your debt to Lord Ahern, and then you’d owe him.” Debran shook her head. “Most servants don’t earn enough to pay off their debt ‘til they’re thirty.”

  “I know all that, Deb. But the law says I can’t be forced into a betrothal ‘til I’m sixteen.”

  “The law is for those who can afford it. You can’t.”

  Java heaved a huge sigh and shook her head, then looked at Debran. “No, I can’t. I’m not a freeman. Go away, Deb. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.” Debran patted the edge of the stall and went away, but Java stayed where she was.

  There’s one other choice I can still make. One way out of this that they can’t stop. That minstrel said the Firewalker mercenaries were accepting recruits this fall. It means I’ll be a run-away, an outcast, and I can never come back, but all I have to do is get to Linkville. It’s only a five-day ride from here.

  Arandar hadn’t yet risen when she slipped out of the loft room she shared with her sisters. She moved quietly, so no one would know she was up, and no one could change her mind, or make a fuss and force her to stay. No one saw her go down the stairs with her few belongings over her shoulder.

  I can do this. I can get to Linkville and join the Firewalkers. They can’t make me marry that animal once I am free of Equintain and Lord Ahern.

  She was almost clear of Equintain when a horse whinnied at her. She knew that horse-voice and went to him. “Northstar, I’m going to miss you. But I won’t let Jallan mount me. I won’t let him break me.” The old horse tossed his head as if agreeing with her, then she hurried away.

  Fifteen days later she reached Linkville, foot-sore, weary, and without a copper to her name. She was directed to a fort built on a hill above the town, and applied to the all-female mercenary company called Freeholm’s Firewalkers, setting her feet on a path that few could dream
of.

  CHAPTER 1: RECRUIT

  “Some are born great,

  Some achieve greatness,

  And some have greatness thrust upon them.”

  William Shakespeare

  CAPTAIN MARTA FREEHOLM OF FREEHOLM’S FIREWALKERS suppressed a shiver as she stood in the early morning chill. Autumn and winter were the seasons for training in the mercenary companies, and frost rimed the ground in Linkville, the home of the Firewalkers.

  The Firewalker compound bustled with activity as new recruits were looked over by the captain and her officers. The recruits were all young, and seemed to get younger every year. That, or she was getting older, but she wasn’t willing to consider that possibility just yet.

  This year, like the previous three, they had been able to pick their recruits from over two hundred applicants. The Firewalkers’ reputation had been given an enormous boost by their contract with Duke Arten. Having a permanent contract to supply border defenses for the Duchy of Hiddendell was a plum for which most companies would give a year’s pay. These ninety young women were the best of the applicants. The lieutenants and sergeants shepherded the young women into two relatively straight lines in the center of the compound. Once they had settled, the captain lightly climbed the five steps up to the demonstration platform and addressed them.