Brightflame Accension (Book 1)

by D. B. Penner

  Matthew’s expression was that of confusion. “Why do you ask that?”

  “Mum was a master weaver, skilled in magic. Not that you would have told me that; you told me nothing before I left.” Will thought he sounded resentful though he was not.

  “Elizabeth never loved war. Only briefly did she serve in the Imperial army, and only then as a healer. Capable though she was, the woman preferred assisting allies to maiming enemies. But this preference is not the reason for her absence.”

  “Did you love it? War, that is.”

  Matthew’s face lit up in the night. “I did… and still do, though I have not entered a proper melee for nigh on two decades. Each night, when I rest my head upon my pillow, I dream of battles past. On the field, I was a god, untouchable, unbeatable. Certainly, there were moments of great loss and misery and horror; I am not proud of all the things I have seen and done. But in the heat of battle, at once beautiful and terrifying, there is solace--as if my purpose in life has been realized.”

  Will did not know how to respond. His father was being open with him in a way Will had never known before. Matthew ended the silence between them with a murmur.

  “Pardon?” Will asked.

  “The reason your mother did not ride out by my side, as she did in days of old, is that she has grown large with child. Two children actually, if the midwife is to be believed.”

  “I am to be an older brother?” Will was surprised yet he felt a grin spread across his face. Siblings, Vale. How about that?

  “Indeed.”

  “What are you still doing here?” Will said. “You see that I am well, having escaped unscathed from the assault on the Academy. We can finish this quest without your aid. Go, be with her.”

  “You do not understand. The Emperor himself assigned me to the company. Should I abandon this mission, our family shall be branded traitors and I would be executed for treason as a deserter.”

  “The Emperor forced your hand,” Will said with iron in his voice. “What need does he have of you specifically, mighty warrior though you are?

  “It is no secret to him that my enmity against the Hunters runs deep. He knows that when I am placed once more on the Hunters’ trail, I will not be stopped.”

  “Is there anything that can be done?”

  “Finish the job.”

  The two fell into a brooding silence. The sounds of the horses suddenly seemed lonely in the vast darkness.

  After a time, Will built up the courage to ask the questions that had been bothering him since learning Matthew’s identity. “Father, why did you not tell me earlier? About the Furialists and powers I possess? And the army? About you?”

  “I did not think you prepared. I feared that if I prodded your true nature before you were ready emotionally, I would find my son becoming the angry youth I was myself. But now that you know about the characteristics of our power, I can show you,” Matthew said excitedly. “Teach you.”

  “And about Mum’s frevmat? Lumina is not merely a loyal pet, is she?”

  “No, she is not. Your mother and Lumina have been joined ever since their stay at the Academy,” Matthew sighed.

  “Talking about frevmats could not have harmed me. Why could you not discuss that?”

  Matthew frowned, a pained look coming across his face. His father had a reason for the concealment but could not bring himself to say it.

  Will spoke, breaking the stillness that had frozen their conversation, “Did you go to Bladebeard Academy as well? Is that where you met Mum?”

  “No and no. Before the five, now four, Hunters betrayed our people, William, we had great halls with legendary teachers and master warriors to train our emberlings. I studied under the Firedrake, an instructor of peerless renown. I was one of many who travelled far from their homes for the chance to be her pupil.”

  “Where are our people? You have been to their refuges before to retrieve Soulfire and this new horse. Why do they not assist us against the Shadow? They could turn the tide of this war.”

  “My son, there are too many listening ears around to describe to you the exact location, but I will say that they are too few to make an impact on the war. Our people reside in the great North, in a secret location far beyond the casual traveler’s range. And yes, I have visited them, but again they cannot and will not help us anymore,” Matthew said sadly.

  “And as how to how I met your mother… I’ll say that in my service to the Emperor I traveled far and wide, meeting many people. In the final battle of the Four Years War, I saved a beautiful leopard from the roasting spit of a host of goblins. When I released it from its shackles, the leopard dashed away. Curious, I followed the beast, which lead me to the fairest maid I have ever laid eyes upon.

