THE MYSTIC QUEEN

BOOK ONE

THE COMING OF THE SLAYER

SYNOPSIS

First Published March 2006

Jacquelyne Van Dyne is Dark Slayer a woman of today cast into a world of long ago by the forces of magic.

Her arrival in a strange land is heralded by a storm and a meeting with an outlaw, a middle aged man called Yazd. She is at first confused and uncertain what has happened and why but her memory quickly returns and with it the hate of a wizard called Abrantes who is responsible for many deaths. Yazd tells her briefly about this world she has arrived in, the Middle Lands; those between the wild lands to the East and the fabled lands of magic over the sea to the West. She also hears, for the first time about the ancient magical race of the Esdraelon whose influence in the Land continues long after their passing.

By the following morning Yazd has been captured and she is left bootless, weaponless and lost in these strange lands full of strange and dangerous people. Slowly she makes her way to the nearest sign of civilisation where again she has no time before being taken prisoner by a mysterious sect calling themselves the People of the Black Robe.

Professing good intentions the Black Robe recruit Jaq to be their spy and advise her that all her life has been influenced by guided by Abrantes who intends great evil to the lands. They send her off to join the army and, most specifically, the personal guard of Master Farmiso the advisor to the neighbouring countries of Tyumen and Rioja.

On her journey she joins first with a handsome, young adventurer, Zeval, and later by a Mala, a black skinned archer from the southern jungles. Together they take part in the recruitment process and, after some difficulties and bloodshed they are accepted into the personal guard of Master Farmiso. We follow her on journeys between the two countries escorting Farmiso and encountering bandits in the desert trails as she becomes more suspicious of the motives of both Farmiso and the People of the Black Robe.

During this time she is introduced to a rebel leader in Tyumen, Vrsal, who suggests to her that all is not well with the common people. Initially she is sceptical about this but small events she experiences begin to convince her otherwise. Finally she is asked by Master Farmiso, now identified as a powerful wizard, to assassinate a rebel leader in Rioja, Prince Sanok.

Realising, after she has confronted Sanok, that the actions of Farmiso are not beneficial to her or the populace she instead joins the rebel side. In a final, dramatic confrontation in Kalna, the capital of Rioja, she kills the Wizard and is responsible for the over-throw of both Kings.

To this point the tale had seemed to be a simple case a of power struggle between rival factions and, with the coronation of new Kings, the adventure appears to be over. To the careful reader, however, there appear to be too many unanswered questions and small hints to other intrigues that have arisen in the tale so far. From that point the story expands its horizons introducing the reader wider lands and new characters. The reader begins to realise that what had appeared to be simple conflict was not quite correct, indeed, far from it.

For Jaq and her rebel companions the first notice they have of problems is the march of a large force of troops across the border from the neighbouring country of Calahorra, the largest country of the Middle Lands. Other bordering countries also mobilise armies and, with the rebels besieged a magical plague is inflicted on Tyumen.

Jaq, at the command of an army of rebel troops, achieves some success in their battles against superior numbers before being forced to retreat deeper into Rioja. During this time she discovers that there are similar 'advisors' to Farmiso that hold the ear of all the monarchs in the known Lands. These advisors are also wizards but before she has the opportunity to use this information her army is destroyed and she is left with Zeval and a guardsman by the name of Hilla to escape in any way they can.

Their journey back to the rebel armies introduce her to a strange man by the name of Mandallines, a hermit, who reveals hints that that the conflict may be far beyond what she thinks and, in an ancient wood, she has her first real meeting with a number of the Wizards that she has begun to oppose. At this stage she realises that there is a conspiracy afoot that does not involve simply the throne of a country but will decide the fate of the very Lands themselves. She also begins to understand that, no matter what she might wish, for some reason she is an important part of the conflicts in the Lands.

Desperate to use the new found information Jaq and her companions race back to Kalna in the hope of saving the rebellion. Unfortunately the armies of the Wizards have beaten them to it and, following a battle in the royal palace, all save Zeval are captured.

