The Glimmer Steel Saga, Book 1 - 4
By Spencer Pierson
Copyright 2017 by Spencer Pierson Publishing, All Rights Reserved
This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This is a work of fiction. Any similarities to real persons, events, or places are purely coincidental. All rights reserved.
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Thanks and Dedication:
My personal thank you to Tanya Guptill Clapshaw for showing me the way. This was a personal journey that I started several times in my life, but if it hadn’t been for your knowledge and drive, I wouldn’t have completed any of it.
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Table of Contents
The Glimmer Steel Saga, Book 1 - 4
A Glimmer of Destiny
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
A Glimmer of Fear
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
A Glimmer of War
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Chapter 28
The Duke of Brun
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Chapter 24
Chapter 25
Chapter 26
Chapter 27
Appendix
People
Definitions
Authors Notes
Books by Spencer Pierson
A Glimmer of Destiny
Chapter 1
Aiden watched in fascination as an eerie glowing blue ball floated from around his head and moved towards the only entrance to the classroom. Knowing what that meant, he quickly rose and followed Glowby, his imaginary friend, reaching the door just in time for Professor Reivus to push it open with his bottom and edge into the classroom with his arms full of books.
He reached out and caught one of the books as it started to fall but missed two more which made it to the floor with loud thuds. Bending down, he deftly retrieved them even as he avoided the old man’s bony elbows. On more than a few occasions they had been known to swing unexpectedly towards his head with painful consequences. Glowby passed through the old man’s head twice as he pushed further into the class before circling back and floating curiously over the books in Aiden’s hands.
Shaking his head, he smiled fondly at his friend. Glowby had been with him for as far back as he could remember, a soft but consistent presence which had eased him through so many difficult times in his life. From an early age, he hadn’t felt compelled to tell anyone about his imaginary friend and after he’d grown a little, he’d seen how others had been treated when they confessed at seeing things that weren’t there. No, thank you. Being locked in an asylum wasn’t high on his plans for the future. He’d chosen to enjoy his friend’s company instead which had worked out far better for him so far.
Stopping a foot or two away from the professor, Aiden waited for him to settle and put his books down on the table behind him. He knew if he spoke first, he ran the risk of startling the man, and he’d picked up enough piles of paperwork and books to want to avoid that fate. Finally, the old man stopped and began spreading his books out, muttering and looking at each one closely.
“Now, I could swear. Did I forget the… Wait. No, I was sure I picked it up. Damn it all.” He turned, raising his reedy voice and calling for Aiden. “Aiden? Aiden! There you are. Aiden lad, will you please go back to my office and bring me Rotheld’s Glimmer Constructs, chapters twelve through twenty?”
Aiden held out the three other books, one of which was the book he had just asked him to get. Glowby bounced helpfully on top of it, highlighting a few words of the title before flitting off again. Aiden was used to him forgetting things but still thought kindly of him. Even though he was an orphan, Professor Reivus always treated him well rather than as a servant.
“Here you are, professor,” Aiden smiled as he slipped the books into the waiting hands, “I’m sure these other books are important as well.”
Professor Reivus took the books, studying them intently before letting a toothsome grin spread over his features. “Ah! Thank you, young Aiden. Yes, indeed, such a good assistant. My goodness, you are fast. Are you out of breath? No? Good lad! I will have to drop a note to the orphan master for you. Now off to your assistant’s seat. The class is beginning.”
No one could be in this class if they were not of noble stock. There was a law levied by the Ducal Council that forbade anyone but nobles from touching glimmer stones. In light of the seriousness of the duty, Aiden had been chosen for his care
ful demeanor four years earlier to serve as Professor Reivus’ class aid. It was a weighty position for a school orphan, and Aiden took the job seriously despite his age of fifteen. He didn’t have a choice, to do otherwise would mean his death.
