by Todd Herzman
A Dark Inheritance
Hollow Fate Book One
Todd Herzman
This is a work of fiction. Similarities to real people, places, or events are entirely coincidental.
A DARK INHERITANCE
Copyright © 2020 Todd Herzman.
All rights reserved.
Written by Todd Herzman.
Copyeditor: Douglas Catling
Cover Designer: Germancreative
For Robyn, the love of my life. Thank you for being with me every step of the way.
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Chapter 1
Ruben
Ruben heard the screams before he saw the fires that caused them. His first thoughts were of his younger brother and sister. He jumped from his bed, manoeuvring in the darkness.
‘Ella! Marius!’
More screams came. A woman, a child, he couldn’t tell. But they were close by. He made it to the hall when something touched his arm and he flinched back.
‘Ruben, what are those screams?’ It was Ella, her voice barely a whisper.
‘I don’t know.’ Ruben hoped it wasn’t a raiding party. He’d never heard of the raiders coming this far inland. They must have grown bolder. ‘Where’s Marius?’
‘Here!’ Marius’s voice came from the main room of their house. Ruben’s eyes adjusted to the darkness just in time to see his younger brother spark flint to light a candle. Ruben’s night vision disappeared as the flame bloomed to life.
‘Blow out that candle. They’ll see the light!’
Marius’s eyes bulged at his big brother’s tone. He blew out the candle, returning them to darkness.
The screams came closer. Flashes of light shot through the lonely window in the main room. Ruben crept toward it, glancing at his siblings behind him. Ella held Marius close, forever his big sister.
Ruben peered out the window. The flames lit the sky like a starfall night. Dark shapes roamed the village. He crept back from the window and joined his brother and sister, putting a hand on each of their shoulders. ‘Ella, take Marius to the woods. You look after him, okay? Marius, listen to your sister, stay by her and keep out of sight.’
‘What are you going to do?’ Marius asked.
Ruben tried to look strong, but they surely saw the fear in his eyes. ‘I’m going to find a weapon from the smithy. There are people out there. I have to help them.’
Ella wrapped her arms around him. ‘Don’t go, Ruben. Please.’
‘I’ll be alright.’
She stared up at him, her eyes like their father’s, her glare like their mother’s. She would grow to be fierce, his sister. ‘Promise you’ll come back.’
Ruben swallowed. ‘I promise. I’ll find you in the woods. Go to the hollow tree, you know the one?’ Ella nodded. ‘You’ll be safe there.’ Ruben glanced back at the window. The noise grew louder, the fires illuminating the main room. He looked Marius and Ella in the eyes, each in turn. ‘I’ll come to you when it’s safe.’
They nodded mutely. He didn’t have to tell them to rush. Ella dragged her younger brother out into the field. Ruben held the back door open and watched them disappear into the night. When they were no longer in sight, he made for his smithy.
His father had built it long ago, after he’d settled in Billings following his time as a journeyman blacksmith. The work here wasn’t as interesting or abundant as in the cities. Mostly shoeing horses and fixing carts. But his father hadn’t minded that sort of work, and besides, this was where he’d met their mother.
Ruben’s father had prenticed him young. He’d taught him the basics before—
Ruben shook his head, snapping his mind back to the present. He opened the door carefully, cursing himself for putting off fixing its creaking hinges. He scrambled around in the dark and came across the hilt of a sword he’d been working on. He hefted it, considering it a moment, then put it down and continued searching.
There. His hand found what it was accustomed to holding. His blacksmith hammer—his father’s hammer. He was far better at swinging this than some sword. Especially a sword that was no doubt ill-fashioned, as his father had never taught him how to craft weapons.
A scream rang out from the village. He recognised the voice. Ruben rushed out of the workshop and sprinted to the noise. Taya. He ran past the woodsmith’s hut until he could just make out the tavern burning. He kept running until he spotted the raiders. He slowed. They hadn’t seen him, their night sight blinded by the flames they’d let loose.
