{"id":105,"date":"2012-04-16T15:01:58","date_gmt":"2012-04-16T19:01:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/?p=105"},"modified":"2012-05-18T14:59:05","modified_gmt":"2012-05-18T18:59:05","slug":"zervakan-free-fantasy-novel-chapter-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/robsteinerauthor.com\/?p=105","title":{"rendered":"ZERVAKAN – Free Fantasy Novel – Chapter 2"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
\n\"\"<\/a>
Cover by TJ Lomas.<\/a>\n<\/div>\n
\nI’m posting a chapter from my latest fantasy novel for free every Monday and Friday (click Zervakan<\/a> above for a synopsis and to start from the beginning). It’s in a “pre-published state,” meaning you might find the occasional spelling\/grammar mistake. If you do, please leave a comment below or email me at robsteiner01 [at] gmail [dot] com.<\/p>\n

If you’re uncomfortable getting something for nothing, you can hit the PayPal Donate<\/a> button in the Tip Jar section to the right. If you donate more than $3, I’ll send you a non-DRM ebook once the book is published (summer 2012). If you donate more than $20, I’ll send you a printed copy.<\/p>\n

Thanks, and I hope you enjoy it!<\/em>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

ZERVAKAN<\/h1>\n

by Rob Steiner<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Chapter 2<\/h2>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153I am Fatimah of Kulon Fields.\u00c2\u00a0 I\u00e2\u20ac\u2122ve been summoned by the Holy Seat.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Fatimah stood before the large, slanted wood desk of Olma Merhtash, Deacon to the Holy Seat. The Deacon did not look up from the parchment on which she was writing.\u00c2\u00a0 Even with Fatimah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s height, it was difficult not to stand on her tip toes to meet the Deacon\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s eyes.\u00c2\u00a0 Fatimah had heard that the Holy Seat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s assistant acted like she had all the power of the Holy Seat herself.\u00c2\u00a0 With three decades of service, Fatimah supposed that Deacon Olma thought she was<\/em> the Holy Seat.\u00c2\u00a0 No doubt she did much of the Seat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s work.<\/p>\n

Fatimah waited for the older woman to finish what she was doing, knowing that the Deacon would not interrupt her work for a newly ordained priest, no matter if the Seat had summoned her.\u00c2\u00a0 Fatimah treated her wait as another lesson in Patience, lessons that were still fresh in her mind with her ordination only three weeks past.\u00c2\u00a0 For Fatimah, it was the hardest lesson to master, and one that she constantly practiced.<\/p>\n

Like now.<\/p>\n

Questions raged in her mind, the least of which was why the Seat had summoned Fatimah for a personal audience.\u00c2\u00a0 It was highly improper, for Master Eblin should accompany Fatimah on any audience with the Seat.\u00c2\u00a0 Though Fatimah was now ordained, she was Apprenticed to Eblin of Luesing, Master of Languages, and member of the Tuathan Master Circle.\u00c2\u00a0 For the next five years, Fatimah would study the Recindian languages and culture under Eblin\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s guidance.\u00c2\u00a0 As tradition dictated, Fatimah would learn nothing else, and was thus forbidden to perform tasks during her Apprenticeship that did not relate to her studies.\u00c2\u00a0 Fatimah hoped that Eblin would not be angry with her for coming to the Seat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s quarters.\u00c2\u00a0 But when three large, stern Heshmen knocked on her Heiron apartment door at dawn demanding she dress for an immediate audience with the Seat, she felt she did not have a choice in the matter.<\/p>\n

Deacon Olma placed her pen in its quill, blew on the parchment to dry the ink, sprinkled fine sand over it, and then rolled it into a small scroll.\u00c2\u00a0 She placed the scroll into a wood tube, capped it, and sealed it with a dollop of hot, red wax.\u00c2\u00a0 She pulled the handle to a bell behind her desk.\u00c2\u00a0 A young female Acolyte\u00e2\u20ac\u201dfor all Tuathan priests were female\u00e2\u20ac\u201dwith a white sash wrapped around her waist, appeared from a door to the right of the desk.<\/p>\n

The Deacon handed the Acolyte the scroll.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Master Simmish,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the Deacon ordered.\u00c2\u00a0 The girl nodded, and then ran out the door Fatimah had entered and up the stairs toward the raven cages on the tenth floor of the Heiron, the great, ancient obelisk in the center of Fedalan that was home to the Tuathan priesthood and government.<\/p>\n

Deacon Olma\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s gray-green eyes then regarded Fatimah as if she were another Acolyte.\u00c2\u00a0 It grated on Fatimah, for she had earned the right to a little respect from other priests once she was ordained.<\/p>\n

But Fatimah kept these thoughts from showing and returned the Deacon\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s appraising look with Patience.<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153The Holy Seat is meeting with the Master Circle at the moment,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d the Deacon said.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Sit down.\u00c2\u00a0 I do not know how long it will take.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Fatimah turned on her heel and sat down at one of the wood benches across from the Deacon\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s desk.\u00c2\u00a0 She had been fast asleep less than a quarter of an hour ago, almost dragged out of her apartment by the Seat\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s bodyguards as if the Heiron was on fire, and now she had to wait only Ahura knew how long before the Seat explained why she needed a Recindian languages Apprentice before dawn.<\/p>\n

