A Clash of Fates The Echoes Saga: Book Nine Philip C. Quaintrell Also by Philip C. Quaintrell THE ECHOES SAGA: (9 Book Series) 1. Rise of the Ranger 2. Empire of Dirt 3. Relic of the Gods 4. The Fall of Neverdark 5. Kingdom of Bones 6. Age of the King 7. The Knights of Erador 8. Last of the Dragorn 9. A Clash of Fates THE TERRAN CYCLE: (4 Book Series) 1. Intrinsic 2. Tempest 3. Heretic 4. Legacy For John and Wendy, thank you for always being there… Dramatis Personae Adan’Karth (Adan) A Drake Adilandra Sevari The late elven queen of Elandril and mother of Reyna Galfrey Alijah Galfrey Half-elf and self-proclaimed king of Verda Asher Human ranger Athis Red dragon, bonded with Inara Doran Heavybelly Dwarven Ranger/Prince and War Mason of clan Heavybelly Ellöria Sevari The late Lady of Ilythyra Faylen Haldör An elf and High Guardian of Elandril Galanör Reveeri Elven ranger Gideon Thorn Master Dragorn Gondrith Reaver - bonded with the dragon Yillir. Ilargo Green dragon, bonded with Gideon Inara Galfrey Half-elf Dragorn/Guardian of the Realm Lord Kraiden Late Reaver - bonded with the dragon Morgorth. Kassian Kantaris A previous Keeper of Valatos Nathaniel Galfrey An ambassador and previous knight of the Graycoats Reyna Galfrey Elven princess of Elandril and Illian ambassador Rengyr Late Reaver - bonded with the dragon Karsak. Sir Ruban Dardaris Captain of the King’s Guard The Crow (Sarkas) Late Leader of The Black Hand Veda Malmagol The Father of Nightfall Vighon Draqaro The usurped king of Illian Vilyra Reaver - bonded with the dragon Godrad. Contents Prologue Part I 1. Home 2. Northman 3. Instincts 4. Heavy is the Head… 5. What Defines Us 6. The Dawn of a New Day 7. A Royal Gathering 8. Face to Face 9. I Am Ranger 10. Together Again 11. The March to War 12. Introductions 13. Finding Harbour in the Storm 14. Not Forgotten 15. Farewells Part II 16. A Night on the Plains 17. A Rogue Memory 18. Battle of The Moonlit Plains 19. A Larger Tapestry 20. Crosshairs 21. Off the Beaten Path 22. Where Worlds Collide 23. Cursed 24. Aftermath 25. Survivors 26. Familiar Faces 27. First Contact 28. On the Hunt 29. Inside the Cage 30. Old Friends Part III 31. Bending the Knee 32. A Heart of Three 33. Why We’re Here 34. King to King 35. An Intimation of Hope 36. Messenger 37. Hard Truths 38. The Future Lies in the Past 39. An Alliance of Two Shores 40. Out of Time 41. Cast Out of the Heavens 42. Preparations 43. End of the Road 44. Those Below 45. ’Tis Life 46. Eternal Companions Part IV 47. A Master’s Wrath 48. Thorgen’s Blood 49. Palios 50. Endings and Beginnings 51. Home is Where the Heart Is 52. Feeling It 53. The Beginning of Something Beautiful 54. Choosing Joy 55. The Valley of Death 56. Where it all Began 57. A Clash of Fates 58. Keeping the Hope Alive 59. New Beginnings 60. Through Shadow 61. Legacy 62. The Blood of Erador 63. Creed 64. A New World Epilogue Author Page Author Notes Appendices Prologue This is the end. How could it not be? The world had been set alight, the sky blackened with ash, and the earth torn asunder. Civilisation was falling into ruin. Dragons, bereft of their murdered Riders, melted the stone with their righteous fire, torching the streets of Ak-Tor, Illian’s doomed capital. Sarkas watched it all like a god, removed from the carnage and death. The winds of time battered him, threatening to hurl him into the bleak future he now witnessed. With bloodshot eyes, he willed himself to keep watching, to observe the world to come. Despite those ethereal winds, tearing at his clothes and pummelling his pale body, Sarkas wore the grin of a very satisfied man. For all the madness and sheer terror of such destruction, it was indescribably beautiful. And all it took was a handful of dragons. Mage knights, cloaked in red, launched all manner of spells into the air. For all their effort, they only succeeded in adding some colour to an otherwise bleak vista. Ballistas hurled bolts, hoping to reinforce the knights’ magic, and some even struck true, bringing down a dragon here and there. Ultimately, and inevitably, there was nothing to be done in the face of such raw power. If the dragons of Verda wanted to raze humanity to the ground, there was no one, no thing, and no spell to stop them. Doomed indeed. To the west, Atilan’s palace succumbed to the wrath of Garganafan, a dragon famed for his hulking size. Sarkas had heard of Garganafan, his name carried in the tales that breezed through The Citadel. Sarkas, however, had never seen the dragon before and attributed the knowledge he now possessed to the magic coursing through every fibre of his being - it whispered the truth into his mind. Without turning to look, Sarkas’s sight found another dragon to the south, clawing his way through one building after another. Just as he had known Garganafan when he saw him, Sarkas just knew that the black behemoth destroying Ak-Tor’s southern district was Malliath the voiceless. The black dragon rammed his way through an entire street of houses, his horns flinging people and debris high into the air. His tail always followed him through the chaos, swinging one way then the other to flatten anything that had survived. When Malliath finally unleashed his breath, the jet of fire engulfed half a battalion of mage knights standing their ground on the district boundary. The smoke would have blinded any who witnessed such a massacre, but Sarkas was granted a view of it all. The front four rows of mage knights had either failed to erect a shield or their magic had simply failed to hold up to Malliath’s might. Now, the scorched bodies formed a black line in the street, separating the surviving mage knights from the dragon. Sarkas fought against the winds of time to widen his vision, but the spell had a life of its own, as if it was showing him only what it wanted him to see. Apparently, it wanted him to see death. The mage knights resisted with spells, poking holes in Malliath’s wings and chipping his armour-like scales. It only served to anger the beast all the more. His tail, lined with spikes, swung around in a wave of dirt and debris - a force no man could deny. Half lost their lives to the devastating retaliation, many of whom were thrown,