  “This maiden, Elizabeth, fell madly in love with me, and I could not in good conscience get rid of her. So, taking the only logical course, I married her,” Matthew joked. “The Emperor himself was present to bless the nuptial.”

  Will frowned. “You speak of the Emperor with such reverence, though he commands you be away from your wife now.”

  “That is the life of a soldier, William. I cannot blame him for the timing of this revolt.”

  “The man seems wise enough, but he so far has not put down the rebellion,” Will said. “With all the Empire’s power behind him, our Emperor ought to have crushed the Liberated Army like a nut between two rocks.”

  “Do not speak like that,” Modwyn said sharply, overhearing Will’s remark. “The Emperor has formulated a wonderful plan; I have no doubt of that. We may not see the effects of such plans yet, but shortly, very shortly, we will dispense of the Shadow and his Liberated Army.”

  “Yes, Will, do not be so hasty to judge,” Matthew said. “The Emperor is the one hundredth and eighty-seventh in his line to seat the throne. He has governed our people well for years, keeping the Empire whole despite the Shadow’s insurrection. Other than an occasional raid from the Liberated Army, he has kept the land at peace and, more importantly, prosperous and well fed. He is a charismatic leader who has influenced the allegiances of many. The Empire’s citizens would follow him to the death. Enough of this talk out of you.”

  Will nodded. Ahead of him, Will saw Ehan shake his head and wondered the Sashan’s opinion of the Emperor’s politics.

  As they made camp, Matthew changed topic, “Will, I wish to begin your training before the day breaks. It appears that in Boewdard’s lust for an apprentice in Lady Payne, he has left you by the wayside, teaching you little.”

  “Boewdard taught me many things,” Will protested.

  “Can you summon fire, the most basic of a Furialist’s talents?” Matthew asked impatiently.

  “I have never tried,” Will said ashamed.

  “Precisely, Boewdard has kept you ignorant of your true powers so that you posed less of a threat if his experiment failed. I must now begin to teach what the Blademaster withheld.

  Conjuring a ball of flame in his hand, Matthew continued, “Fire, while destructive, is essential to life. Like the sun to a field of wheat, the flames inside you and me are a source of strength and sustenance. The fire burns, but with the proper application…” Matthew pulled a dagger from his belt and drew it across his palm.

  A red line opened in his skin, leaking blood. Matthew smiled at Will’s horrified expression. “With the proper application, our fire can heal.” Matthew summoned again a ball of flame in his hand and gently worked the fire into the wound, sighing as the tendrils of fire licked at his gash. Within a few breaths, Matthew raised his repaired hand to Will. “Now, you try to summon a fire.”

  “I can try,” Will said, rolling up his sleeve.

  Concentrating hard, Will clenched his muscles tight. Nothing happened. Will flexed his whole arm again, fighting with all his might to conjure a flame. Again, nothing happened.

  “I can’t,” Will said, defeated.

  “Try again,” Matthew urged intently.

  Will screwed up his face for a final attempt.
Without warning Matthew smacked with across the face. The slap did not hurt badly, but Will was surprised.

  “What are you thinking?” he exclaimed.

  Matthew looked at Will with a hard expression. “Summon your inner fire.”

  Rubbing his cheek, Will again prepared himself. The second smack stung Will’s cheek, leaving his eyes watering. Angrily, Will shouted, “Stop that!”

  Laughing, Matthew’s eyes blazed red as he caught Will’s punch with a hand.

  “Look,” Matthew grinned, releasing Will’s fist.

  An aura of fire danced around Will’s hand. I did it! Will thought, ecstatic.

  “It’s your anger. That’s your fuel,” Matthew explained. “You must learn to channel your anger before you can become strong.”

  Flexing his arms, Matthew braced himself. Then, with a roar, his upper body erupted into flame. Will stumbled backwards, covering his face from the heat surging from his father.

  The horses scattered in all directions, bucking their riders. All but two panicked. Soulfire pawed the ground excitedly, loosing a wild whinny, and Matthew’s own horse watched its rider impassively.

  “I can learn to do that?” Will asked, amazed.

