The War for Mare (The Fall of Man Book 3) Read online

  War for the Mare

  The Fall of Man

  Book Three

  Jacqueline Druga

  A PERMUTED PRESS BOOK

  Published at Smashwords

  ISBN: 978-1-68261-017-6

  ISBN (eBook): 978-1-68261-018-3

  WAR FOR THE MARE

  The Fall of Man Book 3

  © 2015 by Jacqueline Druga

  All Rights Reserved

  Cover art by Quincy Alivio

  This book is a work of fiction. People, places, events, and situations are the product of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or historical events, is purely coincidental.

  No part of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without the written permission of the author and publisher.

  Permuted Press

  109 International Drive, Suite 300

  Franklin, TN 37067

  http://permutedpress.com

  Contents

  ONE – VALA

  TWO – TANNER

  THREE – NITO

  FOUR – VALA

  FIVE – TANNER

  SIX – NITO

  SEVEN – VALA

  EIGHT – TANNER

  NINE – NITO

  TEN – VALA

  ELEVEN – TANNER

  TWELVE – NITO

  THIRTEEN – VALA

  FOURTEEN – TANNER

  FIFTEEN – NITO

  SIXTEEN – VALA

  SEVENTEEN – TANNER

  EIGHTEEN – NITO

  NINETEEN – VALA

  TWENTY – TANNER

  TWENTY-ONE – NITO

  TWENTY-TWO – VALA

  TWENTY-THREE – TANNER

  TWENTY-FOUR – NITO

  TWENTY-FIVE – VALA

  TWENTY-SIX – TANNER

  TWENTY-SEVEN – NITO

  TWENTY-EIGHT – VALA

  TWENTY-NINE – TANNER

  THIRTY – NITO

  THIRTY-ONE – VALA

  THIRTY-TWO – TANNER

  THIRTY-THREE – NITO

  THIRTY-FOUR – VALA

  THIRTY-FIVE – TANNER

  THIRTY-SIX – NITO

  THIRTY-SEVEN – VALA

  THIRTY-EIGHT – TANNER

  THIRTY-NINE – NITO

  FORTY – VALA

  FORTY-ONE – TANNER

  FORTY-TWO – NITO

  FORTY-THREE – VALA

  FORTY-FOUR – TANNER

  FORTY-FIVE – NITO

  FORTY-SIX – VALA

  FORTY-SEVEN – TANNER

  FORTY-EIGHT – NITO

  FORTY-NINE – VALA

  FIFTY – NITO

  FIFTY-ONE – VALA

  FIFTY-TWO – VALA

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  ONE – VALA

  The wedding ring didn’t seem to just rest on my finger, it almost embedded itself in my flesh, a marking of ownership. One set in stone and blood.

  What had I become?

  My entire short life was a rollercoaster of information, and I was led to believe one thing, only to find it to be the complete opposite.

  A great plague had swept across the globe; a pandemic like none the world had ever seen. This bred fear and chaos, war and destruction. While man was buried in the ashes, they rose from the shadows, rebuilt, and in essence gained control.

  They were simply known to humans as the Sybaris. A being of this Earth that needed the blood of humans to exist. Not much, but enough that humans were a commodity they couldn’t chance losing again.

  Our human blood kept them young, and sane.

  Thousands of years before, the Sybaris ruled the Earth, building golden cities with statues to the Gods of their world. They enslaved the humans, making them work, while using them as a source of food.

  Wanting their freedom, the human race fled, leaving the Sybaris to starve. They sunk into the shadows, living for thousands of years hidden, catching what they could of human blood just to stay alive, while they withered into grotesque beings that dared not emerge from underground.

  The humans then ruled the Earth until disease and war defeated mankind.

  The Sybaris seized their chance, they fed from the dying. The plague did not affect them, and the Sybaris regained their strength and their form.

  Some, though, did not. Those who had starved too long became Savage beasts that even the civilized Sybaris feared.

  Seizing the moment to reclaim their reign, the Civilized Sybaris, called The Ancients, corrected the mistakes of their past and rebuilt towns and farmlands. They offered safe haven, shelter, and life to the humans. I lived in a community called Arkana in a region known as the Esperanza Straits.

  In exchange, the humans were to be a source of food.

  Tired of war and suffering, scared of the Savages, many humans took this offer.

  Many did not. The ones who did not enter the land of the Sybaris became the rebellion, bound and determined to take the world back.

  As a child, I had experienced the vicious attacks of the Savages, those haunting memories stayed. My mother wanted only to protect me, left the rebellion, and sought sanctuary with the Civilized Sybaris for me and my sister.

  My baby brother was the ticket in. The rite of passage. The gatekeepers accepted her offer and wasted no time devouring him. That memory, stayed with me as well.

  I grew up believing the Civilized Sybaris were no different than the Savages. They just were prettier and dressed better. They sheltered us from the world, and we learned only what they taught us and nothing more.

  A part of me, still clinging to the past, knew when a human was chosen during the monthly ritual, the human was probably drained and killed as quickly as my baby brother.

