Ember: Echoes of Ashes - Book 1

by Jessica Schmidt

  “Remember when I talked with you about learning to control your magic?” he said quickly, not taking his eyes off her hands. He reached over, resting his hand gently on her shoulder. He could feel her muscles relax a tiny bit. “Remember the words I said? Concentration, meditation, execution. The first one is—”

  “Concentration,” she breathed. “I’m not afraid,” she said again, repeating the mantra. The light in her hands began to fade. “I am not afraid.” She slowly moved her hands from her face into her lap, the golden glow having completely vanished. She took a deep breath in and let it out. Lightning flashed outside, and though she saw it through her eyelids, she kept her eyes shut. “I am not afraid.” Thunder boomed. She didn’t flinch.

  Laderic smiled at her when she opened her eyes. “How did you know I should do that?” she asked, looking at him with a feeling of wonder.

  “I’ve used it before many times,” he said. She leaned in, listening to his every word, drinking them in. “It’s a mental thing. Most of the time, fear is the only thing holding you back from the things you want to do. You just have to convince yourself not to be afraid—just keep telling yourself over and over. Then, the thing you’re most scared of isn’t even scary anymore. It’s beautiful.” For a while, the two stared out the window. Alleria watched the wonder of nature through a new lens, still nervous, but feeling more appreciative than afraid. In the back of her mind, she felt Laderic’s presence right beside her. A little voice in her subconscious whispered that his shirt was off, and they were in bed together, and—

  “What are you most afraid of, Laderic?” she blurted, interrupting her own thought process. She moved her long brown hair out of her face, feeling tiny beads of sweat that had gathered on her brow. She focused on breathing.

  Laderic frowned, looking away. “That’s a pretty deep question for someone you don’t really know,” he said, tone shifting suddenly into a dark place. Alleria blinked, his change in mood startling her. “But I guess it doesn’t matter,” he continued. “My biggest fear is dying.”

  “Dying?” asked Alleria quietly, unsure of how to feel. Laderic nodded.

  “Death frightens me,” he admitted, sounding as though he was talking to himself. “I don’t know what I would do if I couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe.” His hands absentmindedly drifted to his neck. “If I’m not thinking… what am I? If I can’t feel…” he shuddered. “I don’t even like thinking about it. Nothingness… I can’t even comprehend it, but it scares me.”

  “You don’t believe there is something after death?” asked Alleria. Laderic looked down at his hands, internal battle raging in his mind

  “I don’t know if I believe in the gods,” he said slowly. “It would be nice if there was somewhere to go after you die... but the thought that there might not be, that’s what scares me the most.” He grew silent then, avoiding eye contact with the elf woman.

  Alleria frowned, feeling guilty for prying into Laderic’s personal feelings. She hadn’t meant to, not realizing her innocent question would bring up such deep emotions. She yawned then, exhausted. Laderic forced a smile.

  “Let’s get some sleep,” he said. She nodded, lying back down and pulling Reia close like a stuffed bear. Laderic lay back down as well, rolling his eyes at the silly pillow wall between them.

  He closed his eyes, folding his hands over his chest. “I am not afraid…” Alleria mumbled. Her voice was relaxing. “I am not afraid.” Laderic let her words lull him to sleep, confident that he would wake up the next morning, fully alive.

  “I am not afraid.”

  Chapter 7

  “Wake up!” yipped Reia, jumping over the pillow wall and landing right on Laderic’s crotch.

  It was as if a hot iron had landed between his legs. “Oof!” he gasped, sitting up straight and doubling over, covering his sensitive parts. “Oh… gods...”

  Alleria laughed, sitting up and noticing Laderic’s position, immediately catching on. “Reia...” she said, looking at the kitsune, playfully scolding her, “what did you do?”

  “I just wanted him to wake up.” She pouted, sitting at the foot of the bed, seven tails curled around her paws. Midiga was up already, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed.

  “Oh, he’s awake now.” She snickered, grinning evilly. “Normally, he takes forever to get out of bed.”