Hearing a noise, they both turned to look and saw the first of the new students entering the classroom. Giving the professor one last smile, Aiden retreated towards his small seat to the side of the large chalkboard. He lowered his head, acting as if he wasn’t interested but watched the new students with intense curiosity as they began to file in. It was a new but small class composed of younger sons and daughters of various nobles. A tall, well-built blond boy towards the front that was chatting amicably with a pretty dark-haired girl. He recognized him since he was the third son of the sitting Duke of Terek. It was rumored he was well-mannered, but Aiden wasn’t about to take a chance and catch his attention.
The girl he was chatting with was even more interesting but in a different way. Straight dark hair graced her pale features, and as Glowby gave a particularly low pass he realized she had silver eyes. An unusual feature that declared her a scion of the House of Baron Silvencor, another prominent family in the city both at court and in the merchant circles. Their family was known for odd eye-color appearing in their line, though it didn’t run true in all of them.
It wasn’t uncommon to see a huge variety of colors in skin, eyes, or hair in the noble houses. Aiden had read that in the far past, the ancients had the art to make people any color or complexion they wished, but the skill had been lost during the Cataclysm. For thousands of years, people had slowly merged and mixed, but occasionally someone would be born with some of the old striking looks. The House of Silvencor was known for it, and this girl was a prime example.
In total, there were only eight students. Most were sitting attentively waiting for the professor to begin but two in the back seemed to be idly chatting and not paying attention. He noticed that Glowby avoided them though he did buzz by the taller of the two a few times. His friend was a good judge of character and occasionally had proven useful in steering Aiden away from others who were troublesome, especially if they were older. Though he wasn’t a student, he was about a year younger than most of the class. Each class had progressively gotten closer to him in age, and he wondered what it would feel like when he was older than they were? Would he still be staring at the chalk in his hands as they filed in or would he be brave enough to look them in the eye?
As the class began, Aiden spent his time quietly listening. He had always been fascinated by the use of the Glimmer stones and making something come into being that hadn’t been there before. Again, as with so many others, the ancients had been masters of this craft and had created truly wondrous things. Some artifacts persisted even today, such as the skimmers that the duke’s men used to patrol the city. There were other fantastic tools as well, though each cost a duke’s ransom to own and it would be your life if you didn’t have an army to protect them.
Today, only the true masters could create something more complicated than a shield of glimmer steel and even then they were rough and crude. They would also only last for a good ten or twenty years before breaking. Another mystery and no one living could say why they couldn’t create constructs more complicated or that lasted longer. It was a question that often pulled at Aiden, making him daydream about the answer as the professor droned on each day.
However, this day he was going to pay for it. He felt a sudden smack on his shoulder, making him look around wildly before focusing on the intent face of Professor Reivus looming above him. Snickering erupted from a few people in the class, though he noted that the duke’s son and his immediate companions were not laughing.
“Aiden! Aiden, wake up, boy. I asked you to fetch me some chalk. I seemed to have misplaced mine and we are all out. Why don’t we have any chalk? Can you run to the storeroom and fetch some? Hmmm? Off with you, lad. Stop daydreaming about pretty girls and go fetch me what I asked for.”
“Probably daydreaming about your pretty eyes, right Chari?” The voice came from the tall boy in the back, and Aiden grimaced internally even as Chari blushed, looking angrily back over her shoulder. He held a piece of chalk up towards the old man, watching his owlish eyes go cross-eyed before he took it in his hands like it was a piece of gold.
The mocking voice continued, “Haha! Look he’s raising a torch for you now, Chari! You should thank the boy for his compliment. Maybe he’ll light a fire on a hill for you like they did in the old days? Can you do much better, I wonder since you can’t have who you want, right?” The boy next to the one talking snickered, but no one else followed suit.
“Well, I guess they do have some here,” Reivus said, looking slightly baffled but happy. “Good lad, Aiden! Always keeping me in line, eh?” He turned towards the blackboard and continued sketching out whatever he had been working on never realizing that he held a piece of chalk in both hands now.
