The Glimmer Steel Saga, Boxed Set, Books 1 - 4

by Spencer Pierson

  “Oh, ho! Look the little orphan boy has some hackles,” Ashrak said, grinning while Skeeve glowered at him. “Chari, you better keep your boyfriend on a leash, he might bite. We’d have to put him down then.”

  Chari glared, but it was Gavin that turned and spoke. “Enough Ashrak, quit trying to pick a fight.” He paused before directing his attention at Skeeve, “I don’t know what your father has said, but Aiden is correct. They don’t let stupid people into the Engineers or anywhere near a Breeder stone. I’ve heard my father mention her name, though. I wouldn’t speak about her like that within a mile of her. She used to be part of the Black Fleet, not just the navy.”

  Aiden noticed that Skeeve went pale, fear spreading over his face as he looked back over his shoulder and towards the entrance. The Black Fleet was the duke’s most elite unit, crewed only by the most accomplished sailors and warriors and all of them were rumored to be deadly.

  Aiden cleared his throat, breaking the silence. “Well, um…we should get going? We only have one period for your projects and the room is just down this way.” He turned and began walking causing everyone to follow along. Chari gave him a thankful smile and squeezed his arm. For some reason, that warm and interesting squeeze helped nicely to take his mind off of the fact he’d just snapped at a noble.

  Chapter 2

  It took them only a minute more to reach the wide wooden doors of their work room. They hadn’t seen other people in the building, but that was normal. The Hall of Stones was a place where people worked, so they were either in a room or not there at all. Generally, Aiden enjoyed the quiet, away from the normal bustle of the school grounds.

  There was only one oil lamp lit at the moment, kept that way when the rooms weren’t in use by the Hall guards. Aiden quickly lit a wick and then lit the rest of the lamps and opened the heavy shades on the windows. By the time he was done, there was plenty of light to illuminate the several work tables and tools that were needed for basic Glimmer work.

  The light revealed four heavy metal tables with holes set at regular intervals along with numerous racks along the walls which held the forms and guides that would be used in them. They were similar to the one that had been in class, but far larger and didn’t tilt.

  Aiden crossed behind various racks that were filled with various shapes, lengths, or corners for putting together these outlines. There were many unusual angles, but he knew that today was only going to be the most basic squares, so drew everyone’s attention to the first rack in the room and pointed out the corners that they would need. Pulling out three basic corners and one with an empty stone inset, he took them over to one of the tables and showed everyone how to create the form they would be using.

  Finishing, he stepped back and let his gaze wander over the expectant faces. “Okay everyone, that’s about all I can do. From here on out, I’ll just be over in the corner if you have any questions.” Ashrak quickly took possession of the frame Aiden had set up, smiling at everyone else as if he owned the place. Fortunately, the rest of them didn’t seem to care as they converged on the frame rack and picked out the pieces they would need, choosing their tables and beginning to build their frames.

  The tables were big enough, and their projects basic enough that more than one student could work on a table without trouble but not everyone started to work right away. Some of the less-confident students clustered over near Jonders and Serent’s table, preferring to watch them set up their frames. Aiden knew they had two weeks so wasn’t overly concerned. Glowby floated over each of the tables, curiously flitting down and flashing an excited whitish-blue as the students worked.

  Generally, for such a simple shape, it wouldn’t take more than ten or so minutes to flow and set, but that was only once the glimmer steel was flowing. The hard part was to get it to start, and then hold the equations in your head, unwavering, the entire time. That was what usually took several days to master, and Aiden didn’t expect anyone to get a flicker of material flowing much less a plate on the first day.

  He was surprised when a half-hour later he heard the first cries of excitement from the table where Jonders and Serent were working. Serent was dancing up and down, pointing at his frame while Jonders scowled at his brother. “Did you see that? “Serent shouted gleefully, “I did it! I saw a bit of glimmer steel coming out of the stone!” He turned to his brother and made a rude face, which immediately caused them to start bickering loudly but good-naturedly.

  Chari chose that moment to start walking towards him, a thoughtful look on her face. Aiden watched her approach politely, but deep inside he had a momentary flash of something like trepidation. She was a beautiful girl, but she was also a noble which could potentially spell trouble. He wasn’t sure how to feel about her yet. Still, he was there to answer questions and she’d been nice, so he didn’t fidget too much while waiting for her.

  “Aiden? Do you have a second?” She nodded her head towards the door as if she wanted to speak to him in private.

  Aiden slipped off the stool slowly and nodded, though not enthusiastically. Obviously, if she wanted to talk in private, it wouldn’t be about the subject matter of creating their plates. That nervous feeling in his gut began to grow. With one last desperate hope, he held up the manual towards her.

  “Is it about something in the book? Or…,” he gestured toward one of the racks holding the various molds. He sighed when she shook her head and started heading toward the door. He cast one last look back into the classroom and watched as Ashrak and Skeeve grinned at him, whispering amongst themselves and laughing quietly. On a positive note, Chari’s friends didn’t seem overly concerned, so at least he didn’t have to worry about that.

