William Wilde and the Sons of Deceit Read online

  William Wilde and the Sons of Deceit

  Copyright © 2018 by Davis Ashura

  Cover art by Deranged Doctor Design

  Cover Design by Deranged Doctor Design

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means including information storage and retrieval systems, without permission in writing from the author. The only exception is by a reviewer, who may quote short excerpts in a review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Printed in the United States of America

  eBook Edition 2018

  * * *

  DuSum Publishing, LLC

  OTHER BOOKS BY DAVIS ASHURA:

  THE CASTES AND THE OUTCASTES:

  A Warrior’s Path

  A Warrior’s Knowledge

  A Warrior’s Penance

  Omnibus Edition (only available on Kindle)

  Stories for Arisa (short-story collection)

  THE CHRONICLES OF WILLIAM WILDE:

  William Wilde and the Necrosed

  William Wilde and the Stolen Life

  William Wilde and the Unusual Suspects

  William Wilde and the Sons of Deceit

  William Wilde and the Lord of Mourning (Summer 2019)

  To my sons once again, although thankfully, they aren’t deceitful. They’re merely unusual and nerdy.

  ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

  I have many people I need to thank for this book. It starts with my family, who continue to give me the time to write. Even more amazing, a few of them want to become creators of their own stories.

  * * *

  There’s also my office staff. They put up with my pesky habits and behavior. They don’t even mind much when I make a note of any funny or odd utterances that they make.

  * * *

  There are the friends I’ve made in the Terrible Ten, the terriblest Slack group out there. In the group, I have to thank the inestimable Phil Tucker for inviting me into the group. Then there’s also Bryce O’Connor and Dyrk Ashton. You guys don’t know how much spending DragonCon with you meant to me. To say it was life changing and maybe even life saving isn’t an exaggeration.

  * * *

  I can’t forget my writing group, the CVAKWG (Catawba Valley Ass-Kicking Writer’s Group). We’ve been stumbling by for the past ten years now, solving the worlds problems and doing everything but talk about our writing. But that’s ok. It’s more fun that way.

  * * *

  I can’t forget my editors, Diann Read and Tom Burkhalter. The two of you helped take a rough piece of work and helped me make it so much better than it ever could have been.

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  The Pilgrimage So Far

  1. Recovered Choices

  2. Frustrated Hopes

  3. Plans of Deceit

  4. Evil Awakens

  5. Preparations and Desires

  6. Unexpected Emotions

  7. Fulfilling Hopes

  8. Troublesome Truths

  9. The Past Reaches

  10. Advancing Elements

  11. Knowledge and Strife

  12. Seeking Help

  13. Elder Advice

  14. Fire to Heal

  15. Progress and Peril

  16. Longing Dreams

  17. Incursion Confirmed

  18. Fulfilling Fates

  19. Unexpected Secrets

  20. Death Approaches Love

  21. Decisions Launched

  22. A Peaceful Interlude

  23. Expected Arrivals

  24. Battle’s Arena

  25. Allies and Premonitions

  26. Final Preparations

  27. Battle Joined

  28. Deceptions Killed

  29. Find the Flaw

  30. Killing Fields

  31. Learning Disaster

  32. The Wisdom of Pyrrhus

  33. Epilogue

  About the Author

  THE PILGRIMAGE SO FAR

  William Wilde and the Necrosed

  * * *

  In the winter of his junior year of high school, William Wilde is orphaned by what’s thought to be a simple car accident on an ice-slick road in Ohio. The truth, however, is far different. His family—his parents and his brother—are murdered by Kohl Obsidian. The creature is a necrosed, an undead, shambling monster akin to a zombie who seeks and destroys anyone who possess magic. William is one such individual, although he doesn’t know it. In addition, his magic is unprimed and quiescent, and as a result, Kohl lets the boy live. The necrosed reasons that he can consume William once his magic awakens. However, Kohl uses his own dark magic to change William, making him sturdier and stronger but also more prone to anger.

  William recalls none of this. His memory of the accident is absent. All he knows is that his parents and his brother are both dead. He has a choice now, and rather than move in with distant aunts of uncles, William chooses to remain in his hometown of Cincinnati, Ohio. He moves in with his best friend, Jason Jacobs, and Jason’s grandfather, Mr. Zeus, and life eventually continues.

  However, life changes for everyone on the first day of William’s senior year of high school at St. Francis, He meets a new girl then, Serena Paradiso. She’s beautiful and mysterious, and most exciting of all, she seems to enjoy William’s company. She is accepted by all of William’s friends, including Daniel Karllson and Lien Sun, a Chinese foreign exchange student who lives with Daniel’s family. But Serena has secrets. She has been set to spy on William and his friends. She knows that William possesses magic, and she is expected to help steal him or it. She answers to Adam Paradiso, a man who she introduces as her father, but who is actually her Isha, the person tasked with completing her training. Serena is on her pilgrimage from the island of Sinskrill, and William is her final test to see her rise to the rank of mahavan, a Sinskrill master.

