A New Path Read online

  A New Path: The Giseria Chronicles Book 1

  by Xander Jade

  Copyright © 2020 Xander Jade

  Cover art by Vikncharlie

  All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by an electronic or mechanical means including informational storage and retrieval systems without written permission from the author. Except in the case of brief quotations expressed in articles or reviews. This a work of fiction and anything within this book resembling real people or events is coincidental.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty SIx

  Epilogue

  Chapter One

  Maximus Drago (Max to his friends) had to learn the hard way that everything in his life didn’t come easily, he had to work hard to earn anything that he wanted. Always being small in stature when measured to the other kids, he had to work harder to accomplish his goals, but has always been intelligent. He is quick and agile for his age and always outwits the bullies. In the village of BlackCrest, it is run by Mayor Theodore Brooks, also the owner of the town's dry goods store. He works with numerous merchants that reside in town and those who come from afar, getting the best product possible. Theodore is highly respected and has visitors from all over the kingdom that come through for supplies. The merchants in their village are second to none, at least that’s what Max thinks. His mother Fira is the local herbalist in their village and has her own products that she sells. She also trades with people that doesn’t have any money for payment. Max is learning to help his mother with the mixes, potions, and the specific plants for healing and antidotes for poisons. He spends half the day with his mom and the other half with his dad the local blacksmith.

  It was dawn and everyone was getting ready for the day, I was out the door in a hurry and met up with my mother at the shop to start the day. I was sorting out the mixes and potions on the shelves when my friends Wade and Olivia stopped by. Wade is the son of a tanner and Olivia is the baker's daughter.

  "Hey, what’s that smell in here?" Wade asked.

  Olivia punched him in the arm and laughed. "Do you have to ask that every time we come into the shop?"

  "Yes, because one of these days I’m going to get the answer to it," Wade responded as he stepped up to the counter.

  "What’s up guys?" I asked.

  "We just stopped by to see if you wanted to go out and explore some in the forest," Wade said.

  "I don’t know, I’ll have to ask my mom," I shouted from the back of the shop.

  Advising them to wait a few minutes so I could go get permission to go, they stayed at the counter. Mom was waiting in the garden outside the shop, she grows most of her ingredients, but still has to go journeying in the woods for some specific herbs.

  "Mom?"

  "Hello Maximus. Have you sorted the potions for the day?"

  "Yes, mother. Wade is out front and wants to know if I can go out to the woods and explore," I stated while helping mother with her basket of herbs.

  "Hmmmm. I suppose but not without being armed," Mom replied sternly.

  "Thank you, mother. I will go get my equipment and set off then," I happily answered.

  "Oh, Max, can you get some Cnidium and Coltsfoot while you’re out?" Mom asked as she put away some sage.

  "I will," replying as I hurried to the front of the store.

  "Let’s go guys, we’re wasting daylight," I bellowed to the others and ran towards my house to get my gear.

  ***

  While we were setting out for our exploration, the discussion for the day was about the kingdom and war rumors. The three of us discussed the pros and cons for both sides, none of us really knew anything at our age. Wade and I are 14 and Olivia (Liv, to me) is 13. I like to shorten names, makes it easier to remember. Coming from a small village, even if we are in the middle of the kingdom, when wars start then everyone is in an uproar due to the men and women leaving to serve their kingdom. We discussed what our decisions would be if we had to make that decision.

  "I would gladly join the army and go to fight against the orcs," Wade stated proudly.

  "What about you, Liv?" I asked.

  "I’m not sure what to think. I don’t want either of you to go out and fight any wars," Liv stated as she was messing with her dress. "I don’t know what I would do if you both left without me."

  "Well, it won’t happen anytime soon anyway," I said as we walked further into the woods. "Hopefully the people giving advice on our strategy can talk some since to the leadership we have and ask for peace."

  "Not sure there will ever be peace with that side of the world," Wade responded to my statement.

  I’m not sure either, I thought. We walked a good two hours before stopping for a break. I grabbed some dried meat and cheese out of my backpack, Liv got some bread out of hers, and Wade some berries out of his. We passed around our shared meal and ate in silence thinking over the sullen conversation we had. After our break, we set off exploring again trying to find the herbs my mother wanted. Suddenly my chest and stomach started hurting, I haven’t had this particular sensation for a long time; it was when I was younger, around ten or so. I have always had that problem but couldn’t ever decipher what causes it, even my wonderful mother hasn’t found a remedy. I thought I was over it since it’s been years since I’ve had this issue.

  "Hold up guys, my chest and stomach are having spasms," I gasped as I sat down.

  I stayed in that spot for some time, raised my head up to look around, and spotted the Coltsfoot. It’s a spreading plant, the spread was in numerous batches by some trees. Getting up I went over and picked some that weren't withered, then put them in my pack.

