Freebie: Avalon - The Fallen King: Chapter 1

Welcome all to my newest world, the Kingdom of Avalon. Set 1,000 years in the future, it features 12 great lands with the floating kingdom of Avalon being one of the most powerful. It is run by the High Royals, a powerful family of mages named the Pantheons. When one of them, the High King no less, is found murdered, it sets off a series of events that could either save everyone, or doom the planet.

Hope you all enjoy. I will be releasing some of the chapters here on my blog and on Tik Tok or some other platform (although that is still a maybe and definitely far in the future) . We'll see. It really just depends on how popular my free chapters get. The more popular they are, the more I'll add.

Enjoy the first chapter now!

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In a time of technology, magic was absent from the world. Humans had their science to enhance daily life. This went on for thousands of years until the Age of Resurgence, when magic came back and gifted every human with the potential to harness magical energy. Struggles for power rose and wars broke out. Humanity suffered catastrophic losses as these power struggles devastated whole countries all over the world.

Excerpt from A History: From The Age of Resurgence to the Present

Written by Vera Jordan, Maestre Historian

Chapter One -

Chanting and cheering from the crowd outside drifted down to the three Proelia players waiting in the locker room. Theo Vance looked at the others with a calm, relaxed exterior. One was his girlfriend, Therresa Nillen. They were both in the same grade but he was a year older than her. The other was Arnold Weston. Theo wasn't sure of the younger boy's actual age or grade; with that baby face, he could have been a junior or a sophomore. Hell, he might even be a freshman, although that was less likely given Arnold’s somewhat premier status as a solo player. Solo slots were usually only given to older, more established players.

“Nervous, Vance?” Arnold asked, his tone mocking and meant to be as annoying. 

Theo, however, barely reacted. He simply looked up at the younger boy with a stoic, unreadable face.

“Shall I peck out his eyes and eat them?” That bit of murderous insanity came from Artemis, the crow perched on Theo’s shoulder. She had a bad habit of threatening to either kill someone, peck out their eyes, or some combination of both.

“Arti,” Therresa admonished, coming to sit next to her boyfriend. She flipped her wavy blonde hair to one side and Theo caught sight of her totem foci, a black leather choker she wore everyday. In the middle of it was an amethyst jewel that twinkled with an inner, purple light. It manifested for her when she was nine, just like foci did for every other person in the world.

Everyone except for Theo. He didn’t have a foci and as far as he knew, he was the only person on the planet missing one. It had never been a source of distress for him though and no one else seemed bothered by it either. In fact, he almost never thought about it at all.

“What did you say to me, wench?” Artemis asked, the crow’s tone snappish and her voice pitched high with indignation. Arti didn’t like Therresa much. In fact, the bird didn’t seem to like anyone. The only person she showed any sort of affection for was Theo. “Speaking to me so casually. The audacity!”

Arti moved in closer to Theo’s head. She opened her wing and enclosed it around him protectively, staring at the girl as if a mere look could induce a heart attack.

“Stop threatening murder,” Therresa said but she had a smile on her face. The words came out as if she’d said them to the crow hundreds of times before.

Theo caught sight of that smile out of the corner of his eye and for a split second, the stern, icy demeanor he adopted before all Proelia matches softened. He couldn't help it. She had this way of melting it off him.

“If one so chooses to dishonor Theo then one forfeits the right to their eyeballs,” Artemis declared, matter-of-fact.

“That’s enough, Arti,” Theo ordered.

“You really need to keep that lunatic bird of yours out of the locker rooms,” Arnold said, trying not to sound scared. He still kept his distance from Artemis though.

“Be a good birdie,” Theo said, patting the crow gently on top of her head with his index finger. “And stop scaring the kid.”

“I’m only two years younger than you,” Arnold declared, miffed. He crossed his thin arms across an equally thin chest but when Theo didn’t engage him back, he eventually relaxed. A little anyway.

A stocky, bald man walked into the room and eyed the three of them. One side of his face bore a thick, black sigil that shimmered in the light. Sigils were another form of foci that could manifest but although they were the most common, they were the weakest of the three types.

“All right! Let’s get out there and finish up the season with a win. Pantheon Charter has some great players but if we keep our heads in the game, we got this,” the man said. His name was Harvey Kelts and he was Weyd Academy’s foremost Proelia coach. He’d been with the school for a few decades and did not intend to retire any time soon, or so he said whenever anyone asked him. At this point, the man was practically an institution at Weyd.

“Coach,” Arnold said. “Theo has the bird in here again. Can you tell him to keep that thing at home or something?”

“Relax Weston. It’s just a bird. It can’t really hurt you,” Coach Kelts told him. Then he thought about that and he shot a questioning glance at Theo. “Can it?”

Theo shrugged.

“Let me try. Just once,” Arti said. “I really don’t like the fool. There’s a pompous air about him that could use some…correcting.”