For Jaq capture means transportation to Vilyavada, the capital of Calahorra, the greatest city of the MiddleLands and slavery to Lord Edmund Darcey, the Wizard behind the Calahorran throne. The plans of Edmund do not go to plan with the intervention of a young man by the name of Bytor who possesses more than his fair share of luck. With his assistance Jaq and another mysterious girl, Cephalone, escape from the Palace.

Both Bytor and Cephalone are recaptured but Jaq is successful in evading the pursuing troops. She is assisted by a strange woman warrior known as Danielle Sabbath, an assassin, who is supposed to be in the employ of the Wizard. With her assistance and rescue, on more than one occasion, Jaq escapes back into Rioja and begins her search for the rebel army with even more information available to her. To her, and probably, her alone, has come the understanding that there is a cabal of Wizards that sit behind every throne and their intention is to take power and enslave the people.

With Jaq safely returned to Rioja the warrior woman, Sabbath, returns to Vilyavada where her treachery has been discovered by Edmund. He attempts to have her imprisoned but using magical powers she escapes taking both Bytor and Cephalone with her. She takes them to a safe house run by Lord Cryteda Avlom and his friend Cador and hints that both of them have parts to play in a conflict that is brewing. As the story develops it becomes clear that Cador is performing some form of quest.

In Jaq's absence the other rebel leaders at Kalna had been rescued by Zeval and the remains of the rebel forces marched southwards towards their strongholds there. Jaq pursues the rebels joining up with a troop of Rangers in their hidden base in the wild Cartheon region of Rioja. The chief Ranger is a man called Affric, a cold but efficient soldier. While she is there the Ranger force is betrayed and most are killed but Jaq escapes with a young Ranger called Misburg and are able to rejoin Affric who had been absent at the time of the attack. Together they finally reach the southern stronghold of the rebels at the fortress town of Rialoven.

Once again the forces of the Wizards are pursuing hard and soon the town is besieged by both magic and the forces of the army. This time the rebel army is destroyed and Jaq escapes with only a few of her friends including Vrsal, one of the rebel kings, the other, Sanok, dies to allow them their escape.

Now the rebellion is over they flee eastwards through wild forests towards the mountains. Deep in the forest Hilla is murdered and Jaq realises that one of her number is a traitor. Affric declares that his young Ranger Misburg, was the traitor and kills him before the party move on. Jaq retains her doubts.

To escape the Wizards they travel by an ancient and little known pass across the mountain peaks where Jaq experiences a vision that may be the future. The land on the far side of the mountains is the Wastes, a black desert where magic has wiped everything living from the earth a long time ago. They travel this hot, blackened world where nothing grows and no fresh water exists until some of their party fall ill. There, in an ancient tower in the middle of the Wastes, Jaq finds help from an unlikely source, a man in a monster's form who is able to cure their sickness. The tower is a watch tower of the Esdraelon, the ancient race that existed long before the time of man. Here Jaq experiences another strange vision in which she discovers she can understand some of their ancient writings found in the tower.

When all are recovered the small party continues its journey to return to the civilised lands guided now by the man beast, Qatar. But they are still betrayed and pursued by a force of the Wizard's soldiers until they are finally cornered. The traitor among them is finally unmasked by Jaq as Affric and a final battle takes place on the shore of the Wastes in which all of the rebels, including Jaq, die a hero's death.

Here the History of the Dark Slayer pauses with the heroine presumed slain but the final chapter of the book takes up some of the loose ends that have been set in the tale so far (some but not all!).

Sabbath is revealed to be far more linked with events than previously believed as she is instrumental in the recovery of an ancient magic amulet, an artefact of power belonging to the Esdrealon, and the further escape of Bytor and Cephalone heading towards the mysterious CrystalCity. Cador dies in his quest to recover the amulet and Cryteda captured as his estate burns. The book finishes with the cabal of Wizards receiving the news of the Dark Slayer's death and hints of their plans.

And thus the battle appears to end with a suggestion that the war is just about to begin.