  One down and one to go. I remembered that if you can find one then the other wasn’t too far away. We set off again and finally found the Cnidium, loaded some up and stored them in my pack. My chest was still hurting as we made our way through the woods. Our group came to a clearing and that’s when we heard the growls and roars. We paused and looked at each other.

  "What was that?" Wade whispered.

  "Sounded like it came from over there," Liv said as we made our way silently to the spot where we heard the strange noises.

  Coming up behind some trees, we looked around and found the culprits. There was a siba mother protecting her cub. The siba are the largest cats in the known world, they were also rare. No one has seen any around for centuries, if you go by the stories. What makes them rare are known by many charateristics: the ferocity and cunning of the predators, their stealth and brutality, and some were known to have been bonded to mages. It was said the felines could talk telepathically with the mage and anyone the bonded would allow. The males are usually up to 10 feet long including the tail and weighing up to 650 lbs. The females are smaller at around 8 feet long, weighing up to 500 lbs.

  The female before us was surrounded by some fearsome timber wolves. She was big but against five timber wolves, that was a tall order and looking over her body, she has numerous cuts an
d slashes. The wolves were growling, circling the siba to make sure the feline and the cub that was behind her from going anywhere.

  "What are we going to do?" Liv whispered.

  "I’m going to see if I can help," I replied in a low voice.

  "What?!!" They both gasped.

  "Would you rather just sit here and watch?" I asked, knowing I wasn’t.

  "There is no way you can do win against five wolves," Liv hissed.

  "There is, and I have a plan. Wade has his bow and I have my blades. My father has been teaching me to defend myself, so I believe we can help support the siba," I replied looking straight at the mother defending her cub.

  "What if your plan fails? What is your plan B?" Wade asked looking at the angry girl beside us.

  "I don’t know. I’ll think of something," I answered them in a confident voice, even though confidence was not what I was feeling at the moment.

  "Look over at the alpha, something is wrong with it," Liv stated firmly.

  We looked over and noticed the hair was matted, green ooze was flowing out of the cuts on its body. Blood and red foam were coming out of its mouth. Not sure what that all implies but it doesn't look good. Hopefully we wouldn't find out.

  "Okay, not going to lie. It looks like the alpha has had a hard week," I smiled, and tried to convey that I would be alright. "I'll try to stay away as much as possible."

  Wade shook his head, but didn't reply. Liv didn't back down, "That wolf is cursed, almost like its dying already, and it looks like puss coming out of it. I would say it was poisoned by someone or some kind of spell has taken it over. Don't go over there, you could end up poisoned as well."

  Not really having the time to argue, I tried to again convince Liv it would be alright, but she didn't want to hear it and took long, deep breaths to calm herself down. We had her get up into a tree to hide during the altercation as we hurried to our spots for the upcoming fight.

  I looked at Wade and gave him the signal. He had an arrow ready and pulled back on the bow, then let it fly, hitting the wolf closest to me. It yelped then went down, not to move ever again. I unsheathed my dagger and sprinted to the next wolf and cut it down after slashing through its neck and throat. Blood gushed out instantly, spewing on my clothes. The other wolves became aware that two of their pack were down, spotted me and rushed towards my location. As I was focused on the wolves sprinting my way, an arrow flew over my head and into the shoulder blade of the lead wolf, the leg crumbled and it crashed to the ground, whimpering. Wade, giving no chances to the wolf, shot another arrow through eye of the same wolf, killing it. Three down and two to go. Slashing with my dagger, I nicked the first one and sliced into the second one, dodging to the right to get out of the way, but the alpha of the pack raked his claws on my side and back. Screaming out in pain, I fell down.

  Liv screamed as Wade let loose another arrow surging through the air and into the skull of the injured wolf, killing it. That left the alpha, it was getting ready to pounce on me while I was down, and at that point, I knew I was done for. The wolf jumped and pinned me down with its claws, burrowing in my shoulders; the cursed wolf growled down at me and the bloody foam leaked out onto my face, ending up in my mouth. Desperately trying to spit it out, I didn't get out much before the huge wolf put more pressure on my shoulders, making me scream out.

  I could feel blood dripping down off my body, my mind screamed at me to get up somehow, but heard a noise and growl from my right side. I looked over to see the siba mother as she launched herself onto the wolf, knocking him back. She evidently had lost a lot of blood, because the feline was barely blocking any of the alpha’s swipes. The two predators were biting and clawing each other, neither really getting an advantage. But after a few minutes the siba was tiring from the blood loss, the wolf seeing it had the upper hand and knocked the siba to the ground. My mind knew it was about to kill the big cat, I got up as fast as I could and stumbled over to their position. As the wolf lunged to finish the cat, I jumped in its way, our bodies colliding with each other in mid-air. Falliing down, I thrust my dagger at the wolf, sinking it through the wolf’s brain and killing it instantly. My body hit the ground first and the cursed wolf landed on top of me, pinning me down again. Lying there in the alpha's pool of blood, I couldn't move, knowing whatever was wrong with the wolf was contaminating my body and injuries. It felt like forever until I felt someone trying pull me away.