  “If we have the time, I will teach you to fully Ignite,” Matthew said, allowing the flames around him to die and returning to his normal state. Matthew’s eyes were the last to change back, morphing from red to their usual grey. “First, you must summon the flame again.”

  And despite the rising sun, Matthew continued to instruct Will until well into the afternoon.

  Slyminia

  Night after night, the party rode, speaking little and sleeping under cover during the day. Taking no chances in the daytime, one man was selected each day to keep watch for enemies.

  After riding for a fortnight and crossing the mountains in the east, the company slowed its pace. Under his father’s tutelage, Will had acquired a broad knowledge of magic, particularly spells that conjured fire. It was this type of magic that felt most natural to Will, quickly becoming second nature. Among other tricks he had learned, Will could now conjure flames that engulfed an object yet did not burn. Matthew took particular care to help Will to control his Furialist nature, especially the anger that came with tapping into his ancestral power.

  The company was low on supplies, thus all were relieved to finally spot a large city looming on the horizon. It was Slyminia and their destination.

  Matthew stopped the company to explain their plan. “We will circle around to the eastern side of Slyminia, crossing the river Swift. When entering the city, take care; do not do anything that might raise suspicions. We will meet in the Pale Nag, a tavern in the Market District. Baruktaråg and I will get supplies for us all. Lay low and stay out of trouble,” he emphasized the last words looking at Will, then stole a quick glance at Modwyn.

  They entered the city casually from the east side the next morning. Matthew and Baruktaråg, whose bandaged eye was slow in healing, tethered their mounts in front of the Pale Nag and departed. Modwyn and the Payne knights stalked off to another tavern for a drink. Will did not care to join them so, he and Ehan wandered aimlessly through the city.

  Nearly all of the trade in the Empire passed through Slyminia at some point, and it showed. The cobblestone streets were in excellent condition. Grass, flowers, and small children littered the beautiful yards tended to by each Slyminian family. The stores and houses that lined the streets leading the way up to the fortress were spaced far enough apart that even Ehan did not feel claustrophobic passing between them.

  The focal point of the heavily populated trading city was the stronghold that stood high on a hill looking down upon its city. Baruktaråg had claimed that the dwarves had carved the stronghold from a single piece of stone as a present to Jason the Piper of Glen and indeed, it was a feat of marvelous engineering.

  The well-defended citadel was situated on the intersecting banks of the rivers White and Swift. Surrounded by a fifty-foot wall of white stone and a wide moat, Slyminia boasted a large garrison of five hundred armed and trained men in peacetime and could raise nine thousand more swords when needed.

  Merchants and general goods stores lined the Market District’s streets, selling everything from leeks to golden necklaces. They looked at stalls with scrutiny as if to buy the various objects for sale, spending the better part of the day browsing the Market for trinkets.

  Will and Ehan then ventured into the Residence Quarter. The flaunted wealth of the houses and their denizens was overwhelming. It was obvious that the homeowners bestowed great care on their yards and flowerbeds, devoting much of their time transforming gardens into luxurious shrines. Green vines draped from balconies that dotted the sides of the houses. Even the clothes that Slyminians wore were extravagant; the boys could not believe how decorated everyone was. Each man wore lavish, bright robes or tunics. The women wore still more vibrantly colored dresses with odd patterns. Even the children wore bright, clean clothing. Still donning his dirty travelling cloak and hood, Will felt much out of place among the elegantly garbed people.

  Eventually, the sun passed out of view behind the fortress, casting the roads into a twilight haze, and they started back for the Pale Nag. Mere blocks away, they heard a young girl’s scream.

  Will looked to Ehan and rushed ahead. Down a dark alley he saw the girl struggling against three men.

  “Let her alone!” Will shouted.

  Vale, who had been lagging behind, caught up, snarling menacingly. The three burly thugs stepped out from the alley, squaring off against Will and Ehan. Laughing to themselves, the ruffians surrounded Will and Ehan. Immediately, the smell of stale alcohol drifted the boys’ way. Will scrunched his nose with distaste.