  Though Laderic could hear their conversation, he was unable to make coherent sentences or even move. He continued smooshing his face into the mattress as he held himself, hoping maybe to cut off his air supply long enough to numb the pain.

  It took him a few minutes, but he finally rolled back over, eyes squinted shut. “I’m okay,” he wheezed, having finally quelled his urge to puke.

  Midiga moved away from the wall, arching her back as she stretched. Her claws unsheathed for a moment as she lifted her arms above her head. “We should get a move on,” she said with a yawn, muzzle pulling back taut and revealing her pointed ivories. “We need to make as much ground as possible since we will be camping out again tonight.”

  Alleria frowned, dreading the thought of sleeping on the hard ground once again. “I had just gotten used to the bed.” She sighed. Laderic nodded in agreement, trying to find the willpower to stand up.

  “Yeah,” he grunted. “We should get going.” After another minute or so, he swung his legs off the bed, standing up slowly and stretching for a long moment.

  Alleria stood as well but quickly became dizzy, sitting back down on the bed, hard. “Oh…” she mumbled, closing her eyes. Her head had started pounding, and she raised her fingertips to her temples.

  Laderic, who knew exactly what was wrong, played dumb. “What is it?” he asked, making sly eye contact with Midiga across the room. “What’s wrong?”

  “My head…” groaned Alleria, holding her forehead in her palms. At the same time, her stomach had begun to hurt, and she felt nauseous. “Oh, man, I think I’m getting sick.”

  Midiga snorted, unable to hold back her laughter any longer, and Laderic joined in, both of them lacking the willpower to stop giggling.

  “Ugh, what?” demanded Alleria, annoyed, snapping at them without looking up from her palms.

  “Hey, I told you to stop after two of those beers,” Laderic said, holding back another giggle.

  Alleria looked up, making horrified eye contact with Laderic. “You mean… the beer did this?” she asked. Another wave of pain slammed into her head, and she covered her eyes once again. “It’s so… bright in here.”

  Midiga and Laderic couldn’t stop laughing, and even Reia joined in the contagious humor, though she didn’t know exactly why she was laughing. After another minute or so, Midiga reached into her bag, pulling out a plump, green berry, and plopping it into Alleria’s lap.

  The elf looked up, confused. “What? Do I eat this or something?” she asked.

  The felid nodded, wiping tears from her eyes with the back of her paw. “Yep,” she confirmed, suppressing another fit of laughter. “I always keep them on me. They’re called pompouries, but most people just call them ‘day-after’ berries. They’re popular with people who frequent the taverns, and you’ll see why in a second.”

  Alleria eyed the berry suspiciously but did as Midiga instructed. She popped it into her mouth, biting down slowly. It was firm on the outside with a soft, wet inside, almost like a grape. It burst as she split it open, a waterfall of juices flooding her cheeks. She swallowed painfully, not expecting the berry to contain so much liquid.

  Midiga was right, though—the berry was truly a lifesaver. Within minutes, she felt much better—her headache was completely gone, her stomach felt normal, and she was full of energy.

  “Come on, let’s go!” she chirped, buzzing around the room as Laderic and Midiga gathered their things.

  Midiga smiled. “You’re welcome,” she chided, and Alleria nodded quickly.

  “Oh, yeah, thanks a ton,” she said, emphasis hanging on the last word.

  Laderic wasn
’t as pleasant. No amount of day-after berries could ever make him a morning person. “You know, Midiga,” he started, securing his clothes in one of the pouches of his bag. “I think you should have just let her suffer.” Alleria just smirked. She was starting to get used to his dry humor. She shoved him playfully, amused by his sour mood. And Laderic couldn’t help but laugh again, pushing her back with one arm.

  Midiga watched them, feeling as though she knew something that neither of them did quite yet. She exchanged a knowing look with Reia, but they both kept quiet.

  They left a nice tip for the canid barkeep, to Midiga’s distaste, before heading out into the morning. They exited the bar into the crisp, cool air. The rain the night before had chilled the breeze, and the air smelled like wet soil and budding leaves. Alleria flipped her hood up over her ears again, wary once more of her surroundings. She had found an old, broken comb on the floor of their room and—she cringed thinking about it—had combed through her tangled, knotted hair. It had grown long, reaching almost to her waist, but she kept it tucked away in her hood, hidden along with her ears.