  William, Jason, and the others, including Mr. Zeus, are unaware of Serena’s actual motivations and take her into their homes and hearts. This causes Serena a great deal of doubt and remorse. She enjoys the company of William and his friends, their banter, and their obvious friendship and love for one another. She wishes she didn’t have to deceive them. Her home of Sinskrill is a hard place, and this is the first time she’s ever experienced such interactions. However, her path is set. She has to complete her pilgrimage. If not, her younger sister, Selene, might pay the price for her failure.

  As the late summer turns to fall, the school year progresses and William is confronted by his long-time nemesis, Jake Ridley, a bully and a popular boy at school. Their disagreement results in Jake’s suspension from the football team for a number of games. The team goes on to lose those games, and William is blamed for the losses. Desperate to make amends, he and Jason join the football team, and William manages to salvage the season. As a result, he and Jake reach a détente. However, William’s passion and fury during the times he played also reawakens Kohl Obsidian, who had resumed his slumber after murdering William’s parents and brother. The necrosed sets off to hunt William down.

  After the football season, Mr. Zeus explains the truth to William. He explains that he and Jason are asrasins. They can master asra—magic—that they are from Arylyn, a hidden paradise. They explain that William has magic, and they were sent to test him, to see if he’s worthy of joining their island. Daniel, Lien, and Daniel’s parents are also magi and accompanied Mr. Zeus and Jason for the same purpose. Mr. Zeus and Jason also explain about the ongoing war between magi and mahavans, between Aryl
yn and Sinskrill. Asrasins from Arylyn are known as magi while those from Sinskrill are called mahavans.

  It is much to take in, and William is furious that he was lied to and astonished to learn that he’s an asrasin, someone who can master asra—magic. He eventually forgives Mr. Zeus and the others for their deceit, accepting their need for secrecy. In addition, he understands that more will be revealed during the Christmas holidays at a saha’asra—a place of magic—in West Virginia, a wild meadow in the woods.

  However, shortly after their arrival to the saha’asra, Kohl Obsidian, who had been tracking William, attacks. Mr. Zeus, Daniel, and Lien escape to Arylyn by means of an anchor line.

  William, Jason, and Serena are unable to follow and flee from Kohl, barely escaping the necrosed’s claws. William is confronted with further hard truths. His magic has awakened, and he can no longer stay for long in the Far Beyond, the world beyond the borders of Arylyn and Sinskrill. In addition, during the attack in West Virginia, Kohl Obsidian touched William. He can sense the presence of the necrosed. The creature has also touched Serena.

  William, Jason, and Serena drive to Cincinnati, seeking to regroup and flee farther from Kohl. Serena, maintaining the web of lies that she’s a simple high school senior rather than a denizen of Sinskrill, is forced to go with them since Kohl has touched her as well. She pretends fury at the events that have occurred and all the times William didn’t tell her about magic. She claims William lied to her.

  As they prepare to leave Cincinnati, Kohl attacks once again. This time his presence is witnessed by Jake Ridley and his friends, late at night in a darkened park. William, Jason, and Serena battle him and manage to escape once again. They drive into the night, putting miles between themselves and the necrosed.

  However, Kohl can also travel by anchor lines, the mystical links that connect various saha’asras. He’s able to transport himself instantly from one part of the world to another. As a result, they have to avoid the anchor lines, including any that might transport them to Arylyn and safety.

  William comes up with the bright idea of joining a circus, Wizard Bill’s Wandering Wonders, to hide from Kohl Obsidian. The necrosed doesn’t like large animals, and Wizard Bill’s has plenty of them, including elephants and bears. During their time in the circus, Serena forgives William for lying to her. They grow closer, but all the while, it is Serena who is lying. Remorse rises within her at what she’s doing to William.

  Their time in the circus introduces them to Elaina Sinith, a young woman who states that she’s a witch from a village called Sand. She claims that William’s brother, Landon, is still alive and seems to sense the truth about Serena. William and the others are discomfited by her presence.

  They eventually leave the circus in Arizona. This had always been their intention, to journey to a saha’asra that contains an anchor line connected to Arylyn. During the long drive to the saha’asra, they encounter a kitten named Aia. She can speak to them telepathically, a talent Jason has never known anyone to possess. Neither has Serena.

  They bring the kitten along since she states that ‘the Shining Man’ placed her in their path in order to help them with their task. She also claims they’ll have help defeating Kohl.

  They eventually reach the saha’asra, and Kohl is waiting for them. He’s tracked their movements through the connection he has with William and Serena. A battle ensues, and during the heart of it, a man steps through the anchor line.

  It is Landon Wilde, William’s brother. During the long ago attack on William’s family, Kohl shredded Landon’s memories, his sense of self, replacing them somewhat with who the necrosed had once been, a holder named Pilot Vent. The necrosed was certain Landon would die shortly thereafter. Instead, Landon somehow lived through the torment. His sense of self fuses with that of Pilot and a new being arises: Landon Vent, the first holder in generations, and the only being who can kill a necrosed. The battle resumes, and William and Landon, working together finally manage to kill Kohl with strange lightning that pours off William’s hands.

  After the battle’s conclusion, Mr. Zeus arrives through the anchor line. William has a choice of whether to go to Arylyn now or wait a little longer. He chooses the latter. He wants to finish high school first.

