Feudlings in Smoke
By Wendy Knight
Published by Astraea Press
www.astraeapress.com
This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters, and events are fictitious in every regard. Any similarities to actual events and persons, living or dead, are purely coincidental. Any trademarks, service marks, product names, or named features are assumed to be the property of their respective owners, and are used only for reference. There is no implied endorsement if any of these terms are used. Except for review purposes, the reproduction of this book in whole or part, electronically or mechanically, constitutes a copyright violation.
FEUDLINGS IN SMOKE
Copyright © 2013 WENDY KNIGHT
ISBN 978-1-62135-241-9
Cover Art Designed by AM DESIGN STUDIO
To Tania, Susan, and Scott. Best. Siblings. Ever.
Also From Wendy Knight
Feudlings
Feudlings in Sight
Feudlings in Fire
Warrior Beautiful
Prologue
Seven years ago
Will Delacour glanced out the second floor window of his townhouse, looking toward the forest. The blood roared in his ears and his skin felt too tight. Something was coming.
Something bad.
He couldn't see it but he felt it, the same way he felt the angry red flames running through his blood, demanding to be set free. Demanding to fight.
He ignored them.
His colony was full of people just like him. Renegades, they called themselves. Renegades — Edren and Carules sorcerers alike — were supposed to be mortal enemies, but they refused to fight in the war and had to seek asylum together inside magical wards. Apparently, refusing to fight in a war they didn’t believe in made them traitors to their people. And they deserved to die — at least, according to the powers in charge.
He frowned. The rest of his colony seemed as on edge as he was. Most were out in the dirt streets, staring into the darkness beyond his line of sight. He leaned closer to the window, trying to see what they saw.
That was when the screams started.
Will jerked up as the crowd below broke into chaos, running in every direction at once, as spells, long unused and unpracticed, bloomed to life in their hands. He sprinted to his door and flung it open, the screams seeming to burst over him like an explosion full of terror.
“The Prodigy! She's here!”
Ari. Ari was here. And they were all going to die.
He leaped over the side of the stairwell, landing on one knee in the dirt. He leaped to his feet and raced toward the wards — invisible, magical walls that had obviously failed them. He knew Ari could walk through normal wards, but he had hoped these made from Carules and Edren flames together would keep her out. He was so, so wrong.
Already, fire raced along the road, started by panicked sorcerers throwing spells on dry grass, and he raced with it. He could just see her, standing at the corner, a tiny thing but bigger than he remembered. The lirik burned in front of her as she watched those before her — children, old people, parents — with cold, heartless eyes. She would kill them all like insects. He couldn't let them die, not when she was there to kill only one person — him.
Smoke billowed around him, and through it he watched her raise her hand to push the spell. “Arianna! Leave them be! It's me you want!”
She froze, turning in slow motion toward him. She squinted through the darkness as he fought through the crowd toward her, trying to protect them, urging them to run, but they all seemed frozen in their fear. Her wide brown eyes, exactly like his, blinked twice and she tipped her head to the side as realization seemed to wash over her. Her tiny mouth dropped open in an “O” and tears flooded her eyes, soaking her cheeks.
Spells burst from behind him, from his Renegades, trying to protect him, and he watched as they hit the Prodigy one after another. In horror, he could do nothing but stare as his little sister fell to the ground amidst a riot of flames.
“Stop! Stop attacking her! She remembers!” He threw himself over her, smothering the flames, protecting her tiny body — she was ten, and probably for a ten-year-old she would seem tall, but to him she was so small. He felt more spells hit, but more importantly, he felt her struggle to take a breath. She still lived.
The spells stopped, and stunned silence fell around him. Cautiously, he raised his head. Dani Anderson, one of his newest colonists, looked around in confusion. “But—but she's going to kill you.”
Dani had left her family, her home, everything behind. She was completely alone in the world, and yet she was one of the most compassionate people Will had ever met. He appealed to that side of her now. “She was going to kill me, yes.” Rolling off Ari, he scooped her into his arms, hurrying through the crowd toward his home. They all backed away as if she were diseased and could contaminate them. “They made her forget. I knew they would — they made her forget me. But I saw it, in her eyes. She remembered. She remembered me.”
“She was going to kill us all.” Ward, one of the very first members of Will's colony and one of the most powerful Carules healers alive, stopped in front of him, arms crossed against his broad chest. Firelight glinted off his smooth head as his dark eyes narrowed menacingly.
“She stopped, Ward. You saw her as well as I did. When she heard my voice, she stopped. And now she needs help.” Will looked into the face of his long-time friend, and then over Ward’s shoulder at the rest of his Renegade family. “I need your help. Please, help me save her.”
****
It took two days of tireless healing, but Ari finally opened her eyes. Sluggish, she scanned the room, looking for something familiar.
Apparently, she didn't find it.
Will was sitting in the chair behind her head, and he didn't move fast enough. His tiny sister burst to her feet, spells already burning in her hands. She spun in a circle, taking in her threats, her face much too hard for one so young. The four other people in the room froze, hands up, fear making their faces white. No one in the world was as powerful as the little thing in front of them, and no one could kill as fast as she could.
