A Clash of Fates
The Echoes Saga: Book Nine
Philip C. Quaintrell
Also by Philip C. Quaintrell
THE ECHOES SAGA: (9 Book Series)
1. Rise of the Ranger
2. Empire of Dirt
3. Relic of the Gods
4. The Fall of Neverdark
5. Kingdom of Bones
6. Age of the King
7. The Knights of Erador
8. Last of the Dragorn
9. A Clash of Fates
THE TERRAN CYCLE: (4 Book Series)
1. Intrinsic
2. Tempest
3. Heretic
4. Legacy
For John and Wendy, thank you for always being there…
Dramatis Personae
Adan’Karth (Adan)
A Drake
Adilandra Sevari
The late elven queen of Elandril and mother of Reyna Galfrey
Alijah Galfrey
Half-elf and self-proclaimed king of Verda
Asher
Human ranger
Athis
Red dragon, bonded with Inara
Doran Heavybelly
Dwarven Ranger/Prince and War Mason of clan Heavybelly
Ellöria Sevari
The late Lady of Ilythyra
Faylen Haldör
An elf and High Guardian of Elandril
Galanör Reveeri
Elven ranger
Gideon Thorn
Master Dragorn
Gondrith
Reaver - bonded with the dragon Yillir.
Ilargo
Green dragon, bonded with Gideon
Inara Galfrey
Half-elf Dragorn/Guardian of the Realm
Lord Kraiden
Late Reaver - bonded with the dragon Morgorth.
Kassian Kantaris
A previous Keeper of Valatos
Nathaniel Galfrey
An ambassador and previous knight of the Graycoats
Reyna Galfrey
Elven princess of Elandril and Illian ambassador
Rengyr
Late Reaver - bonded with the dragon Karsak.
Sir Ruban Dardaris
Captain of the King’s Guard
The Crow (Sarkas)
Late Leader of The Black Hand
Veda Malmagol
The Father of Nightfall
Vighon Draqaro
The usurped king of Illian
Vilyra
Reaver - bonded with the dragon Godrad.
Contents
Prologue
Part I
1. Home
2. Northman
3. Instincts
4. Heavy is the Head…
5. What Defines Us
6. The Dawn of a New Day
7. A Royal Gathering
8. Face to Face
9. I Am Ranger
10. Together Again
11. The March to War
12. Introductions
13. Finding Harbour in the Storm
14. Not Forgotten
15. Farewells
Part II
16. A Night on the Plains
17. A Rogue Memory
18. Battle of The Moonlit Plains
19. A Larger Tapestry
20. Crosshairs
21. Off the Beaten Path
22. Where Worlds Collide
23. Cursed
24. Aftermath
25. Survivors
26. Familiar Faces
27. First Contact
28. On the Hunt
29. Inside the Cage
30. Old Friends
Part III
31. Bending the Knee
32. A Heart of Three
33. Why We’re Here
34. King to King
35. An Intimation of Hope
36. Messenger
37. Hard Truths
38. The Future Lies in the Past
39. An Alliance of Two Shores
40. Out of Time
41. Cast Out of the Heavens
42. Preparations
43. End of the Road
44. Those Below
45. ’Tis Life
46. Eternal Companions
Part IV
47. A Master’s Wrath
48. Thorgen’s Blood
49. Palios
50. Endings and Beginnings
51. Home is Where the Heart Is
52. Feeling It
53. The Beginning of Something Beautiful
54. Choosing Joy
55. The Valley of Death
56. Where it all Began
57. A Clash of Fates
58. Keeping the Hope Alive
59. New Beginnings
60. Through Shadow
61. Legacy
62. The Blood of Erador
63. Creed
64. A New World
Epilogue
Author Page
Author Notes
Appendices
Prologue
This is the end.
How could it not be? The world had been set alight, the sky blackened with ash, and the earth torn asunder. Civilisation was falling into ruin. Dragons, bereft of their murdered Riders, melted the stone with their righteous fire, torching the streets of Ak-Tor, Illian’s doomed capital.
Sarkas watched it all like a god, removed from the carnage and death. The winds of time battered him, threatening to hurl him into the bleak future he now witnessed. With bloodshot eyes, he willed himself to keep watching, to observe the world to come.
Despite those ethereal winds, tearing at his clothes and pummelling his pale body, Sarkas wore the grin of a very satisfied man. For all the madness and sheer terror of such destruction, it was indescribably beautiful.
And all it took was a handful of dragons. Mage knights, cloaked in red, launched all manner of spells into the air. For all their effort, they only succeeded in adding some colour to an otherwise bleak vista. Ballistas hurled bolts, hoping to reinforce the knights’ magic, and some even struck true, bringing down a dragon here and there.
Ultimately, and inevitably, there was nothing to be done in the face of such raw power. If the dragons of Verda wanted to raze humanity to the ground, there was no one, no thing, and no spell to stop them.
Doomed indeed.
To the west, Atilan’s palace succumbed to the wrath of Garganafan, a dragon famed for his hulking size. Sarkas had heard of Garganafan, his name carried in the tales that breezed through The Citadel. Sarkas, however, had never seen the dragon before and attributed the knowledge he now possessed to the magic coursing through every fibre of his being - it whispered the truth into his mind.
Without turning to look, Sarkas’s sight found another dragon to the south, clawing his way through one building after another. Just as he had known Garganafan when he saw him, Sarkas just knew that the black behemoth destroying Ak-Tor’s southern district was Malliath the voiceless.
The black dragon rammed his way through an entire street of houses, his horns flinging people and debris high into the air. His tail always followed him through the chaos, swinging one way then the other to flatten anything that had survived.
When Malliath finally unleashed his breath, the jet of fire engulfed half a battalion of mage knights standing their ground on the district boundary. The smoke would have blinded any who witnessed such a massacre, but Sarkas was granted a view of it all.
The front four rows of mage knights had either failed to erect a shield or their magic had simply failed to hold up to Malliath’s might. Now, the scorched bodies formed a black line in the street, separating the surviving mage knights from the dragon.
Sarkas fought against the winds of time to widen his vision, but the spell had a life of its own, as if it was showing him only what it wanted him to see.
Apparently, it wanted him to see death.
The mage knights resisted with spells, poking holes in Malliath’s wings and chipping his armour-like scales. It only served to anger the beast all the more. His tail, lined with spikes, swung around in a wave of dirt and debris - a force no man could deny. Half lost their lives to the devastating retaliation, many of whom were thrown,
