An Unexpected Deity (Book 7)
Read An Unexpected Deity (Book 7) Online
Authors: Jeffrey Quyle
Wren was bringing up the rear of the squad, when she gave a scream as she fell to the ground.
All the others in front of her instantly turned, and saw an extraordinary sight; a blackness was crawling along the floor of the cave from behind them, and a tendril of it wrapped itself around one of Wren’s feet. It appeared to be insubstantial, but as she kicked her foot wildly it remained attached to her, and tiny wisps continued to climb up along her leg.
“It hurts! It’s attacking me!” she said as she ineffectively sliced her sword at it. The blade passed through the dark shadow without inflicting any visible damage.
“The torch!” Gates shouted, taking the handle of their torch from the man who held it. He bravely dashed forward and thrust the flaming end of the brand directly into the larger body of darkness behind Wren, which was still approaching slowly along the floor.
In reaction, the black mist sent a new tendril of its insubstantial-self shooting out towards his feet, and as it made contact he was jerked down too, sending the torch to roll back along the floor after he dropped it.
“It’s alive! It’s going to eat my soul!” Gates shouted in terror.
Shocked by the horror unfolding before him, Kestrel desperately reached for the energy within himself, and called it to come to him.
He found it and sensed that it was present, but his ability to grasp it was tenuous – something seemed to create a barrier that he could hardly surmount. With great focus, he managed to pull a weak thread of the energy out, and focused it in his hand, then threw it as a blue ball of energy directly into the black mist.
The energy landed inside the mist, and then the mist closed over it, hiding it from view, foretelling that Kestrel’s attack had been fruitless.
Fantasy Series by Jeffrey Quyle
The Inner Seas Kingdoms Series
- The Healing Spring
- The Yellow Palace
- Road of Shadows
- A Foreign Heart
- Journey to Uniontown
- The Guided Journey
- An Unexpected Deity
The Ingenairii Series
- Visions of Power
2. At the Seat of Power: Goldenfields and the Dominion
3. The Loss of Power: Goldenfields and Bondell
4. The Lifesaving Power: Goldenfields and Stronghold
5. Against the Empire
6. Preserving the Ingenairii
7. Rescuing the Captive
8. Ajacii and Demons
9. The Caravan Road
10. The Journey Home
Alchemy’s Apprentice Series
- The Gorgon’s Blood Solution
- The Echidna’s Scale
- Scarlet from Gold
- The Southern Trail
Also by Jeffrey Quyle
The Green Plague
For more information, visit the Ingenairii Series on Facebook,
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An Unexpected Deity
The Inner Seas Kingdoms Series
Book 7
Jeffrey Quyle
Index
Chapter 1
Page 1
Chapter 2 Page 8
Chapter 3
Page 18
Chapter 4 Page 26
Chapter 5
Page 42
Chapter 6 Page 54
Chapter 7 Page 60
Chapter 8 Page 69
Chapter 9
Page 91
Chapter 10 Page 96
Chapter 11
Page 106
Chapter 12
Page 115
Chapter 13 Page 142
Chapter 14
Page 148
Chapter 15 Page 162
Chapter 16
Page 172
Chapter 17
Page 197
Chapter 18 Page 213
Chapter 19 Page 218
Chapter 20
Page 228
Chapter 21
Page 235
Chapter 22
Page 243
List of Characters
Kestrel, Warden of the Marches in the Eastern Forest
Picco, member of Graylee nobility, Creata’s sister, Ruelin’s wife
Creata, Graylee Duke of the East Seashore, ambassador to Seafare
Stillwater, Odare, Killcen, Acanthus, Mulberry, imps assigned to Kestrel
Dewberry, sprite, queen of the imps
Moorin, of the Northern Elves, Tyndall Shail of the Southern Elves
Ruelin, Prince of Seafare
Wren, cousin to Kestrel, betrothed to Creata
Remy and Pont, young elves of Oaktown
Whyte, Steward of Kestrel’s manor
Captain Lim, officer at Center Trunk
Aurelia, princess of the Northern Forest
Putienne, a yeti of the Water Mountains
Bernie, Cook at the Oaktown Manor
Duke Listay, nobleman of Uniontown
Stuart, chief guardsman for Duke Listay
Gates, guardsman for Listay
Hermes, guardsman for Listay
Lark, daughter of Duke Listay
Bradstree, southern gnome
Woven, southern gnome of Proetec’s village
The Human Deities:
Kai – goddess of the air Growelf – god of fire
Krusima – god of earth Shaish – goddess of water
The Elven Deities:
Kere – goddess of fortune Norvell – god of light
Tamson – god of force Were – goddess of sound
Morph – god of speed Powson – god of weight
Tere – goddess of size
The Gnome Deity:
Corrant
The Skye Deity:
Tullamore
The Parstole Deities:
Decimindion & Medeina
Prologue
Kestrel had saved the world. A young elf, he had been plucked from obscurity, and sent on a mission. At first, he had ostensibly been an elven spy, watching the intrigues of the humans, but his greater role had been to act as the agent of the gods.
Goddesses from the humans and the elves, with cooperation from others, selected and assisted Kestrel in a greater challenge – the battle to defeat the invading race of reptilian Viathins, and their god, Ashcrayss.
Kestrel had gone through a grueling series of adventures in his battles, and his travels had taken him across more nations than any other elf of the Eastern Forest had ever traveled. He was able to make the journeys in part because he was part-human himself, and able to be made to look human, unlike the typical full-blooded elves of the forest, who looked down upon his racial ambivalence.
He also succeeded because of his fortunate friendship with the sprites and imps. Both races had been reclusive to the point of seeming mythical, but a chance occurrence caused Kestrel to perform a favor for the royal family, and a rare and deep friendship developed, placing the particular talents of the imps at the call of Kestrel.
When his battles against the Viathins finally ended, Kestrel made a long journey home to the Eastern Forest, and retired, he hoped, to live a peaceful life as a nobleman, the Warden of the Marches, a title and an estate granted to him by the king of the Eastern Forest elves.
But the royal family of the Eastern Forest called upon him to escort an emerging favorite of theirs to the Northern Forest elves, to establish formal relations between the two kingdoms. As he carried out that journey, he met and befriended a young yeti, Putienne, and he was repeatedly attacked by a mysterious, powerful force.
The human goddess, Kai, broke a long silence to speak to Kestrel at last, telling him of dire problems, and assigning him to fix them. And so his adventures continue.