Alutar: The Great Demon

 

Alutar: the Great Demon

Book 7 of Demonstone Chronicles

by

Richard S. Tuttle

Copyright © 2009 by Richard S. Tuttle.

All rights reserved.

All characters and events in this book are fictitious.

Any resemblance to persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

In
Knights of Alcea
the kingdom was awakened from its peaceful slumber when the Alceans discovered a growing rebellion, a rebellion unlike any other. Mysterious priests swore allegiance to Balmak, a previously unknown god, and were spreading seeds of discontent throughout Alcea. As the danger grew, the Knights of Alcea were drawn back into the king's service, and they soon discovered that the rebellion was tied to other ominous events. Elves attacking human villages, and humans attacking dwarves were events unheard of since the forming of Alcea, and together with the rebellion, they seemed designed to bring Alcea to the brink of disaster. Yet, the picture was still not clear enough for Alexander Tork. While all of the problems put together might bring chaos to Alcea, he knew that there had to be more to the sinister plot. Eventually it was discovered that a massive army from an unknown land across the waters was waiting for Alcea to be weakened before attacking.

The Knights of Alcea destroyed the Temples of Balmak and ensured that no division would exist between the races of the kingdom, but they knew that their actions were not enough to ensure that the attack by foreign forces would be stopped. King Arik set out to reorganize and bolster the forces of Alcea to meet the coming invasion, but that was not enough for Alexander Tork. During the course of battles against the mysterious priests, Alex stole a Zaran ship, the Remora. He pressed the king for permission to go to the unknown land and determine the weakness of the enemy. King Arik, believing that Alex would go regardless of permission, finally gave his blessing, but he limited the party to only five Knights of Alcea.

In
Final Voyage of the Remora
, Alex enlisted the aid of three Alcean Rangers and three elves of Glendor to join with the five Knights of Alcea. He hired a captain and crew and set out across the ocean with only a rough chart to guide them into the unknown. The journey was troublesome from the beginning. Two Zaran spies had managed to get themselves included in the crew, and the enemy was waiting for their arrival. Driven by strange dreams, Alex unwittingly outmaneuvered the Zarans and landed in the Endless Swamp. The landing turned out to be fortuitous as the Knights of Alcea made many important contacts including Haditha, the water witch, Sidney Mercado, the merchant, and Morro, the elven thief. Prince Rigal also made contact with the Dielderal elves and discovered that the Federation holds them as slaves. To ensure the Federation's control over the Dielderal, all elven children are taken out of the Elfwoods and kept in reeducation centers in the major cities of the Federation.

Volume two of the Demonstone Chronicles ended with the destruction of the Zaran invasion fleet. It also ended the chances for our heroes to return home to Alcea. Captain Gomery, Haditha, and two sailors were not rescued along with the others. While Captain Gomery and Haditha made it to safety, Loman and Tyroma were never found. The rest of the heroes, knowing that each day of delay would buy Alcea more time to prepare for war, vowed to continue to wage covert actions against the Zarans, but they were confined to the lost city of Aranak, which is deep under the sands of the desert.

In
Council of War
, the Alceans in Zara split up. Garth and Kalina are joined by Tedi, Natia, and Morro as they journey to the major cities of the Federation to learn more about their enemy. Karl Gree leads the rest of the Alceans in an attempt to reach the safety of Tyronia, but his plans are foiled by the Federation as they block Sebastian Pass and send thousands of troops to hunt the Alceans. With nowhere else to turn, Karl leads the group into the Forest of Death, and they are eventually captured by the Zaroccans as spies.

Garth and his party earn the appreciation of the Rhodans by saving three of their women from the Federation army, but those actions demand a retreat to the safety of Tyronia. As the nation of Tyronia falls to the Federation, Garth leads his people to the horse countries on unicorns, but not before substituting Clint for a traitorous Tyronian general. While Clint is sent to Despair as a representative of Tyronia, Garth finds himself involved in a struggle to free Karl's group and establish a Council of War to fight the Federation in Zara. To gain the support of the horse countries, Garth must find twenty thousand fighters to stand against the Federation. In a frenzied tour of the continent, Garth unites the elves, dwarves, and humans of various countries into a strange alliance to battle the Federation. Only time will tell if the alliance stands, and if it will prove to be enough to affect the outcome of the destructive war coming to two continents.

In
Demonkin
, Book Four of the Demonstone Chronicles, the Alceans covertly attack four cities of the Federation, freeing the elven children from the education centers built to hold the elves captive. King Elengal leads the Dielderal through the dwarven tunnel to the sanctuary on the Island of Despair, while making it appear that they have fled to sea in ships.

Meanwhile, the demons create a new breed of demonkin, the Claws of Alutar. These four powerful creatures are designed to extract revenge from the Alceans for the plight of the Great Demon. Their singular goal is to eliminate the Heroes of the Mage, starting with the Warrior King.

Clint, posing as General Forshire, builds his small Federation army and discovers the true nature of Camp Destiny, a massive valley holding the portals to be used in the coming attack on Alcea.

The Mage, traveling as Fakir Aziz, continues to gather powerful mages to his side. The destination of the group remains a secret, and the mysterious purpose of such immense power is never spoken of.

In
Heirs of the Enemy
, the Knights of Alcea gathered the heirs to the thrones of the Federation and sequestered them in a private level of Herinak Castle in Korocca.
 