  It was an early start, the sun just beginning to rise. Laderic yawned as he walked, shivering slightly in the morning chill. They passed the merchant booths where some of their owners had already packed up and moved on. Vendors changed out daily in most cities since many merchants were only able to afford a spot in the marketplace for a week or so. Typically, only the fae merchants were able to afford the nearly permanent spots in the marketplaces of large cities. Laderic noted the booth of the fae woman from the day before, still intact.

  Which is why he was surprised to see, in the distance, a small green fairy woman marching down the street. Curious, the group walked a bit faster, catching up to her with ease.

  “Excuse me?” said Alleria, kneeling down a bit. The fae was walking, something they almost never did, and was violently dragging a large pack behind her. She whirled around.

  “Oh!” she said, jumping back with surprise as she recognized Alleria from the day before. “It’s you!” She noticed Laderic becoming slightly annoyed. Her eyes narrowed as she looked between the four of them. “What do you want.” It was not a question.

  Laderic looked at the bag she was trying to carry. It was tiny but weighed entirely too much for the fae to lift. “Looks like you could use a little help,” he observed, declaring the obvious. An idea was starting to form in his mind.

  “I’m fine,” she said, huffing. She reached back around, gripping the bag with her two hands, dragging it a few more feet. “I’ll be fine.”

  “Your booth is still set up back there… Where are you even going?” Laderic asked, taking one long step and catching up with the fairy.

  “My brother is a wintertime fae,” she said, continuing to drag her pack. “Summer starts in a week. I have to get to work before the week after the solstice ends, the transition period. He’s coming to take over the booth for a while. I was... getting a head start.” She pulled again, the pack now refusing to budge, stuck on a small rock that jutted up from the dirt road.

  Laderic nodded, watching her, struggling to keep himself from laughing. “Isn’t the fae city… several days’ walk from here?” he asked, pointing down the road into the Brushdeep Forest. “You’re not going to make it in time at that pace.”

  The fae finally stopped yanking on her bag, putting her hands on her hips. Her wings buzzed, and she zipped upward, reaching eye level with Laderic in a split second, startling him. “What’s with the questions, huh?” she demanded. Laderic was surprised, taking a step back, but the fairy just zipped even closer to his face. “I. Am. Fine. I said I’m fine. What do you want from me, anyway?” she snapped, talking with her hands and almost hitting Laderic in his nose.

  Laderic calmly reached down, grasping the handle, and lifting her bag with two fingers. “Well, since you asked,” he said, turning on the charm. “We’re headed in the same direction as Charandall… but we don’t really know the woods very well. If you can take us as far as the fork in the road toward Strita… I’ll carry your bag all the way there.” He smiled, perfect teeth glinting in the new sun.

  The fae woman stopped flying so erratically, settling down and hovering. “Well…” she said, debating with herself, “I’m not going to have to pay you… am I?” she asked.

  “Of course not,” interjected Midiga, before the word ‘yes’ could come out of Laderic’s mouth. “Your guidance will be payment enough.”

  Laderic shot a look at Midiga before forcing a smile. “Of course…” he said through his teeth. Midiga rolled her eyes.

  “All right, I’ll do it,” she declared as if it had taken a lot of convincing to come to that conclusion. Now it was Laderic’s turn to roll his eyes. She continued, not even noticing. She spun around midair, floating down the road. “Let’s get moving then! My name is Emery, by the way.”

  “Nice to meet you!” chirped Alleria, walking a little faster to catch up to their newest companion. Laderic hoisted the tiny bag on his shoulder. It looked almost comical, him carrying it. But he did it, keeping to his word. He didn’t know The Walk as well as he would like, and it was a stroke of luck that they had run across Emery when they had. Fae people love making deals, and he knew she wouldn’t be able to refuse his offer—carrying her bag. Especially when all she had to do was exactly what she had wanted to do in the first place—reach Charandall, the fae city, on time.