  I wanted to be part of the rebellion, to live the life my mother had before the world came to an end.

  After fleeing my home in the Esperanza Straits, I made my way west to Angeles City where I joined the rebellion. I was gifted with many abilities and knew that the rebellion’s best chance was my infiltration of the Ancient City. I had to get in there so the rebels could invade. Once inside, however, I learned quickly that things were not what I believed, or what the rebellion believed.

  As the wedding ring was embedded on my finger, so was I embedded into the Ancient Sybaris world.

  My original plan was to lead the rebellion into the City of the Ancients and engage in the ultimate invasion and battle. To save the life of my sister, I had to do more. I had to sacrifice my life in a different way.

  Visions of war quickly escaped me. No longer could I think of ways to kill them. I couldn’t; I had to keep my sister alive. She had become a Sybaris, and I was no longer the great hope of the rebellion. I became nothing more than the enemy.

  TWO – TANNER

  Vala looked beautiful. Although it didn’t matter to me what she was wearing, or how she had her hair, seeing her in person took my breath away.

  Then hearing that she had married Iry stopped my heart.

  When had that become part of the plan?

  Vala had escaped her home, we took her in and trained her. Then in some self righteous move, she left us in order to push the rebellion. It was for the better of us all, she said. I was even told that if she didn’t return, they would kill me. Not like I cared. I didn’t. I wasn’t even worried. In my mind, in Davis’ mind, and everyone else that knew her, we all believed she was doing it to help us.

  So what happened? To say I felt like a fool was putting it mildly.

  It broke my heart when she left. I begged her not to go. I put myself out there, and was angry at first, flawed. Then after Davis told me of her s
upposedly chivalrous motivation, I lost the anger and only wanted to get her back.

  We had two big threats: The Savages and the civilized Sybaris.

  Vala was taking care of the civilized ones, so I decided to aim for the deadly ones. Taking out the ones that attacked us nightly would put us at an advantage. After all, the Civies were just as scared of the Savages as we were.

  We had to find them, and destroy them. They were the more deadly of the enemies. Once the Savages were gone, at least in our region, the Civies would be easy to defeat.

  I followed them, searched them out, and located them.

  Davis, our leader, loved my plan. Granted, I was well aware that there were probably more Savage camps, but I found the one closest to us. It was huge; a city overgrown and overrun with the stench of the Savage Sybaris. It was absolutely disgusting. There had to be a thousand of them, if not more.

  Marie, a great lady, once told me she believed there were close to twenty-thousand Sybaris at one point in time, before the humans defeated them. There weren't that many Civies at the close camp, though, so the ones that didn’t die turned Savage. They outnumbered us all. Not only did we need to defeat them for our own safety, we had to do it for the existence of the human race. If they kept attacking us, before long, there would be no humans left at all.

  It was now time to get Vala and save her from her undercover hero work.

  With Snake at my side, we went to the Straits. The hideous gatekeepers were under attack by Savages. We saved them and they granted us passage to the City of the Ancients. Even better, because we had been looking for that place for a long, long time.

  The Sybaris used man’s technology, cars, airplanes, and took over the golden city in the desert. It was the only city that had remained unscathed. It shimmered in the sun. The streets were clean, and it was just short of paradise.

  We were led to the palace of the king, which contained the civilization court. When we landed, we learned that Vala was getting married.

  There was no way I could allow that to happen. Under what pretense would it be a good idea? It was a mind game, or so I thought until I arrived at the door, where I was greeted by Iry and he told us they were already married.

  I looked at Vala standing on the stairs in all her bridal glory. Despite her calling my name, I left.

  “You’re just leaving without saying anything?” Snake asked.

  “I can’t talk right now.”

  “Tanner, you didn’t know her that well.”

  “I knew her well enough not to think she would every marry Iry.”

  “Maybe there’s more to the story. You should have stayed and found out.”

  I stopped walking.

  “You going back?” Snake asked.

  “No. I’m ... I’m going to explore.”

  “Explore Ancient City?” Snake scoffed, laughing. “How do your purpose to do that?”

  “Look around.” I held out my hand. “Where are the guards? Who is watching us? No one. No one, I tell you.”

  Snake looked left to right. “I’ll be damned.”

  “Exactly,” I said. “I may have lost on the Vala front, but I won on another.”

  “What is that?” Snake asked.

  “The enemy just let us walk in their door.”

  Snake reached out and grabbed a hold of my arm. “Just hold on. Before you go off all arrogant and half-cocked, let’s explore with caution.”

  “There are no guards. They let us right in.”

  “That they did. But they are smarter than you are giving them credit for. While you’re wandering around freely, ask yourself why exactly would they make it so easy to do so?”

  Snake had a point, which I would keep in mind while he and I took in all we could of the city. We need to gather information that could help us.

  THREE – NITO

  The decrepit former humanoid soaked my chest with the foul seepage from his mouth. It was the worst smell I had ever encountered. At least I didn’t die in battle, though it was not quite the welcome I expected upon my entrance to Angeles City.

