Soul Script: Book One of the Shodin Chronicles


 
 Soul Script
 
 Book I of The Shodin Chronicles
 
 
 A Novel by A.V. Ray
 
 
 Copyright © 2022 A.V. Ray
 
 
 
 All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced in any form without prior permission from the publisher, except as permitted by U.S. copyright law.
 
 
 
 Cover Design by A.V. Ray
 
 
 
 
 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
 
 Thank you to everyone who picked this book out of a million others. I put everything I had into this. My wins and losses, trauma and triumph, friends and enemies; they all contributed something to the world inside these pages. These characters have been with me for most of my eccentric life, and sharing their story has been a lifelong motivation to get it done and get it in front of you. I hope something good about this book stays with you long after you close the final chapter, until we meet again.
 
 
 Chapter 1
 
 
 
 “We’ll be dead within minutes at this pace. Jaron Spellcraft,
 
 
 
 calm yourself!
 
 
 
 ”
 
 
 Jaron furrowed his brow and marched away from his wildly whiskered old master. He took six steps and then stabbed his Slicer into the grass, looking down with his hands on his hips. The high sun reflected from the golden, Scripted handle of the cloudy white crystal sword into his youthful amber eyes.
 He crouched beside it to avoid the rays. A cool breeze from the white peaks of the northern mountain range relieved the tension on his olive skinned face. Jaron took a deep breath. A wrinkled hand landed on his chestnut colored locks, playfully tussling them until he opened his eyes to a dimming red light from the center of the Slicer.
 “I don’t understand,” Jaron complained. “Master Gokiy, if you want me to learn Casting, then have the Valmari teach me.”
 Master Gokiy ran his fingers through his white beard, twirling a curly strand around the long finger of his hand.
 “I’m not teaching you Casting,” Gokiy tapped his right fist against his chest. “We are Tolian.”
 
 
 “Then what
 
 
 ’
 
 
 s the point of this, gits and shiggles? We
 
 
 ’
 
 
 re all warriors and farmers right? If crystals are for Casters, why is the biggest shard in the world bonded to me?” Jaron ranted. 
 
 
 Master Gokiy flashed a fleeting grimace and then looked at the Slicer stabbed into the soil.
 “Jaron,”—he aimed an index finger at it—“we can feed every Tolian and Valmari ten times over because of your connection to this. But if you lose control again, you could doom everyone including yourself. The Slicer amplifies your will indiscriminately.”
 “It hasn’t brought Dad back,” Jaron muttered under his breath.
 Jaron clasped Master Gokiy’s outstretched arm before being pulled to his feet and pat on his back. The old man was taller than him, bald, and with wrinkly sun-kissed skin.
 “Be cautious of the power you seek, my young Lord. Master yourself before trying to master life,” he warned.
 The sky flickered above them like lightning without a bolt. Jaron looked up and saw a pearl of blue light suddenly descend from the sky faster than any raindrop, stopping a foot away from his face to hover in place. His throat tightened when he saw the face it reflected at him.
 “It’s Princess Valara,” Jaron breathed eagerly.
 Master Gokiy grinned and gave him some room. The orb burst into the ghostly form of a feminine figure as soon as Jaron touched it.
 Other than her lavishly long dark hair, her appearance was as blue as the orb that spawned it. Her bright gown made his castleton tunic and hickory trousers look filthy by comparison. Jaron smirked before crossing an arm over his chest and bowing forward.
 “Hello, Your Highness,” Jaron greeted with a gracious grin.
 “Do you remember what today is?” asked the Princess, hands on her hips.
 “The day after yesterday?” Jaron quipped with a grin.
 “Very funny,” she murmured. “You were supposed to come to the citadel to celebrate my 18th birthday with me.”
 
 
 “I still am. And don’t you mean
 
 
 
 our
 
 
 
 birthday?” Jaron retorted.
 
 
 
 
 “It’s only ‘our’
 
 
 birthday when you don’t make plans to be honored by the Emissary on the same day.”
 
 
 Jaron tensed up and felt his face fully flushed, while Master Gokiy recoiled.
 “Wait, what? Nobody told me that. Who told you that?” Jaron blurted.
 
 
 The Princess smiled and cocked her hips to one side. “No worries. I got them to take me along.
 
 
 
 Aaand,
 
 
 
 I get to take you to the citadel after your demonstration.”
 
 
 Master Gokiy stepped in front of Jaron before he could answer.
 “Good afternoon Your Highness,” Master Gokiy interjected.
 “Hi Gokiy!” she answered with an enthusiastic wave.
 “I beg your pardon, but we were not informed of any demonstration. Could you be more specific?”
 Princess Valara clapped her hands and started beaming.
 
 
 “The Emissary is bringing me to watch Jaron use the Slicer,
 
 
 
 in person!
 
 
 
 ” Princess Valara gushed.
 
 
 
 
 Jaron swallowed the lump in his throat as his hands trembled, while Master Gokiy audibly gulped. He couldn’t fathom his fortune! Dread, excitement, nervous, all of it heated his chest. Valara was coming,
 
 
 
 with
 
 
 
 the Emissary. The Slicer began shimmering in his peripheral vision. It made a ringing sound while specks of dirt floated up around it.
 
 
 
 
 CHAPTER 2
 
 
 
 “This is a shiesty scheme!” blared the balding and burly brown bearded brute sitting across from Jaron. “An unannounced visit from the Emissary
 
 
 
 and
 
 
 
 the Princess? They never