Epic, Extraordinary, Rousing The world of Arctane lacks nothing except boredom. The beautiful, talented, and driven Silvermøøn refuses anything but success and is determined to make her own destiny. Accompanied by the mysteriously talented Lytherium, they battle not only deadly creatures, but also their contagious attraction to one another. A sinister force assembles, while a silent struggle for the throne persists in her father, the King's, absence. King Vector has found himself torn between raising his daughter, running a kingdom and investigating the cause of his queen's death. Thwarting a plot to overthrow him becomes his foremost concern, leading him to discover a distant enemy. In his attempt to disrupt this plot, he nearly destroys half of Arctice and many of its citizens. The King is pressured persistently by a distant enemy who intends to turn all of Arctane into ash. Silvermøøn is predicted to be either a prophet or a catastrophe. Still very young, she is uncertain of her own abilities. She must prove herself, time and time again, in order to become the prophet her people so desperately require. "Not typically what I would read, but the writing was just so good I was hooked, and I just loved the characters Grimroot and Lytherium!" - Alan, (Optometrist) age 52 (1.106 Telos) - "Fantastic ideas, writing, and storyline, I had to continue reading it after the first page". - Patricia, (School District Superintendant) age 48(1.012 Telos) - "Never before has a book pulled me in so fast!" - Nichole, (College Student) age 19 (0.4042 Telos) - "The best book I have ever read! Just kidding, it sucked ha ha!" - Malinda (J. B. Mehrhoff's Mother) age 3, 658 (77.829 Telos)-

SILVERMOON

Book One: Arctane, Part One: A new CompanionBy J.B. Mehrhoff

AuthorHouse

Copyright © 2010 J.B. Mehrhoff
All right reserved.
ISBN: 978-1-4490-5909-5

Contents

Chapter 1: Sunset............................................1Chapter 2: Grilloc...........................................17Chapter 3: Power in Disarray.................................37Chapter 4: Test or Tragedy?..................................49Chapter 5: Revealing a Long Lost Rivalry.....................67Chapter 6: Slybranch & Vizerlocks............................85Chapter 7: A King's Decision.................................105Chapter 8: A Champion's Welcome..............................117

Chapter One

Sunset 10 Telos Before Silvermoon's Birth

Sultry Vain Savage

Such are the words that explain the life and domicile of Sunset. Sunset has put in motion the series of events that will later cause her to find a life she would consider a dream. But sadly all dreams must come to an end.

"SUNSET!" Yelled the voice of her older cousin as Sunset crawled on her hands and knees, she was trying to escape her violent cousin who was attempting to kill her. Throbbing with pain, her legs had been badly burned by her cousin's uncontrollable powers. Her father, the King, has just died and the battle for control has just shown its ugly head. Greed, power, fame, and history are what the ruthless leaders in Emberland care most about. They each think they are the one to re-write history and become immortal in the minds of their people. Crawling as fast as her wounded body could, Sunset was making her way through the castle and taking as many cuts and turns as possible to maneuver out of sight from her approaching cousin. There were many ancient passageways leading through the old castle. Pathways and escapes that Sunset would try to use in order to evade her cousin, but unfortunately her cousin knew of these paths as well as she did.

Her older cousin, Pyronius the Damned, had just claimed the throne of Emberland for himself, and was now trying to eliminate any sort of competition for leadership. Pyronius went by the obvious name of Pyro, and was unbelievably powerful in his ability to control fire magic, especially at a younger age. Creating, controlling, and manipulating fire is known as conflagration. Pyro had so much raw, uncontrollable power that no one dared to challenge him, but he was not willing to take a chance that another family member would possibly backstab him for the throne. The possibility that a relative would try to take the throne over Pyro was more than he could bear.

Along with his paranoia of losing his crown to Sunset, Pyro also searched for the power from an ancient item that all successful Emberland kings possess. No king had won a battle without it, but there was only one person who knew of its whereabouts. Sunset was told by her father to give the helm to his successor, which would be the Emberman that she chose to marry. Pyro waited until the king was weak and his health was failing before finishing the job early and proclaim himself as the new king. What he didn't take into consideration, was that he would need Sunset to tell him where the ember helm of kings was hidden. The ember helm of kings was said to be the helmet of the first Emberland king. Forged by their god of fire, it helped to create the first person who could conflagrate, and is said to double the wearer's powers of conflagration. Sunset would die before telling Pyro of the helmet's whereabouts. She also knew that as long as he did not know where it was, he would not be able to kill her.

Sunset had to escape the wrath of Pyro or else she would be imprisoned and just be another victim in the beginning of his fearsome reign over Emberland. Sunset was not all alone; she had a few embermen and emberettes she could trust, even in her time of need, which was very rare on their brutal planet. Followed by two deadly-looking fire elementals, Pyro paced quickly through the halls of their castle, chasing after his fleeing cousin. His mind already mad with power, he would not stop until he knew where the helm was and that Sunset was deceased and burned to ash.

The elementals looked and moved like the flickering flame from a candle. Accept these were much larger than a candle flame. Their faces were constantly changing as they morphed with every flicker of their flames. They did not have mouths, but they did have what appeared like eyes that were two dark blue flames surrounded by orange and yellow.

Sunset was actually very good at conflagration. She was still a young woman, but she had such a gift, that if she was in fact a male, she would have been the obvious heir to the throne in her father's passing. But being an emberette, you were not allowed to practice conflagration openly. Instead she practiced in private and taught herself to control it very well. Her father secretly loved her disobedience and determination. Her understanding of conflagration was different than almost everyone else. Almost every single person that learns to control fire abuses it and tries to maximize its power. Sunset was different in her own discipline and taught herself to control it with her mind, not just with her body, and was able to manipulate it masterfully. It wasn't her goal to just create an enormous fireball, or wall of flames like her juggernaut cousin.

Sunset collected herself, preparing for the painful run that was approaching. She was going to escape into the market district in their city of Smolder where she could find her trustworthy friends. Raising herself up painfully with the assistance of her arms, she turned towards the main entrance of the castle and began to make her final dash for freedom. Just as she approached the thick black doors, they slowly slammed shut just before she could escape. Stepping into the main hall behind his cousin, Pyro grinned wider than the great doors of the castle. He began to cackle madly, starting silent at first and growing in volume. He was truly inebriated with power and was anticipating finding the helm and the death of his little cousin.

Standing before the unyielding Sunset, Pyro held both hands forward and created two wide and long swords made from intense flames and heat. The hottest flames that could be controlled were blue flames and Pyro had almost mastered them. The swords flickered from red to blue as if they couldn't make up their minds on which color they wanted to be.

"See little cuz, in my conflagration I have already almost mastered the top level of flame. Never has there been a King of Emberland that has been as young and talented as yours truly. You should be proud to be the first to die from my wrath as king. If you tell me where the ember helm is, I will make sure your memory is that of honor; how you stood your ground and fell silently before your King, sacrificing your life as a sign to my leadership" Pyro stated confidently with his commanding voice. He moved the swords close to Sunset and they began to swing and dance brilliantly in front of her as though to torment her into telling the location of the helm by threatening her of an impending death. Sunset was not going to let Pyro have the last laugh. She raised her hands and knew that there was no better moment than now to demonstrate her knowledge of conflagration. Creating a long, powerful two-sided fire lance before her, she raised the weapon made from flames up to eye level.

Pyro laughed and smiled at Sunset's attempt to stand...