The following is an excerpt from my new fantasy series, VALOR. It has recently been published as a part of the Bardsy Spring 2023 Anthology. It is estimated to be completed by Fall 2023.
Oh, watch her, indomitable Valeria!
She who knows no home but the battle field
Whose heart beats only to the drums of war
And who knows no love but that of combat
See her bear the symbol of Solaris, burning with the light of justice
Watch the flow of her blade, faster than Valor’s eyes can follow
See her emerge unscathed, with trace of Prasax’s judgement
Watch the magnificence of her golden hair, a sign of holy blessing
If there is only one true god, Valor
Then surely she is his chosen goddess
His messenger to spread his light
The goddess of the battlefield, Valeria
Valeria’s hand swiped down her cheek, her finger cleaning the blood that soaked her skin. She withdrew her hand after a moment and looked at her gauntlet, its leather underside soaked so deeply that she realized she was only spreading more blood across her face. She could only shake her head as she slid her lengthy blade back into its sheath, which hung opposite the buckler at her hip. Valeria struggled to breathe from beneath her breastplate for a moment, but she soon regained her strength. Her feet carried her across the rows of bodies strewn before her, her golden armored frame passing slowly across the battlefield. As she walked, the rich, red cloak hanging from her neck blossomed outward, carried by the wind and unfolding to fly the golden sigil of Solaris.
As she walked, a few men looked to her, their eyes finding the sigil that flew at her back and their heads quickly bowing in grateful prayers. She glanced at them through the visor of her helmet, its golden sheen catching the light and scattering it along the ground. Valeria distanced herself from their unwarranted worship while herself giving thanks, though to no god in particular, that her mouth and cheeks were unguarded. Her helmet at least allowed her to feel the cool air and crisp breeze that whistled softly through the barren trees surrounding the clearing. For a moment, her mind turned to the Fall seasons of her childhood, as blurry as those times so often were. Her memories of those times were weak yet accompanied by strong emotions. As strands of her red hair fell beneath her visor and touched her lips, she was almost able to catch a memory of herself running through the forest as a young girl.
That memory was interrupted by a rough cough, and she turned to find Left-Eye, a member of her Patchwork Infantry, following a few steps behind her. “You must’ve done half of this. You know, it’s strange, all this time I’ve served under you and I’ve never once seen your crimson blade.”
Her fingers rested lightly upon the hilt of her sword, and she felt her pulse quicken while her chest rose at the memory of the battle. “It was . . . Glorious.”
“You like killing that much.”
“The call of vengeance . . . the bloodlust . . . is difficult to master. My true joy lies in the challenge of the fight. I was raised for battle.”
“Adopted by the Knights of Valor, right?”
“Yes. I have no memory of my parents, of their love. My earliest memories as a young woman, in training, when I’d already surpassed my masters.” She stopped a moment as her eyes went to her blade. “All except one. And he was banished from Aelia.”
“Cast out of the capital? Shame. What for?”
“For the same reason we fight these people here in the east. Heresy.” Her gaze shifted downward as she dropped to a knee. “Look here.” Valeria’s gloved fingers opened the eyelids of one of the men. As his pupils became visible, a light like the sun shone through them. Her fingers traced the man’s temples and the scorch marks she found. The skin was reddish and looked toughened compared to the rest of his fair complexion. “The last light still burns in him.”
“I believe I see it well enough from here,” he said as he stepped back.
“You fear it?”
Left-Eye shrugged. “They do say their madness can move between people like a sickness.”
“I have never seen it. What I know is that this man,” she said, her hands drifting down his face and to his neck, “Bears the same symbol that we’ve seen countless times during our march into the east.” Her fingers reached beneath the man’s collar and pulled out a simple silver chain, to which was attached an amulet. It was little more than a simple ring of fake gold to which eight spikes, representing the sun’s rays, were affixed. “The further we march, the more the barbarians carry these symbols. It’s as if the cult of the sun grows wild beyond the borders of the Aelian Empire. It is no wonder the emperor has called for their deaths for the crime of heresy. It is either execution or repentance.”
“Considering the madness that grabs them, I’ve wondered why they claim to worship the sun. It’s a false sun, is what it is.”
Her eyes shifted to him. “Then you are a true believer in Solaris and Valor.”
“Valor is the true sun, and the Emperor Solaris is his instrument,” he replied with a bow of his head. “And, if you’ll pardon me for saying, then the story in the capital’s that you’re Valor’s blade. The goddess of the battlefield, they say.”
“If only the politicians loved the truth of me as much as the lies they spread. They speak of me as Valor’s golden-haired warrior apostle. Yet my life has not granted me the luxury of faith. Whomever my parents were, they were stolen from me by war. My sole reason for being is to protect others from the same fate. That is why my only faith is in my blade. The empire gave me nothing else to believe in.” She sighed as she returned to her feet. “Let us leave. Commander Gideon has already taken troops north, to see if there are other Scorched. We shall investigate elsewhere.”
