Origins of the Never: A prequel to The Tales of the Neverwar series, with dragons, elves, and faeries. For Young Adults and Teens (6 page)

With this, Glyran let out a bellow that shook the skies, as the host lifted off. A rip in the air above opened up, and the grey and silver nothingness of the Never became visible. Within seconds it was gone, as the host passed out of this world, leaving a broken, burnt and almost lifeless planet behind.

The Darkness exulted in its victory. The Light dimmed into insignificance as it fed the magical energy of this world across the void to Tenybris and his army. Over the next 1000 years, Tenybris laid waste to countless worlds, each death further increasing the scale of his force. When the host became so numerous as to prove more than his Dragons could transport, they destroyed all life and left the world a burning husk, floating dead in space. Such a fate befell hundreds of worlds before the Veil fell.

Teralia—1000 Years Later

It took centuries to prepare for. The spell Olumé had fashioned was so intricate that 10,000 tiny details had to be just so for it to work.

The People returned from Sanctuary, years after the departure of the Dragon host, to find a world alien to them. The once mighty Dragon females were reduced to little more than mindless animals, breeding cows for the production of Tenybris’s weapons. The Land was barren, with barely any growth anywhere on the planet, but the People brought with them seeds and sapling which had been nurtured on Sanctuary.

They created the Glade, an oasis of the past, where the Light which remained was protected and fed with the goodness remaining among the People. Now, on the eve of the final incantations, Lynnaria stood on the rebuilt balcony of the new Citadel, looking out at the beautiful vista which stretched across the valley. At the edges she could sense the evil attempting to get past their defences, and indeed it was closer than she wanted to admit. Thankfully, on the morrow they would be safe.

The Veil spell was amazing. It wasn’t designed to simply hide the world of Teralia, and its magical core. It was about to move it out of reality. So far out it would not exist in any of the endless paths present in the Never itself. And if it didn’t exist, it would be unable to provide Tenybris with what he needed. After 1000 years, the universe was going to be able to fight Tenybris on an even footing. It would also disrupt Tenybris’s influence on the Lands, and so give the People a chance to reclaim their world.

“Everything is ready, my Queen.”

The voice behind her startled Lynnaria out of her concentration, and she turned to see her friend and advisor, Hallor, standing a few feet away.

“Thank you, Hallor. I was just admiring the view. After tomorrow we may be able to make the whole of Teralia this lovely again.” Hallor walked up onto the balcony beside her.

“Tomorrow will mark the start of a golden age here, Majesty,” he said smiling. His face darkened after a few seconds, however, “but it will also begin an exile which we may never emerge from. The portal to other worlds will be closed forever, and it will be impossible to pierce the Veil barrier and travel to other worlds. We will be alone, my Queen.”

Lynnaria took her friend's hand. “Alone, yes. But Hallor, we will be safe and free. Free to rebuild and prepare for the moment which has been foretold.”

Hallor didn’t quite scoff, but Lynnaria smiled as she sensed his discomfort about what she had just said.

“You still have difficulty believing the prophecy my husband left behind on Sanctuary?” she asked, smiling.

“A prophecy which predicts a being who will be born millennia from now? A being who will have the power to unite other similarly powerful beings from all the dimensions, and so defeat Tenybris? Oh, no. Why should I have trouble believing that?” he finished, sarcastically.

Lynnaria chuckled. She loved her friend dearly, but he could be so obtuse on occasion. “Well, it has taken us 1000 years to prepare to cast this spell; I’m sure my husband has several other surprises in store.”

Hallor looked at her peculiarly. “Has? You still believe he isn’t truly dead? That he is out there, doing Maker knows what to make this ‘plan’ of his succeed?”

“I do.” Lynnaria’s eyes were wet with tears as she looked into Hallor’s. “He must be, Hallor, and his prophecy must be true, for if not, how are we to ever prevail?”

The emotion in those eyes touched Hallor’s heart, so instead of further argument, he simply nodded in agreement. It would do no harm for him to believe what he wanted to. As she was free to believe what she wanted also.

He bowed as he left, leaving his Queen to her thoughts. He had final preparations to make, she knew. Lynnaria turned back to the view. All was ready, she thought with certainty.