  As the door closed, Chari turned to him with a frown. “Look, Aiden. I know we’ve just met, but I… I wanted to give you a bit of advice. Be careful of Ashrak and Skeeve. Defending Lady… I mean Professor Onyxine, is admirable and from everything I’ve heard, you’re totally correct about her. I’ve heard the same things from my friends, and I’ve only heard good things about her. Not to mention the thing about the Black Fleet. Skeeve is an idiot for saying anything.”

  “That being said,” She continued, holding his gaze with her own, “be wary of Ashrak and anyone he’s friends with. His father is the Duke of Brun.” She paused to let that sink in, and Aiden felt the blood drain from his face.

  Glowby came flashing through the door at his distress, flickering in various shades of red. He gulped softly and blinked. “The Duchy of Brun? I thought… weren’t they just exorcised from the guilds and banned from the Ducal Council a few seasons ago?”

  Chari nodded. “Yes, to all of those, but the current Duke of Brun sent his third son as a hostage.” She paused, looking nervous for a moment but forged on. “There are other things as well, but he wants to get back on the council. I don’t know all the specifics, but suffice it to say that Ashrak is… difficult… to get along with. I know commoners here think they have a hard life, but there?” She trailed off, shaking her head. “I hear it’s even worse for the Chivnel and other non-humans.”

  He had heard the rumors where people would literally be cut down in the streets if any noble chose to do so. They didn’t even need a reason. There would be no repercussions unless another Lord wished to, and for the duke’s own son? Aiden could only imagine what atrocities Ashrak had committed and easily gotten away with. He probably didn’t even think of it as something wrong, which was even more terrifying.

  Taking a deep breath, he nodded fearfully. “Ok… So I wasn’t so wrong about the stabbing then, eh?” Laughing nervously, he pantomimed making a fake terrified face which made Chari laugh, but she didn’t contradict him.

  “Well, probably best not to give him ideas. I don’t think he’d dare do anything to you while we are around, but since he’s been in the city he’s already made some friends like Skeeve,” she gestured back toward the room. “Skeeve’s father isn’t that influential at court, but he has quite a lot of contacts in darker areas of
the city.” She shrugged. “I don’t know anything for sure, but…”

  Aiden shrugged back. “It’s best not to get his attention. Yeah, I get what you are saying. Thank you. But, why say anything to me?”

  “Huh?”

  “Well,” He shrugged lamely. “You’re a noble too. Why would you…um… bother?” As he said the words, he watched as Glowby dimmed and floated quickly towards the floor. Uh oh, he thought, that’s never a good sign.

  He looked up just in time to watch her eyebrows beetle and her lips dip into an angry frown. “Why bother? What do you mean, why bother? Aiden, you are a person. Do you honestly think I’d enjoy seeing anyone hurt? That is not what being a noble is, even if some people act that way, that’s not me.” She paused, glowering at him for a second before crossing her arms. “So, why did you care when Ashrak insulted Gavin and me in class? Or Professor Onyxine? Hmmm?”

  Stammering, he blinked rapidly before answering. “Um… well, because it was…kind of a rude thing to say about anyone. I don’t like when people are rude or mean.”

  Glowby floated even lower. Aiden was sure if Glowby had eyes, they would be closed with a hand over his face. Not that Glowby had a face, but that was the impression he gave. Chari smiled triumphantly before sticking her finger into his face.

  “Hah! Exactly! Now how would you feel if I asked why you would bother? You’re only a lowly commoner. Just an orphan and as everyone knows they don’t care about anyone but themselves.” She finished with her cute chin jutting out aggressively and his back against the far wall of the corridor.

  Aiden blinked, trying to absorb what Chari was saying until it finally sank in. “Oh…”

  “Yes, oh! Don’t ever tell me who I can and cannot care about again, Aiden. Or any of my friends either. That includes you! You are my friend, whether you like it or not. Got it, mister?” She poked him in the chest repeatedly, until he held his hands up and nodded emphatically.

  “Ok, ok, I got it! Sorry!” Cringing, he watched as Glowby floated up behind Chari’s head, bouncing in a way that made Aiden think his friend was giggling at Chari’s anger and his discomfort. Damn imaginary friend.

  Chari whirled suddenly, looking behind her for a moment before turning back to Aiden with her eyes narrowed. “What are you looking at?”

  Aiden felt his own eyes go wide. Dammit! He was so distracted he forgot to be careful. “Uh…nothing,” he said, trying to recover. “Nothing. I was just thinking about everything you just said.”

  She harrumphed one last time and then stormed back into the workroom. “Fat lot of good you were,” He said finally, glaring at his far-too-amused friend once Chari had gone safely back to join the rest of the students. Ignoring him, Glowby chose to follow Chari leaving Aiden to piece together exactly what had happened. Was he friends with a noble now? Or… ugh. His head hurt.

