The Song of Eloh Saga
Read The Song of Eloh Saga Online
Authors: Megg Jensen
Tags: #Romance, #Fantasy, #sword and sorcery, #Sci-Fi & Fantasy
The Song of Eloh Saga
The Initiate – a novelette
(Book One, The Song of Eloh Saga)
Cloud Prophet Trilogy
Anathema
(Book Two, The Song of Eloh Saga)
Oubliette
(Book Three, The Song of Eloh Saga)
Severed
(Book Four, The Song of Eloh Saga)
The Swarm Trilogy
Sleepers
(Book Five, The Song of Eloh Saga)
Afterlife
(Book Six, The Song of Eloh Saga)
The Sundering
(Book Seven, The Song of Eloh Saga)
Megg Jensen
http://www.facebook.com/authormeggjensen
Copyright © 2012 by 80 Pages, Inc.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are either products of the author’s imagination or used factitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. No part of this publication can be reproduced or transmitted in any form by or any means, electronic or mechanical, without permission in writing from the author or publisher.
1
st
Edition: September 2012
Cover art by Steven Novak – Novak Illustration
Published by 80 Pages, Inc
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.
Table of Contents
The Initiate
Anathema
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Oubliette
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Severed
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Sleepers
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Afterlife
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
The Sundering
Prologue
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter Sixteen
Chapter Seventeen
Chapter Eighteen
Chapter Nineteen
Chapter Twenty
Chapter Twenty-One
Chapter Twenty-Two
Chapter Twenty-Three
Chapter Twenty-Four
Chapter Twenty-Five
Chapter Twenty-Six
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Chapter Thirty
Chapter Thirty-One
The Initiate
Megg Jensen
“Don’t tear up, Eloh,” she told me. “You’ll have black streaks down your face if you do.”
I flinched, preparing for a slap across my cheek that did not come. For a moment I’d forgotten I was an initiate. No one would ever lay a hand on me again. I relaxed back into the chair.
She yanked on the side of my eyelid, pulling the skin so tight it felt like it would rip in two. A thick line of kohl wound its way around my eyes, led by her skilled hand. Commoners were not allowed to wear cosmetics. I’d never even known anyone who’d worn it. Cosmetics were saved for the queen and only applied by slaves who were referred to as cosmetae. Since I was one of the chosen, the cosmetae were to make me beautiful for only one night.
My sister said I was lucky. I knew otherwise.
“Hold your breath, now,” she said. She placed a small strip of linen over my nostrils. “I’m going to paint your eyelids and your brow with chalk. I promise, it will be a very becoming pattern. I’ve been practicing on rocks at night and I think I’ve come up with something new, definitely different than the girl who’ll stand next to you during the ceremony. You’ll stand out and maybe you’ll be favored.”
More than likely, by the end of the night I’d be dead. If by some remote chance I was favored, then the cosmeta would probably live a life of luxury. Anyone who had a hand in the creation of the Chosen One would be cared for. Her fingers swept deftly over my eyelids, patting the chalk into all the creases. A friend once told me they mixed the chalk with crocodile dung to help it cling to the skin. I tried to push it out of my mind.
“You have the most gorgeous brown eyes. They’ll nearly glow when accentuated by my cosmetics. The gods are sure to take notice and elevate you. This will convince them to come back to us.”
Hundreds of years ago the gods abandoned us; it was unlikely my brown eyes would change their minds. Instead I’d be another wasted life, sacrificed to gods who no longer cared for us. Why my people continued to believe, to worship, to pray to gods who left us was beyond my comprehension.
The cosmeta grabbed a handful of peacock feathers from the clay jar on the table. “These will look amazing in your hair. The contrast between your brown eyes and the greens and blues of the feathers will attract more attention. The others will be forgotten. The gods will gaze upon no one but you.”
Her obsession with my beauty might have been amusing, perhaps even flattering, if I hadn’t realized she was doing all of this for herself. In the past, cosmetae had been executed when none of the girls were chosen. It was a risky profession.
The peacock feathers tickled my nose as she waved them across my face. Did she really think I was buying into this? She could turn me into the most beautiful creature to ever walk this planet and it wouldn’t attract any god anywhere. In my heart, I felt that they hadn’t just left us. They had never existed. I’d yet to see any proof they did.
So few became initiates.
Only one initiate would pass. Only the Chosen One would survive. That was all in theory, providing the gods made a choice. So far none had survived. I tried not to laugh, knowing it would only anger her, and probably mess up the makeup. The whole situation was beyond ridiculous.
I glanced at the other girls in the room, whose makeup was being applied with as much reverence and excitement as mine. Except those girls looked nothing like me. Hope gleamed in their eyes. They rarely spoke. Some even folded their hands in reverent prayer. I wanted to feel guilty for being an unbeliever. I just couldn’t convince myself to believe in something I’d never seen or understood, especially when the ritual had done nothing but murder innocent girls.
Unfortunately they’d been performing the ritual for hundreds of years and hundreds had perished, hoping to be the Chosen One.
I was here because my parents had no need for me.
They had one son and one daughter. Three children, if they counted me. But no one did. I was the accident. An extra mouth to feed in a family already strapped financially. I was born in the summer, so leaving me out in the cold to die wasn’t an option. Instead they kept me until I was old enough to be given over as an initiate. It made them heroes in our town. Two girls between the ages of fourteen and eighteen from each town were sacrificed every ten years. My parents were selfless to forfeit their youngest daughter. At least that’s what everyone believed. I knew they couldn’t wait to be rid of me.
The gods left us over a thousand years ago. The magic users in our society had grown hungry with power. On their quest for knowledge, they learned too much and began to manipulate the gods. They abandoned us and since then our people fell into poverty. Our lives were filled with despair and desolation. Hunger and disease were our neighbors.