There was a commotion then as a seat was pushed back forcefully, its legs squealing across the floor in protest. Aiden looked up in time to see the Duke’s son had stood, turning towards the back of the class with his fists clenched. Chari had her face in her hands, and her pale complexion burned red through her fingers. “All right, that’s enough Ashrak! Shut up, or I’ll shut your mouth for you.”
The boy in the back stood as well, his face suddenly flashing from amused to angry. Though slimmer, he was of a height with his challenger. His hair was pure white, long, and easily reached the center of his back though his handsome face had flashed to anger with frightening intensity. “Why don’t you try something, Gavin? Come on let’s see what you’ve got!”
The tall boy began to push his way to the back of the class, not seeing the almost triumphant look on Ashrak’s face though Aiden caught the look from where he was sitting. Glowby began to dance in the air, flickering between red and green in what Aiden knew was agitation as things began to boil out of control.
Thankfully, one of the other students stood and interposed himself between the two, a large hammy hand pushing against Gavin’s chest gently as he leaned into whisper. The boy was wide in the shoulders and almost half way to a full beard, but despite the somewhat scraggly appearance the serious look on his face made the duke’s son pause. With a clear struggle, Gavin stopped and listened while keeping his flashing eyes on Ashrak. Aiden could tell that he was barely in control, but despite that he turned and made his way back to his seat, sitting and staring at the blackboard with his arms crossed.
The large boy turned, pointing a finger at a now-disappointed Ashrak who also wisely chose to sit. The third boy was big, dark skinned and dark haired like Aiden but imposing. Ashrak glared at the back of his head a few times but made no further comments.
Aiden watched all of this in fascination. He hadn’t even realized his head wasn’t down until he saw Chari’s eyes on him, watching him intently. He blinked and ducked, hoping the pretty girl would look elsewhere but he could feel her eyes on him for a few moments longer.
Professor Reivus turned back towards the class, oblivious to the small drama that had just occurred behind him as he finished writing out a very long, complicated set of calculations that took up almost a third of the huge black expanse. “Now, what you see behind me is, at most, a medium-to-low-class calculation used to create a glimmer steel construct. More specifically, it’s a simple pump cap for a manual water pump commonly used by farmers.” Professor Reivus tapped the board with his pointer. “This is why the use of glimmer stones and the creation of glimmer steel constructs is not an easy or oft-pursued area of study. Not only must you understand what the equation is directing, but you must hold the equation in your mind as the glimmer steel is formed which takes longer the more complicated your piece.” The professor paused for a moment, looking out of his thick glasses towards the students before him. “Are there any questions?”
One of two boys that looked to be twins raised their hand, tentatively. Professor Reivus squinte
d, staring at the hand for a moment before nodding and pointing at it. “Yes! You in the front, unless that’s some bird that came in and is roosting on your shoulder, then you have a question? Out with it.”
“I… what if you wish to? I mean, wish to study how to create glimmer steel, professor? How would you go about it?”
“Ah! Good question, Mister Golgamere. Is it Jonders or Serent I’m speaking with? I’ve heard we may have some actual future engineers in class.” The professor finished, beaming out at the class though Aiden wondered if he could see more than two blobs sitting there, much less their actual faces.
“It’s Serent sir, and yes we are both interested,” The boy said, grinning with excitement. “We’ve read through the Glimmer Stone primer and several other books our mother has been able to acquire. It’s quite exciting, sir.”
“Yes, exciting is the tamest word most could use for this class! Well, perhaps not to the majority of this class, but I happen to agree with you, Serent. There would be several other classes you could take through our school, but once you had been determined to have the capacity you would be encouraged to go further. No mean feat, I assure you. As you can see behind me, it is not exactly easy, but if you could, then you would proceed on to the esteemed Engineers School, one of which is located right here Breen’s grounds. You’ve probably seen it, looming over to the north like some giant black frog. The Hall of Stones it’s called and has some of the very best engineers in the Duchy. However, be aware that if you study with the engineers, then you must become one for life.” The professor finished, and Serent nodded excitedly, turning to his twin and whispering to him. The grins on their faces plain as to what their future plans were.
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