THE AFTERLAND CHRONICLES
Karen Wrighton
SleeplessPsyche Publishing
New Revised Edition
Copyright 2015 Karen Wrighton
“Imagination is a glorious thing, without imagination, there would be no solace for our suffering, no wondrous creations, no stories that beguile us, and no magic...”
Karen Wrighton
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MAP OF THE AFTERLANDS
Books in the series (in reading order)
Ascension of the Whyte
Ryte of Passage
Ice and Fyre
(Due for publication in 2017)
TABLE OF CONTENTS
MAP OF THE AFTERLANDS
THE PROPHECY OF ELDWYN
ASCENSION
TOLLEN’S GATE
KITH AND KIN
FIRST MORN
COALESCENCE
SUBLIMATION
FERNDELL
PHLEGON
EXODUS
GLYNISFARNE
ASYLUM SEEKERS
TWOCASTS
INCANTATIO
ALLEGIANCE
THE PROPHECY OF ELDWYN
“When Whyte ascends in the female frame,
And Aurum Sooth speaks Rhodium name.
When Bloods swarm o'er Ferrum fields
And the fiery gate of Tollen breaks its seals
When evil emerges from the brimstone core
To conquer our lands with fyre and war
Then shall the Incantatio seek and find
She with power to unite and bind
Rhodium will resurrect and by her hands
Unity will reign in the Afterlands."
(Eldwyn the Whyte)
ASCENSION
Sara Carson was too young to die. Fifteen was too young for anyone to die. Sara never saw the vehicle that hit her, the screech of tyres and acrid scent of burning rubber barely penetrated her senses before the truck ploughed into her. Distraught shoppers dropped their packages and hurried to her side. Amongst them two girls, wearing the same tartan uniform as Sara, hands sheltered their gaping mouths. Blood oozed from her shattered skull, forging a meandering path down into the corner of one violet blue eye gazing fixed and unseeing, into a vast and callous sky. As the growing crowd looked on, powerless to prevent it, Sara’s final earthly breath escaped her body, spiralling upwards, a mere wisp of vapour in the cold, damp, air. Yet this was far from the end of her story…
Dawn was breaking on Ascension Day in the Afterland of Aurum, and it was as golden as the city of Aureus itself. Shafts of amber sunlight lit the majestic skyline, picking out the silhouettes of the citadel, its dark rooftops lit with slivers of gold. The most striking of the buildings was the Pyrus, the parliament building, its magnificent golden spires flying white standards displaying the three golden fyre hawk emblem of Aurum.
Adjacent to the Pyrus loomed the enormous dome of the ascension basilica and beyond this two gigantic golden fyre hawk statues flanked the gates of the ancient Oratory, the oldest building in Aurum.
Inside the basilica, two custodians waited for the year’s new intake of novices to ascend. Senior Custos Baroque fingered the golden keychain on his girdle. His tall frame was draped in the golden-threaded robes of Aurum. Pinned at his shoulder were the apis bee and half sun pins, marking his magical potens and his office.
Even now, in his thirtieth year as Custodian, Baroque still felt a surge of excitement as each cubiculum filled with ascension vapour and the sound of the ascension bell rang out over the citadel.
Marcus, a young man in only his second year as Custodian, was Baroque’s assistant. Baroque watched him with amusement as the young Gold obsessively monitored each cubiculum for the flickering vapour wisps that marked the beginning of the ascension process. Nervously Marcus brushed back his long flaxen hair, before checking for the third time that he had laid out the correct number of robes, shoes, and girdle belts on the small marble tables in each quarter. His excitement was tangible, almost as if he sensed that this Ascension Day would be like no other before.
“It’s starting!” Marcus rushed to inspect one of the stone ascension caskets known as cubicula.
Peering in through the glass of each of the Gold quarter caskets, his eyes sparked with excitement.
"I have wisps in four cubicula,” he said as he caught the aroma of first ascension vapour. It was honey flower, the vapour scent of the Golds.
