The Elphame Chronicles
Part 1
The Poisoned Sceptre
Adrian Holland
Published by AMAZOLA
The right of Adrian Holland to be identified as the Author of the work has been asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Design and Patents Act 1988.
Copyright © Adrian Holland 2014
ISBN 978-1-909466-18-0
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publishers.
For further information please contact the official website at
www.amazolapublishing.com
A copy of this book is held at the British Library.
Cover design and illustrations by Adrian Holland
I was very close to both of my parents who were my best friends, and I have lost count of the number of happy times we shared, and all of the creativity and laughter. Like my beloved father Joe, my mother Margaret was so special, and my total inspiration. I would therefore like to dedicate this book to their memory.
Contents
Introduction
One
Two
Three
Four
Five
Six
Seven
Eight
Nine
Ten
Eleven
Twelve
Thirteen
Fourteen
Fifteen
Sixteen
Seventeen
Eighteen
Nineteen
Introduction
It is difficult to know where to start, but as in all good adventure stories it is best to start at the beginning!
Long ago, in The Age before Man, there was an ancient kingdom known as Elphamia inhabited by a variety of creatures.
Most people have heard of Elves, Faeries, Pixies or Leprechauns, but not many people have ever heard of an Elphin Rabbit!
They are one of the oldest races, and are very secretive creatures, that live deep underground and seldom venture out apart that is, from Midsummer’s Night. So, if ever you have heard a distant scurrying on such a night, then, just maybe, it might have been an Elphin Rabbit!
Now, the word Rabbit conjures up thoughts of long ears, whiskers, fluffy tails and buck teeth, of creatures covered in fur that hop about. Elves are supposed to be small creatures with pointed ears, although long ago, they were almost the same size as the average Man. Elphin Rabbits are no exception, apart again from their ears, which are large and floppy, and their nose and whiskers, which are very Rabbit like - hence their name!
What makes them different is the fact that - apart from the ears, they live at one with nature, and all Elves, no matter what type are vegetarians.
Long, long ago, they did have their own kingdom deep within The Land of Moors and Woods, but sadly, that was a very long time ago indeed. Things are not what they used to be, and The Age of Man has done little to help their cause. However, it was not always that way, as Men were different all of those years ago.
From a time before memory, there was one Elphin Rabbit whose destiny was about to shape the Kingdom…
One
Before we start, it is best to mention a legend far older than the most distant of tales, told by storytellers for countless generations…
There was once a King from another land, who tricked his way to power, and let his kingdom’s riches dwindle away. He was deeply unpopular and was challenged to a wrestling match by a nobleman, who was considered by the people to be their rightful King. The nobleman won, and the King left in shame.
In his exile, he came across new lands, finding a large quantity of gold within them. He sent word to the new King of his find, thinking that he could buy his way back into power.
He demanded that the new King should come and see all the gold for himself, and when he arrived, he suggested that they should have another wrestling match to decide who should be the rightful King.
He knew that he would lose, so poisoned the King’s drinking water, but his deception failed, when he drank from the wrong cup.
The new King left with a large quantity of the gold, dividing the land between his two sons. They both became a King in their own right, and the elder one became know as the Great King, as he created a magnificent kingdom know as Elphamia, with the aid of their sister. The other became very jealous of all that they had achieved, and tried to take it from them. Despite the wisdom of the Great King, he was unable to prevent a terrible battle, after which everything was destroyed.
The Great King’s followers then took his body burying it deep inside a mountain, carving his image upon it, as a constant reminder of all that he achieved…
It is said that one day, the Great King will emerge from the mountain, and rebuild the ancient Kingdom of Elphamia...
Legends are one thing, but the lives of normal folk are quite something else!
Within the ancient kingdom of Elphamia, lies The Land of Moors and Woods, although there is not much of a kingdom left any more, and all that remains are a few scattered villages nestled in the valleys between the rolling hills. Our story starts in one such village occupied by our main character Roger or Roggie, as he is more commonly known.
Now you might think that Roggie is not really the sort of name you would expect to have for an Elphin Rabbit, however, if you were to be able to speak Elphin, then it would sound more like Hroogar, but not quite. Elphin is so different from our language, that it is doubtful whether you would be able to make any sort of a translation at all. Therefore, the closest that we can come to his real name is Roggie, and after all Roggie is quite a nice name, particularly for an Elfin Rabbit!
Incidentally, the name Roger also means Famous Spear, which seems to be quite apt, as this particular Elphin Rabbit has won the village spear throwing contest for the last three years in a row, and is the current holder of the Sacred Spear.
Now, this actual spear has mythical properties, and dates from a time long ago, being made of a strange metal that never tarnishes. It also has strange writing carved on the blade, and is sometimes referred to as the Spear of Destiny. Long, long ago, it was hotly contested by the warriors, but since there are none of them left anymore, or much of a kingdom for that matter, it was not so difficult to win!
Now that we have established that his name is Roggie, we really need to find out a little more about him!
Well, there is really not much to tell, apart that is, from the fact that, well, his destiny awaits…
Now destiny is something that you cannot escape as it is your future, but fate is quite something else entirely. We all have free choice as to whether we do something or not, but whatever we do or do not do, try as we might, we cannot escape what is destined to happen to us!
For Roggie, his fate was within his own hands, as it is for all of us, and as you will see, his destiny was waiting to be fulfilled...
A shaft of light poked through the half drawn curtains, creeping its way very slowly out across the wooden floor as it had done all morning. From just a glimmer it now illuminated the inside of the little burrow, where its single occupant lay in his warm comfortable bed, thinking about all the things that he could have been doing, but like most days, what he could have been doing, and what he actually had done, were two entirely different things!
His life revolved around thoughts of wonderful things, and thoughts were his main activity. Yes, he did have his vegetable plot, which lay besides his burrow, although burrow i
s not quite how you would have described his home.
Roggie’s burrow was little more than a turfed mound, held up by some stout wooden posts. It had just the one window, which sat besides its solitary door, which led out into the village. Besides the door and window, the only other things that could be seen, was a table and chair, pantry and a chest which held all of his clothes, and of course, his spear!
Roggie liked clothes, and always dreamed of having lots of them, but that would mean having to do something to earn them, and leaving his warm comfortable bed, always proved to be the stumbling block. It was not that he was lazy, it was just the fact that he had so much thinking to do, that he had no time to do anything else. Thoughts were his main occupation, and there was nowhere better for having them, than his warm comfortable bed!
Roggie had many thoughts, some of which were based around what he was going to do, although they seldom materialised as he would easily get sidetracked into thinking about something else. They ranged from the clothes he was going to get to how he was going to expand his vegetable plot, and even the odd thought about going on a big adventure.
Now, that was something which took up a lot of his thought time. Roggie was not one to venture outside the village, and always wondered what lay beyond the hills that surrounded it. He had heard some tales told by the village elders of distant times, when there was a mighty kingdom. It all sounded very exciting to him, and he could imagine how fabulous it must have been. That was a very long time ago, and things were a lot simpler in those days.
Sometimes, he would think about how marvellous it would be to live in a castle, or maybe even a palace. He did love his burrow though, so much so, that he