  “Well, well, well, looky ‘ere. Two kiddies and a kitty, ehehe. Colin, grab the tall one. Rupert and I’ll snag the other. Watch out for that kitty, though; I bet its claws are sharp,” one of the men chortled drunkenly, rubbing a grubby hand across his patchy stubble.

  “We do not want any trouble, nor do we wish you harm,” Will said. He did not want to hurt these buffoons; Will was exhausted and his feet hurt. “Yet, you must not lay hand on this maid again.”

  “Bugger that and bugger you, you righteous shit,” the man named Rupert sneered.

  “Approach at your own peril. I will not soften my blows,” Ehan stated plainly. Will noticed the challenge in his voice, goading the gang into battle.

  Erupting in drunken laughter again, the thugs advanced, cracking thick knuckles menacingly. Assessing the situation, Will and Ehan glanced from mugger to mugger to mugger. Ehan pulled two knives from his belt. Will shook his head, and the Sashan replaced the blades, rueful. Cricking his neck, Will raised his fists. Vale rocked back on his haunches, ready to pounce.

  The man named Colin lunged at Will. Interjecting himself, Vale batted the man to the ground with a clawless paw. The thug, Colin, fell to the ground hard. Spinning, Will saw another assailant, the one called Rupert winding up for a strong blow. Sidestepping the fist hurtling towards him, Will jabbed at Rupert’s side, finding the soft spot between the ribcage and the hipbone. The drunken Rupert stumbled aside, cursing violently.

  Ehan fought the third, battering the stubbly man’s guard with many blows. Vale turned to swat Ehan’s opponent, but as he did so, the fallen Colin had righted himself. Drawing a knife of his own, Colin lurched towards the unsuspecting Vale. The slash was clumsy and did not cut deep, but Vale’s roar was deafening. Will’s shoulder burned painfully where Vale had been cut.

  In a blur, Vale had whirled around to rake Colin’s stomach with a heavy paw. Colin fell the cobblestone again, this time frantically attempting to keep his innards from spilling onto the street. His piteous cry rang loudly in the night.

  Without hesitation, Ehan drove both of his knives hilt-deep into the stubbly man’s collarbones and twisted, causing a yelp of fear. The stubbly man’s exclamation was cut short when Ehan slashed his throat. The scream died with a gurgling rasp.


  Watching in horror, Will froze holding Rupert’s collar, his fist cocked back. Taking advantage of Will’s lack of focus, Rupert bashed Will with a head butt and staggered away as fast as he could.

  Ehan darted after him, catching up to him just as the two disappeared into the shadow of the houses lining the alley.

  “Wait!” Will shouted.

  It was too late. The girl’s scream pierced the air. Will could not see clearly through the dark, but Ehan appeared to have tackled Rupert directly in front of her.

  “We must go,” Ehan said sharply, wiping the blood from his blades on the dead Colin’s once fine coat. Shouts and the sounds of stomping boots could be heard clunking down an intersecting street.

  Taking off in the opposite direction of the torches rounding the corner, they hurried towards the inn. Just before they were at the Pale Nag, Ehan forcibly pulled Will into an alley. They ducked in the darkness, concealed, as ten armed city guards ran past.

  “Why did we kill those men?” Will whispered. The girl’s wail still echoed in his ears, haunting him.

  Ehan did not answer Will. He peered out into the street and, determining their way was clear, beckoned to Will. “We must leave the city at once. Contact your father, then we ride,” Ehan commanded, in a hushed voice.

  “They were only drunk, we could have knocked them out or-”

  “Or what, Will? Or they would have gone back to beating that girl the moment they woke?”

  Will said nothing, but his displeasure with the situation did not abate.

  Why is it always us? Will complained to Vale.

  Trouble will find you always, but better to be us than those men. I will retrieve your father and Baruktaråg. Find Modwyn. I have a feeling he will be in his mugs. Then, stay in the tavern. Vale slipped into the dark and disappeared.

  “Very well,” Will whispered, checking again to see if the street was cleared of militia. Seeing that it was, they walked nonchalantly into the Pale Nag. Will saw two guards questioning the bartender and tried to sidle past them. A large hand grabbed him, spinning him around to face its owner.