She took a deep breath.\u00c2\u00a0 Practice your Patience…<\/em><\/p>\n

Fatimah glanced out the thick glass windows to her right, focusing on the sliver of a rising sun beyond the dark, forested hills to the east.\u00c2\u00a0 Sunrises always calmed her, for they reminded her of her childhood on her family\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s sheep farm.\u00c2\u00a0 Fatimah and her papa would take the sheep out of their pens early\u00e2\u20ac\u201d<\/p>\n

A strange twinkling in the sky near the window\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s edge drew her eye from the sun.\u00c2\u00a0 She leaned forward.\u00c2\u00a0 The light looked to be a rainbow, but she had never seen one in the pre-dawn sky.\u00c2\u00a0 She stood and went to the window to get a better look.<\/p>\n

The \u00e2\u20ac\u0153rainbow\u00e2\u20ac\u009d was a band of swirling colors that spanned the sky from north to south.\u00c2\u00a0 But what made her heart freeze was the black band next to it, as if all light had been cast from it, and all that was left was an abyss in the sky.<\/p>\n

She gasped.\u00c2\u00a0 It was Ahura and Angra.\u00c2\u00a0 The Barrier had fallen.<\/p>\n

She stumbled backward, and then rushed to the Deacon\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s desk, breathless.\u00c2\u00a0 She pointed to the window, tried to find words to communicate the enormity of what she saw.\u00c2\u00a0 Fatimah did not take her eyes from the sight, for fear that both bands would disappear and the Deacon would think her to be an overexcited Acolyte.<\/p>\n

Almost bored, the Deacon said, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I know, child, the Barrier is gone.\u00c2\u00a0 That is why the Holy Seat is busy with the Circle at the moment.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Ignoring Olma\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s reference to her as \u00e2\u20ac\u0153child,\u00e2\u20ac\u009d Fatimah stammered, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153But when?\u00c2\u00a0 How?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

\u00e2\u20ac\u0153Regarding the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcwhen\u00e2\u20ac\u2122, it was over six hours ago.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d\u00c2\u00a0 The Deacon gave her a curious look, and asked, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Did you not see the flash of light?\u00c2\u00a0 It turned night into day all across the world.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Fatimah shook her head absently.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153I am a heavy sleeper.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Olma frowned, and then continued.\u00c2\u00a0 \u00e2\u20ac\u0153Well, as for the \u00e2\u20ac\u02dchow,\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 that is what the Holy Seat and the Circle will tell us when the time is right.\u00c2\u00a0 Now please have a seat, child, before you fall down from excitement.\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Fatimah stumbled back to her seat, her gaze locked on Ahura, the Avatar of Creation.\u00c2\u00a0 She tried not to look at Angra, or what the priesthood called the Avatar of Chaos.\u00c2\u00a0 Its emptiness made her feel too cold and queasy.\u00c2\u00a0 She supposed it was her Tuathan blood, for it had evolved over millennia to feed off of Ahura\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s grace…and to shun Angra\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s blasphemy.<\/p>\n

How could the Barrier have fallen?\u00c2\u00a0 What did this mean for the world?<\/p>\n

Does this mean I can\u00e2\u20ac\u201d?<\/em><\/p>\n

Fatimah gave the Deacon a wary glance, but she was busy writing another parchment.\u00c2\u00a0 Remembering her lessons in Wielding history and methods, Fatimah practiced her Patience, allowing every muscle to relax and her mind to travel to a place and time where she was most at peace.\u00c2\u00a0 She remembered a crisp spring day when she was a small girl, sitting on a hill with her father watching the sheep feed on the season\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s new green grass.\u00c2\u00a0 Her father was honing a shearing knife on a leather band in preparation for the wool harvest the next day.\u00c2\u00a0 The weather had finally turned warm after a long cold winter, with a blue sky and a warm, humid wind that was more to Fatimah\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s liking.\u00c2\u00a0 She knew her mother would have hot tea ready for them when they returned to the farmhouse at dusk.\u00c2\u00a0 She had felt so content, so peaceful….<\/p>\n

Fatimah opened her eyes and concentrated on the candle that lit the Deacon\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s desk.\u00c2\u00a0 Calm and at peace, Fatimah raised her left hand, imagining herself touching the rainbow-like band in the sky.<\/p>\n

And Ahura overwhelmed her.\u00c2\u00a0 She had never felt such love and peace in her life, not even in the sweetest, most comforting moments with her father and mother.\u00c2\u00a0 Tears sprang to her eyes, and she wanted to stay in this joy forever.<\/p>\n

But she knew that staying too long would destroy her mind, or so the legends said.<\/p>\n

With all her will, she drew Ahura into herself and called on Water.\u00c2\u00a0 In her mind, she felt it in her hand, cool and clean, and then she focused it toward the candle on Olma\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s desk.<\/p>\n

There was a pop in her ears, and then the candle winked out with a hiss.\u00c2\u00a0 The Deacon looked up at the candle, then at Fatimah.\u00c2\u00a0 Realization dawned on her face, and she cried, \u00e2\u20ac\u0153What did you do?\u00e2\u20ac\u009d<\/p>\n

Before Fatimah could answer, the room spun.\u00c2\u00a0 The dark corners and tapestry covered walls became one large blur, and she tumbled off the bench.<\/p>\n

© 2012 Rob Steiner<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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