The kDira's World Anthology Read online

  kDira’s

  World

  Anthology

  k.R. McClellan

  Edited by

  Michael Goeres

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, businesses, places, events, locales, and incidents are either the products of the author's imagination or used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.

  Book Series Website: www.kdirasworld.com

  Author Website: http://krmcclellan.com/

  Facebook: www.facebook.com/krmcclellanauthor/

  Twitter: twitter.com/kR_McClellan

  Merchandise: www.cafepress.com/kdirasworld

  Contact: [email protected]

  Copyright © 2017-2019 K.R. McClellan

  All rights reserved.

  dEDICATION

  This Anthology is dedicated exclusively to my wife, Jolene. I cannot tell you how many times she has read, and re-read my work, told me to shut up when I talked about giving up, and cracked the whip when I got lazy. She has supported me through every crazy scheme I have come up with and encouraged me when I failed. I could not continue without her beside me. So this anthology is for her. Love you, sweetie!

  aCKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Special thanks to my family, friends, and my beautiful wife, Jolene. Without their support and encouragement this book would not exist.

  Also, special thanks to my super-editors and proof readers who went through this book with a fine-toothed comb and not a one of them found the same mistakes as any of the others… LOL!

  Michael Goeres

  Jolene McClellan

  Kayleigh Rosinski

  Miranda Lucyk

  Robert Smith

  cONTENTS

  dEDICATION

  aCKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  iNTRODUCTION

  kDira's World

  pART 1

  The End

  cHAPTER 1

  cHAPTER 2

  cHAPTER 3

  cHAPTER 4

  cHAPTER 5

  cHAPTER 6

  cHAPTER 7

  cHAPTER 8

  cHAPTER 9

  cHAPTER 10

  cHAPTER 11

  cHAPTER 12

  cHAPTER 13

  pART 2

  War

  cHAPTER 14

  cHAPTER 15

  cHAPTER 16

  cHAPTER 17

  cHAPTER 18

  cHAPTER 19

  pART 3

  The Karn

  cHAPTER 20

  cHAPTER 21

  cHAPTER 22

  cHAPTER 23

  pART 4

  Betrayal

  cHAPTER 24

  cHAPTER 25

  pART 5

  Spirits

  cHAPTER 26

  cHAPTER 27

  cHAPTER 28

  The Book of kADERAH

  Hayden’s Curse

  pART 1

  Growing Pains

  cHAPTER 1

  cHAPTER 2

  cHAPTER 3

  cHAPTER 4

  cHAPTER 5

  cHAPTER 6

  cHAPTER 7

  cHAPTER 8

  cHAPTER 9

  cHAPTER 10

  pART 2

  Hunger Pangs

  cHAPTER 11

  cHAPTER 12

  cHAPTER 13

  cHAPTER 14

  cHAPTER 15

  cHAPTER 16

  cHAPTER 17

  pART 3

  The Book of Sylys

  cHAPTER 18

  cHAPTER 19

  cHAPTER 20

  cHAPTER 21

  cHAPTER 22

  cHAPTER 23

  cHAPTER 24

  pART 4

  Dark at the end of the Tunnel

  cHAPTER 25

  cHAPTER 26

  cHAPTER 27

  cHAPTER 28

  cHAPTER 29

  cHAPTER 30

  cHAPTER 31

  cHAPTER 32

  cHAPTER 33

  cHAPTER 34

  pART 5

  The End of Time

  cHAPTER 35

  cHAPTER 36

  cHAPTER 37

  cHAPTER 38

  cHAPTER 39

  Winter’s Reign

  pART 1

  Go West

  cHAPTER 1

  cHAPTER 2

  cHAPTER 3

  cHAPTER 4

  cHAPTER 5

  pART 2

  Ravengard

  cHAPTER 6

  cHAPTER 7

  cHAPTER 8

  cHAPTER 9

  cHAPTER 10

  cHAPTER 11

  cHAPTER 12

  cHAPTER 13

  cHAPTER 14

  cHAPTER 15

  cHAPTER 16

  cHAPTER 17

  cHAPTER 18

  pART 3

  A New Game

  cHAPTER 19

  cHAPTER 20

  cHAPTER 21

  cHAPTER 22

  cHAPTER 23

  cHAPTER 24

  cHAPTER 25

  cHAPTER 26

  cHAPTER 27

  cHAPTER 28

  cHAPTER 29

  pART 4

  Handbasket

  cHAPTER 30

  cHAPTER 31

  cHAPTER 32

  cHAPTER 33

  cHAPTER 34

  cHAPTER 35

  kDIRA’S AUTHOR

  oTHER BOOKS

  iNTRODUCTION

  The world that we find kDira in takes place a hundred or more years after the apocalypse that destroyed most of humanity. Great bombs and newly engineered chemical and biological weapons, built by nations that believed only in their own superiority have rendered the earth all but uninhabited. Every major city on the face of the earth was bombed into oblivion, but even the smaller cities and villages could not escape the impending holocaust.