The first raider Ruben spotted looked maybe twenty—only a year older than himself. He wore leather armour and carried a curved blade. His beard was long and as unruly as his matted hair. The others looked much the same, though older. One, larger than the rest, carried a great axe and paced in front of the weeping villagers. Ruben’s friends and fellow townsfolk knelt in the dirt, facing the ground.
And there were bodies. A plump man lay face down in the middle of the square, an arrow stuck in his back as if he’d tried to run. Sal, the baker.
Ruben looked from villager to villager, trying to find Taya. She wasn’t kneeling with the others. Perhaps she’d gotten away? Perhaps it hadn’t been her who’d screamed?
Then Ruben heard commotion from inside the tavern. A man walked out the broken doors, dragging Taya by her hair. She clawed at his wrists, struggled and kicked, but his grip wouldn’t budge. He looked different from the others, short where they were tall. His clothes well-kempt, his face clean shaven.
Taya was thrown toward the other villagers. She hit the ground hard, but was up a second later, swinging her fists at the clean-shaven man. The first strike took him unawares. Taya’s ring, the one Ruben had given her, sliced his cheek. The man touched a finger to the blood and stared at it, as if curious. Then his eyes turned to Taya. He waved a hand and sent her flying without even touching her.
As Ruben watched Taya fall, his mind went to horrible places, to sermons on the evils of magic, to wandering priests talking of demons and men with red eyes—things he’d never believed.
He heard another scream. A ragged battle cry. Ruben didn’t realise he was the one screaming, that he was barrelling toward the man who’d struck his betrothed, until he was halfway there. Ruben was but three steps away, his hammer in the middle of a backswing, the man’s head his target, when the man stared at him.
Ruben froze. His body cramped. The man—the demon—held his hand up, palm forward, slight concentration furrowing his brow. Pain stabbed at Ruben from every joint, from every bone and muscle in his body. He tried to cry out, but his jaw was clamped shut.
‘Brave boy.’ The man stepped forward. His accent was tinged by the sea, like the traders Ruben had met at the docks in Devien. The man dropped his hand. Ruben fell to the ground.
Ruben tried to stand, to at least kneel, but only managed to drag his head up enough to see the man’s boots. They were covered in road dust but looked only a few weeks worn. The man crouched. Ruben felt breath on his ear. He tried to move again, to grab his fallen hammer, to bash in the man’s skull. But his muscles protested—the pain unlike anything he’d felt.
‘Don’t worry, brave boy. I won’t take her away from you.’ The man gripped Ruben’s hair and pulled until Ruben stared into his eyes. ‘You’re all coming with me.’
The man let go. Ruben fell back to the dirt, still barely able to move. Tears came unbidden, falling as free as when his father had died. He couldn’t let this man take him and turn him into a slave like in the stories. He wouldn’t let that happen to Taya—he wouldn’t let Ella and Marius lose their big brother, not after they’d alread
y lost so much.
Ruben summoned his strength. All the strength gained from days standing and hammering at the forge. Taya. Ella. Marius. He repeated the names of his loved ones in his mind. He would stand for them. He would not fail. He clutched the dirt, his fingers pushing into the ground, and came up to his knees. His hammer was close. One lunge would put it in his grasp.
The man smiled down at him. He moved his hand and Ruben found he wasn’t too tired to flinch. But the hand wasn’t pointed at him, it was pointed at the hammer. Ruben watched as his father’s hammer rose from the ground and into the man’s hand.
The man hefted it, then swung it at Ruben’s head.
Chapter 2
Ella
Ella ran, clutching her younger brother’s wrist, helping him up as he stumbled on the uneven ground, until they made it to the tree line and into the cover of the dense woods. She tried not to think about the screams coming from the village, or the fires that lit the sky. She especially didn’t want to think about Ruben and the trouble he might be getting into. She knew he must be trying to find Taya. She hoped they would be okay, but her responsibility was looking after Marius.
