New Fantasy: Veiled in a Sunlit Haze

Veiled in a Sunlit Haze is the story of Askillen, indoctrinated with ideas of racial supremacy and domination. He is forced to commit terrible crimes in service of his adoptive father's megalomaniacal ambitions. Sent on a fateful mission, Askillen discovers he must undertake a difficult quest with the fate of his world hanging in the balance.

Askillen's guide in his quest is an eccentric old man, Talis, who is both less than he seems, and more. Talis stands half in this world, half in another, and answers only to the highest authority of all. 

In pursuing his quest, Askillen will discover a world of people and ideas beyond the manipulative teachings of his adoptive father. He will discover both a real family's love that he never knew, and the meaning of loyalty not based on fear. Askillen must reject everything he has been taught to ultimately defeat Eliphas, the most powerful man this side of the Gods themselves.

Although Veiled in a Sunlit Haze incorporates the epic sweep of Tolkien's Lord of the Rings, and the textured complexity of Robert Jordan's Wheel of Time, it has a character and flavor all its own. This novel delights readers with the best aspects of a heroic quest, while also challenging readers to confront more philosophical ideas about the nature of power and family, loyalty and responsibility.

Chapter 1

Askillen—the Chosen Son

Askillen stepped into his field tent and closed the flap, leaving outside the bustle of soldiers under his command. The thin material did nothing to block the noise of his men, but for a moment, Askillen could pretend that the tent gave him a space in which he could be alone and escape the burden that came with fulfilling Lord Eliphas’ orders. Today, however, it seemed that pretending wasn’t enough. The feeling of blissful isolation would not come, and Askillen knew why.

He had to report, and no distance of space or Realms would satisfy Eliphas as an excuse for being late.

Askillen sighed and rubbed a hand through his short, black hair. He cleared a space on the floor of the tent. He knelt, his feet together and knees widely separated, forming as close to a perfect triangle as he had been taught. He cleared his mind and felt the anticipatory tingle in his fingers as he summoned the magic.

The smile that came to him at first quickly dwindled away and his eyebrows furrowed. He searched in the rune ways until he felt it, the connection to his Lord Eliphas. He grabbed hold of it with his mind until a small circle of flickering lights materialized in the air in front of his face, waiting for his command. Everything was ready. He quickly cleared his mind of polluted and dangerous thoughts, knowing that Eliphas would surely sense them, and began his first report, letting Eliphas know that everything was going according to plan. Every detail was in place, like a stone neatly placed in a slingshot, ready to be catapulted violently through the air...

* * *

“In ancient times, when there were no Gods and everything was different, even the world and the Races, four men discovered by chance that they could become creators, themselves, if they destroyed what was. Thus, in time, the four men became the Four Gods and no one has ever challenged them – until now. However, even the Gods were limited in their power, for they could only create a better world if they destroyed the old. They did once, and this event is called the Sundering.

Now the Shamans and the Daimons, the Children of the God Orcalus, are challenging the existing order and the Four Gods.”

Talis paused before continuing his story. His long and wrinkled fingers straightened his white hair. The old man leaned forward for a moment, placed his left elbow on the round table to support his head, and gave a habitual tug at his white beard. He feigned a smile, producing deep lines on his face, and looked straight into the eyes of the Visitor across from him who had arrived in a spinning and hurling wind of flickering colors and symbols. In the Visitor’s eyes, Talis saw worlds. In those eyes, Talis saw his own face.

The old man had, for his entire lifetime, preserved his angst in his heart where he could control it, own it. He showed it to no one, not even the Four Gods who owned him. His power was leaving his heart, as if his blood were drying in a dripping wound, and the angst grew into his fingertips and down into his legs. He shut his eyes for a moment. His wrinkled hands, marked by a landscape of dark-blue rivers, clenched the old wood of the chair.

Talis looked like a beggar, with his ragged beard and shabby clothes. Perhaps he was now almost begging for his life that the Visitor had come to take. Talis needed to tell his story before he could begin his Flight of Souls. He needed to make some sense out of his life and understand all that he had done. Most importantly, he needed to stall his own approaching demise—for, who knew? Perhaps one could even bargain with Death.

However, he could not stall forever. Talis took a breath and continued. The Visitor listened with interest, for the story was about fate. Moreover, Death, Talis knew, is nothing if not fate’s ultimate instrument.

“Askillen was always very descriptive in his reports to his Lord, Eliphas. In that way, he distanced himself from what was happening. By glorifying their actions, it was easier to see them as good, serving a greater purpose. The reports revealed much, as you will hear, of the wickedness in the face of racism, patriotism, and ongoing power play of the Shamans and the Daimons. A power play that sowed the seeds of corruption in the other Races as well.”

“I wonder what Lord Eliphas made of all this, himself. Born to a modestly wealthy family, Eliphas had, from childhood, received a good, but hard, education in the expansionary Shaman classics. He entered the service of the College at only eighteen, and served on many diplomatic missions before he gradually came to absolute power. The College was a group of thirteen Cardinals, founded by Lord Eliphas himself, with a shared interest in the people, the socio-economic development, and political and military affairs. Eliphas had proclaimed the foundation of this body a victory of a common and democratic rule of the Shaman people, but unofficially, he used it as a tool of legitimization for his ruling power. The College thus appeased some of the fiercest critics of Eliphas’ de facto absolutism and war mongering.”

“The College was also the clergy of the city of Sha Elilos, the proud Shaman capital, and the Cardinals were assigned duties now and then—all in Eliphas’ interest, of course. Eliphas was the kind of person who always thought in tactics, and always considered each word carefully before he said anything. On one side, he was warm and extroverted and perhaps even sympathetic and charming, and thus, he attracted people. However, at the same time, he was a perfectionist and dominated those he attracted; he always considered his opinion or tactic better. Thus, he pushed people away, but he was too selfish and narrow-minded to ever realize why or see it happen before it was too late. This personality evolved and became more and more entrenched, and he spent more and more time in his private, secret room. No one, not even his little family, was allowed to enter.”

“Eliphas had two major projects during his life. One was to create immediate and absolute power with a mighty army that answered to no one but himself, not even the Four Gods; the other was to have a family in harmony.”

“Both projects were created with family blood on his hands.”

“The reports from Askillen to Eliphas are a key to understanding change during these troubled days, but one thing they never could reveal was the level of madness the world had come to. This story is told as I remember it. But, as each event holds many sides, so does this story.”

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