“We have four Golds ascending in the first quarter. ” Expectantly, the young man careered around, checking each of the cubicles for vapour wisps. He smiled, hearing the faint hiss as the thick golden vapour flooded into the four cubicula. The ascension bell tolled four times over the citadel. Ascension had begun.
The circular ascension chamber had four quarters, each housing four cubicula. Fashioned from ornately carved Aurum stone, gold and glass, the cubicula were festooned with the emblems of each land. Each quarter brought forth ascendants from Terra Coram. These newly formed beings, all ultimately destined for one of the four Afterlands, would attend the adjoining Oratory to prepare for their designated roles. In ancient times, the cubicula ascended four casts, today there were but three. There would be four Gold ascendants for the land of Aurum, four Muds for the land of Ferrum, and four Bloods for the land of Hydrargyrum. The remaining four cubicula would not bring forth ascendants and had not for over a thousand years since the Afterland of Rhodium had fallen at the end of the great Dragon War. There were no Rhodium Whytes left to ascend.
An unpleasant, sulphurous aroma filled the chamber as the four Hydrargyrum cubicula began to wisp.
“Four Bloods wisping now!” Said Marcus, buzzing as he watched the Hydrargyrum chambers hiss and fill with orange-red vapour.
He rushed between the cubicula impatiently tapping his hands on the glass as he gazed inside. Looking back over to the Aurum chambers where the Golds were ascending, he could see their vapour beginning to solidify, forming the delicate angular features of the Golds. Their faces were now easily distinguishable through the glass and remaining shreds of mist, there were two male and two female, as was the custom. The final scent to fill the chamber was the crisp, clean smell of pinewood, as the Muds began to ascend.
“It is time,” Baroque watched the last hazy wisps curl and descend into the bodies of the newly formed Gold ascendants. “Prepare to receive the Golds.”
Marcus grabbed the pile of clothing he had laid ready and hurried to the first Aurum cubicula. At its foot, he placed one folded golden robe of Aurum, one pair of golden slippers and one golden spider’s silk girdle. Then he stood at the head of the prime cubicula and looked to Baroque for a confirming nod, before pulling on a large golden lever on its side. Marcus stepped back as the four cubicula tilted slowly upwards until they were upright and then, the glass doors swung open to reveal four perfect, naked human forms.
The Golds were a beautiful cast, delicately boned, thick golden hair, honey coloured skin and eyes the colour of amber, flecked with shimmering gold. As their eyes opened, Marcus saw within
them the expression of bewilderment and fear that was common to all new ascendants. One of them, a male, attempted to vacate too quickly. In his post-ascension, trance-like state, and with his newly formed body still infant weak, he stumbled. Marcus barely managed to catch him.
“Where am I... who?” He said, with a look of bewilderment towards Marcus and then to Baroque. “I don’t...”
“There is nothing to fear here” Baroque’s words were softly reassuring. “Please, do not be afraid.”
He held out a steadying hand and helped the young Gold back into the support of the cubicula before stepping back to address the four Gold ascendants.
“All will be made clear in time,” As always, Baroque marvelled at the beauty and wonder of the ascension process, and once again, he felt privileged to be a part of it. Attempting a brief introduction, he gestured towards Marcus.
“Lord Marcus and I, Lord Baroque, as Custodians, bid you welcome to the Afterland of Aurum.”
The ascendants looked blankly back at him and then at each other before gazing vacantly at their strange and grandiose surroundings.
“I request that you be still for a while,” said Baroque “at present you are weak from Ascension, but you will rapidly regain your strength. Then you will accompany us to the Atrium, where your induction will commence and all will be made clear to you.” He turned to Marcus. “Their robes?”
Marcus picked up the golden robes from the carefully folded piles and helped them to dress.
Satisfied, Baroque moved on to the Hydrargyrum quarter as the Bloods were completing their wisping. He laid out the four black robes, black pumps, and red dragon leather belts at the foot of each cubiculum before raising them. When the doors swung open, he found