Realm Stone

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places or incidents either are the product of the authors imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any persons, living or dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

REALM STONE

All rights reserved.

Copyright © 2015 by Jeffery McDonald

Cover Art by PJ Design

This book is protected by the copyright laws of the United States of America. Any reproduction or other unauthorized use of the material or artwork herein is prohibited without the express written permission of the author.

First Published: November, 2015

REALM STONE

By

Jeffery McDonald

Dedication

To Logan and Conner-

Thank you both for giving me the motivation, inspiration and imagination to bring these characters to life.

Table of Contents

Cover Page

Copyright

Title Page

Dedication

Prologue

Chapter 1: The Performance

Chapter 2: Another World

Chapter 3: A Failed Attempt

Chapter 4: Into The Den

Chapter 5: Never Ending Sands

Chapter 6: Something Familiar

Chapter 7: Something Unfamiliar

Chapter 8: Goodbyes

Chapter 9: Homecoming

Chapter 10: The Winding Path

Chapter 11: Cuindale

Chapter 12: The Horde

Chapter 13: Eriland

Chapter 14: The King Awaits

Chapter 15: The Last Jump

About the Author

PROLOGUE

The shadowy figure moved smooth and silently through the darkness of the woods. Not a sound could be heard, from the underbrush rubbing across his dark leather breeches or from the crackling of the dry leaves under his feet. He could see the torch light flickering in the cool night breeze through the branches of the trees. He had paid a visit to the castle on three other occasions, but this was the first time he would be entering the castle under his own free will.

His first trip to the castle was one he did not plan to take. He had been playing Stones in the Shattered Axe, one of the local village taverns. He just happened to be playing in a high stakes game with some of the castle guards when the incident occurred. He should have known better than to continue playing after he was already four flagons into the night, but self-control was never one of his strong suits. Without thinking he reached for his flagon with the wrong hand and allowed a stone to fall from his shirt sleeve and land on the table with a light dull thud.

The guard realized he had been cheating the entire evening and kindly escorted him to the castles lower cells for a few days of reflection. He really didn't mind sitting in the dungeon for a few days because he was able to meet all sorts of fun degenerates and hear all sorts of fanatical tales of lust, debauchery and bullshitery. Besides there were plenty of other less pleasant places he could have found himself.

The shadowy figures second trip to the castle was the fault of a child no more than waist high. He was out in the village square doing yet another of his street performances. He had a routine where he would take objects from willing villagers and mystify the crowd by making the item disappear, only to have the object reappear somewhere else upon the person or someone else in the crowd. While all along he had been taking other items from the villagers and pocketing them for profit.

It was the keen eye of a young one of around four years that saw him place a shiny silver coin into his pocket. As he shouted it out for everyone to hear, the unsuspecting villager realized that her purse was in fact missing a silver coin. The guards were quickly alerted of course and he was escorted swiftly back to the dungeon. His stint was longer this time, and the time seemed to go by much slower than it had before.

It was this trip to the castles dungeon that put the fire in his belly and had him out sneaking through the dark woods this night. He had been sitting there quietly leaning his head against the rusty metal bars of his cell door listening as the occupants of the cells across from him talked between themselves. From what he could gather was both of the men used to hold positions in the castle itself and were somewhat close to King Erind.

King Erind ruled the small Kingdom of Eriland. What was once a small farming village was now a full-fledged kingdom mostly because of the nearby gold mines Erind had discovered. He was a cruel man to those who worked for him, and he was a cruel man for those who lived in his kingdom. He utilized an ever-growing slave trade to work in his mines and farm his lands. He had a way of always getting what he wanted and nothing or no one had ever been able to keep him from his task. He was despised by all.

So here he was sitting in his cell listening to the conversation of the men across from him when one of them men asked the other if he had ever seen the box. The other man replied he had not seen it personally but he had heard it was an ornately decorated wooden box. The other man told him indeed it was a small and beautifully decorated wooden box that sat on the large desk in King Erind's personal chambers. The thought of jewels or some other valuable treasure in the decorative box perked up the shadow man's pointy ears.

It was from that day forward all he could think about and all that was on his mind was retrieving the contents of the wooden box and living happily ever after. He decided it had to be and would be his, so he began working on a plan to make it so. He would go out and scout around the castle to get a good layout of the structure and taking mental note of guard locations and their normal rotations. Slowly walking around the castle he stepped aside from a passing horse drawn cart and stepped right into the path of one of the guards who had caught him cheating at stones that night in the Shattered Axe.

What have we here? Tis' my little cheatin Elf! the guard said loudly as he stared at him.

Sorry, I did not see you there said our shadow man, I will just be...

The guard cut him off before he could finish speaking.

What are you doing lurking about the castle? the guard asked him with a crooked smile.

I was only out for a walk; it is a rather nice day out do you not think?

Yes it is a nice day, why are you not spending it with your own people? Why are you always in the city instead of with the rest of the Elf scum? the guard asked while maintaining his crooked smile.

I prefer the weather here, it is much warmer than it is where I am from, besides we do not have a grand castle to look at such as this, all we have are our homes high in the trees, replied the Elf returning his own cocky smile.

Why did you not say you wanted to see the castle to begin with, I will personally give you a tour, stated the guard proudly, Let us take a walk shall we!

