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The Council of Bone

  Tyler Earp

  Copyright 2016 Tyler Earp

  Thank you for downloading this ebook. This book remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favorite authorized retailer. Thank you for your support.

  Material included from The Children Rising is subject to change.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Summary: Charley Ashe must become the very thing he hates the most- a hero. When his life is shattered by family secrets, will he have the courage to take his destiny head on? Or will he fall into darkness?

  Acknowledgments

  To my Uncle Chuck. He made it possible.

  Secondly, to the friends who never doubted

  I would make it this far. Because I sure did.

  Thank You

  Pronunciation

  Names

  Bamard- Bahm ▪ Ahrd

  Bramly- Brohm ▪ LEE

  Hiberon- HIGH ▪ ber ▪ rohn

  Jaelyn- Jay ▪ lynn

  Maxima- Max ▪ uh ▪ mah

  Rafe- RAYF (Rhymes with “safe”)

  Renwick- REHN ▪ wihk

  Races

  Barghest- BAHR ▪ guest

  Cait- Kate

  Salan- Sah ▪ lahn

  Sidhe- SHEE (Pronounced like “she”)

  Volen- Vohl ▪ EEN

  Contents

  Acknowledgments

  Pronunciation

  One: The Dog and His Boy

  Two: Mere Coincidence

  Three: Talking to Squirrels

  Four: Something Fishy

  Five: A Dark Shadow

  Six: A Heated Conversation

  Seven: The Road to Undermire

  Eight: The Value of a Soul

  Nine: Right, Wrong, and Donkey Farts

  Ten: The Brotherhood

  Eleven: Speaking of Power

  Twelve: Harsh Lessons

  Thirteen: The Seven Paths

  Fourteen: The Tests

  Fifteen: Heroic Acts

  Sixteen: Villainous Intent

  Seventeen: A Trade

  Eighteen: A Biting Flame

  Nineteen: The Forgotten Ones

  Twenty: Rock and a Hard Place

  Twenty-One: The Awakening

  Twenty-Two: A Hero Falls

  Twenty-Three: Fall Into Darkness

  Book Two

  One: Look-A-Like

  About the Author

  Connect with Me

  One

  The Dog and His Boy

  “One is always on the edge of heroism or villainy. It is just a matter of which way you leap.”

  - Dramitus Fithen

  Charley Ashe didn't like heroes.

  In fact, he hated them. He hated that they always won in the end. They always got the girl and saved the planet from being taken over by alien overlords. He sighed as he put down the latest edition of Tales of Another Hero. And yet, Abe has me hooked.

  Charley looked around and saw that he was the only one in the store. A splatter of water fell onto the cover. He shook his hair out, sending a cascade of droplets everywhere. His mostly wet hair framing his face in long bronzed curls in their dampness even after drying it in the hot sun.

  At the end of the school day, someone had pulled it, sending the students fleeing from the building like water- logged rats, covering themselves with their bags.

  Because it was the last day of school, and the principal hadn't been able to nail the culprit, they had been released early. I guess something good came out of it.

  The man behind the counter leaned forward onto his arms and growled, “Watch where you're getting that! If you ruin them, you'll pay for them. And if you're going to read them, you better buy one. This is a store, not a library.”

  “Sorry.” Charley plunged his hands into his pockets and was able to dig up enough together to pay for the comic, leaving him with a whole seventeen cents. Not nearly enough for the bus fare.

  Guess I get to walk… great. He shouldered his bag and started down the street.

  With the sun beating down on his shoulders he made it to the park beside the three-story apartment that Charley called home.

  He'd always loved that park. A little pond sat at the center, surrounded by a collection of swings and play equipment. Bushes lined the sidewalk as sentries. But in the summer heat, the plants and grass were all wilted.

  Charley stopped when he heard a crack, sharp like a firecracker. He whipped around and saw something sitting beneath a clump of bushes.

  Kneeling down, he saw a large black dog. It stared back at him with human eyes that seemed to look through him. Open scratches ran across its nose. It jumped to its feet and then moved from under the bush and slowly advanced on him.

