Dark Epic Fantasy Book Series

Forgotten Legacies by KJ Simmill

Series Excerpt

Darkness filled their vision as they awoke in Darrienia, it was a void familiar to all dreamers in that phase between being awake and asleep. A nothingness accompanied by the sleepy paralysis induced by the rousing of the mind and body. After a few moments it cleared, they found themselves looking out over the broken terrain of an unfamiliar land. Before them stretched a mighty courtyard, its once even stone floor sunken and crushed over time to leave large shards of rock protruding from the desecrated ground. The twisted weapons of fallen foes littered the area where it seemed a mighty battle had once raged. Through the crumbled pieces, of what would once have been a protective sandstone wall, lay a littered expanse of discarded metal, large broken metallic plates, twisted ballista, and trebuchet lay mangled in the rusted graveyard. The extent of this debris clearly visible through what once would have been an enormous gateway. The decrepit sandstone wall rose to a mighty arch, fragments of splintered wood still hung near its giant wrought iron hinges. The earth around them seemed to tremble slightly, as if under the sheer weight of the waste it supported.

Just like waking from a deep sleep, not everything became clear at once. It took moments before they felt the cold force of the rock which pressed against their backs, and the coarse metal of the shackles which secured them firmly in place. The chains, which held the shackles, were threaded through the solid rock to secure them in a fixed standing position, allowing them very little freedom of movement.

The question of how they came to be there wasn’t even a consideration as they focused on their escape. The chains were so expertly crafted that no join was visible. The shackles, in a similar fashion, remained securely sealed by perfectly sized pegs fitting smoothly against either side of the metal, making dislodging them impossible.

Daniel stretched for Zo’s hand desperately, in an attempt to reach her restraints, but no matter how hard he tried he could move no further than an inch. Even that small distance made the metal shackles dig painfully into his flesh. They were actually made to be a rather loose fit, but not so much that they could hope to escape without aid. Whoever had made these restraints was clearly an expert, just enough leeway to offer their prisoners a moment of hope, before their attempt to slide their hand through, would thrust their captives into further despair.

Elly also tugged at the chains finding them unyielding, she glanced over to Zo who seemed deep in thought, clearly thinking over the options. The air around them grew silent, it was only then they realised the sounds of their attempted escape had not been the only noise within their proximity. Something, now silent, had been repeated in the background, but the words of this almost inaudible chant had been lost through their attempts to free themselves.

“Anyone got any ideas how t’—” Another rumble shook the ground, vibrating the loose rocks around them, threatening their balance. The intensity so great it almost felt as if the ground was about to split and swallow them whole. The penetrating screech of metal fragments scraping across each other filled the air. Through the arch they could see the avalanche of metal the most recent tremor had caused. The metal pile swelled as if something beneath it stirred, then rose. It parted to reveal a giant twisted metal paw which sought to find its footing. Eiji cringed as he decided not to finish his question, in favour of re-concentrating his efforts on their escape. No matter how hard he struggled, he did little more than redden his wrists which already throbbed and protested against the pressure from the hard metal. The ear-piercing sound continued as the area just outside the confines of the sandstone wall began to swell further as something enormous stirred from within its depths.

“Zo,” Daniel whispered. “Magic?” his voice held hopeful reason. He hoped she would confirm her skills could be used to free them, but he knew even before she replied if it had been an option they would not still be in this predicament, as he looked to her, he could see she was deep in thought.

“I can’t,” she stated finally. “It would kill us.” She yanked at the chains as if to prove her point. If she could summon a fire with the intensity needed to weaken the restraints, she was certain they would be dead before they fell. Her restricted movement would not allow her the control she needed. She pulled against the chains desperately. If they would give even just a few inches there was a chance she would be able to summon a small enough flame to damage her own restraints whilst inflicting serious, but non-fatal, injuries to herself. Once free she could then release her companions. Even with the hope of this possibility, no matter how much she fought against the restraints they wouldn’t yield.

Twisted metal rained from the swell as the gargantuan creature within gave one final push to free itself from hibernation. The very sight of it paralysed them. It was not a dragon, or at least, not like any they had ever imagined existing. Its large scaly body bore a clear resemblance to one, yet the shape was where all similarities ended. Its enormous paws bore ridiculously long, painful looking, steel nails in place of its claws. Rust spread down the jagged shards starting at the place it first pierced the creature’s flesh to extend all the way to the very tip of the steel talon. Its skin was torn and twisted as it hung loosely on the enormous creature. Some of the baggy flesh was gathered into folds and held in place by the enormous twisted nails, which penetrated various parts of its body, driven through its flesh into what they could only assume would be the creature’s bone. It was as if these deformed nails were all that stopped the creature’s scaly skin from shedding. Its over-large tail seemed to be completely untouched by the rusted spikes, a tail which the creature dragged slowly behind it as it moved, weighted down by the huge mace shaped finish that marked its tail’s tip. It was, without question, the most terrifying thing they had ever seen.