The guard led him the rest of the way around the castle, through the gate and straight to the dungeon cells. He sat in his cell for three days dreaming of how much gold he would be able to get for whatever was in King Erind's wooden box and how much he would like to punch the guard in the eye. But mostly he thought of the treasure and how badly he had to have it and how he would be willing to die trying to get it.

Later one evening after the guard change, his new friend, the guard who brought him to the dungeon paid him a visit.

It is time for you to go little Elf, he said smiling at him through the bars of the cell door.

Already? the Elf laughed, Thank you, I would like that very much.

How did you enjoy your tour of the grand castle? the guard asked as he opened the door to his cell.

Not the greatest of accommodations but pleasant none-the-less, the Elf said as he bowed his head slightly.

The guard let the smile fall from his face, I did not mean time for you to leave the castle. I say it is time for you to leave the city, time for you to leave the kingdom, time for you to go back to your own people. We have enough trouble here as it is without the likes of your kind running around causing trouble.

It saddens me you would say such a thing, Replied the Elf, And here I thought we were becoming friends.

I have no friends.

With that the guard led the Elf out of the castle and into the streets.

The shadow shrouded Elf continued his stealthy path to the castle. He could finally make out one of the guards slowly pacing along the bottom of the eastern wall. Slowly he crept towards the castle wall, hugging the shadows just out of reach of the flickering torches atop the battlements. The Elf crouched and waited. As the sleep deprived and highly unmotivated guard meandered past him, he slowly stood up and quiet as a whisper snuck up behind the unsuspecting guard.

With lightning quick speed, the Elf's hands encircled the guards head, and then with an expertly applied twist and the slight audible sound of a broken neck, the guard's body crumpled to the ground in front of him. He quickly grabbed the guard under the arms and pulled him over to the base of the wall that was deeply shrouded in the shadows. He placed him on his back with his legs straight out and then he crossed both of his arms over his chest and left him as if he were sleeping.

With the task of taking out the first guard behind him, he set out in search of the best hand holds to get himself up the outer wall of the castle. Being an Elf who grew up in huts high in the tops of trees, climbing was in his blood. He managed to reach the top of the wall in mere moments. He raised his head above the wall to peer down its length in both directions to search for nearby guards. Satisfied no guards were around he bound to the top of the wall and quickly found the rough stone steps to the castles outer courtyard.

Once again he became one with the shadows, and he quickly made his way to the castle proper. He knew from listening to his fellow cellmates in the dungeon that Lord Erind's private chambers were on the second floor of the east wing. He made his way to the east wing with as much speed as possible. The Elf found a darkened window on the back side of the ground floor.

He softly pressed his fingers against the shutters but they wouldn’t budge. He fumbled in his belt pouch until he found a slender piece of metal. He slid it between the shutters halves and found the lock on the inside. He began moving the thin strip of metal in and upward motion. He found the latch and felt it lift from its seat. He began to pull the windows outward to open them to gain access to the room when suddenly the inside of the room became aglow with candle light.

The Elf stopped pulling on the window shutters and held his breath, hoping the person inside did not see the window was no longer fully closed and locked. He watched as a young servant set the candle down beside the wash basin and undressed leaving only her thin linen shift clinging to her body. The Elf was mesmerized by the servant. She was tall and well-muscled but still very feminine. He watched as she untied her fiery red hair and let it fall down past her shoulders, he studied every inch of the linen clinging to her body. Being somewhat preoccupied he didn't hear the footsteps of the guard behind him.

You there, turn and face me, the guard demanded firmly.

The Elf sighed, got to his feet and in one swift motion he turned to face the guard while dropping the throwing knife from his sleeve. It landed in his palm, with an upward flick of his wrist the blade found itself lodged firmly in the guard's right eye. His left eye rolled back in his head and his stiff body fell straight back and landed flat on the lush grass.

He quickly retrieved his knife and moved the body to the deep shadows of the castle outer wall of the courtyard to hide him. He repeated the ritual of laying him straight with his arms crossed over his chest. When he finished the task he ran quickly back to the window to watch the servant. She was scrubbing her exposed flesh with a scrap of wet cloth, apparently cleaning off the filth from a hard day of work. When finished, she carried the candle over to the straw mat in the corner and sat it on the floor.

After climbing onto her mat and covering herself with a tattered blanket, she blew out the small flame. It only took a moment for the Elf’s keen eyes to adapt to the dark and he was able to make out the young woman's face through the room. She was staring at the ceiling of the chamber as if she were in deep thought; he could see the sadness in her eyes. He had never wanted to hold someone tight to himself and let her know everything would be alright as bad as he wanted to in that moment.

He watched and waited until her body relaxed and her head slightly rolled away from him. He watched the rise and fall of her breast until he was satisfied she was asleep. The Elf slowly opened the window enough to fit his long lithe body through and stepped quietly into the castle. He made his way quickly to the door of her chamber and stopped to look back at her one last time. He let out a heavy sigh and left her room.

Fluidly and with purpose he made his way through the castle until he found the spiral steps leading up to the second floor. He bound the steps three at a time, landing softly and quietly on the balls of his feet. The Elf searched many rooms and chambers before coming across King Erind's personal chamber. Once inside he knew he was in the sitting room. There was an unlit fireplace on one side with a small table and a large leather lounging chair in the corner.