And then her eyes landed on Will. The flames in her hands died abruptly and she stared at him. “Will?” Tears pooled in her eyes. “Will, are you going to kill me?”
Of everything he thought she might say, that was last on his list. “Am I—what?”
Her bottom lip trembled and she shoved back her tangled, matted red and black curls with shaking hands. “They told me you were going to kill me.”
Of course they had. How else would they get her to hunt him down with such a vengeance? He rose — slowly — and knelt before her, so he was almost eye-level. “Ari, listen to me very carefully.” He waited until she nodded, wide eyes full of pain and fear, studying his face as if she could read the answers there. “I will never, ever, hurt you. No matter what anyone says, I pledged my life to protect you. I tried to take you with me when I left. Do you remember that?”
She nodded.
“They didn't let me. I should have stayed, but I couldn't fight anymore. I couldn't kill for nothing. I couldn't be a monster.”
“Like me,” she whispered.
His eyebrows shot up in surprise. “You aren't a monster, Ari.”
She bit her lip and looked away. “I was born a monster and I will die a monster.” Such awful words to come from one so young. His heart broke for her.
He shook her shoulders gently, waiting until she looked back at him. “You are not a monster. You were born with an impossible destiny, Ari.”
She nodded again, her eyes filling up with tears. “I have t
o kill the Carules Prodigy. Or he has to kill me. If I don't, hundreds of thousands of people will die—” her voice dropped to a whisper, “—because of me.”
Will sucked in a breath. Ward finally moved, kneeling next to Will. “Listen, little one. You're safe here. We're your family as much as anything out there,” he said, pointing toward the window. “And you will always be welcome here with us.”
Ari started to sob. Will pulled her close, tucking her head under his chin. “And no matter what, Ari, you will always be the most important thing in the world to me.”
Chapter One
Present Day
“You seem more on edge than usual.” Dani raised a dark eyebrow at Will as she watched him pace the living room. “Which is saying a lot, because, no offense, but you're kind of an edgy person to begin with.”
He glanced at her and forced a smile. She was his best friend, and one day he would tell her he loved her.
Not today.
He tried to think of a comment about how edgy was hot, but he failed. Which told him he was more stressed than he should be. He should never be so nervous that he lost his witticism. It was one of his most redeeming qualities. But it was gone, so he settled for getting right to the point. “Ari's starting another new school.”
Dani's lips quirked. “She's pretty used to the whole new school thing, Will,” she pointed out. “And besides, being at a new school is better than being at the estate with her grandfather.”
He's my grandfather, too. But they never spoke of Richard having any relation to Will. It was too painful. Not to mention dangerous. Most of the colony members knew Ari was Will's sister, but they didn't know she was the Edren Prodigy. Dani was one of the few who still remembered. The rest had left… or worse.
“Yeah,” he finally said when he realized Dani was still waiting for an answer. “Yeah, I know. But it's scary. What if she stumbles into a Carules hot spot? Remember Texas?”
Dani winced. Oh yes, they all remembered Texas. Ari had nearly been ambushed. Richard had pulled her out just in time, and then sent in a team to kill them all. Teenagers. People Ari had known well.
This was why she didn't make friends.
Will had been powerless to help her. If he stepped foot outside the magical wards of the colony, he'd have not only Carules trying to kill him, but his own Edren people. For being a traitor to the war. For being too powerful. For standing up to Richard.
“Why don't you try to call her?” She leaned forward on the couch and slid his cell phone across the coffee table.
He paused in his pacing to stare at it, running a hand through his wild hair. He knew it stuck up all over the place and was only grateful that spikes were in style right now. Otherwise, he'd just look like a mad scientist — he even had the weird streaks, except his were black and red instead of black and white. Slowly, he reached for the phone, dialing half Ari's number before he put it back down. “No. She'll think I'm hovering.”
Dani laughed, a bright sound that chased away the darkness Will was drowning in. “Will, you are hovering. And Ari expects it.” She paused, trying to rearrange her face into something resembling seriousness. “If you don't want to call her, then let's do something to take your mind off it.” Rising to her feet, she came across the room and grabbed his hand. He could think of lots of things they could do to take his mind off Ari, but Dani, apparently, already had a plan. She dragged him across the room, stopping to toss his boots at him, and then pulled him outside and down the stairs. He hopped after her, pulling his boots on and fighting a smile.
She paused by his garage, which had an old cowbell hanging above the door. The garage itself was empty because he had absolutely no need for a car. He didn't even have a driver's license, and he was twenty-seven years old. Dani reached up and jerked on the string, and the bell rang out across the colony. Most of the Renegades were gardening. Since they couldn't just run to the grocery store here, they made most of their own food. Ari, and precious few other trusted loved ones, brought groceries and necessities when they could, but it wasn't steady enough to survive on.