  The few small groups of humans that were able to avoid the blasts and the gas clouds were left almost completely incapable of having offspring because all but a tiny scattering of females would prove to be fertile.

  The females among them that proved to be childbearing were not only looked upon as royalty, but also as a treasure that could be stolen or won in battle, or in very rare cases, bartered. They were prized more than any other commodity on earth, and often were the target of raids by “wolfpack males” groups that stormed villages in search of “breeders.”

  There were very few sexual barriers. The act of being intimate was primarily for recreation, and not a sign of love or attachment. When a breeding female took a mate, it was only to produce the badly needed offspring to grow the tribe, and meant nothing more. The tribes collectively raised the children as their own, and family ties were talked about, but no bonds

  were created. This made the process of growing the tribe easier.

  The biological fact that breeding females were needed to perpetuate the species was unavoidable. Those females that could not breed were considered the same value to the tribe as their male counterparts, and like the males, would often would grow up and become krebs, or warriors of the tribe. And as with their male counterparts, if they proved too weak or frail to become a warrior they would fill in roles within the village that would help the collective.

  kDira’s World is a story that will take you on a post-apocalyptic fantasy adventure. It is a story that will take you forward in time to discover the secrets of the past, and forge a heroic path into an uncertain future.

  Sometimes when reality is thrust upon you, you have to create your own path and follow it to the end.

  Follow kDira on her journey as she learns that fate can take many forms, and sometimes forces her to make the hard choices to get
to the place she needs to be.

  kDira’s World is a hostile place, with no guide book. Only gut instinct and intestinal fortitude can get you home, and it is never easy.

  kDira’s

  World

  pART 1

  The End

  cHAPTER 1

  There was a chill in the air of the moonless night in the Kaiba forest. The musty smell of dried leaves and moss wafted through the trees with the cool but gentle northern wind. Soon, the smell of death would replace the putrid natural smells, and the Karn General took great joy in that.

  The Karn army silently made their way towards the Blackhorn village. This was no wolfpack. Not this time. Their goal was to not only rob the Blackhorn of their breeders, but to decimate the entire tribe… to wipe them off the map completely.

  Word had gotten to the Karn that the Blackhorns had three breeders; their Queen Mother, who was far beyond her prime, and two Princess Mothers who were ripe for breeding. The Karn were only after the young ones.

  As they approached the village, General Tutower brought them to a halt just outside the line of sight of any of the sentries that might be standing watch.

  The General and two of his finest archers crept through the woods until they came within sight of the wall. There was only one sentry watching the main gate.

  General Tutower nudged one of the archers and pointed to the sentry. Without a word, the archer readied an arrow and sighted in on the sentry.

  “Fire!” the General whispered. Without hesitation, the arrow flew, and the sentry fell backwards behind the wall.

  “Charge!” the General yelled, and suddenly the forest erupted into a frenzy of war whoops and the sound of a hundred Karn advancing through the woods.

  The ladder bearers were first to the wall, and almost as quickly, the rest of the Karn behind them began to scale the walls. They met no resistance as they crossed over the top and onto the walkway below.

  From above, a Karn archer saw one of the Blackhorn villagers tending to the fallen sentry, confused by what had happened. Before the villager realized that they were under attack, she was silenced by an arrow through her heart.

  Several Karn dropped down from the wall and quickly unbolted the gate, allowing easy access to the waiting army outside. The villagers awoke to the sound of screaming and charging Karn. The warriors in the village scrambled to make ready, but as soon as they stepped outside of their huts they were cut down with a sword through their heart, or a windpipe sliced from behind.

  The village went into chaos. The only females that were killed were the ones carrying arms; treated as any other warrior, they were cut down and drained of their blood in the streets.

  Queen Dachraolene, the Queen Mother of the Blackhorn Tribe, heard from her temple the commotion going on towards the heart of the village. Fearing a wolfpack raid, her first instinct was to hide; she knew that the Princess Mothers needed to be protected. She darted outside and north down a back street to the hut of Princess Abril and Princess Nepra.

  “Come, we have to get you to safety!” she yelled.

  “We must take our babies!” Princess Nepra cried. “What will become of our babies?”

  “They are not after the babies, only you, now come!” the Queen Mother commanded. “Come now!”

  Quickly, the Queen led the two out the door and towards the back of the camp. There she took them into a small run-down hut. She lifted a rug off the floor revealing a small trap door, just large enough for one person to squeeze through. She opened the door and motioned for the two to climb through into a tiny chamber below. Barely enough room for the two to squeeze into, Queen Dachraolene let the door down and covered it back up to hide the location.

  “Now stay there and keep quiet until I come and get you,” the Queen said as she turned and ran back towards her temple.

  The Karn had gathered up the remaining villagers, most of which were older males and females, and some young, adolescent children. The warriors, having been eliminated first, left the remaining townsfolk helpless against the strength and blades of the Karn warriors.

  “Where are the breederrrrs?” The Karn General asked a frail town elder he had pinned by the neck against the wall of a hut. “Tell me or die, Blackhorrrrrn!”

