Ruler, Rival, Exile Read online

  Ceres tumbled down, into a pit as wide across as a room. It was a dark place, with the bones of the long dead showing how little hope of escape there was from the place. They had fallen, and either they had been too injured to climb out, or they simply hadn’t been able to do it. There was no exit that she could see. She looked up, and one by one, hooded faces started to appear. The former sorcerers stood there above her, looking down in obvious triumph.

  They had Ceres trapped, and they knew it.

  CHAPTER TWENTY FIVE

  Daskalos stepped back, forcing his eyes to remain open as he murmured the last syllables of his latest binding. There were so many elements in a working like this, so many pieces that had to fit together perfectly. Setting them all in place had left him exhausted.

  He had put almost everything he had into this working. He had spent power that he had hoarded for lifetimes, and used up substances that he might travel half the world and not find again. Just the energies involved in the rounds of spell casting could have torn apart Daskalos and his home together, leaving nothing but a crater to show for all his efforts.

  There were other risks, too. Daskalos had long since built up protections against some of the predators that sought to feed on the powerful. There had been moments in the casting when there had been chinks in his armor through which those things could have slipped. He’d spent long hours now watching for shadow lurkers and soul eaters, jumping at every glimmer that might have been a far spider, catching his breath at the low rumblings of mountain spirits.

  He’d survived, though. His life was safely hidden; his power was intact. Already, Daskalos could feel some of the energies building within him again. The others would return in time.

  Now, he just had to hope that the effort would be worth it. Daskalos was not a man used to relying on hope. There were days when he barely remembered what it was to be a man, so great was his power. There were days when it seemed that he could pull on the strands of fate and watch the world dance in response.

  It was never truly that simple, though, and Daskalos felt it all too clearly right then. How much time had he put into this, just to create one perfect weapon? No, not just for that. To have the perfect tool with which to change things at the one moment that mattered.

  Yet would he have that perfect tool? That was the hardest part of this. Sorcery had given him so much power, so much knowledge, but there were still too many things that could go wrong. How many times had he been left with misshapen horrors thanks to his experiments? How many times had he drawn a knife across a throat in mercy, or destroyed a weak effort in his anger?

  That couldn’t happen this time. There was so little time left now, so few chances remaining to stop what might follow, and Daskalos had to stop that. The world would be what he made it.

  Daskalos sat back, considering the elements of it all. The fall of the Empire. The child of the Ancient Ones. The powers he had helped to take from her. All fragments of a whole that he could still influence. He hadn’t created this, but he could still make it turn out the way he needed.

  He stepped over to the ledger where he’d set it all out. Threads of events stood in there, catalogued and labeled over so long it was hard to keep track of the touches he’d already laid on the shoulder of history, the faces he’d worn doing it. All Daskalos knew now was that the moment was approaching when the girl Ceres would have the power growing in her from her need to recover her powers.

  Kill her at the right moment, and it would be Daskalos’s to shape, yet he knew better than anyone how difficult the Ancient Ones could be to destroy, and this one would be in the fullest flush of power, or it would mean nothing.

  He waited on the edge of the mist, taking up a long staff and leaning on it while he started to gather his strength. He stood there in perfect stillness, as still as the stone around him, as still as the death he’d put off for so long.

  Finally, the mist started to shift, and a figure stepped out.

  He was tall and strongly muscled, like his father. From his mother, he got golden hair and features that could have been enough to stop hearts. He appeared to be around eighteen years of age, which meant that Daskalos had judged the magic to perfection.

  Daskalos tossed a long robe to the young man and he caught it with the speed and grace of a striking snake, putting it on. Daskalos reached out to throw him a sword, and he caught that too, swinging it through a combination of strokes to test the balance that the finest of swordsmen would have envied.

  “Do you know who you are?” Daskalos asked.