  “Good dog,” Charley said, taking a slow step back. It curled its upper lip and growled deep inside its throat.

  Oh great…

  Charley backed away, trying to keep his distance. “Good dog,” he said again.

  The dog lunged. Charley whirled around and sprinted toward the safety of his apartment complex. His jeans flapped against the pavement, nearly tripping him up. Growling sounded from behind him. An instant later, large paws pushed him down with the force of sledgehammers, smashing him to the cement.

  He attempted to push it off, but couldn't move its large bulk. Its mouth opened to show a row of large yellowed teeth. A deep light flickered in the dog's eyes and a jolt spread from the center of Charley into his fingertips.

  Charley felt a sudden intense feeling of happiness as the tingling reached his hands before fading away. Whimpering, the dog leaped off of Charley and galloped down the street. Charley lay there, huffing, for a second.

  Picking himself up, Charley felt a sharp pain in his stomach. He looked down and saw the large tear the dog had left in his shirt, and forgot all about the odd moment on the ground.

  Pushing open the front door to his apartment, Charley didn't see anyone. Ninja mode: activated. He raised himself up on tip-toes to move without sound, but, of course, made more noise in the process.

  Charley walked around the corner to the kitchen and saw his mom had her back turned, slicing up bananas and putting them into a blender.

  Trying to be as quiet as he could, he made for the hallway to his room. He made it to the entrance of the hallway when he heard a sound from behind him. “Hem.”

  Charley froze. Crud…

  “Hi, Mom.” He turned to see her holding her hands on her hips, one hand still holding the knife, nostrils flaring, looking very much the casual furious overlord– or was that overlady?

  “What happened to you, Charley?” She asked in a near whisper, appraising his disheveled appearance. "Was it another fight? It was Victor again, wasn't it? How many times do I have to tell you to stay away from him? What have I told you about violence?”

  “No, I swear, it wasn't a fight. I got jumped by a dog,” Charley said as he pulled up his shirt, grimacing in the act, to show her the large bruise on his ribs. Not like she'll even believe me. I almost don't believe me...

  "Don't make up stories. Wait until I tell your father," she said. Charley let out an audible sigh. She pulled down a first aid kit from a cabinet and retrieved the gauze and disinfectant spray. “This is the last straw.”

  “Mom, I swear, it wasn't Victor. It really was a big black dog. I've never seen one like it. It had scars all over its nose, a
nd it even looked like it was still bleeding. I've never seen eyes like that. They almost looked… human.”

  His mother froze, her hands inches from his side with the spray in hand. She looked up at him, a new urgency in her voice, and asked, “Are you telling me the truth? How big was it, Charley?”

  He looked back at her, surprised at her sudden change in attitude. “Really big. Bigger than Mrs. Brzezinski’s Great Dane. Easy. Why?”

  “Almost like a large black wolf?” She asked, ignoring his question. She continued to attempt wrapping his waist, though she did almost mechanically. He didn't even try to fight back. He'd gone down that road enough times.

  "Yeah, it did. How do you know that?" Charley asked her.

  At that moment, the front door opened and his mother flinched at the sound of the squeaking. His father had promised for months now that he would oil the hinges as the landlord and his assistants never seemed to be around to do it themselves.

  He walked into the kitchen, toting a large sack. Hefting the bag in front of him for them to see, he said, “You'll never believe it. I found this fresh produce place that has the best tomatoes.” He smiled at the two of them and placed the sack on the counter before turning back to them.

  “What happened?” he asked, unsure of the situation, tensing as he sensed the mood.

  His mother responded before Charley could. “Charley was attacked by a dog,” she said, shooting messages to him with her eyes that plainly said, 'we need to talk.' Charley rolled his eyes. Parents think they're so sneaky. “Seriously, what's going on?”

  His mom avoided looking at him. “Nothing, Charley. I'm just worried that there is a dog like that. I've been hearing about something similar on the news lately.”

