Aniytlia (Prologue

(Heyo, this is a quick teaser in case anyone's interested. It's a sneak peek of the full novel. If you like what you see, please come read the rest at www.webook.com/project/aniytlia
  I'll be waiting *winks* - Kail)1

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Aniytlia3

Prologue4

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Insanity can be a powerful force. It drove at mere mortals until they snapped and were pulled apart at the seams, screaming out in submission. Insanity could play tricks on ones’ mind and body. Romerra was no stranger to Insanity.7

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The night was dark and the stars shone high up in the sky like a thousand crystals, twinkling in their brightness. They almost seemed to laugh as if to mock the lowly races beneath them dancing in the festivities of the ball held in honor of Romerra, the Slayer of Dwarfs, and Rider of Saim, her great, golden dragon. 9


Fire jugglers with their barebacked dances, snake tamers playing on their lutes and selling their spoils, merchants hoping to find their fortunes, southerners with their darkened skins and glowing eyes, northerners with thick, leathery cloth wrapped about their forearms, all came to gather at the Ball of Treaties held in the great capitol city of Emplada, in the Coona, the palace of kings, the cultural and scientific powerhouse of Aniytlia. 10


I glided across the polished oaken floor, changing partners in a rapid flurry as every elf wanted his chance to dance with me, the legendary Dragon Rider.11

The other Riders: Vility, Amound, Jomunder and Naplaca all waited, watching me with glee as I enjoyed myself for the first time after so many years of grueling warfare. It had been a rough decade, light skirmishes and full out raids erupting across the borderlines.12

Chandeliers balanced precariously from the ceiling, sending their candle light across the entirety of the dancing room, illuminating the women in their white and gold silks, the men in reds and purples. Every shade represented a different country.13


There were so many people here. Elves from across the continent celebrated, laughing, enjoying themselves. No country was left out, other than the Soalian perhaps, but even they had their spokesperson. 14

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Even a few Dwarfs ventured from their caves to take part in this historic event. Today a war that had lasted the last sixty years would finally end. The Elves and Dwarfs would interact at least affably now. There would be no more bloodshed. 16


Light laughter and clinking glasses dominated the gentle hum of buzzing voices, and gold antiquities surrounded me. This place was truly grand, so large that I could not stand next to one wall and clearly see the one opposite.
I danced wonderfully, my feet light as they flitted about the floor and by some twist of the humorous goddess Fate, found myself in the arms of the newest and youngest rider, Vility.17

The boy had a rather laughable crush on me and he blushed furiously as I took him by the hand and placed a sweet, fleeting peck upon his brow. He was cute, don't get me wrong, but wasn't ready for a relationship, especially not with me. He had lived what? A mere thirty years perhaps? While I had lived at least seventy, I'd stopped counting by now.18

"M-M-May I ha-ave this dance?" he stammered at complete odds with himself. I smiled sweetly, not wanting to embarrass the child and nodded. We danced for a few moments, Vility failing completely and utterly to sustain a proper conversation as he blushed and kept his eyes planted firmly on the ground.19

Over the bubbling voices and laughter, there came the sound of a trumpeting roar. A scream filled the room and a horrible pain struck my heart. 20


There was a howling warble and I collapsed, holding onto my heart. The room was shaking, trembling, and I was unable to understand what was happening to me. Dwarves shouted in their own guttural language and fleeing Elves surged across the floor. There were screams everywhere and one shout rose above all the others in my tormented ears. "It's the Golden Dragon! Saim has fallen!"21

The ice sculpture of the great Goddess of Nephsis toppled to the floor. It shattered into a thousand crystals and Vility's face was pale white. He called out for Amound.22

I cared for none of them as I shuddered on the ground. I lost myself inside my own mind, trying to understand the deep, burrowing pain digging into my body, wrapping its frozen tendril around my stomach and heart, digging mercilessly into my lungs and filling my body with a tingling numbness.23

"Saim." My world, my life, everything, where was he? What happened to him? Why could I no longer feel him? My mind wouldn't even consider the possibility that he had died. Not tonight, not ever. It was impossible. Not this being that shared a mind with me. Not this being that had been with me these last fifty years. Not my beloved Saim.24

Amound was suddenly at my side but I couldn't see anything clearly. A red haze passed before my vision and my heart was so loud in my ears. Why? Where was this pain coming from?25

"What happened?" cried Vility, staring at Amound in complete helplessness as he struggled to lift me back up onto my feet.26

"Saim is dead, slain by traitors. Dwarves! We must take Romerra aside, come now and help me," replied the old Rider.27

I was suddenly screaming and I don't know why. The pain was all around me; I was drowning in it, falling deeper and deeper into this ocean of ice and blood and fear and I knew I was going to suffocate beneath its raging waves.28

I clawed my way away from the two Riders, searching for my wonderful, beautiful dragon, searching for my Saim.29

"Saim!" I cried, tears leaking out to stain my expensive silver and pink petticoats. My foot stepped down into a deep pool of blood, so deep that it rose above my ankle and extended a good six feet in any direction. A haunting silence overcame me. All the screams, shouting, threats, and rushing bodies dimmed to a dull buzz, and then faded entirely. I could hear nothing besides my own slowing heartbeat. 30


No.31

Not him.32

Not Saim.33


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I stared as the crowds of hysterical Elves and Dwarfs rushed around the dead body of the mighty golden dragon, the proud form of Saim. Blood gushed from the fatal wound he endured, a long javelin pierced through his venerable neck. 35


I ran.36

Out from the Coona, the only thought in my mind was that Saim was gone, that my world was gone, that my sanity was gone, that everything was gone . . .37

I raced through the city, screaming out commands in magic, altering the force of nature to do my bidding in my pain filled and angry haze of rage. Nothing mattered anymore, not me, not them, not this stupid war. All that mattered was that Saim was dead, and nothing could bring him back again.38

I threw aside all those elves in my way and screamed out, my voice cracking with my own agony. "Hritth Maunos!" Elves ducked for cover as the northern section of the Empladian wall caught fire and blasted into pieces.39

I ran and ducked behind the falling debris; all the while shocked tears fell from my face. The cold surrounded me, only making my burning face numb even further. Empty. I couldn't feel anything except the hard pounding of death, hurt and blood. Fifty years, I had lived with Saim for fifty years. Now, in thirty seconds, his and my world were swept away as easily as a dwarf could toss a javelin.40

Damning my ballroom gown and all those fine petticoats I had been gloating over moments before, I left the city. It caught and tore on fallen rocks and on tree branches reaching out for me as if they wanted to pull me under, their blackened fingers trailing liquid red marks across my skin. Pain, Death, Murder.41

I was all alone in this world; not even the Council could save me now. No one could protect me from this insanity. I fell to my knees as the hole in my heart deadened my body. My spirit was broken, my life as nothing. Nothing.42

"Oh Gods, Strike me down now!" I screamed out, tearing at my chest until I drew blood, but still I felt nothing. No physical pain could compare to this mental one strangling me. I fell to the ground, tears streaming down my face in wild torrents, staining the ground for an eternity. 43

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I wandered for days, unsure of where I was going. Death loomed just over my shoulder and hunger constantly clawed at my gut. The hunger I could handle, but the thirst - the thirst made me weak and frail, my bones as fragile as dry sticks, and the hole in my heart continued to grow. 46


Then, on the sixth day after the murder of Saim, I fell to the sand of the Jazonian Desert and blackness finally took my traumatized and broken body. I did not wake, could not wake, not even if the very Gods commanded me . . .47