  The elder struggled in the grip of the massive General Tutower.

  “I will ask only once morrrre,” the General hissed. “Where are the breederrrrrs?”

  “I… I do not know. I swear!” the hapless villager insisted.

  “Then I have no use for you,” the Karn General said as he plunged his sword into the elder’s abdomen. The frail villager let out a short cry of pain, then went limp in the General’s hand. The General let the old man fall to the ground and went on get his information elsewhere.

  From behind one of the huts, two Karn warriors appeared, dragging the Queen Mother by her arms as she kicked and struggled against them.

  “Look what we found, General,” said one of the Karn warriors. “We found the Queen Mother trying to escape.”

  “Queen Motherrrrr,” General Tutower said with a sneer. “Where are your breederrrrs?”

  “I am right here,” the Queen said boldly. “Take me away, you have what you want. Leave these helpless people alone!’

  “You have more breederrrrs, Blackhorrrrn Queeeeen,” he hissed in his guttural, Karn way. “Tell me where they are and I will spare their lives”.

  “I do not know what you are talking about,” the Queen pleaded, “Just take me…”

  Her words were cut short as the General suddenly grabbed a villager and cut the Blackhorn’s throat.

  “Nooo!” the Queen Mother screamed!

  “How many more must die, Blackhorrrrrrn bitch?” the General asked angrily. “Give us what we want and we will let you all live.

  “I don’t know where they are!” she insisted. “They have gone into hiding. Please believe me!”

  “I believe they are hidinnnng,” General Tutower answered, “But I think you know where they are.”

  “No, I don’t know where they are!” she begged. “Please take me and leave these poor people alone. They have done nothing.”

  Without warning, the General balled up a fist and hit her squarely in the jaw. Several teeth went flying as blood streamed from her face, running down her chin and neck. She screamed in pain.

  “Why would I want an old mule like you when I can have the fresh, young breeders you are hiding? I’d rather lie down with a rock-goat than a used-up kreb maker like you.

  Again he hit her, this time in the stomach, doubling her over. With blood dripping from her mouth and nose, the Queen desperately tried to regain her breath.

  “Now, let me ask again, but keep in mind I am losing my patience, Blackhorrrrn,” The Karn growled. “Where are the breeders?”

  Queen Dachraolene looked up, tears running down her face and mixing with the blood around her mouth. Two missing teeth were evident in the front of her mouth. She wanted to spit in his face, but knew that would not make the situation any easier.

  Then again, without warning, General Tutower grabbed one of the Blackhorn and ran the hapless villager through with his sword.

  “Where are the breeders?” the General said, turning to look back at the queen.

  “Don’t tell him, Queen Mother,” one of the villagers yelled out. He was quickly silenced by a Karn warrior cutting his throat. He fell to the ground, adding to the pool of blood-soaked earth beneath him.

  “General Tutowerrrrr,” a Karn voice came from behind. “We found thissssss..”

  The Queen turned to see several Karn warriors dragging two small children by their arms towards the General, and another Karn carrying two tiny, crying babies.

  “What do we have here?” the general asked. “Babies? Not yours, I am certain,” he said, looking at the Queen Mother. “Where there are babies, there are breeders. Let’s see where your loyalties are now. To the breeders? Or to the babies?”

  The General took one of the babies
in his arms and looked at its face.

  “Blackhorn babies are so ugly, don’t you think?” the General asked. The Karn warriors laughed in agreement. “Does this beast cub have a name?”

  “Her name is Anje,” the Queen Mother struggled to say the words through her pain and broken mouth. “Please don’t hurt her!” she begged.

  “A female?” the General asked. “I would have never guessed a female. I’d cry too if I was that ugly. I think it is time to put this ugly Blackhorrrrn female out of her misery.”

  “No! No, please don’t…” the Queen Mother begged. “Please, I will tell you where they are, just don’t hurt the babies!”

  “Now we are getting somewherrrre,” the General sneered, leaning down closer and closer to her face. “Was that so hard? Was that worth letting your poor villagers die for?”

  “Please, just let my people go and don’t hurt the babies,” Dachraolene asked, crying uncontrollably.

  “Now, Queen Motherrrr,” the General hissed, just inches from her face, “for the last time, where are those damn breeders?”

  cHAPTER 2

  3 Days Earlier…

  The thick green leaves above shielded much of the light from making it to the path below. The smell of damp moss and vegetation was a welcome sensation to the senses of the two Blackhorn warriors that traveled below. The Kaiba Forest was peaceful, yet alive this time of year. And it was green, very green.

  Occasionally one could hear the scampering of small animals running for safety behind fallen logs, or birds taking flight from branches high above. Sometimes small furry creatures could be seen hopping from branch to branch above, often knocking small twigs or seeds to the forest floor below. But if you weren’t keen to listening to the noises of the forest, you would likely miss them all together.

  The quiet of the Kaiba Forest was interrupted only by the footsteps of kDira and Agis as they walked the vegetation covered path in early morning, constantly on the lookout for the males that ran in wolf packs hunting for breeders.