At the tree line, they stopped and looked back into the village. Ella saw Ruben’s shadow slip into their father’s old smithy and come out wielding a hammer.
Marius tugged on Ella’s shirt. ‘He’ll be okay, won’t he?’
Ella looked down at him. She was three years older and a whole head taller, though if Ruben’s height was anything to go by, Marius would overtake her soon enough.
‘Ruben is the strongest person in the village. If anyone has a chance to come out of this okay, it’s him.’
Marius turned from her and looked back at their home. ‘Dad was strong, too.’
Ella took his hand, interlocking their fingers. ‘Come on, remember what Ruben said? We need to make it to the hollow tree, else he won’t know where to find us when he comes looking, okay?’
Marius nodded. ‘Okay.’
‘Do you remember the way?’
Marius stared into the depths of the forest. ‘I—I think so. It looks different at night.’
Ella followed his gaze, heard the creaking of branches as the wind blew at the treetops. She glanced around until she found something familiar, then tugged at Marius’s hand. ‘Come on, we’ll find it together.’
Their trek through the woods was harder than Ella had expected it be. In the daylight, she could find the hollow tree in half an hour. As it was, she wasn’t sure how long it had been since they’d fled their home.
A tree root caught her shoe and she tumbled to the ground, taking Marius with her. It was the third time they’d tripped in the darkness. They helped each other up and brushed themselves off before heading deeper into the forest. They walked in silence until they came upon a small clearing. Ella let go of Marius’s hand and stepped into the middle. A scattering of rocks sat in a circle, each of varying size. Ella couldn’t remember ever having been here. She sighed and took a seat on a rock. Marius stood at the edge of the clearing, eyes flicking from one tree to the next. She motioned him closer.
He walked and stood in front of her. ‘Why have we stopped?’
‘I don’t know where we are. I can’t find the hollow tree. We’re lost, Marius.’
Marius looked at the rocks, the trees, then did the last thing Ella expected. He pointed left, toward a mushroom patch, and smiled. ‘It’s this way.’
‘You’re sure?’
Marius scrunched up his face. He jumped onto one of the rocks and almost slipped, not expecting it to be wet from the night’s dew. He steadied himself and peered around the clearing once more until his gaze fell on the mushroom patch. Marius jumped off the rock and landed less than gracefully on the wet grass. He nodded, resolved. ‘It’s that way.’
Ella looked at the mushroom patch, then back at Marius. She wasn’t as sure as her brother, but she lacked any better ideas.
Marius took her hand and led the way. His steps were confident, but confidence was easy at twelve. Not that fifteen was much older, but sometimes Marius made her feel like an adult grown. Ruben had the opposite effect.
Ruben. She hoped he was okay.
Marius stopped. His head shot around, glancing in every direction.
A chill set in Ella’s bones. ‘Are we close?’ They’d forgotten their coats. Taking a coat hadn’t seemed important when fleeing raiders.
Marius kept glancing around. ‘I’m not sure.’ He turned and hugged his sister so suddenly it almost made her shriek. He shivered in her arms.
‘Hush, little brother.’ Ella brushed her fingers through his hair and hummed a lullaby. One their mother used to sing. She held him close, not letting him see her tears. ‘Ruben will find us. You gotta be brave for me, you can do that, I know you can. Ruben will find us,’ she said, and thought, if he’s still alive.
~
Ella didn’t remember falling asleep. She barely remembered lying on the ground. The morning sun cut through the trees and brought her awake in an instant. Marius woke beside her, rubbing his eyes.
It was morning.
They weren’t at the hollow tree. If Ruben was there and didn’t find them—he’d be so worried. Ella stood and dusted off her nightclothes. ‘Come on, Marius.’ She pulled Marius up and glanced around at the trees. Now that she could properly see her surroundings, she recognised where they were. With the dawn, and the hope that their brother was waiting for them, Ella’s energy renewed.
