Rise of the Ranger (The Echoes Saga, #1)

by Philip C. Quaintrell

Such were the ways of his people. You either help the clan or you get left behind.

“This ranger is no ordinary man.” He spoke in hushed tones despite the din. “In all your years to come, you can only hope to never again come across an individual as uniquely skilled as this man.”

“We only wish it was a myth. Nightfall has been churning out assassins for as long as West Fellion has been churning out Graycoats. They are the order’s sworn enemy, though our hierarchy prefers to ignore them since we can do nothing about them. For centuries we have searched for Nightfall and its deadly inhabitants, but to no avail. Asher here is the first Arakesh we actually know about - the others are just shades.”

“Humans haven’t seen an elf in a thousand years. They probably wouldn’t recognize one from a pair of pointed ears! I had my hood up the whole way—”

He had cheated death so many times and thought nothing of it, revelling in his youth with the feel of invincibility. With old scars causing pain and his joints feeling the hardship of his violent life, Asher could sense death closing in on him.

It shocked him to find that he didn’t fear death, but instead feared the unremarkable life he left behind him. With no children to take pride in and no great love to mourn him, the ranger would leave nothing but a trail of bodies to speak for his life.

“If there are no gods, there can be no prophecies. She must believe in the natural abilities of our kind, not the useless words of a believer in false deities.”

if they decided to fight us, humanity would be just another footnote in the history books.”

“Great events are unfolding, events that will change Verda’s landscape for ever. You have been chosen, Ro Dosarn, to play a pivotal role on behalf of the gods.

“We’re everything you are, only more. All our emotions and urges are the same; we just feel everything more... intensely. And we're immortal."

“You know of the Echoes of Fate as well as I. A few days from now, Paldora’s Star will reveal itself for the first time in daylight sky, and Valanis will rise again... so it is foretold.”

“You serve the dark one?” “It is folly to serve any other,” Lyra replied quickly. “Paldora’s Star has streaked across the night’s sky nine times since that prophecy. What makes you so sure this time will be any different?”

“The Dark War. The civil war between the elves.” Gideon nodded his understanding. Valanis had been the key instigator in starting the war, though the mage could hardly remember why. An elven war a thousand years past wasn’t at the top of his to-know-list.

Valanis

The gods had long been forgotten and ridiculed by the elves after their departure from Illian, seeing them as nothing more than fables created by their ancestors. Adilandra knew better. She knew that the elven nation had forsaken the gods out of spite and anger. The Dark War, between the elves, and The Dragon War, between mankind and the dragons, had been too much for her people and their thinking was overly simple: If the gods were real, how could they let so many die?

Nalana’s prophecy was true; the Echoes of Fate had been sent by the gods themselves - a warning of what was to come.

“Children of fire and flame offer great promise, but only one perceives the time we will fall. As the gods recast their fortune and power, one will suffer the burden of destiny for all...”

Paldora’s Gem had been found! After a thousand years it had finally resurfaced, and with an Outlander of all people. The elf was greatly interested to know how the ranger came by such a powerful artefact.

Asher had arrived forty years ago, to the year, after being found outside Elethiah with no tribe to speak of. There had only been one event of significance that had taken place, exactly forty years ago...

How could she have aligned with Valanis? The dark elf had been defeated and trapped inside Elethiah since before Lyra was born. It was troubling to think of sympathisers and disciples of Valanis living in secret among his people in Elandril.

“The elves will fight to destroy Valanis and end the threat of his return once and for all. Your people will be forced to fight simply to survive. That is the nature of war.” Adilandra looked through the mage as if seeing into the past.

“Dragons are deeply magical beings,” Adilandra said. “Their magic was essential in trapping Valanis in the Amber Spell. I believe that with their help, we can find a way to remove him from the face of Verda all together, ending the threat of his return.”

Garganafan, the oldest dragon of his time, lent his power to the spell. Unfortunately, we don’t know if it will last forever or if it can be breached.”

Had Nathaniel not seen Asher in battle, he would have considered all twenty knights escorting him to the cells as overkill but, perhaps, in this case, it was simply good sense.

Only when pain feels like an old friend will you free yourself from the shackles that bind so many men. “If you pass this test, pain will mean nothing to you. You will be capable of anything. Nothing will stop you. But you must find a place in your mind where you can let your body go. Allow it to endure while you retreat and wait for your moment to strike.”

Man never understood the Dragorn. They were a group of a chosen few who had the ability to communicate with the dragons, and were allowed to live with them on their island. It was your people who named the island after them, once they conquered it and The Lifeless Isles beneath.”

“They are creatures of pure empathy.” It was the first time Gideon had seen Adilandra smile. “To you or me they can reflect their feelings in our emotions. If you were to anger them, you would feel angry, if you made them happy, you would feel happy and so on. Dragorn had the ability to discern individual words from the dragons and carry entire conversations. They were the best of us all. When the first dragons fell, my people made the wrong choice to leave for Ayda, abandoning Illian to war and the dragons to near-extinction.”

“It’s all I know,” Asher replied solemnly. “When Nightfall’s finished with you, killing is all that’s left. I just put my talents to better use. There are plenty of monsters out there that don’t walk on two feet. Helping the elves is the right thing to do. Maybe now I can save a few children, rather than...”

“I have more than just Abigail Rose on my conscience. Pray that you never discover the true depths of duty. Men and elves alike are capable of great atrocities if they can do it in the name of another, be it gods or kings. Duty can give you courage and a sense of honour, but it can give you cause to act without thought.

“Fear can be a powerful tool, son,” Tobin Galfrey had said. “Respect it. Listen to it. Fear will keep your wits about you while others run headlong into peril. But I tell you this…” His father had leaned down and gripped his son by the arm. “When you’re surrounded by enemies and the only option left to you is fight or die, fear becomes irrelevant - it has no use. You give it all you have and you live or give it all and you die. If that day should ever come, just make certain that you have more to give than they do.” “How do I do that, Pa?” “It always helps to have something to fight for, son.”

My name is Adriel. I am the last Dragorn...”

Reyna looked into the fire. “We call it the Echoes of Fate.” The princess cleared her throat. “These favoured elves fall and lose their way, as man’s anger devours all dragons’ fire. The immortal man is set to rise, bringing the dark one closer to his most dangerous desire. Paldora’s celestial gem graces daylight sky, and in its beauty ordains calamity. Only alliance and trust between two shores offers an intimation of hope and a glimpse of eternity. Children of fire and flame offer great promise, but only one perceives the time we will fall. As the gods recast their fortune and power, one will suffer the burden of destiny for all.”

To the ranger, prophecies were like old history tomes: lengthy and full of shit.