  William Wilde and the Stolen Life

  * * *

  William and his friends have returned to St. Francis after the terrifying events of the Christmas holidays. They return more sober and with a greater sense of age in comparison to their fellow students. Right before the beginning of the school day, they meet with Jake Ridley and several of his friends in the parking lot, including Sonya Bowyer and Steve Aldo. William has long had a crush on Sonya, but those feelings wasted away when Serena entered his life.

  All seems normal. Jake and his friends appear to have no recollection of Kohl Obsidian. Jason tells William why. Mr. Zeus visited everyone who’d seen Kohl Obsidian and placed a weave, a magical spell, on them that obscured their remembrances of that night. However, Jake does remember, and he knows that everyone else doesn’t. He stares after William and his friends and wonders who or what they really are.

  The school year progresses, and Jake remains cordial, although he shocks William with his knowledge of Lord of the Rings. Later, some of the seniors are tasked with cleaning a church in Over-the-Rhine, Cincinnati’s ghetto, as part of a field trip. Within the parish hall, they catch sight of Jessira, a tall, blonde freshman they’d met at the beginning of the school year. With her is an Indian-appearing young man who moves with the deadly grace of a leopard. His name is Rukh Shektan. The two freshmen are striking in attitude, seemingly years older and more mature than even the seniors.

  Weeks later, William comes across information about what might have happened to him in the saha’asra in West Virginia. Ever since Kohl’s attack, William has come to the realization that he’s now far faster and stronger than anyone he knows. He learns that Kohl’s blood might have mingled with his own during that battle. It would explain the changes in him. He also learns that if Kohl’s blood did infect him, his fate might be to either die, be transformed into a necrosed, or have unspecified changes occur to him.

  Worse, Jake confronts him, explaining that he knows the truth about the night when Kohl attacked everyone in the park. Jake demands answers, and William reluctantly agrees to bring him to Mr. Zeus. Events continue to accelerate. Jason also discovers the truth about the blood of a necrosed, and he and Mr. Zeus test William. They find him clear of corruption, but Kohl’s blood has changed him. Thankfully, though, the only changes are the ones William already knows: he’s stronger and faster than most everyone else.

  During all of this, Serena continues to struggle with her deception toward William and his friends. However, she doesn’t know what else to do. While telling Mr. Zeus the truth might earn her safety on Arylyn, what of her sister, Selene? Her life might be forfeit if Serena makes such an attempt. Isha demands that Serena learn just what kind of asrasin William might become. They suspect he might have it in him to become a raha’asra, a powerful, rare person who can create lorasra, the magical essence asrasins require to keep themselves alive as well as the means by which they create their weaves and braids.

  Isha’s suspicions prove correct, and Serena discovers something else: Jake is also a potential raha’asra. It is an amazing find, one that will grant both her and Isha great success in Serena’s bishan pilgrimage. Isha is overjoyed and plans how to steal the two young raha’asras to Sinskrill.

  Jake has dinner with Mr. Zeus, William, and Jason and is told the truth about asrasins and Arylyn. He takes the information well but needs time to figure out what to do with it. After the evening meal, Jake’s car won’t start, and William offers to take him home. On the way, Serena, Isha, and mahavans from Sinskrill attack and capture them. They whisk them away to Sinskrill by anchor line.

  Sinskrill exists in the Norwegian Sea, a stony island held tight in the iron-fisted rule of the Servitor, Serena’s true father. Serena is g
reeted warmly on her return to the mahavan island while William and Jake glare daggers at her. Hate for her has rightfully spawned in both their hearts. In addition, it seems that Adam Paradiso is actually Serena’s paternal uncle, the Servitor’s true brother.

  William and Jake are given tasks to perform upon their arrival to Sinskrill. They work as farmers, something akin to drones, the peasants who make up most of Sinskrill’s population. They will only be accorded greater rights and status if they master their asra.

  Their instructor in this is Fiona Applefield, Sinskrill’s only raha’asra and a hard-hearted women of limited patience. She torments rather than teaches. Her brutish techniques almost result in William’s and Jake’s death at the claws and teeth of the unformed. Like necrosed, elves, and dwarves, unformed are woven, creatures of magic. In this case, the unformed are wild, untamed, intelligent beings who can take on the shape of any animal. They have long been a source of danger upon Sinskrill.

  Weeks pass, and Serena accepts William’s and Jake’s hate for her, but she still deeply regrets what’s happened to them. She seeks a way to help them. The easiest is protecting them, something she can only do if she attains higher rank within the mahavan community. She cultivates allies in Brandon Thrum and Evelyn Mason, two young, ambitious mahavans. In addition, Serena speaks to Travail, a troll—also a woven—trapped on Sinskrill to take on the task of instructing William and Jake. He agrees.

  Events come to a boil when William and Jake are involved in a fight with a drone supervisor by the name of Justin Finch. On Sinskrill it is a grave sin for someone of lower rank to strike someone of higher rank but matters in this case are confusing. William and Jake are akin to drones but also potential raha’asras. A compromise is reached. Justin is removed from his role as a supervisor, but Jake is lashed, a terrible punishment.