With only a few short days left until Christmas we are taking a brief break from short stories and giving you some extracts from the different books that we've been posting stories from just to give you a deeper look at the worlds our authors create.
So to start things off, we're proud to bring you an extract from Rising Empire: Part 1, book 1 in the Chronicles of Celadmore by C.S. Woolley.
She was born to a line of great warriors. Her mother and father were King and Queen of the warrior tribes known as the Order. In her infancy, she killed her first moorin, so the legends say. In truth, she was four, barely able to raise her spear and the creature was no more than a pup; but these things are often exaggerated.
She was marked for greatness by all around her and by the age of twelve could best any with a sword. Her training was intense. She was pushed harder than any of the other warriors upon her parents' orders. She spent hours on horseback until she would be so tired that she had to be tied to the horse to keep her in the saddle.
She had to fight with broken swords and spears until she could grasp them no longer. By the age of fourteen, she was scarred on her arms, legs and body so badly that healers were called from outside of the Order to repair what damage they could.
At sixteen her mother was taken from this world by a sickness of the lungs and her father followed out of grief mere weeks later. She was raised to the throne of her people before she had been prepared to rule. The leaders of the nine kingdoms saw a moment of weakness; saw their chance to grasp power.
War came to the lands of Celadmore; neighbour fought against neighbour, old alliances were forsaken as men and women desired power and destruction.
Kingdoms splintered, rose and fell, of the nine great kingdoms of Celadmore, only four survived the first ten years of war, two were burnt to ash and plundered and the other three splintered into twelve.
She saw a chance to save her people from destruction in an alliance through marriage to a king who showed mercy to those that he ruled and those that he fought, King Mercia Nosfa VI.
But in this she was deceived. More than any of the other Kings and Queens, he desired an empire that spanned the width and breadth of the realm. He used her and her people as pawns in his great scheme. Their training in battle exploited to bring nations under his command.
When she tried to resist, he took her children from her and threatened to have them murdered if she did not do all that he desired. An army of women were brought to him so that he could sire children that did not share her blood and prayed that she would be killed in battle.
So she fought and thought. Fought to survive the war and power struggle that consumed the world and thought of how she could end this war and rescue her children from their father.
Her abilities and those of her warriors gave rise to the Order being named for the first of their people, the Queterians and the Anaguras. Her name was Kasnata.
She began her reign by forming six regiments within the Anaguran army. It had never been done before and has remained in place since.
Hawk, Kestrel, Vulture, Phoenix, Condor, Eagle.
All were created to serve different functions within Kasnata's army. Hawk were the scouts, Kestrel were the intelligence and communication division, Condor were her cavalry, Eagle were the fliers, Vulture were the main force and Phoenix were her elites and Royal Guard.
Her actions caused murmurs amongst the Queterians that she was warmongering and would bring ruin to the Order, but her mind was looking beyond the Anaguran Empire, but amongst the Anaguras she was untouchable, unequalled and worshipped.