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163 pages

English

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For fans of the Fallen series by Thomas E Sniegoski. If you like stories about demons, vengeance and the apocalypse, then this is the book for you.

Varros Hawk was killed in the final battle against his former allies, and the Merging succeeded. Now, however, there are new threats on the rise and the first guardian enters into a dangerous covenant in order to stop them-and to take revenge for his murder.

Sujets

Fantasy

Fiction

Informations

Publié par	Archway Publishing
Date de parution	15 décembre 2022
Nombre de lectures	0
EAN13	9781665720649
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0200€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

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RISING
THE SECOND BOOK IN THE TWO WORLDS TRILOGY

TARA ORFANI

Copyright © 2022 Tara Orfani.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All of the characters, names, incidents, organizations, and dialogue in this novel are either the products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

Archway Publishing
1663 Liberty Drive
Bloomington, IN 47403
www.archwaypublishing.com
844-669-3957

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.
Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

ISBN: 978-1-6657-2065-6 (sc)
ISBN: 978-1-6657-2064-9 (e)

Archway Publishing rev. date: 11/03/2022
Contents
Prologue: Resurrection
Chapter 1 New World
Chapter 2 Emergence
Chapter 3 Revelations
Chapter 4 Mortisland
Chapter 5 Alliances
Chapter 6 Rising
Chapter 7 Ilyx
Chapter 8 Nightmare
Chapter 9 Foment
Chapter 10 Fallen
Chapter 11 Conflicted
Chapter 12 Darkness
Chapter 13 Searching
Chapter 14 Cursed
Chapter 15 Hybrids
Chapter 16 Ice
Chapter 17 Heaven
Chapter 18 Alterations
Chapter 19 Tithe
Chapter 20 Extinction
Chapter 21 Revelations
Chapter 22 Fire
Chapter 23 Blood
Epilogue: Inferno

“ To walk the path between two wo rlds
To know the sins of Heaven’s past
Forget all who love, all who feel
Know only misery, the curse of venge ance
The darkness returns to eat away
At my h eart
At her soul
At their h eads
At his life
Seeing no way out
Fighting all but fu tile
Death inevit able
Where are our worshipped Gods now?”