  "Max!! Max?!!" Liv hurried over to me as Wade was pulling me off the pile.

  "Talk to me Max. You are bleeding out and I need you to tell me what to do to fix this!!" Wade yelled as he was trying to get me to talk.

  My eyelids were having trouble opening, I was getting nauseous and dizzy from the blood loss. Get up Max, I said to myself, then groaned, trying to get myself together to concentrate.

  "Is it over?" I gasped out.

  "Yes, but I need you to tell me how to fix you up until we can get back to the village, or your mom is going to kill us," Wade answered as he was trying to calm himself with deep breaths.

  "Please Max, concentrate and tell us what to do," Liz pleaded.

  I focused my thoughts to healing and advised my friends on how to start. They looked through my bag, grabbed the herbs, and got me to eat them slowly. They also got the poultices out and applied them to my injuries, then bandaged me up. Blood was everywhere and both were freaking out. I finally was able to move, albeit slowly. Turning my head to look around, I found the mother and wolf not moving. I was about to ask but Wade caught my questioning look and shook his head letting me know that the mother was gone too. My ears picked up some whimpering and saw the cub by the mom, it was trying to get her up. After a few moments of that it started whining, I couldn’t take it so I crawled over to the cub slowly. It looked up warily at me, took a couple of sniffs, and then started licking my hand. Staring at the cub, I picked it up trying not to scare it too much, looking it over to find the gender to be a male, and after a couple moment he curled up in my arms. It gave a couple of whimpers but settled down as I caught myself dozing off. Either that or passing out, I couldn’t tell which.

  "Max, we need to get you out of here and to your mother," Liv pleaded.

  "Okay, but I’ll have to go slow," I gasped, getting my body up to leave. "My whole body hurts."

  Grabbing the backpacks, they put them onto their shoulders. Wade had mine as well, then hurried to me for support. It took us way longer to get through the woods back to the village. Every couple hundred yards I had to stop for breaths and rest.

  "Max, we need to go faster, your injuries will get infected if we don’t. Give the cub to Liv so I can carry your weight better," Wade demanded. So handing Liv the cub even though it whimpered, I didn’t much care at the moment because of the pain I was in. We hurried as fast as we could and got to the village right at sunset, people were giving us long looks and I heard a few shouts up ahead. Mother and father came running up to us.

  "What happened?" Mother calmly demanded.

  "We were in the forest locating the herbs you sent us after. After we located them we heard some strange noises," Wade informed them as my father was helping me get to the house and into my bed. As I lay there, Wade started telling the tale of our day.

  "There was a siba mother surrounded by five timber wolves," Liv started sobbing then after taking a deep breath, "Max wasn’t going to let her get mauled, so he and Wade helped her."

  "Max got hurt from the alpha. It was cursed somehow or diseased, and the siba saved him while I was shooting with my bow to take the last wolf out. I couldn’t get there fast enough," Wade stated with tears flowing down his cheeks.

  "Max ended up killing the alpha while it was distracted," Liv stated while my mother was staring at the cub in her arms.

  "I’m assuming you have the cub because the mother was dead?" Mother asked.

  "Yes ma’am," they both said in unison.

  The cub was whimpering as soon as he saw Max, so Liv put him down on the bed. He curled
up to Max and started purring, while Max was going in and out of consciousness. His mother looked over at the scene and smiled a little.

  "I’m assuming Max advised how to bandage him up, so I’ll take a look at what we have here," Mom stated.

  Fira started pulling off the bandages and everyone gasped as the wounds were open again and bleeding. The area was driven with infection. The anxious mother advised everyone out so she could get to work.

  Son, what have you done? She thought to herself and looked over his whole body and got to work.

  Chapter Two

  I heard voices while going in and out of consciousness.

  "Why isn’t he waking up?"

  "I don’t know. The areas were badly infected but I got it out."

  "He should be awake!"

  "Give him time to heal."

  Then I heard some whimpering and felt something wet across my face. That was weird. Who would be licking my face? Maybe it’s the cub, then again I am so out of it I couldn’t specify where it was coming from. Dozing off again, I woke up in the middle of the night to a fire and someone holding my hand. I looked down and found my mom laying her head down, asleep on the side of the bed. Still feeling nauseous and dizzy, I went back to sleep.

  The daylight coming through the windows woke me out of my slumber, as did my mom when wiped my face with a cloth.

  "UHHHH," I groaned. Mother looked at me and I could tell she had been crying. Worried. She had unshed tears in her eyes as she leaned down and kissed my forehead.

  "Welcome back son," she whispered.