Left-Eye grunted before struggling to follow her across the uneven ground, but he managed it in silence. That silence lasted only briefly before he finally blurted, “Why’s it seem that old Gideon’s always such a donkey? The man’s got a stick so far up his backside I’m surprised he can bend over to fix his greaves.”
“Mind yourself. He remains your commanding officer.”
“I respect the man. I’d obey every order and follow him into any battle. Tell me I’m wrong, though.”
“Commander Gideon . . . is a disciplined man. That is why he is leader of the knights when I am gone. I would be lying if I said I did not appreciate my conversations with him. There are certain things he understands. The weight of duty, and the burden of command.”
Left-Eye sniffed at the air. “Makes me feel about as good as all hell hearing that. I’m lying, if that isn’t clear.”
“You and I enjoy a different kind of conversation,” she said as she turned to him. “Humorous conversation.”
“Beg your pardon, m’lady, but you never laugh.” It was true, but she granted him a smile before she resumed her walk. Left-Eye stood there a moment, his jaw slack as he stammered. “You . . . you smiled. You actually smiled.”
“You know I am human.”
“Well, true, it’s just . . . I’m just . . . Well, never you mind. I’ll simply appreciate the moment.”
“Good,” she said as the woods gave way to a clearing. “Because we’re here.” Before them, rickety shacks made from wooden planks and straw thatching huddled together in a wide, loose circle. Valeria lingered at the fringes and stared at the horrid beauty of the yellow blades of light streaking upward from the ground and the rooftops of the buildings. These were not like flames, but slivers of sunlight, except that these rays came from no sun.
“Whole place has been Sun Scorched, it has,” Left-Eye mumbled as he stared with her.
“That is not a question,” she agreed as her gaze sifted through the bodies. The corpses in a nearby doorway also bled light, yet she focused on the wounds in their backs. “These people did not die from Sun Scorching, though. These are stab wounds. It was a weapon like any other that killed them. They were killed by those maddened by the false sun, yet cold steel brought their deaths.”
“What do you reckon we should do?”
Valeria ignored him as her eyes found a body lying heaped within the village center. It was a young boy bearing a gaping wound in his chest. His mouth was bloody and bruised, and his eyes had rolled back to stare, with death’s gaze, to the sky. “The madness,” she whispered as she resumed her steps, her fingers clenching tightly as she stood over the body. “They struck him across his face, sending him backward. Then they finished their bloody work with a sword through his chest. What would drive them to this?”
She noticed Left-Eye reaching his hand outward, his lips parting to answer before he quickly withdrew. Valeria appreciated his restraint as she dropped to her knees, her hands reaching out and bringing the boy’s body into her arms. “Oh. Dear child. Sweet, sweet child,” she whispered as she held his head to her chest. She breathed deeply as she said, “Go find Commander Gideon. Tell him what we have found. Though, be slow. I beg you. Allow me time to mourn.”
“Oh. Oh, right. Of course, m’lady,” he said as he backed away. When he was far enough, her hand went to her helmet. In a moment, she removed it, the faux sunlight reflecting off its surface as she laid it on the ground. Her red hair flowed in the wind as she pressed her chin to the boy’s head, her hands clutching him tightly. As she kneeled there, she heaved outward in a single, despairing breath. Still, she could feel Left-Eye’s gaze still watching for any glimpse of her face that he could manage.
“Left-Eye. The commander.”
There was a moment of silence before he asked, hesitantly, “Are you sure that’s safe? I’m not meaning to doubt you, of course. I mean no offense, m’lady. Captain.”
“Please. Allow me time with these people, before our next battle. Bring Commander Gideon here.”
“Alright. I’ll be back. Not too quickly, as you like.”
“Thank you.” And with that, she gently rested her face once more upon the boy, the pair of them silently embracing with the broken shards of light. Soon, all she could hear was the sound of the wind whispering from between the trees and the shattered doorways. Time stretched outward until she could no longer tell when Left-Eye had departed. She awaited his return along with the Knights of Valor, and heard the approaching footsteps that reached her ears. Dozens of feet trampled through the forest and roughly crushed twigs and leaves. With every passing moment, their steps grew louder, yet she did not move, even when they halted just inside the clearing.
Valeria took a deep breath as she heard a single pair of footsteps approach, and with them, she listened as a sword started to exit its sheath. “My name is Valeria, daughter of the sun,” she warned him, which brought the steps to an abrupt stop. “I am the sword of light, and blade of justice. Today you are offered mercy in the name of Valor and his chosen voice, the Emperor Solaris. Repent of your transgressions, and mercy will be shown you this day. Commit yourselves to Valor, and you will be forgiven of your sins. There will be a place for you in the sunlight.”