However, at the ringing of the bell, he saw many of them leave the fields and head for the training grounds, a stadium he'd built years ago at the far edge of town. These Renegades of his might not believe in the war, but they sure did love to train. Kids even came out of their homes — where hopefully most of them were working on their online classes — to learn the spells Will could teach them. “You couldn't have waited until evening?” he asked Dani and smirked as he walked past her.
She grinned, dancing along next to him. Dani didn't walk. She danced. She had a dancer's body and a dancer's heart. Had they been Normals, she probably would have been famous, performing on stage in front of thousands of people. As it was, she danced here, for herself.
The training grounds had seen better days, although to be fair, anything that got in the way of Ari and her powerful spells would have seen better days. This stadium was where he'd started training her seven years ago, teaching her Carules magic as well as Edren spells her grandfather hadn't thought necessary. Will might not be able to fight beside her and protect her as his destiny demanded, but he could train her so that she didn't need anyone fighting beside her and protecting her.
Since she could take out entire armies all by herself, he'd say he'd done a pretty good job. Will smiled to himself. Nevermind that she'd called him a tireless tyrant probably over a hundred times.
No matter how often he walked into the training grounds without her, he remembered all the times he'd walked in with her. Ari faced training the same way she faced everything — with gritted teeth and a steely determination. She would not fail. And, as always, his heart ached just a bit, wondering when he'd see her again, wondering if she'd survive the next week or the next battle. It was a different relationship than most had with their siblings — knowing he should be out there fighting with her, and knowing if she died in battle, it was his fault because he was trapped in a prison of his own making.
Without Ari there to up the tension factor by a thousand percent with her fierce approach to all things spells, there was a more relaxed atmosphere in the training grounds. His colony loved to train, but it wasn't a matter of life or death for them. It was fun, and maybe a preparation for the future. They stood in small groups, talking and laughing while the smaller kids raced around and screamed a lot. He smiled. Fun was okay, too.
“Okay, let's get started!” He clapped his hands to get their attention and could almost hear Ari's voice in his head. Really? Clapping? What are you, a kindergarten teacher? He smirked and dropped his hands. “What should we work on today?”
“How about something difficult?” Dani called. She stood right in the middle of them all, dark brown hair shining in the sun as her equally dark brown eyes sparkled mischievously. “How about we try that spell the Prodigy does?” She glanced around her as the others nodded.
Will arched a brow, sensing he wouldn't like her answer. It might have something to do with the way she grinned — like she was about to cause him trouble, and she enjoyed every second of it. “Which one is that?”
“The one that takes out many enemies at once. Masas, I think it's called?”
Will scowled at her. He'd been trying to teach that one to Dani for months and she couldn't get it. He couldn't even do it. As far as he knew, Ari was the only one who could. But hey, why not frustrate the entire colony with a spell no one could do?
A little girl, Sienna, tapped lightly on his arm. She was ten, looked eight, and had the biggest eyes he'd ever seen. “Will, can we learn a pretty spell?”
With those eyes, how could he possibly say no? He grinned and nodded, sending an apologetic shrug Dani's way. “Of course.” He crossed his arms and paced, thinking. “Pretty. Pretty. Hmmm.”
Sienna's little brother, Carson, shoved his way to her side. “Will! Let's do this one!” He twirled his hand through the air, burning a spell that most of the adults hadn't mastered yet. But he had the sa
me big eyes as Sienna, and again it was impossible to say no. Instead, he laughed. “You can already do that spell.”
“Yeah, but everyone else can't.” Those mischievous eyes, surrounded by long dark lashes, sparkled. Will could do nothing but admit defeat.
He threw up his hands, turning to the rest of the crowd. “The children have spoken. We'll learn a rewo.” A rewo was basically useless in battle — it couldn't kill anyone. All it did was shoot little sparks, like the fireworks on the Fourth of July that spun really fast across the ground and made a buzzing noise, but that was it. In fact, Will wondered if the idea for those weird little fireworks hadn't come from the Carules spell.
“But, Carson,” he continued, “I'm not going to teach this one. You are.” Carson's entire face lit up, and then he straightened his spine and raised his chin, turning with tiny authority toward everyone waiting. Will sat back and watched, because a child teaching grown-ups was way more fun than teaching them himself. The only one who refused to be led by Carson was Carson‘s littlest sister, Cali. Her older siblings had light brown hair, but hers was nearly white. She did share their big eyes, so when she came up to him, little lip quivering because she couldn't get the spell to catch, Will was only too happy to help. He squatted in the dirt next to her and led her tiny hand through the rewo again and again. When it finally caught and hung, burning in the air in front of her, almost as big as her head, she squealed in delight and clapped her hands. “It's pretty in your blue flames,” he told her, laughing.
He looked up to see how everyone else was doing and found Dani watching him, the barest hint of a smile creasing her face as her blue Carules flames swirled around her. She left the group she'd been helping, weaving through the crowd until she stopped next to him, “You're adorable.”
He squinted up at her, shading his eyes. “So I've been told,” he said, giving her his best lopsided smile.
Feudlings In Smoke (Fate On Fire Short Story) Page 1