The Citadel—The Next Day

The Veil spell had more than one purpose, its chief being to move the Lands and their magic out of reality. The souls of Tenybris’s forces, the ones who had been born on Teralia, were still, however, bound to the Lands. Even though they were corrupt beyond recognition, what had been done to them, had been done by Tenybris himself. So when the Veil began to close, the Lands cried out to these lost souls, and they began to return. As they entered the Glade, they were granted freedom from bondage to pass into the Never. Their energies cried out in rapture as they blended with the void.

At the battle front, Tenybris was abruptly robbed of his magical might. The forces that his original armies had corrupted dropped dead at last. Lifeless husks remained as their souls fled in joy at their final escape. Tenybris was aghast as he saw victory turn to defeat inside a matter of days. The fear he had wielded was melting away hour by hour, so he took whatever Dragons still remained and fled to the edge of the universe. He bound Glyran’s soul to his, in an attempt to prevent his return, and in his arrogance thought he had succeeded. He created a mighty fortress in space, enchanting its walls to be impenetrable to anything except Dragonkind, and there he hid, waiting for a chance for revenge. The pull of the lands was much more than he could have imagined, however, and at last Glyran succumbed to the call home.

Tenybris was left trapped in a prison of his own creation. Nothing he could do would break the walls. He remained alone, surrounded by rotting Dragon carcasses. Over the centuries he went truly insane, as his soul was eaten from within by his own greed and spite.

And so he remained for millennia.

The end of the beginning…

Souls of the Never is book one in the Tales of the Neverwar series, set thousands of years after Origins.

Katheryne thinks she's just a normal 20-year-old, until her dreams descend into terror and pain.
At the edge of the universe, an ancient evil awakens. It wants into our world; and it's coming through her.
As the dreams become reality, Katheryne is pitched into a battle that has raged for thousands of years. The fate of all the realms rests in her hands. Is she strong enough to save her world, and all reality?
This is Book One in Tales of the Neverwar. An epic adventure through time, space and alternate realities. Suitable for the Young Adult audience.

Souls of the Never

Katheryne ran.

People say you run faster when you’re scared. Katheryne ran because she was terrified! Her lungs seared as they breathed in the acrid smoke, but she forced one leg in front of the other as she fled the beach. Her hands swept palm fronds aside, even as the trunks around her smouldered.

Up ahead, the smoke cleared briefly, and she saw the hollow. She would be safe there; it was her special place. She renewed her effort, coughing through the sleeve of the pyjamas she held over her mouth.

A root rose from the cracking ground, and Katheryne sprawled headlong into the sparse jungle undergrowth. She cried out as she got onto her hands and knees. The jungle was alight, and the ferns she lay upon flashed into fire, scorching her skin. The heat intensified so rapidly she couldn’t breathe. She turned around to see the beach overcome with a tide of lava, as a pillar of flame rose like a crimson tornado to set the sky aflame.

Katheryne looked around to see the hollow engulfed in flame. Her soul cried out, and she dropped to her knees as the last shred of hope departed her heart.

A fireball exploded from the rivers of lava surrounding the island. She raised her arms to stave off her inevitable destruction, but the inferno washed over her. She stood like an ember, scorched and cracked, screaming in agony. The sound died, as the oxygen in her lungs ignited.

As she writhed in unimaginable pain and torture, Katheryne sensed the familiar, malevolent presence. The beast reached out with flaming talons. Agony flayed every nerve in her body. Over and over she tried to scream, but there was no air left to inhale...

Katheryne awoke when violently shaken. Through the haze of wakefulness, she heard someone screaming. Slowly realising the wailing came from her, she tried to stop, but couldn’t control her body.
Where was she? Where was the fire? Why, how was she alive?

Kat, it’s okay. It’s just another dream.” Perri held her friend as the shivering and screaming subsided, melting away into gentle exhaustion. Sweat drenched Katheryne’s body; her blonde hair stuck to her face, and her T-shirt clung to her body.

Perri looked at Katheryne as she recovered. She gently laid her friend’s head back on the pillow, wondering how much more she could take.

The dreams started over six months ago; at least, this was when Katheryne realised she was having them. The fits of wakefulness at night descended into torture.

As Perri watched, Katheryne’s glazed expression showed a spark of awareness. She hesitantly looked up at her friend, feeling guilty. “Rough one, huh?” Perri murmured.

Katheryne croaked, “God, I feel like crap. What time is it?” She ran her fingers over her face to remove the hair plastered there, and groaned as she saw the luminous numbers beside her bed. It was 4:30 a.m.