  Nothing was as I expected, though.

  It would have been poetic justice had the Day Stalker beasts torn me limb from limb, because I was responsible for leading them, and then, of course, leaving them around Angeles City. However, the gods had decisive plans for me; I could feel it. I was blessed.

  Strapping men that would make wonderful chamber guards had saved me from the creatures. I was especially intrigued by the one who introduced himself as Davis.

  How convenient that the leader of the actual rebellion would be there to save and greet me.

  Gods shine upon me; my mission was becoming too easy.

  The Davis man asked if I was injured. I was not, and he gave me a protective seat away from the ensuing battle.

  “I don’t want you to get hurt,” he said, “even though you wield a mean stick."

  “I do,” I said. “I am quite accomplished.”

  “I’ll bet.” He nodded, then he must have gotten something in his eye before he turned, because his lid closed and his face wrinkled up briefly. I had seen my friend Burt do that, he called it a wink. But perhaps it wasn’t an eye irritation, and more of a medical condition that only struck males.

  I was given a cup of water. It held a foul stench. Not wanting to be rude, I waited until no one was looking and dumped it out. If anything, I was taught manners, and had to show those around me such if I was going to be accepted by the rebels of Angeles.

  Knowing how vulnerable I was to the Day Stalkers, I was quite impressed with the skills of the humans. I felt at ease and less in danger around them. I was curious as to how they handled the Savages. With all the skills they had gathered, I assumed they knew what they were doing. I could watch them and learn their weaknesses with such ease.

  There was something about the Davis person that I could not put my finger on. He knew my name was Nito, and probably much about me. He would recognize me, even in my older state, I was certain. If he spotted me, I would think of something to steer clear of his awareness.

  I was crafty with my tales of ways to get myself out of trouble. Nothing was going to get in my way, and no one.

  FOUR – VALA

  Tanner and Snake were still in the City of the Ancients, and they would remain there for a little while longer, distanced from me. Iry told me of that news because he knew I was bothered by Tanner's presence. Truth be told, it did bother me. I didn’t understand why I was looked at by him as if I were a traitor. Why did he look at me with hurt? If only he would have stayed a little while longer in my presence, I could have spoken to him, clear the air. However, he and Snake left shortly after their visit.

  It did not take long for the after-ceremony festivities to turn full-fledged. So many Ancients were in the hall. They were laughing and smiling like I had never seen them do before. There were plenty of fruits and vegetables for them, and even real food like meat. Surprisingly, there were many people there. A few of the elders from my village that knew me since I was a child were in attendance, garnished with flowers.

  “You will be so happy,” one said. “This was a wise choice.”

  Did they not understand my reasoning for the marriage to Iry? In a sense, I was forced into it. I had no choice in the matter. My sister’s life hung in the balance, wavering. She was now one of them, and the only way to ensure that she would maintain her human qualities was if I were with her constantly.

  My poor sister Sophie. While she was indeed alive, in a sense, she would never be the same. She had been turned by Nito. The only good thing to come out of it was that Nito was banished. I didn’t know where she went, but she was gone, vanquished. Iry told me it was possible that she was sent back to the time when the Ancients were starved from their home, forced into hiding. I asked for the gods to forgive me and hoped that that was where she was. My life was no longer my own because of her. The great gifts that the gods had given me were wasted. For the moment. I would figure a wa
y out of it, once I knew what it was I had to do.

  FIVE – TANNER

  Maybe it wasn’t the right way to be but I couldn’t help it. I kept getting cross with Snake. He was so…how could I put it?...giddy. Yeah, that was how Davis would describe him. Giddy like a little girl on her birthday, excited. Every few steps we took down the main street of the Ancient City, he kept saying, “Well, I’ll be damned.”

  A few more steps down the road, he stopped, looked around, and repeated, “Well, I’ll be damned.”

  In fact, he was saying it so much that some well-intentioned Ancient, if there could be one, stopped him on the street, and said, “No... no... we are sure nothing you have done so far in your life, would cause you to be damned.”

  Why do the Ancients and all those weirdoes in the Straits take everything so literally? It’s absurd. “Well, I’ll be—”

  “Don’t,” I finally stopped him. “Why do you keep—”

  Before I could complete my sentence, another Ancient approached him. Like we did in Angeles City, they had food carts set up all over the street, only theirs were shiny and silver and nice. It was not just food, there was also some sort of red drink, but it didn’t look like blood because it had fruit floating inside. The beverage was in a tall glass that was shaped like a woman and it had a stick poking out of its top. The Ancient gave it to Snake.

  Snake accepted it. “Well, I’ll be damned.”

  I wanted to tell him not to take it, but it was too late. Snake took the glass, stuck his mouth over the giant stick, and began to drink. “Wow. This is good.” He extended the drink. “Want some?”

  “No!” I barked. “You shouldn’t drink that either. You don’t know what it is.”

  “If I remember correctly, I think it’s a daiquiri, maybe not, though. Maybe it’s a margarita. I'm not sure. But it’s tasty. Refreshing. And cold.”