It was horrific, but its mouth was by far the most hideous feature. It seemed to sneer at them, forced into a wicked grin by its terrifying teeth, teeth which shone brightly as the millions of, what looked to be, over-sized lances that filled its mouth reflected the sunlight. Within these fine points that it knew as teeth, were the embedded armour shards of its previous meals. The thin teeth overstretched the creature’s enormous bite overfilling its mouth with the deadly spikes which spread so far back, that if its meal were to miss the initial row it would be caught in one of the other hundred, to guarantee it the taste of blood, a taste which brought its only release from the eternal torture. It seemed almost as if it were the unfinished project of a long insane alchemist. Laying eyes upon them it gave a deafening roar, harboured within its thunderous tones shrieked the sound of grating metal. With each step it advanced, the ground shook and groaned as it ploughed its way through its rusted nest. Its giant paw reached up planting itself firmly across the stone archway, its sheer weight reducing it to dust. The force of its step further crumbing the shattered wall as the stones broke under the force of its movement.

Exhaling, its putrid breath whipped around them like a strong wind enveloping all within its decayed stench. Standing before them, its nostrils twitched as it took in the scent of fresh food. Zo closed her eyes tightly as it lowered its head to sniff the courtyard, so close to the rock they were imprisoned on.

Just then, as all seemed lost, a cry echoed through the air.

“Unhand those maidens you wretched fiend.” Emerging unseen from somewhere to their left, a knight rode into view on his mighty white steed, his silver armour shone brightly as the sun’s rays reflected on its highly polished surface. He looked almost alien to the horrific reality of the scene before them, almost fictitious as he rode to their rescue. His voice was filled with heroism which reminded them of the poorly cast heroes in the theatrics performed by the travelling caravans. The knight turned to look towards them offering them a flirtatious wink. “Do not fear, for I, Sir Earnest will protect you. Defender of righteousness, saviour of maidens, hero, knight… lover.” He smiled once again at the captives, a silver metal filling in his tooth caught the sun’s light as he did so.

“I think, I preferred the dragon.” Zo whispered to Daniel, still trying to work free the restraints. Despite the nature of their situation, or perhaps it was simply his nerves, he couldn’t help but give a short laugh. Sir Earnest leapt gallantly from his horse using the momentum to target a blow on the dragon’s leg. He rolled to the side before springing to his feet evading the path of the monster’s mighty paw as it continued its advance. He sprinted forwards, ducking and weaving beneath the belly of the creature as he made its way towards its front.

“Excuse me.” Daniel interrupted Sir Earnest’s fancy footwork as he danced around the dragon’s feet; luckily, as yet, it had failed to notice his arrival. “How about you cut me down so I can free the others while you do heroic battle with the beast, to save time,” he reasoned.

“Do you jest?” he scoffed with mocking laughter. “A real knight would never let a commoner take the glory of the rescue.” With those words he turned to face the dragon, who now looked more angry at having being momentarily dazzled by the knight’s armour, than the fact only moments before he had lunged forwards thrusting his sword through a small fissure in its ankle. A grinding, earth-shattering roar filled the air once more with the putrid stench of the dragon’s rotting breath and their battle began.

“We’re all gonna die,” Eiji stated loud enough for all to hear. In the meantime, it appeared Elly was still trying to find a means of escape. If required, she was certain she could break these bonds, but she wanted to place her faith elsewhere, she had to know, if she waited long enough, whether Zo’s instinct would take over.

“He is getting pummelled,” she stated, a strange smile crossed her lips as she watched the dragon swing the hero around with its tail. It was an action Sir Earnest had initiated as he had grabbed it in a futile attempt to stop its movement, or perhaps he had intended to swing it around by this appendage, but he had clearly either underestimated its size, or overestimated his own power. It thrashed its tail from side to side, which he held onto with an amazing display of obstinacy, before it flung him to the ground. “We need to do something before that idiot loses its attention.” She looked in Zo’s direction as she spoke. They all knew they had to do something, it was just that none of them knew exactly what could be done, as they had already discovered, there was no way to get enough leverage, and magic in such a tight area was too dangerous.

As disturbing as the thought was, it seemed their lives rested in the hands of the knight, Sir Earnest. He gave a cry of victory as the creature brought its enormous paw to the ground, knocking him effortlessly to one side as he tried to lift it in a futile attempt to tip it over, although they had to give him some credit, no matter how much he was being beaten, he always got up for more.

“I wonder if it’ll eat us whole?” Acha’s voice trailed off as the dragon’s jaw began to descend upon their staggering hero. She shuddered as she saw the true extent of the teeth that stretched far back into its throat. A sickening pop filled the air moments before the knight seemed to vanish, mere seconds away from his demise. The dragon sniffed the air around him as it searched for the appetiser which had somehow escaped its jaws. The air seemed heavy, for a moment it was as if the dragon had forgotten their presence as it searched for its lost prey.

“Hey,” Eiji shouted, despite their attempts to silence him, was he really so stupid? To call attention to themselves while the dragon was still distracted would only serve to remind it of their presence. They could all see the slowly approaching figure in the distance, they knew calling to him would serve no purpose. Despite their hushing him he shouted again. “Can y’ help us?” Eiji had seen Seiken, he stood a short distance away from the dragon, although for some reason it failed to notice him despite the fact he stood clearly in its line of sight, Eiji continued to call, desperate to grab his attention.