  So, the group began their march as the sun rose over the hills. The Walk sliced clean through the trees, though Laderic knew the closer one got to Strita, the more dangerous and winding the road would become. Lone travelers wouldn’t dare take the road any farther than Acrosa if they could help it. Fae were the exception, as they often took the road alone, but only directly to Charandall and back. The fork splitting from The Walk toward Charandall was well lit and monitored by other fairies and their seasonal magic. If you continued down The Walk, past the fork to Charandall about another quarter day’s travel, you would reach the fork to Strita. Once leaving The Walk and beginning the trek off the beaten path to Strita, they would really need to keep their guard up. That part of their trip would surely be the most dangerous. Strita was well out of the way, up in the mountains, secluded from most of the Far Land.

  Mavark hadn’t always lived in Strita. For a long time, he traveled just as Laderic did, from city to city, taking odd jobs. That’s when he met Laderic. The jobs that Mavark could take were unique, as he was a drake alamorph. Laderic’s skills were more… illegal in nature, and Mavark would often pay him to do his dirty work.

  Somewhere, somehow, on his travels, he came across the woman who would be his wife, a renegade elf named Ysmira. The two continued to travel together for another year or so, before deciding to settle down in Strita. The city was secluded enough and far enough away from the paths of most common travelers. A perfect place for Ysmira to live out her life as an elf without being harassed or discriminated against.

  Elves were very much outcasts in the Far Land with most average folk believing elves to be mythical creatures. Those who were more cultured knew elves were very much real and alive today, but even they viewed those who left Nara’jainita as criminals and outliers. To them, a renegade elf must have done something terrible to want to leave the mystical, wondrous capital. They were viewed through a lens of mistrust, which was why most renegade elves lived in seclusion, and sadly, this only solidified their reputation as secretive, sneaky creatures.

  It was an easy walk that day, and they made good progress. Alleria and Emery talked nonstop as they traveled, Alleria full of questions for the fae. She had heard of them but had never met a member of the fairy race before, and she was very curious.

  “So… you can use magic?” she asked, only guessing. She turned her head to look over at the green-colored fairy, making sure her hood remained tightly attached to her head, so her ears weren’t visible.

  “Yes, but my powers come and go, depending on how close we are to summer,” answe
red Emery. Laderic and Midiga, who trailed behind, both listened out of curiosity. Laderic himself had never heard a fae discuss their magic. He’d only read about it and heard rumors. “In just a few days,” continued Emery, “when the solstice comes, I’ll be at my strongest once again.” She smiled, looking into the trees with delight. “And then it’s my job to make sure the forest prospers, for the good of everyone.”

  “So… what would happen if you didn’t use your magic?” asked Alleria, skeptical of the fact that the prosperity of the forest relied solely on the fae.

  “Well… it would be catastrophic!” said Emery, throwing her hands in the air for dramatic effect. “Let me tell you… there’s an old history lesson that goes like this:

  “Nearly three hundred years ago, there were two warring human kingdoms in the Far Land—the kingdoms of Rokswing and Mariscale. Mariscale was losing battle after battle, and the war was looking to be lost. So, Mariscale, being so close to the Brushdeep Forest, began to kidnap the fae people to attempt to control the seasons and the weather. The humans, exceedingly greedy, kidnapped more and more fae, locking us in jail cells, trying to force us to do their bidding. They did this to try to swing the tide of the war in their favor. However… too many of us couldn’t use our magic because we had been caught and jailed.

  “The forest began to die… And the humans were unwilling to release the fae needed to restore life to the trees. The next year, there was a terrible drought and famine followed. Rokswing had aligned with the canidae and called a conference with the felidae people, who had aligned with Mariscale, begging them to switch sides and end the war for the good of all people. They agreed, and the war ended swiftly after that. A treaty was signed between the fae and the humans, declaring that the fae would never be used as a weapon in war as they had been ever again. Thus, after our release, the forest was restored to its former glory, and slowly over the years, our relationship with humans has improved back to where it was before the war. Better, even.