A long moment passed before she again heard the sword being drawn, the sound of its metal echoed by dozens of other blades. Valeria nodded as she returned the boy to the soil. “I see,” she almost whispered, though her voice resonated within her chest. She reached for her helmet, which she gently laid back over her face until her visor again guarded her vision. “Then you have chosen death.” She brought a knee upward, elevating herself while, in a single motion, drawing her blade from its sheath. The wind howled through the surrounding forest, her hair like fire as it carried in the air, her regal cloak forming a crimson torrent behind her. “I tell you once more. I am Valeria, daughter of the sun. Now, you shall meet my blade,” she said as she pivoted on her heel, her body turning fully to face her attackers. “And all who meet my blade find death.”
Valeria vanished as her last words left her lips. In that same instant, she saw her attackers. They were men and women, clothed in leather armor, some carrying swords and shields while others held tightly to axes. Their mouths opened in identical howls, like the call of wolves during the hunt. It was their eyes, though, that marked them as Sun Scorched. Their pupils burned with a yellow light that mirrored the glowing rays cutting through their skin. Together, they raised their weapons and charged to meet her.
Valeria was past the first line of them in an instant, and she heard as a half dozen of their numbers pitched forward, blood spraying into the air as they collapsed into the ground. She saw the streams of blood sliding down the edge of her sword as she moved skyward, leaping over her nearest opponent. Her arm moved at speeds that defied anticipation, her blade visible for mere seconds as she passed above her enemies, their heads falling into the grass as their bodies toppled like dead trees. Valeria could see her opponents shifting as they closed in from all sides.
Yet they suddenly stopped, holding at a distance as they surrounded her. Within that same instant, she felt the ground at her feet shake as the soil burst apart with beams of light. The blades burned only slightly at first, then suddenly surged. Heat filled the air, and Valeria raised her shield at the very moment that a column of light erupted around her. The earth groaned as she was blinded, the light growing until she was consumed entirely. Heat seared her armor and burned at her skin before the entire world vanished before her.
It took long moments before the light finally faded. And as it faded, Valeria still stood, shield upraised. In front of it, a circular rune spun, projected from the shield itself. Around her, protective energy braced her against the assault she had just endured. As the protective rune vanished, her shielded arm dropped to her side, her chest rising and falling as she felt the maddening frenzy of vengeance possessing her. “It is magic you choose, then,” she said through grit teeth. “I choose another way.” With that, she pivoted on her heel, her blade flashing outward as a dozen of her attackers had their chests sliced open. And then she was plunging into their midst, watching as they, with slashed throats and cut limbs, collapsed to the ground.
Which was the moment she grunted, her body suddenly twisting sideways as she was spun out of control. Pain burned from her side as she regained her footing, just in time to leap away from an arrow that pierced the air behind her. Simultaneously, she grabbed at the projectile lodged in her side, yanking it outward and feeling the blood gush from her wound. Her steps slowed as she braced against the pain, but as her eyes locked with those of her last, remaining foe, she felt the barely shackled bloodlust boiling ever hotter in her chest. The creature towered over her, more than twice her size and rippling with muscle. It was grotesquely proportioned as if twisted and broken by sun poisoning. Its body leaked with golden rays that split its skin, and the sun surged from its eyes as it rushed at her. She did not hesitate to meet its charge.
In mere moments, they met at the center of the clearing. The creature was fast, far faster than its brethren. It twisted aside, narrowly avoiding her blade as it retaliated with its own crude, broad sword. She rolled beneath its strike and quickly leaped upward, planting her foot on its bent knee and leaping at its throat. Her blade cut along the beast’s chest, but before the tip of her sword could meet its neck, the creature grabbed her by the waist and sent her flying along the ground. Valeria rolled sloppily along the dirt for a moment before she forced her legs upward and pivoted into a somersault. Within a breath, she’d landed back on her feet, her chest pounding as she instantly returned to the fight. Her blade was held outward, its tip trailing the ground as this time she spiraled into the air, the creature’s strike sailing underneath her.
She pivoted toward it and again rose, her shield bashing into its elbow. Her ears pounded at the sound of its bone breaking, the beast screaming in sudden pain as it sent a backward blow aimed squarely at her face. Valeria leaned away as its arm sailed mere inches from her nose, then launched forward with a turn of her blade. This time, she found her mark, and the creature bellowed as her sword sliced cleanly into its stomach. In a mere instant, she was sailing past the beast, her sword again free as she turned, watching as the monster fell to its knees. And there, with its bloodied hands suddenly grasping at its gaping wound, Valeria grabbed at its hair.
“Blood cries out for blood,” she proclaimed simply as her blade flashed from her hand. Flesh, muscle, and bone sliced apart in an instant, and as she tore away from the beast, its head came with her, clutched tightly in her grip. And there she stood as the creature fell, bathing in the blood that painted her golden armor and ran down her visor. That blood continued to pool into the earth as she stood for a moment before, finally, turning back to the town. Her eyes found the dead boy’s body, still lying motionless in the soil. Yet, trophy in hand, she bowed her head slightly, respectfully, toward the child. “Peace find you, in whatever life that may come, and know that I will bring an end to the False Sun Heresy.”
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