  “I am Telum,” the boy said. It meant “weapon” in a tongue as old as the one that named Daskalos a teacher. He’d thought it fitting. More than that, it gave the boy purpose. It defined what he was and stated the reason for his creation, all in a single whisper breath of naming. Every fragment of him was set toward one end, one moment.

  Still, that had to be tested. A name, even a conjuring, was one thing. The reality might prove to be quite another.

  Daskalos conjured the illusion of a man with a blade, running at Telum to see how well he would react after all the time that he’d trained in the stretched out, illusory world Daskalos had created for him. Telum did the one thing that surprised Daskalos the most: he ignored it. Was the boy stupid? In annoyance, Daskalos conjured something more solid: a foe who would be able to cut and kill the weak.

  Telum sliced through it with all the speed and power of muscles enhanced by magic. He spun aside from the blade and cut it in two, leaving nothing but wisps behind. He stood there as though waiting to see what would happen next.

  “Why didn’t you strike at the first?” Daskalos asked. He needed answers. He needed to be sure that he had crafted what he intended with this weapon.

  “That one could not harm me,” Telum answered, as though it were so obvious that anyone could have seen it.

  Daskalos nodded faintly to himself then. He looked at the boy with eyes that could see the web of power woven through him, seeing how perfectly crafted a thing he truly was. He was all Daskalos could have hoped.

  “I have a task for you, Telum,” Daskalos said. “There are things you must do, and people you must kill. Will you do that?”

  The boy stood there, then nodded solemnly.

  “Yes, Father.”

  NOW AVAILABLE FOR PRE-ORDER!

  THE SERIES FINALE!

  VICTOR, VANQUISHED, SON

  (Of Crowns and Glory—Book 8)

  “Morgan Rice has come up with what promises to be another brilliant series, immersing us in a fantasy of valor, honor, courage, magic and faith in your destiny. Morgan has managed again to produce a strong set of characters that make us cheer for them on every page.…Recommended for the permanent library of all readers that love a well-written fantasy.”

  --Books and Movie Reviews, Roberto Mattos (regarding Rise of the Dragons)

  VICTOR, VANQUISHED, SON is book #8—and the final book—in Morgan Rice’s bestselling epic fantasy series OF CROWNS AND GLORY, which begins with SLAVE, WARRIOR, QUEEN (Book #1).

  While Ceres battles in a mystical land to regain her lost powers—and to save her very life—Thanos, Akila, Lord West and the others dig in on the Isle of Haylon for their final stand against the might of Felldust’s fleet. Jeva tries to rally her Bone Folk to come to Thanos’ aid and join in the battle for Haylon.

  An epic battle follows in wave after wave, and they all have limited time to hang on if Ceres does not return.

  Stephania sails to Felldust to woo the Second Stone and lead him back to Delos, to reclaim the kingdom that was once hers. But in this new world of brutality, all may not go as she had planned.

  Irrien, fresh from his victory in the North, gathers all the strength of the Felldust fleet to lead a final, crushing attack on Haylon. He also brings a surprise weapon—a monster of unfathomable power—to ensure Ceres is wiped out for good.

  Meanwhile, the sorcerer Daskalos dispatches his ultimate weapon—Thanos and Stephania’s son—on a missio
n to kill his father.

  In the finale of the series, the most epic battle scene of all ensues, with the fate of the world hanging in the balance. Will Ceres live? Will Thanos? What will become of his son? Will freedom ever rise again? And will Ceres and Thanos finally find true love?

  VICTOR, VANQUISHED, SON tells an epic tale of tragic love, vengeance, betrayal, ambition, and destiny. Filled with unforgettable characters and heart-pounding action, it transports us into a world we will never forget, and makes us fall in love with fantasy all over again.

  “An action packed fantasy sure to please fans of Morgan Rice’s previous novels, along with fans of works such as The Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini…. Fans of Young Adult Fiction will devour this latest work by Rice and beg for more.”

