The Artifacts Of Elios (Book 1)
Read The Artifacts Of Elios (Book 1) Online
Authors: R N Skye
The Artifacts of Elios
The Glyph Mage Book I
R. N. Skye
The Glyph Mage
Book I
The Artifacts of Elios
R. N. Sky
e
© 2013 R
ichard E. Benedict. All rights reserved.
No part of this document may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without prior written permission of the publisher or the Author
This is a work of fiction. All characters, scenes, dialogue, and descriptions are purely the product of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, real events, or actual places is entirely coincidental.
THIS BOOK:
The Glyph Mage Books
The Artifacts of Elios
FORTHCOMING:
The Glyph Mage
Books
The
Laws of Elios
The Enemy of Elios
To all those in my life that have inspired, encouraged, and lifted me up on the down days.
Introduction
On the world of Eliom there once lived the Elios and the Luion. Over two millennia ago the Elios vanished while the Luion remained. Then something happened; the magical knowledge and the history of the Old Luion and of the vanished Elios had faded away. All that was left was a monarchy and a republic whose only link to their past were the magical artifacts found in the ruins left behind.
In a now Modern Eliom with an economy powered by recovered artifacts
, lives Shane Chason, a student of magetech with a single goal - Solve the mystery of how to make artifacts of his own. What he discovers is powerful magic, ancient enemies and a King that wants it for his self or to destroy it all – Only a Glyph Mage can stop the madness.
I always have enjoyed Science Fiction and Fantasy and I’ve been reading it since I checked out my first Star Trek novel from the book-mobile that would come once a week to the small town where I grew up.
I remember reading the “The Hobbit” just because I thought the word ‘Hobbit’ sounded ‘cool’
. I would devour a book by H.G Wells as easily as a book by C.S. Lewis. I was hooked on the ‘Sci-fi’ as well as the ‘Fantasy’; although admittedly as a kid I preferred a phaser over a wand in most instances – but give me a teleporter over a transporter any day.
In my family growing
up we read; so I read. I read everything. While I was in Junior High my Dad introduced me to his ‘Great Books’ collection which had some really great stories; “Treasure Island”,” Moby Dick”, and “The Count of Monte Cristo”, to name a couple. It was when I read Homers “Iliad” and “Odyssey” that I realized that even the writers from the olden days wrote sci-fi and fantasy. It was from those books that I began to judge good science fiction and fantasy tales.
It might interest you to
know that even Shakespeare inspired me in what I looked for in good Sci-Fi and Fantasy; for what good is any story if not told well and to me Shakespeare told a great story; not just with the eloquent rhetoric but with great plays like “Henry V” with its scenes of the camaraderie of brothers in arms and how a king can act with valor, and “A Mid-Summer Nights Dream” with its own tale of love, comedy and fantasy.
One day recently
, I was frustrated by the lack of good a book to read, my favorite authors were all diligently working on sequels and I was not in the mood to risk reading another dark depressing verbal porn infested pretense at literature to find something new. It was then that I had the bright idea that as a voracious consumer of science fiction with a boatload of books kept on my Kindle; having read everything from Asimov to Zahn, who better than me to write a science fiction or fantasy story.
I will be the first to tell you that it
is harder than it looks. I will also be the first to tell you that it is more fun that I thought. So early this spring as I waited for several of my favorite authors to finish a few sequels I decide to give it a go; this book is the result.
As a warning, I
did use a few crutches; I relied a bit on my high school French to establish the devolved language and culture of the Luion. I also relied a bit on my engineering and computer science background for the basis of some of the magic; after all didn’t
Arthur C. Clarke
say:
“…Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic …”
If
you are worried that this is a book that is, gross, gory, lewd, crude, or fifty shades of something that you wouldn’t want to leave on the coffee table in case your kids or your churchy neighbor might see it, then stop worrying. I have tried to keep it rated PG. There may be a swear word or two (mostly
gosh
and
dang
– words that you won’t go to
heck
for.) I hid most of them in the Luionese language because I guess I wanted to keep the profanity down but didn’t want to have to “Watch my French” - pun intended.
So h
ere it is; the first of three tales of the glyph mage. I hope you like it; if you do please feel free to reach out to me on Facebook, Twitter, or leave me a little love note in the form of a review on Amazon.
– R.N. Skye
- July 2013
There once was a world of incredible magic, a world of unimaginable achievement, a world populated by a wondrous people with a grasp of magic that to the remote observer seemed beyond technological. This world was called Eliom.
There were
two peoples that occupied the cities and lands of Eliom; the Elios and the Luion.
The Elios were said to
not be indigenous to Eliom but were from a world of unknown origin. Legend told that the Elios had created the world of Eliom for the Luion. The Elios had prepared Eliom with many seas and oceans with large continents with many locations exceptionally suitable for habitation. They had also provided a massive infrastructure of roads, waterways, and cities. More amazingly they provided wondrous machines for both work as well as play – that the Luion might live in happiness.
Of all the many marvels that the Elios had provided, the greatest of all and the
most valuable was the Arc of Wisdom. The Arc of Wisdom was the symbol of all magic on Eliom constructed in the form of an immense pyramid of which were inscribed the Glyphs of the World and the Laws of Wisdom – Writings that were said to protect Eliom as well as told how to govern the land and each other.
The Luion it is said wer
e from another world as well; a world that was soon to be consumed by a dying sun.
The world of the Luion was near
its destruction when miraculously the Elios appeared and rescued them with a ‘Great Magic’ and moved them to the safety of a new world; Eliom.
The Elios taught the Luion the glyphs of
magic and instructed them in the manufacture and use of many wondrous and magical machines. The Elios also instructed the Luion of the Laws of Wisdom and that in time they would become like unto the Elios if they continued to live according to the laws of wisdom.
One
thousand years after the ‘Great Magic’ the Elios caused that the people of the world should be gathered together.
On t
he day of the gathering the Elios and the Luion joined together in a great celebration of thanksgiving in remembrance of the ‘Great Magic’ but the Elios had a revelation to share - The time had come for the Elios to depart.
The
People of the Luion cried at the news; for the Luion loved and revered their brothers of the Elios.
The
great leader of the Elios, Ahhan, held high his staff of many glyphs and conferred the world of Eliom into the hands of the Luion - wishing them and their posterity both prosperity and all happiness. His last words were those of instruction, warning, and a promise: Live the Laws of Wisdom lest magic be lost from the face of the world; live their oaths to the Laws of Wisdom and one day the Elios would return.
After the
day of the gathering it is said that the Elios vanished. The morning after the great day of remembrance and thanksgiving they were gone. Their dwellings empty. The only sign of their existence were the magical machines they left behind, the knowledge of glyph magic and the glistening Arc of Wisdom.
S
ometime long after the vanishing of the Elios a star fell from the heavens and crashed in to the eastern ocean creating great gulf destroying the peninsula of Jehhet leaving only the remnants of a few islands that were soon lost to the knowledge of the inhabitants of Eliom. In the wake of the destruction the Laws of Wisdom were gradually forgotten and eventually rationalized away. The inhabitants of Eliom devolved from the rule provided by the Elios into various republics, monarchies and kingdoms. Those with the knowledge of the glyphs that had maintained the world and a true understanding of the Arc of Wisdom soon faded away.
G
reat was the fall of the Luion. Upon the final corruption of the Laws of Wisdom the Arc of Wisdom hid itself away and was nowhere to be found. Eliom itself began to crack, the weather changed, and new mountains emerged. As a result many of the great cities were buried, covered by sands, over grown by jungles, or buried in the depths of the sea.
