Richard Tuttle - Winged Warrior

Aakuta: the Dark Mage introduces a new mysterious figure. A powerful dark mage suddenly appears in a country devoid of male mages. The mage appears to have no allegiances in the growing struggle between Lord Marak and the forces of evil, but he has the habit of always showing up when conflict erupts. Meanwhile, Lord Marak tries to arouse Khadora into stopping an invasion by the Jiadin. Not only do the other lords refuse to help him, but they actively try to ruin him through attacks and assassinations attempts. The secret alliances long held by Lord Marak are eventually discovered as Marak first ascends to the Lords’ Council and eventually becomes Emperor of Khadora. At the conclusion of volume four, Emperor Marak is consolidating Khadora under his banner. His plan is to rally all of the armies to help him combat the coming invasion of evil.

In Island of Darkness , a false Katana again rules Omunga. War is declared on the Sakovans as Vand’s people poison the food supply of Omunga. Emperor Marak guides Lyra as she attempts to win the war without inflicting too many casualties. She knows of the coming invasion and is forced to preserve as many of her enemy as possible. Meanwhile, Mistake and MistyTrail discover that they are sisters. They set out on a sea voyage and are shipwrecked off the Island of Darkness. As they search for a way to get home, the sisters discover elves, which were long thought to be extinct. In their bid for freedom, the sisters must rescue a pair of elves and get them off the island. During the rescues, the women discover many dark secrets of the evil enemy. At the end of volume five, Emperor Marak has ordered his people to deliver Mistake and her new friends to Khadoratung where he hopes to learn more about Vand and the lost nation of elves.

In Elvangar , Eltor and Caldal, the young male elves rescued by Mistake and MistyTrail, learn the truth about the ancient relations between the humans and the elves. They witness the awakening of the ancient city of Angragar before escorting Mistake and MistyTrail to the hidden land of Elvangar. Mistake and MistyTrail find that Elvangar is not the utopia that they expected. The land is ruled by a moody queen who turns out to be their mother. Arrested for attempting to assassinate the queen, Mistake and MistyTrail escape from Elvangar and return to the Island of Darkness to rescue their father, Avalar, King of the Elves. The young females elves discover that they are the lost princesses, Alahara and Alastasia, and accompany Avalar back to Elvangar to reclaim his throne.

The first hint of dawn was appearing over the ocean as the sky began to lighten somewhat, but the morning fog obscured everything at ground level. Kenda peered out of the small window next to his bed as his eyes glistened with anticipation. The boy crept out of bed and quickly dressed as silently as he could. He eased the door open and slid through it, placing each foot carefully to minimize the noise. Slowly, he made his way to the kitchen and took his pack off the hook on the wall. He stuffed two round loaves of bread into his sack and slipped it on.

Returning to his room, he eased the door closed and then pulled his boots on. He was about to slip through the window, but he halted and got off the bed. He tiptoed to the chest at the foot of his bed. He opened the chest and extracted a length of rope, which he stuffed into his pack. He stood silently for a moment as if thinking about anything else he might need. Finally, he shook his head and shrugged. Kenda poked his head out of the window and gazed along the alley. There was no one in sight, so he climbed out the window and landed softly on the ground.

Kenda walked briskly along the alley. The fog hung so thick in places that anyone not familiar with the city of Duran would be foolish to attempt moving about, but Kenda was no stranger to the city. He had lived in Duran all of his life. The boy reached the street and looked both ways before emerging from the alley. He heard the clomping of a horse somewhere off to his right, but he could not see anyone. He raced across the street and continued along the alley for a short distance.

When he was well into the alley, he slowed down to avoid accidentally bumping into the supplies that Jackle’s father had stacked in the alleyway. He moved cautiously until the building materials came into view. Just beyond the stack of lumber and the pile of stones, Kenda moved close to the building and pulled himself up to peer through the window of his friend.

“Let’s go, Jackle,” Kenda urged softly. “It’s perfect weather out this morning. The fog is thicker than usual. Let’s go.”

“You sure this is a good idea?” Jackle asked as he sat up and rubbed the sleep from his eyes. “Your Pa will be mad when he finds out that you are gone.”

“I doubt it,” countered Kenda. “Our fathers did the same thing when they were boys. I heard them laughing about it, but they never made it all the way. We are going to make it.”

“If anyone can,” grinned Jackle as he threw off the cover and quickly dressed, “we can.”

“That is the truth,” replied Kenda, “but if you are having second thoughts, we can call this off. This was your idea, after all.”

“You’re just trying to get out of it,” taunted Jackle. “You said that you would come with me, and you are coming. We should take something to eat and drink.”

“I have two loaves of bread,” offered Kenda. “We can fill our flasks at the well before we leave the city. Can you think of anything else we might need?”

“We don’t need anything else,” shrugged Jackle as he laced his boots and scrambled out the window.

The two boys stood in the alleyway silently for a moment.

“I am so excited,” Jackle finally said. “I have wanted to do this for a long time, but I feel bad about getting you in trouble. Maybe I should go alone.”

“I am not letting you go alone,” declared Kenda. “I think it would be wise to wait a year or two until we have developed more climbing skills, but I know that you can’t wait that long. I am going with you.”

“Our climbing skills are fantastic,” retorted Jackle. “I can out climb my older brother already. Why should we wait?”

“That is what I expected you to say,” chuckled Kenda. “Let’s get moving while the fog is still thick. I want to be well up the Wall of Mermidion before it burns off.”

“The Wall of Mermidion,” Jackle replied with reverence in his voice. “The unscalable cliffs of Duran.”

“Not exactly unscalable,” countered Kenda. “Some people have done it before.”

“True,” nodded Jackle, “but they are all dead now. Besides the cliffs were never conquered by anyone our age. Our names will be famous when we return. How can anyone be angry with us then?”

“Let’s worry about our fame when we return,” suggested Kenda. “Right now we need to get our water and get out of the city before someone sees us and tells our fathers.”

“Right,” Jackle nodded vigorously. “Let’s go.”

The two boys moved silently along the alley until they came to the street. Kenda peered out of the alley and saw no one. He led the way into the street as the boys moved swiftly towards the well. The dense fog muted the sounds of the city, but they could hear the fisherman making their way towards the coast. When they heard someone coming towards them, they darted into an alley until the person passed by. The fog was thick enough that they never did see the early morning citizen. When the sound receded, the boys continued their journey towards the well.

They reached the well without running into anyone. The boys quickly filled their flasks and moved away from the well in case some early morning risers came to fetch water.