When they reached the glade with the hollow tree, there was no sign of Ruben.
‘Maybe he’s inside,’ Marius said.
Ella bit her lip and rushed forward. She wanted to shout Ruben’s name but thought better of it. If the raiders were searching the forest, she’d only bring them straight here. Ella and Marius poked their heads inside the tree, only to find it empty but for some hunting supplies they’d left behind. There were bits of rope, gathered sticks, and an old whittling knife they used to build snare traps. That, and a small hunting bow.
‘Ruben’s not here.’ Marius slumped in the middle of the hollow tree. It was an old yew; one their father had used as a hunting stop. The hollowed insides were big enough to fit three adults standing.
Their father had taken Ruben out hunting many times. Ruben had started taking Ella and Marius out in the past year, showing them small things here and there.
Ella picked up the bow and quiver, which held six arrows she’d fletched with Marius the week before. The bowstring was kept inside a pouch tied to the top of the bow. She retrieved the string and strung it first at the bottom, then stepped over the bow’s shaft to brace it with her leg. Bending the shaft, she looped the string on the top with nimble fingers, fingers used to crafting jewellery from leftover metals in Ruben’s smithy. The village was a half hour walk. If the raiders popped up on the way, she’d be ready for them.
Marius looked up from his spot on the ground. ‘You’re gonna leave me too?’
Ella crouched down and put a hand on his shoulder. ‘I’ll come straight back. I’m going to find Ruben. You stay here. Stay here until we come for you, okay?’
Marius brought his knees up to his chest and gripped his ankles. ‘Okay.’
Ella put a hand on his cheek. ‘I’ll come straight back.’ She turned before the look on his face could make her think better of leaving. If Ruben looked for them, he’d find Marius alone in the tree, and Marius could tell him where she was. If Ruben was in trouble, or worse…
She had to find out what had happened. She had to help if she could. It had been morning for long enough. He should have been at tree by now, and if he’d gotten there first he would’ve left some sign behind that he’d been there.
~
Ella smelled the smoke before she left the forest. She wondered how many building the raiders had burned. Did she have a home to come back to? Their village was all wooden houses and thatched roofs. The fire could have taken everything wi
th it.
Bow in one hand, arrow in the other, Ella ran to the very place she’d spent the whole night running from. She didn’t care how much noise she made, forgetting the chance of raiders in the forest. Ella burst out of the woods with twice as many scratches as she’d had when she woke that morning. She slowed when she breached the tree line and looked for her house. It stood unharmed. She let out a breath, but it was only a small relief.
Wisps of smoke fled into the sky from the village square. There was no sign of movement from where she stood. Ella nocked an arrow and jogged, head bobbing this way and that, searching for friend or foe. She’d rarely hit any prey with the bow, mostly just sticking arrows in trees as practice.
Ella stopped at her house first. Floorboards creaking underfoot, she searched every room and found them empty. She headed to the smithy next. Her brother’s hammer was gone, while a short sword sat on the bench. She thought about taking the sword and leaving the bow, but she hadn’t so much as struck a tree with a blade before.
At least her brother had found a weapon before facing the raiders. Ella slipped out of the workshop and closed the door quietly, hoping Ruben hadn’t done something stupid.
She walked toward the wisps of smoke rising from the village square—a small ring in the middle of town the houses had been built around. There was a well at its centre, the only one in Billings excepting those at the farms.
Her house was one of few to escape damage.
Ella gripped the bow so hard it dug into her hand. Ruben would tell her to loosen up, lest she ruin her aim. She took three deep breaths like he’d taught her, but her hand stayed tight as she walked toward the smoke. Images of Ruben dead on the ground assailed her mind. They were interspersed with images of her father, dead on the kitchen floor. He’d gripped his chest and fallen, gasping for breath, reaching out for her. She could do nothing then, what did she expect to do now?