Rise of the Mare (Fall of Man Book 2)

Rise of The Mare

The
Fall of Man
Book Two

A PERMUTED PRESS BOOK

Published at Smashwords

ISBN: 978-1-61868-679-4

ISBN (eBook): 978-1-61868-680-0

RISE OF THE MARE

The Fall of Man Book 2

© 2015 by Jacqueline Druga

All Rights Reserved

Cover art by Quincy Alivio

This book is a work of fiction. People,
places, events, and situations are the product of the author's
imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or
historical events, is purely coincidental.

No part of this book may be reproduced,
stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted by any means without
the written permission of the author and publisher.

Permuted Press

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Franklin, TN 37067

http://permutedpress.com

ONE - VALA

TWO – TANNER

THREE – VALA

FOUR – TANNER

FIVE – VALA

SIX – TANNER

SEVEN – VALA

EIGHT – TANNER

NINE – VALA

TEN – TANNER

ELEVEN – VALA

TWELVE – TANNER

THIRTEEN – VALA

FOURTEEN – TANNER

FIFTEEN – VALA

SIXTEEN – TANNER

SEVENTEEN – VALA

EIGHTEEN – TANNER

NINETEEN – VALA

TWENTY - TANNER

TWENTY-ONE – VALA

TWENTY-TWO –
TANNER

TWENTY-THREE – VALA

TWENTY-FOUR – NITO

TWENTY-FIVE – VALA

TWENTY-SIX – TANNER

TWENTY-SEVEN – VALA

TWENTY-EIGHT – TANNER

TWENTY-NINE – VALA

THIRTY- TANNER

THIRTY-ONE – NITO

THIRTY-TWO – VALA

THIRTY-THREE – TANNER

THIRTY-FOUR – NITO

THIRTY-FIVE – VALA

THIRTY-SIX – TANNER

THIRTY-SEVEN –
NITO

THIRTY-EIGHT – VALA

THIRTY-NINE-
NITO

FORTY – TANNER

FORTY-ONE – NITO

FORTY-TWO – VALA

FORTY-THREE – TANNER

FORTY-FOUR – VALA

FORTY-FIVE – NITO

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

My
warning came in plenty of time to avert any danger. A part of me
knew it was not an empty threat. However, I chose to listen to the
advice of others and in the end, the innocent ones suffered.

I was sought after because of what I
am. I had run for my freedom only to lead a condemnation on
others.

My existence on this Earth came on
the eve of the end of mankind’s reign. I was born into a powered
down world, void of any gadgets. I remember the early days of my
life, when my mother struggled to feed me, find proper shelter,
when there were no medical men. A time when quiet was the defense
against the savage beasts that hunted us down and devoured us by
night.

Those were my young years. Most of
those memories were fuzzy at times. A good portion of my life was
sheltered and protected; I was bred to be ‘chosen’. We were taught
to look a certain way, act and speak in a manner that was
proper.

We were told it was an honor to be
chosen by the Ancient Sybaris, to be their fighters, their
entertainment, chamber maids or more.

They came to our town monthly,
picking through us like fresh fruit at a market stand.

Deep within my soul, being chosen was
never what I wanted and when the opportunity to escape arose, I
took it.

Not long after I crossed the age of
adulthood, I ran for my life… or so I thought.

My stupidity did not think through
the well fantasized escape. I failed to think of my sister that I
left behind. Or my mother. Disappointing as she had turned out to
be, she was still my mother, and perhaps my leaving was the reason
for her selfish turn against me.

Arrogance, however, had caused the
deaths that eventually catapulted my return to the Esperanza
Straits, the area where I grew up in a little village called
Akana.

Allow me to go back to the
beginning.

There are Sybaris and there are
humans. Sybaris need a certain amount of human blood not only to
keep their physical strength and beauty, but also a steady intake
of human nutrients kept them from deteriorating and becoming
Savages.

There are two breeds of Sybaris. The
Ancients, which are human in appearance, and the Savages. The
Savages are distorted, monstrous beasts, who are nothing more than
mad animals that attack, mutilate, then drain the human body of all
blood. They move like apes.

One human being can supply one
Sybaris for decades, however, should the Sybaris drain the human
too quickly, the human becomes nothing more than a Savage
himself.

The Ancient Sybaris age slower than
man, and if nourished properly can survive millenniums. While they
can consume fruits and vegetables, they require human fortification
for sustenance.

The Sybaris once had great power over
the Earth, until man outsmarted them, forcing them into the
shadows. They rose to power again while man battled a global
plague, one that evolved into devastating wars.

They had diminished to mere beasts,
and once replenished on the blood of humans they took control of
the world, promising a better life to the humans that survived.

In a sense they did. In the Esperanza
Straits, a Sybaris built communities for man; there was no hunger,
fear, hiding, sickness, or wars.

There was also no freedom.

We dressed alike, acted alike, dared
not speak our minds, and were taught only what the Sybaris wanted
us to know.

That was only one pocket of the
Earth. Outside of Esperanza Straits, Day Stalkers, that were
nothing more than transformed humans, ravaged what was left of the
barren world, stalking humans and animals, devouring them, fighting
for their blood against the Savage Sybaris. The Ancient Sybaris, or
Civilized Ones, feared them as much as the humans did.

All the while, the human survivors
that remained fought for their lives, hid from the beasts, and grew
in numbers so as to one day eventually reclaim their world.

I wanted to be a part of that
movement, that rebellion, to rise up and live in a world without
Sybaris.

No one knew where the Sybaris come
from. The Sybaris claim they were always there. Some say they came
from the stars. I was given a book called The Bible. That story
claims that Man’s God created the Earth and the sun. He also
created man and woman, who broke God’s laws by eating the forbidden
fruit.

Of course, I will not chance ever
eating an apple again. If Man’s God truly does exist, I do not want
him angry with me.

I learned about this God while I was
in Angeles City, the stronghold of the rebellion. I learned of that
God, music, I watched as people laughed, sang songs, ate food that
was different, and everyone was an individual. Unlike in the
Straits.

I learned to speak and act like them,
understand them. I learned about people before their fall.

My intention was to take arms and
stand side by side, fight with them and die with them.

The world was a beautiful place once,
I wanted it to be that again.

I had fled my home in Akana,
stumbling across the rebellion. I had a gift that the Sybaris
wanted and the rebellion needed.

Unfortunately, the Sybaris’ need and
want for me was greater than the protection I could offer Angeles
city. I was given a warning, and then they attacked.

A second warning was given and it
wasn’t a chance I could take. I had to tuck all the knowledge I had
learned deep inside and try to find that person I was before
arriving in Angeles City. I had to become once again what the
Sybaris expected of me.

Though leaving my friends in Angeles
City wasn’t easy, I had to return to Akana.

My fight against the Sybaris had not
been abandoned, I just had to fight the battle a different way.

I had to do so from within.

I
liked Vala, I really did. Still, a part of me didn’t trust her. I
don’t know why. Perhaps it was her ‘better than you’ attitude she
projected, or the arrogance she was unaware of. Davis saw it, he
didn’t say much about it.

He is our leader, and while he
doesn’t always make the right decisions, he tries, and we respect
him. He’s been like my father since I was a child. I don’t remember
my real parents. Even though I was five years old when I last saw
them and should have some sort of recollection, I don’t. I was told
their ending wasn’t kind and Davis took me in immediately.

Davis is a big dude, with a huge
heart and a knack for playing guitar. A lot of the elders talk
about Davis in past tense. They say, “Oh, man, he was like a big
country star. Back in the day …” I’m not sure exactly what that
meant. Everyone old enough to remember the world before it ended
uses the saying, “back in the day’.