Sword from the Sky Read online



  It is the Dark Ages. A Dying Sun Sets in the West. Man Becomes Shadow.

  Out of this Sunless Land Will Rise a Legend...

  Of the Starborn Child,

  Of the Great Cosmic War,

  Of the Sword of Power...

  SWORD FROM THE SKY BY R. JANVIER DEL VALLE

  Reviewers are RAVING about Sword from the Sky:

  --"There is much I could say about this book that would take up a lot of space!"

  --"Once the action starts its pure action for the rest of the book!"

  --"Sword from the Sky successfully pulled me in with a good plot and well developed characters."

  --"Wow!! I was so captivated in just a few pages that I read the book in one day!"

  --"I really liked this book because it wasn't like anything I've read before. It was refreshing to have a book that isn't strongly apart of one category or another; just simply a good read!"

  SWORD FROM THE SKY

  (BOOK I: THE BLADE SCHOOL OF DAVÍ)

  BY

  R. JANVIER DEL VALLE

  Copyedited by Claudette Cruz

  Cover Art by Ronald Calica

  Frontispiece by Jason Cheeseman-Meyer

  “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”

  -Matt 5:13

  R. Janvier del Valle

  Copyright 2012 by R. Janvier del Valle

  CONTENTS

  PROLOGUE

  I: A LATE START

  II: DOWN THE TWO PATHS

  III: THE VISIT

  IV: A SISTER’S CLAIM

  V: A HOLE AMIDST THE FOG

  VI: THE FALLEN JUBAHN

  VII: THE DARK UNWELCOME

  VIII: A SNEAK IN THE NIGHT

  IX: PICTURES IN A CAVE

  X: ALL BLADES UNSHEATHED

  XI: SWORD FROM THE SKY

  XII: A FATHER’S SECRET

  XIII: A MOTHER’S LULLABY

  XIV: I AM UMBRADOR

  XV: THE BANQUET BEFORE THE STORM

  XVI: THE BURYING OF THE LAND – PART I

  XVII: A PRINCE’S FATE

  XVIII: THE BURYING OF THE LAND – PART II

  XIX: THE CUT OF THE RASPLENDUR

  XX: THE SETTING OF THE SUN

  AFTERWORD

  OTHER BOOKS BY R. JANVIER del VALLE

  SWORD FROM THE SKY SERIES (NOVELS)

  Book One: The Blade School of Daví

  Book Two: The Endless Night (December 2013)

  THE DEAF SWORDSMAN SERIES (NOVELLAS)

  No. 1 Children of a Sunless Land

  No. 2: The Abandoned Asylum of the Good Doctor Fangtasahd

  No. 3: Along the Many Houses of Damnation

  No. 4: Beauty in a Land of Sorrow

  No. 5: Where the Frost Reigns (Q1/2014)

  No. 6: The Golden Queen (TBA 2014)

  No. 7: The Veil of Vanity (TBA 2014)

  No. 8: The Hound of the Moon (TBA 2014)

  No. 9: Escape from the Sunless Land (TBA 2014)

  SILAS DE SAN MICHEL MYSTERIES (NOVELS)

  To Kill and Kill Again (Q1/2014)

  Star is the noble sign of the soul,

  and though nobly bright,

  must by law rise and fall with the sky.

  Thus the soul must by law rightly do the same.

  This is known as revealed from hence on;

  which prevails as truth in our hearts,

  I, who was Druuk of Hads, being the scribe of Daví

  while it came to be known in our time.

  -In the Sixth Epoch of Fire, in the Age of the Moon Ire.

  A SHOOTING STAR leaped across the purple horizon, seemingly racing down towards the bosom of an embracing dawn. The beauty of the cosmos flared in the distance, and the air swam in a mist of cold rain. Moments later, upon a great hill, a hound made its presence known. He was tall and slender, yet muscular, with a deep chest, something akin to a cheetah’s body, as if he was made to run. The creature had large eyes and drop ears on a long and narrow head. His dark mane contrasted with his bright blue eyes, luminous and eternal. The hound sat under the backdrop of an early sunrise, staring intensely at the barren land.

  Weary of the terrain, the hound stood idly, discerning the ominous landscape with his transcending spirit. The wet grass adorning the moors was of a bluish gray, as if it was painted over by the night sky. Dawn was settling far in the distance, yet most of the sky was dark. The only light came from a sullen moon, which hovered close to the ground, and some curious fireflies that fluttered amongst the grass, exploring the beauty of their world.

  Without hesitating any longer, the hound took off running down the hill and into a large grassy field, racing across the horizon, on his way towards a large and dark forest. Upon reaching the wooded area, he stopped and hesitated before breaking into its borders. He surveyed the tall trees. They were all intertwined and entangled with each other, as if wrestling in an eternal embrace. His ears perked up, searching the chorus of noises emanating from the dense patches of shadow. At first, he only heard the sound of various nightly critters, but as he concentrated a little longer, in the middle of all the noise, the hound discovered what he longed for: the cries of a newborn baby boy.

  And just then, a booming voice echoed across the moonlit sky. I have appointed you for this task. Guard the boy with your life. The sunless land grows stronger by the hour. Time is now but a fleeting moment. Go now, Umbrador, and fulfill your destiny.

  Onward the hound went as he honed in on the newborn’s cries, dashing along the dimly lit wooded trails, straight into the heart of the darkened forest.

  ***