Prologue
RESURRECTION
In the remains of what was once the convening hall of the infamous underworld council, a single soul stood alone amidst the rubble and the ashes, staring out at the barren wasteland that had once been the world of the dead. What had once been a teeming mass of tormented souls was now completely deserted.
This is what the Merging has wro ught
He wasn’t alone for long, though; he was soon joined by a second figure, one that could no longer be accurately defined as male or female. It was a fading shade, its form translucent and greying-but its appearance was mainly that of a man.
The shade went to stand beside the first figure, eyes blank as he observed the desolation surrounding him. His kingdom had fallen.
“This is what the Merging-Bringers have wrought,” he declared in a low, furious voice, hands clenching into fists at his sides. “By destroying the border between Earth and Vanadis, they have also destroyed the magic that forced the dead to come here-and remain here. Now there is nothing stopping them-and the other evil imprisoned in the underworld-from returning to wreak havoc among whatever is left of the living,”
He turned to his companion, scanning him carefully for his reaction. Though his face was concealed by the cowl of his black cloak, the shade could still see the tension in his lean, muscled form at those words. His Guardian instincts were still active-and they were what the shade was counting on.
“You have the opportunity to put a stop to this,” he pointed out, “My offer still stands: I can bring you back to the land of the living in your original body and help you correct your former allies’ mistake-and maybe even exact your revenge on them while you’re at it,”
The other man turned toward him, his raised eyebrow just barely visible beneath his large hood. “And why would you want to do that?” he retorted softly, tone heavy with scepticism, “Hasn’t it always been your dream, to have the dead walk among the living? To wreak havoc on the world above?”
“Yes,” the shade admitted softly, meeting his companion’s gaze without blinking. “But on my terms-not like this. The other Guardians have no idea what they’ve done by killing you and allowing the two worlds to merge into one. Now what’s left of the living are going to have to suffer the consequences, unless you fix it. So, the question is, are you willing to do what it takes to make it right?”
The man in the cloak fell silent again as he went back to observing the wreckage that surrounded him. There were no others here any longer-they had all been brought somewhere else. He and the leader of the underworld council were the only ones left.
Now he was being given the chance to leave as well-to return to the land of the living. It wasn’t every day that that happened; but nothing was ever free.
“You don’t want to protect the remaining living people on the new world; that’s not who you are. What do you get out of this?” the man queried shrewdly, folding his arms across his chest.
The immortal didn’t flinch under that piercing stare, a slight smile curving his colourless lips. “The only thing I want is the success of your vengeance, and the deaths of the other three Guardians of the border.”
“That won’t be easy, even for me. They killed me once, and they can easily kill me again,” the other pointed out in a flat tone.
The immortal’s smile turned patronizing.
“Well, I trust you to find a way to avoid that-because the next time you die, you won’t end up here. You will be trapped some place far worse, and there will be no escape.”
The cloaked man let out a rueful laugh. What could be worse than this?
The price was one he was willing to pay-and, if he couldn’t follow through, it hardly mattered. He was damned either way.
“You get your wish, Caius,” he said after another lengthy pause. He removed his cowl and pushed back his hood, revealing his thin, pallid face and his bloody, virulent crimson orbs, which locked onto the immortal without blinking. “Send me back, and I will make those bastards wish they’d never been created.”
An expression of true happiness and satisfaction split the immortal’s translucent features; that was the outcome he had expected all along.
“Excellent,” the former leader of the underworld council snapped his fingers, and flames rose in the dim, desecrated hall, illuminating the monochromatic walls and surrounding the two figures on all sides.
Clear eyes lasered in on the shorter figure. “It’s time to begin, then. All you have to do to regain your old form, Varros, is step into the fire.”
The man in the cloak gave no outward indication that he had heard, yet he still obeyed. He turned away from the immortal and placed a single booted foot inside the auburn fire, then another, submerging his entire body in seconds.
The flames roared around him, cycling through a series of colours, from yellow to orange and then, finally, to a shade of red that rivaled his eyes. They consumed his unearthly form, burning away the black cloak that covered him like a shroud, and leaving him bare and exposed.
The immortal stepped toward him, smile gone and replaced by a look of intense concentration. As he stopped an inch away from Varros, he lowered his head, and leaned in, uttering three words just loud enough for the cloaked man to hear him over the sound of the fire.
“ Good luck …son .”
Then, he raised his voice again to complete the spell.
“Corpus insurrectus! ”
The dead man fell.
The hall melted out of his sight, the fire consuming him completely. He felt it penetrate his skin, race through his veins and dissolve his bones; for a second, he thought his father had deceived him and that, instead of bringing him back, this spell would truly end his existence once and for all.
But then, he saw something else: a vision. Two of the men who had contributed to his death, one kneeling before the other atop a raised platform in the ruins of a church.
“Now, dark angel, your first task under my service is to find the only object with enough power to retain the eternal night we have placed over this world,” the taller between the two, Uronis, spoke first, addressing the kneeling man in an uncharacteristically imperious tone.
“And what object is that?” his servant questioned, cocking a steel -w hite eyebrow curio usly.
Uronis handed him a scroll from beneath his cloak, which he immediately unfurled and scanned over qui ckly.
“The Night medallion,” he read off of the top of the scroll, “The only object in the history of both worlds with the ability to snuff out the moon it self,”
“Exactly. You’re to go to the North to retrieve it, inside the city of Winterhaven, but you’ll more likely than not have competition,” Uronis wa rned.
Therrian grinned, “Don’t tell me; Howl and Kiernan, am I r ight?”
“I can’t get anything past you, dark angel,” Uronis commented d ryly.
“Don’t worry, General, I’ll get this medallion for you,” Therrian accepted, then he added darkly, “No matter the challe nges.”
And he set off, tucking the Night medallion scroll into his vest po cket.
It was a short vision, fading after just a few moments, but it told Varros two very important things: he was alive again, and he knew where he had to go get hi