  --The Wanderer, A Literary Journal (regarding Rise of the Dragons)

  VICTOR, VANQUISHED, SON

  (Of Crowns and Glory—Book 8)

  Listen to THE SORCERER’S RING series in audio book format!

  Now available on:

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  Download Morgan Rice books now!

  Books by Morgan Rice

  THE WAY OF STEEL

  ONLY THE WORTHY (Book #1)

  OF CROWNS AND GLORY

  SLAVE, WARRIOR, QUEEN (Book #1)

  ROGUE, PRISONER, PRINCESS (Book #2)

  KNIGHT, HEIR, PRINCE (Book #3)

  REBEL, PAWN, KING (Book #4)

  SOLDIER, BROTHER, SORCERER (Book #5)

  HERO, TRAITOR, DAUGHTER (Book #6)

  RULER, RIVAL, EXILE (Book #7)

  VICTOR, VANQUISHED, SON (Book #8)

  KINGS AND SORCERERS

  RISE OF THE DRAGONS (Book #1)

  RISE OF THE VALIANT (Book #2)

  THE WEIGHT OF HONOR (Book #3)

  A FORGE OF VALOR (Book #4)

  A REALM OF SHADOWS (Book #5)

  NIGHT OF THE BOLD (Book #6)

  THE SORCERER’S RING

  A QUEST OF HEROES (Book #1)

  A MARCH OF KINGS (Book #2)

  A FATE OF DRAGONS (Book #3)

  A CRY OF HONOR (Book #4)

  A VOW OF GLORY (Book #5)

  A CHARGE OF VALOR (Book #6)

  A RITE OF SWORDS (Book #7)

  A GRANT OF ARMS (Book #8)

  A SKY OF SPELLS (Book #9)

  A SEA OF SHIELDS (Book #10)

  A REIGN OF STEEL (Book #11)

  A LAND OF FIRE (Book #12)

  A RULE OF QUEENS (Book #13)

  AN OATH OF BROTHERS (Book #14)

  A DREAM OF MORTALS (Book #15)

  A JOUST OF KNIGHTS (Book #16)

  THE GIFT OF BATTLE (Book #17)

  THE SURVIVAL TRILOGY

  ARENA ONE: SLAVERSUNNERS (Book #1)

  ARENA TWO (Book #2)

  ARENA THREE (Book #3)

  VAMPIRE, FALLEN

  BEFORE DAWN (Book #1)

  THE VAMPIRE JOURNALS

  TURNED (Book #1)

  LOVED (Book #2)

  BETRAYED (Book #3)

  DESTINED (Book #4)

  DESIRED (Book #5)

  BETROTHED (Book #6)

  VOWED (Book #7)

  FOUND (Book #8)

  RESURRECTED (Book #9)

  CRAVED (Book #10)

  FATED (Book #11)

  OBSESSED (Book #12)

  About Morgan Rice

  Morgan Rice is the #1 bestselling and USA Today bestselling author of the epic fantasy series THE SORCERER’S RING, comprising seventeen books; of the #1 bestselling series THE VAMPIRE JOURNALS, comprising twelve books; of the #1 bestselling series THE SURVIVAL TRILOGY, a post-apocalyptic thriller comprising three books; of the epic fantasy series KINGS AND SORCERERS, comprising six books; and of the new epic fantasy series OF CROWNS AND GLORY, comprising eight books. Morgan’s books are available in audio and print editions, and translations are available in over 25 languages.

  TURNED (Book #1 in the Vampire Journals), ARENA 1 (Book #1 of the Survival Trilogy), A QUEST OF HEROES (Book #1 in the Sorcerer’s Ring) and RISE OF THE DRAGONS (Kings and Sorcerers—Book #1) are each available as a free download on Amazon!

  Morgan loves to hear from you, so please feel free to visit www.morganricebooks.com to join the email list, receive a free book, receive free giveaways, download the free app, get the latest exclusive news, connect on Facebook and Twitter, and stay in touch!