Her heart was returning to a normal rhythm, and the trauma of the dream lost its potency, fading into a vague memory. “So, did I wake up anyone else this time?” She sat up, swinging her feet out to touch the floor, but not trusting them to support her weight.

Perri looked at her in exasperation. Her brows creased and she stifled a yawn. “I’m not sure. I think there might be a couple of fellas still asleep across town, but I wouldn’t bet on it.”

Perri and Katheryne were students at Queens University, and shared the largest room in a five-bedroom house in the Lisburn road area of Belfast, Northern Ireland. Unfortunately for the others in the house, the walls were paper thin. Katheryne groaned, putting her head in her hands. “God, I’m in for it in the morning, aren’t I?”

Perri might have been angry with Katheryne, if this hadn’t been the third time this month she’d had to wake her up to stop her screaming. The neighbour’s curtains already twitched when the girls came in and out, and she didn’t want to give them any more ammunition. It was a student housing neighbourhood. The locals were well used to parties and the like, but only last week Perri walked into the corner shop, and she overheard two of them talking about the noise coming from their house. No, screams were definitely not a great idea at the moment.

“I’m sorry,” Katheryne repeated, coming out of the funk brought on by the dream. “It just seemed so real.”

“Can you remember anything?” asked Perri. “Why don’t you try what the doctor mentioned, you know, the self-hypnotising thingy? Maybe it’ll actually work this time.”

Perri had persuaded her friend, under much duress, to see her doctor the previous month. He’d referred her to a private clinic; Katheryne had money, enough that she could have set them both up in a private apartment, but she wanted to live the student life with her friends. She did, however, have private medical insurance. No National Health waiting lists for her. After all the standard tests were run, she was pronounced healthy, and in great shape overall. Perri joked at the time that Katheryne made her sick. The staff, however, referred Katheryne to a therapist who specialised in sleeping disorders. He taught her several techniques to relax her body and mind prior to sleep. He also taught Katheryne self-hypnosis to aid her in remembering her dreams.

Katheryne sighed and closed her eyes, relaxing as she slowed her breathing, and tried to make sense of the jumbled vague mist in her head. She thought she could see a faint wisp of a memory. She tried to grasp it, chasing it around, but it proved too elusive. Whatever it was, it faded before she could catch it.

“Nothing,” she muttered in frustration. “Except the fire and the pain.”

Bitterness edged the last sentence. Who could blame her, thought Perri.This dream was evil, and it was eating away at her friend, piece by tiny piece, each time she dreamt it.

Perri saw the direction the downward spiral was heading. Katheryne had always been one of the sanest, most level-headed people she knew. It was amazing, considering what she’d been through over the last few years. During the last few weeks, however, she’d become introverted, and prone to bouts of depression and self-doubt. She lost more confidence in herself with each occurrence of this dream, or whatever it was. Perri couldn’t be sure, and she was no expert, but the pain Katheryne experienced while she slept wasn’t normal. The pain was real. She had to help, any way she could.

Perri walked over to her own bed, yawning theatrically. She had to break this mood. “You know if you keep talking that way, you’ll confirm what I’ve known about you for years.” She sounded much brighter than she felt.

“If you’re going to say I’m insane, I’ll agree with you,” replied Katheryne. She lay staring vacantly at the ceiling.

“Insane? Nah. Just weird, maybe borderline psychotic, definitely screwy.” She thought she saw a flicker of a smile touch Katheryne’s lips. “But insane? Frankly, I don’t think you have the brains to be insane… Hey!” She broke off as Katheryne whacked her on the side of the head with a pillow.

It worked. The brief distraction diverted her friend from plunging deeper into the depression.

“That’ll teach you,” laughed Katheryne. She got up to retrieve her pillow, and leaned in to embrace Perri, her eyes wet with unshed tears.

“Thank you,” she whispered, and broke off before returning to her own bed. “Now if you don’t mind, I’m going to try to salvage what’s left of my sanity and get some sleep.”

“Hmm, says the mad girl who just woke up the whole street.” Perri laughed. “Night, Kat.” She glanced over, but Katheryne was already asleep. It never failed to amaze her how her friend could do that. Katheryne could fall asleep at will. She’d always been able to, as long as Perri had known her.

“Unbelievable!” Perri harrumphed, as her friend began to breath deeply. If I had a dream like that, I’d be terrified to put my head back on the pillow, never mind fall asleep in five seconds flat, she thought. “Like I said…crazy.” She laid her head down, knowing sleep would be a long time coming.

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