Zack Nolan, the Alcean spymaster, began a campaign of disinformation intended to not only deceive the Federation, but also to create dissention among the ranks of the enemy army.

Meanwhile in Alcea, King Arik’s faithful are designing traps to ensnare portions of the invading armies. While this strategy will lessen the impact of the invading hordes, the Alceans will still be woefully outnumbered.

In
13 Day War
, 240,000 Federation soldiers arrived in Alcea through 24 portals, which they believed to be secret. Unfortunately for the Federation troops, the Alceans were aware of the enemy’s plans down to where they planned to camp each night. The Alceans also knew who the officers were and what their possible reactions would be to unexpected events.

King Arik directed an unorthodox campaign not only to defeat the superior Federation forces, but also to do so in a way that killed as few of the enemy soldiers as possible. When the dust settled on the war in Alcea, King Arik held 175,000 Federation prisoners. While such a victory should have heralded a great celebration, the Alceans were somber for the war was far from over. Unless the Federation is completely destroyed in Zara, it will only be a matter of time before the Alceans once again have to shed blood to defend their homeland.

As the seventh and final volume of the Demonstone Chronicles begins, this is the state of the nations of Zara:

King Vlador rules Karamin, and Grand General Kyrga has assigned General Salaman and the 30
^th
Corps (10,000 soldiers) to protect it. Vlador’s cousin, Boric, leads a group of patriots (1,000), and Yortana and her Rhodan warriors
 
(1,000) are aligned with him. Max Caber, an Alcean Ranger, is present and guiding the patriots. There is a K’san in Calusa.

King Daramoor rules Vinafor. General Nazzaro leads the 31
^st
Corps (10,000) to hold the country for the Federation. A Federation officer, Colonel Pfaff (Crusher), leads the patriots (4,000) with guidance from Stan Fargo, an Alcean Ranger. Queen Romani, the rightful ruler lives in exile in Korocca.

King Mectin rules Tyronia from inside the impregnable Old Keep. General Marashef leads the 32
^nd
Corps (10,000). A Federation officer, Captain Marez, leads the patriots (5,000) with guidance of Karl Gree, a Knight of Alcea. King Myer lives in exile in Korocca. There is a K’san in Ur.

Zarocca is one of the horse countries and is a member of the Council of War. King Persimon rules Zarocca. Baron Ohmson is a prominent lord.

Korocca is one of the horse countries and is a member of the Council of War. King Wendal rules, but his son, Baron Stikman asserts his will on most of the decisions.

Candanar is a wealthy inland country and part of the Federation. King Bartomir is the ruler but is not involved in any of the Federation decisions. His son, Prince Bultar, is living in Korocca as one of the heirs. Candanar has no Federation army resident, but they do have several thousand troops under the king’s command.

King Anator rules Aerta. Aerta is a major country of the Federation and has two armies resident. General Antero leads the 23
^rd
Corps (10,000), loyal to King Anator. General Hedstorus leads the 33
^rd
Corps (10,000), loyal to Grand General Kyrga. The heir, General Alden, is trapped in another Universe.

King Harowin rules Ertak. Ertak is a major country of the Federation and has two armies resident. General Harford leads the 11
^th
Corps (10,000) and is loyal to King Harowin. General Larus leads the 34
^th
Corps (10,000) and is loyal to Grand General Kyrga. The heir, Prince Harold, lives in the Lair in Korocca.

Queen Samir rules Spino. Spino is a major country of the Federation and has two armies resident. General Vladin leads the 16
^th
Corps (10,000) and is loyal to the queen. General Kartacus leads the 35
^th
Corps and is loyal to Grand General Kyrga. The heir, Prince Samuel, lives in the Lair in Korocca.

Emperor Jaar leads the Empire of Barouk and also heads the Federation. Despair is the seat of power of the Federation and has four armies present. General Hartz leads the 3
^rd
Corps (10,000) which is considered the home guard for Despair. General Brennus leads the 36
^th
Corps (10,000). General Askor leads the 37
^th
Corps (10,000). General Eylor leads the 38
^th
Corps (10,000). Grand General Kyrga controls all of the armies and the palace guard which numbers in the thousands. The heir, Colonel Taerin, is based in the Imperial Palace, but no Zarans know that he is the heir. The wife of Emperor Jaar and his daughters are captive in Korocca.

The Dielderal are currently living on the Isle of Despair, unknown to the Federation. Their forces consist of 6,000 warriors.

King Drakarik leads Tarashin, the undiscovered dwarven land in the mountains of the Barrier. His warriors number 3,000.

Herinak Castle was a massive stone structure rising high over the Koroccan coastal city. On any given day, thousands of people scurried about both in the castle and in the city around it, but in the dead of night, all was quiet, all but one restricted level known as the Lair. The Lair was restricted to hide the presence of the heirs of the Federation thrones. It was the perfect place to hold a meeting of the Council of War.

One room of the Lair was a large meeting room. That room hosted a large table and dozens of chairs. On a dark and foreboding spring night, people silently filed into the room and sat around the table. It was an unusual mixture of races for the Occan lands, but many a nod of recognition was shared as the people entered and sat down. There was no talk as the dignitaries sat and waited for the final member of the council to appear. When Garth Shado finally entered the chamber, he escorted a young woman who was unknown to most of the attendees. Many an eyebrow rose at the unannounced inclusion, but no one verbally complained. Garth closed the door and ushered the woman to a seat at the table and then sat next to her.