Kelts stared at Artemis and let out a full belly laugh. It went on for several seconds before he finally stopped. He wiped a tear from his eye and finally caught his breath back.

“I like you, bird. You’re hilarious,” Kelts replied. Then he got serious again. “Okay, okay. I suppose we don’t have all day. Let’s get on out there and give ‘em hell.”

Theo gave the coach a nod and got up. He grabbed Therresa’s hand and kept hold of it as they walked out of the locker room toward the tunnel that led to Weyd’s Proelia arena. Arnold fell in line behind them and nervously watched Artemis turn on Theo’s shoulder so its disquieting black eyes could focus on him.

“Pantheon Charter still leading with the Ko twins?” Therresa asked.

“You know it,” Kelts replied. “They’re pretty devious so watch out for them. Even though it’s solo matchplay, count on them backing each other up. Remember to keep your obstructions going and don’t neglect your traps. Especially you Weston. You trigger one or two and always forget to lay down more. You can have three at a time, you know.”

“I know, Coach. I just…forget sometimes. It gets crazy out there on the field. You know that,” Arnold replied, offended.

“Nillen, don’t forget to account for elemental advantages. I noticed in your last match you had your water sprite trying to tackle a wood sprite when there was a fire sprite right there, ripe for the taking,” Kelts said as they walked. “And Vance, don’t…uh…try to win too fast I guess. Maybe give people a fighting chance.”

The coach laughed again, another one of his belly laughs, but even though he was joking, his words still stoked Theo’s confidence. He was currently the number one rated Proelia player in the district.

“Sure thing, Coach,” Theo said, smiling. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Arnold shoot him an annoyed glance.

The cheering from everyone in the bleachers got louder as they came to the tunnel’s end. Outside it, they heard the announcer speaking.

“Welcome all to the final Proelia match of the regular season. Tonight’s matchup is our own Weyd Academy against Pantheon Charter.”

More cheers, the noise this time was loud enough to make Theo’s ears hurt. He winced slightly.

“Coming to the field first, wearing the gold and green of Pantheon Charter, is junior Miles Williams, senior Victor Ko, and senior Vivienne Ko,” the announcer shouted. He paused so the audience could cheer for the Pantheon Charter students. Shortly after, he started up again. “And now it’s that time. The moment you’ve all been waiting for. Let’s give our players a huge round of applause. Wearing the light blue and silver of Weyd Academy, we have junior Arnold Weston.”

A respectable amount of applause erupted from the crowd as Arnold did a sort of slow jog out of the tunnel and into the arena.

“Next, give it up for senior Therresa Nillen!”

Therresa started to jog out to the arena herself but before she could, Theo gently pulled her back. He gave her a quick kiss, which Coach Kelts pointedly ignored, and then let her go. She smiled at him and again, his facade, his “game face,” slipped a little.

“Good luck, love,” Theo told her, giving her a wink.

“You too, sweets,” she replied, winking back. Then she made her way to the arena.

“And finally, the last player for Weyd Academy is our number-one-ranked Proelia player in the district, Theo Vance!”

The crowd went absolutely nuts when his name was called.

“I know you hate loud noises. And look, you’re wincing again. You want me to peck out all their eyeballs?” Artemis said, a hundred percent serious. “I can do it.”

The noise from the audience almost drowned out what she said but he knew her and was able to piece it together.

“No. Let’s not do that,” he answered with a smirk. “Go sit next to the coach. Keep him company.”

She obeyed, grudgingly, and as she flew away, Theo jogged out of the tunnel and came to a stop next to Therresa and Arnold. Below them was the arena. It was huge and shaped like a hexagon that had been sectioned off into six slices with a large circle in the middle. Jutting out over the field were six concrete walkways ending at circular platforms with sturdy railing going around them.

Almost as one, each player walked down their respective walkways and stopped at their ends, waiting for the match to start. Directly above the arena was a single platform suspended with thick cables anchored into the top part of the Weyd Academy stadium. This was where the official stood to monitor the match to ensure no one broke the rules. Since it was the last match of the regular season, and a ranked one at that, the official was certified by the league. She raised her hand and a burst of white sparks shot into the air, signaling the match’s beginning.

Theo rubbed the fingers of both hands with his thumbs and then concentrated. His forearms started to glow with maroon and orange light. Once the sparks flew into the air, he tapped his forearm twice. In the air in front of him, a red light started to form. A second later, a beautiful phoenix with feathers made of fire flapped its wings. This was his first sprite, and by now, everyone knew to expect it. Once the phoenix sprite materialized, the crowd went wild again.

“And there it is, folks, Vance’s classic, opening sprite. The phoenix. We also have a strong basilisk sprite from Therresa Nillen and an impressive fox sprite from Arnold Weston.”

Theo formed an L shape with his left hand. A ghost image of a card appeared there. He swiped left and the card changed. He went through several of them before finding the right one. It was a trap card. He threw it in front of him and it floated in midair, face down. Then he found two other trap cards and laid those too.