  She turned back to Charley and finished wrapping him with unnecessary gauze. As she finished, there was a knock on the door, and both his mother and father froze to the spot. Charley looked at both of them, narrowing his eyes at them, before going to answer it. What's wrong with them? It's like they've seen a ghost, or something.

  Behind him, his parents had followed him to the door. They stopped at the couch and his dad gripped the arm of it. Charley pulled open the door and caught a flash of long red hair before he was pulled into a hug. "Ouch! My side! Stop squeezing so much, Nina," he said as he pulled her from him.

  “Oh, Charley, did I hurt you? I'm sorry,” she said, anxiety in her eyes.

  She stepped back and Charley saw his cousins Riley and Aberthol, whom everyone called Abe, were behind her.

  Both of them were making faces. Abe looked bored while Riley also appeared concerned.. “So was it you?” Abe asked. “Did you pull the alarm?”

  Charley shook his head at Abe. “Are you crazy!” He turned his gaze back to Nina. “No, you didn't hurt me. It's just my side… Well, come in,” he said, smiling at them.

  “Actually, we were hoping that you would come with us to the tree fort,” Riley muttered.

  Even though all four of them were teenagers, they still loved sitting in the old tree fort in the park next to his house for hours. Even when it was hot, they would sit up there all day, his mom bringing them snacks. Though it was old and creaky in places, it was sound and smelled like baked chestnuts in the summer.

  He turned to his parents and saw the relief on their faces.

  “Can I? I'll make sure I’m careful climbing.”

  Charley saw his mom was close to saying no. Please, please, please, Charley thought to himself. Mostly because he wanted to share the news with the others while keeping his parents out of earshot.

  She folded when she looked at his dad, who nodded. “I suppose if it's only for a little while. I want you back inside before it's dark.

  “You should also change shirts first,” she continued. “That one is filthy, and it has a rip now. And if you see that dog again, I want all of you to come in right away. I'm calling the pound so they can have someone out looking for it.”

  The other three looked at Charley, noticing the dog odor and dirty smudges on both his shirt and pants. Abe mouthed 'dog?' at him. He shook his head and motioned with his hands towards the door. The three of them walked to the door while he went to his room to change.

  When got to his room Charley knew what he had to do. He hadn't done it in years, but he knew that if he knelt by the air ducts he could listen to what was being said in almost every room.

  Charley always felt a little guilty about it, but he knew his parents would never tell him something when they didn't want him to know.

  His parents spoke and he almost didn't catch what was being said. “…going to make it,” his father said.

  “I just can't believe they sent a Barghest to scout out Charley. Do you think it was Rafe?”

  There was silence for a few moments and then his father's deep drone sounded out. “You know what they want. They want Charley. We knew this day would come, Shyla. It might be time that we start considering listening. Charley is old enough now.”

  His mom gasped. “But, what about Charley? He's only thirteen! He doesn't know anything about who he is. Who we are.”

  “Maybe it's time he knew. He's old enough to make that decision. Soon we won't have a choice at all. It was always his destiny to go back. We knew it was going to happen eventually.”

  Their voices started to fade, and then he heard nothing.

  “What's a Barghest?” Riley asked. “Is it that dog that attacked you? And who would be after you, Charley?”

  After changing his shirt, he had rushed from the house, wincing occasionally. Climbing the ladder to the tree house also hadn't made his top fifty things to do, but he almost hadn't noticed the pain over his excitement to tell the others the news. He knew they would never forgive him if he didn't share it with them.

  “I don't know. But my parents are hiding something big, and I want to know what it is.”

  A look came into Riley's eyes. He usually wasn't one to take the lead. But anytime it came to a mystery, he was the first one on the case.. “Then we need to find some answers… and the best place for that is-”

  “At the library,” the other three sang in perfect harmony.

  Riley looked at them, his eyes widening. Abe rolled his eyes. “You would live at the library if you could.”

  “Why can't we just use your computer, Charley?” Nina asked.

  Charley shook his head. “Bad idea. My parents are super-paranoid about computer usage. They watch everything.”

  She sighed. “The library it is then.”