ali cross - Become: a novel of Desolation (Volume 1)

2011 Ali Cross

Smashwords Edition - License Notes

This book is licensed for your personalenjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to otherpeople. If you would like to share this book with another person,please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you'rereading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchasedfor your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com andpurchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work ofthis author.

This is a work of fiction. The characters,names, places, incidents and dialogue are products of the authorsimagination and are not to be construed as real.

No part of this book may be reproduced in anyform whatsoever without prior written permission of the publisherexcept in the case of brief passages embodied in critical reviewsand articles.

ISBN: 978-1466384965

Published by Ninjas Write Publishing, P.O.Box 871, West Jordan, UT 84084

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS CATALOGING-IN-PUBLICATIONDATA - 2011917866

Cover Design by Ali Cross

Cover Art by Fanye L.O.

Typeset by Heather Justesen

Author's Blog: http://www.alicross.com

For my husband, David.

Thank you for believing in me even before Idid.

For my sons, Charlie & Xander.

Thank you for being willing to play for hourswhile I wrote.

Thank you for being the best cheerleadersever--you made me feel like a winner even when I was losing.

For my sister, Heather.

Saying you're the wind beneath my wings isn'tcorny when it's true.

I love you!

The knocking at his door was as sharp andinsistent as lightning in a dry sky. Elario had read the leaves andknew the day would come soon. Still, his heart leapt as he pressedthe ancient crystal that hung around his neck to his lips. Hewhispered a prayer of strength and courage before kissing theamulet again and rising to his feet.

Shuffling to the door, he threw a log ontothe fire and tossed a handful of powder into the flame. He hopedthey would see. Hoped The Hallowed would come.

Either way, his lifes mission would finallybe fulfilled and he could leave this mortal plane. Perhaps nonewould make their way from the nearby town to see what had become ofhim. But if they did, it would please him if they found all to bein order.

He paused at his door, placing both handsagainst the rough wood. Yes, yes, he thought. He could feelthe womans need even before he threw open the door, and caught heras she stumbled into his arms.

Help... she breathed, one arm claspedtightly beneath her swollen belly.

I am here. I am ready, Elario said. Herskirts were torn, blood and waters-of-the-womb soiling the lowerhalf and Elario struggled as he moved to support herthere was muchwork yet to be done.

He helped her to a mat placed before thefire, then set about readying the supplies. He filled a pot withwater before setting it on the hook that hung inside the hearth. Hehoped the water would heat before the babe arrived.

... found you, the woman said, butElario did not stop to question what she might mean. He knew shewould find him: the how did not matter.

Elario scanned her body, assessing herwounds, her needs. For so long he had waited for her, and now thatshe was here he felt curious as to the nature of this, his greatesttask. Curious about the one for whom he would give his life. Hewondered if she knew it would cost her hers as well, though fromthe look of her, he suspected she did.

The runes on her face and hands clearly namedher his. Elario knew her belly would also bear such marks.He scowled in distaste for the creature that had brought her tothis moment. Yet he had never shied away from the eternal fightagainst the Dark One and he would not fail now.

The Gardian had told him what he must do. Thefate of the worlds rested upon this childthe weapon devised byOdin himself when his son Loki called himself Lucifer and overtookHels realm. Where so many had failed, this child must succeed.

Elario gathered his wits and will about himand set about the task of bringing the child into the world.

The woman howled in pain and she curled ontoher side, clutching her belly with desperate hands. He had hopedshe would come with more time to spare, but alas, that was not tobe. What good he hoped to affect now seemed slim at best, but hewould try, and pray The Hallowed would arrive before the Dark Oneclaimed what was his.

He caught the womans eyes, dark with fear,glassy from the painbut flecked with the gold of a Gardian. Theydid not speak, though he tried to convey a measure of comfort toher in his steady gaze and the small smile he was sure to giveher.

Warm and golden, he thought, as hesettled to the floor. He hoped the childs eyes would be like hermothersthe gold spark an indication of her great lineageand notthe cold blackness of her father. The ground quivered and Elariostools of medicine bounced in their bowls, clattering. Sand rantoward the low spots on the floor. Quickly now, he thought.The Dark One will be here soon.

The woman grimaced as she rolled onto herback, her hands sliding to the top of her belly. Fear passed acrossher face before it was stamped out by sheer determination. What amiraculous thing that she should escape the clutches of the DarkOne when the birth of his child was imminent.

Elario crouched near her head, and ponderedwhat he might say. How do I comfort a woman who may bear a childbent on fulfilling her fathers evil plans?

What if The Hallowed are too late?

Please let them get here, Elarioprayed. If The Hallowed claimed this child they may yet deal theDark One a blow far greater than any since the beginning of man. Ifthey did not... Elario couldnt bring himself to ponder whatevil would befall the Earth if they failed in their task.

The ground rumbled again, this time hardenough that bowls and pestles fell from their shelves in shatteringscreams.

As the woman labored, a mighty boom shook thehut and the front door blew off its hinges. Elario placed his handson the womans belly, seeking the babe, seeking to guide it toEarth.

He closed his eyes and imagined the infantGardian finding this strange home, the body of a demon, and findinga place within it. No child in the history of mankind would have amore difficult task, not at the inception of life, nor, heimagined, throughout. The nature of man already lent itself to thelowly in life, to the temptations of the earth. What burden willthis child bear? Elario wondered. Born of the Father ofLies?

The babe leapt within the womb, but itsjourney was not yet over. The woman squeezed her eyes shut as bloodtrickled from between her clenched lips. Her hands reached out,grasping, but found no purchase.

It is too late, Elario feared, as thebattle for life stretched out far too long. He closed his eyes, thewords of the Gardian once again moving his lips. He did not seewhen the mother lost her own life. It was only when the fervorwithin the womb ceased that he opened his eyes to see her bellyglowing and her face lax in death.

Still, he smiled. It had been a good death.She has won.

He set about freeing the child, anxious nowto greet the little one he had waited for centuries to meet. Elariotrembled as he made the incision and reached inside. The mothershands rested at her side, her smooth skin showing no sign of herbrutal fight for life. Between her fingers pooled the links of achain, the pendant shining in the candlelight.

Elario rocked forward, while his hands soughtthe babe. So that is how she did it, he thought. The womanpossessed a warding charm, a complicated knot from the Old World,in the Old Tongue. She had surely worn it to hide herself from theDark Ones viewand now that it lay puddled on her palm, theTrickster was coming.