After his traps were set, Theo sent his phoenix sprite into the arena. At the same time a bolt of purple lightning shot straight at him. He looked over and saw Victor Ko’s attack spell, one he was familiar with called Violaceous Lightning, just starting to fade. Theo wasn’t shocked by the move. There was always someone wanting to make a name for themselves by trying to get their licks in on him first. Fortunately, he planned for that.

Before the bolt of lightning could hit him, his Age of Ice trap card activated. Its condition had just been met when Victor fired off a high-grade attack spell. The card flipped up and sounds of ice crackling filled the air as frost shot out, swallowing the lightning whole and continuing on toward Victor’s wyrm. The Pantheon Charter player tried to move his sprite out of the way but the blast of freezing air swerved to track it. A second later, it connected. Frost and ice spread across the wyrm’s scales, and soon it was frozen solid.

“And Vance, once again, makes a stellar beginning move with the Age of Ice trap card. He’s freezed the wyrm for a full minute,” the announcer shouted, unable to contain his excitement. It was so electric that it traveled into each spectator rooting for Weyd. The cheering boomed in an almost tangible wall of sound as people pumped fists into the air, clapped, or shook their Weyd-branded noisemakers.

In the arena, the other players took full advantage of the wyrm's misfortune. Vivienne tried to help her brother but she was almost immediately outmatched. She was forced to retreat behind a steel obstruction she made. It erupted out of the arena floor in a wail of screeching metal. Theo, Therresa, Arnold, and even the other player from Pantheon, Miles, attacked with vigor. It all became too much for the wyrm and before the minute was fully up, the frozen sprite shattered to pieces. It dissipated a few seconds later into red-gold sparkles.

Even louder cheering exploded from the Weyd Academy side of the stadium. Theo could feel the sounds in his chest and he took a moment to gaze at the audience. He found his parents a few seconds later, their faces lit with huge smiles and eyes glowing with pride.

He turned back to the match only to find one of the remaining trap cards floating face down in front of Victor springing up. The sparkles that used to comprise the wyrm suddenly swirled together and formed a ball of bright, red light. It got bigger quickly and started to pulse. Theo realized what was about to happen and jerked his left arm up. His phoenix responded immediately but he was still a little too slow. The pulsing stopped and then an explosion of light radiated outward in a ring of energy that slammed through anything it touched. The sprites closest to the wyrm suffered the worst. Miles’s dragon took the brunt of the damage and was eliminated. Therresa’s basilisk took a heavy fifteen-point hit as did Arnold’s fox. Vivienne’s fairy was still behind her metal obstruction and got away clean.

Theo’s phoenix flew erratically around the arena, staying slightly above the hexagonal field. One of its wings had been almost entirely blasted away from the trap card’s energy pulse. Through Theo’s intuitive and insane levels of control, he managed to get his phoenix’s flight pattern to level out. On his left, Arnold prepared an attack card. Theo wasn’t sure which one yet, but he wasn’t about to wait around and find out. He swung his arm again and his phoenix immediately started flying toward the kid.

Arnold’s card started to form in the air, and as the seconds ticked by, it gained more definition. Theo saw what card was about to be used and felt a modicum of respect for Arnold. It was a powerful one called Meteor Strike that hurled flaming space rocks at any and all opponent sprites, effectively knocking their hit points down by almost half. Attack cards were good for direct assaults on other players’ sprites, but that was only if they managed to land, of course.

Theo’s phoenix flew less than a foot in front of Arnold and then lit up like a supernova. The flash of bright, heatless light, made Arnold flinch and the spell card jerked with him. Flaming meteors shot out but in a wild stream that came crashing down all over the arena. By some insane coincidence or a stroke of pure luck, several found their marks. Two blasted into Vivienne’s metal obstruction and destroyed it while another one hit her fairy and nearly eliminated it. Another one dealt the basilisk a glancing blow but the hit wasn’t enough to eliminate it outright. Once Therresa understood what was happening, she effortlessly navigated her sprite through the falling meteors and it didn’t get hit again. Theo’s phoenix managed to avoid all the meteors too, although with a little less grace due to its injured wing.

“What an amazing display of agility from Vance and Nillen!” the announcer bragged. “We have Victor Ko and Miles WIlliams reentering the fray with their second sprites. For Ko, he has elected to throw out a salamander. Look at that thing blaze! It’s leaving trails of fire everywhere! Quite impressive. For Williams, he has thrown out a kangaroo. An excellent counter to the two fire sprites now on the field.”

Theo created the L shape with his left hand again and placed another trap. Then he saw every other player turn their sprite against his, except for Therresa. Her basilisk slithered up close to his phoenix and Theo smiled.

“All right,” he whispered to himself, preparing for the onslaught about to happen. “Time to have some fun.”

Check back in for Avalon - The Fallen King: Chapter Two!