  Re-entering the workspace, he was expecting Ashrak and Skeeve to be heckling Chari or himself, but instead, he heard Ashrak and Gavin’s raised voices. They weren’t arguing exactly, but they were strongly debating something. Markam was attentive but hadn’t intervened yet. Aiden paused at the door waiting to see if he’d need to run to get one of the hall guards.

  “I’m not kidding Ashrak. There’s nothing in the early works that says glimmer stones couldn’t have been used by anyone with the talent. It wasn’t until later that it began appearing in the histories. Tell them what you told me, Serent.”

  Serent looked nervously between the two but nodded. “Yes, it’s very true. Jonders and I have been studying glimmer steel since we could read. Nowhere before fifteen hundred years ago did any of the books say anything about limiting stones only to nobles. It wasn’t until later, in either Master Geribald’s work or Po’rfin’s that it began to show up at all. Both of them were really politicos rather than true engineers.”

  Ashrak sneered, shaking his head in dismissal. “That doesn’t prove anything. It just means they were too lazy to care about protecting the other races. Everyone knows that the glimmer stones are dangerous and if any of the other races touched them, much less tried to use them, it would cause them damage. That’s why the law is there.”

  “I’ve never even heard about it happening,” Gavin said semi-angrily, flashing a look at Ashrak’s friend. “No offense Skeeve, but you’re an idiot. The only thing that kills them is the headsman’s axe if they’re caught. I’m convinced some commoner or one of the other races has touched a glimmer stone by accident. They also have to mine them. There are always a few gems that don’t need a breeder stone. Surely someone’s touched one of those before they knew it was charged, right?”

  “Fine, then, if you’re so convinced, let’s make a bet.” Ashrak continued, standing up and crossing his arms. “We’ll have a commoner try to create one of these plates. If you win, I’ll quit harassing you and Chari. If I win, then you convince your father to let me go outside of town on occasion. I am absolutely sick of just sitting around this school.”

  “Fine, you’ve got a bet!” Gavin growled back, holding his hand out.

  Ashrak took it, shaking it and glaring back at Gavin. “Bet! Now who are you going to get to try out the stone?”

  Unfortunately, by the time the boys were talking about the bet, Aiden was distracted and watching Chari. If he had been paying attention, he would have just run out of the room. What was distracting Aiden so thoroughly was the secretive whispering and glances the girls were giving him. Glowby was floating near them as well, wiggling and occasionally flashing different colors. Ugh, I wish I could be Glowby right now, he thought. He kept his eyes averted but was straining to hear what they might be saying.

  Suddenly Gavin and Ashrak were both standing next to him, grinning with almost the exact same smile. The warning from Chari to not catch Ashrak’s attention flashed through his head about fifteen times, but it was obviously far too late. Swallowing, he tried desperately to remember hearing any of what they said to each other but nothing came to him. “Uh… um… yes?” He asked, hoping the answer was something innocuous.

  The boys reached out and lifted him by his arms, pulling him towards one of the tables. Aiden felt his stomach drop as a terrible sense of dread began to dance on his spleen. What was going on? He tried to pull back, but Ashrak and Gavin were both larger and stronger. There was no getting away from whatever it was they had planned.

  When they got to the table, Gavin turned to him and began to talk smoothly. It didn’t fool Aiden for a second. “Ok, Aiden. I’ve got something I really need you to do.” By the time Gavin finished his opening line, Jonders, Serent and Markam had all approached. The twins were obviously curious, but it was apparent by the look on his face that Markam did not approve. Ashrak and Skeeve both just smiled, nodding along with what Gavin was saying.

  Gavin took a deep breath and then continued. “We want you to try to make a plate. We’ve discussed it, and we are sure nothing will happen to you. The research that Serent and Jonders have done make it apparent that the ban on anyone using the stones but nobles is hogwash. Honestly, I’ve heard my father say the same thing. I think you’ll be ok, and we all promise we’re not going to tell anyone.”

  Markam made as if to say something, but Gavin silenced him with a shake of his head. For a moment, Gavin’s friend appeared as if he might continue his protest, but nodded instead and then stood straight as if at attention. Finally, everyone turned back to Aiden.

  The idea was crazy. Aiden knew that even as the facts began to tick off in his head. Everyone in this room except for Aiden himself was in their very first day of class. Despite the twins having studied something about the glimmer stones, this was the first time they had even touched one. They were young nobles looking for adventure and not caring at all what happened to someone like him. If he did as they said, he would die and they would just shrug and go on with their lives. All of this just swirled around in his head like a maelstrom.

  The problem was, they had a point. Aiden had been with Professor Reivus for fo
ur years. Everything he’d learned about the history of the stones in all that time pointed to the same thing. There was nothing prior to fifteen hundred years ago that said only nobles could use the stones. It had been a point that Professor Reivus had spoken of often in a philosophical manner, and it had stuck in Aiden’s head.

  Now he was being faced with the very real possibility of testing that theory out for the first time in his short life. He knew it was wrong; dangerous even. The descriptions of what happened to anyone but a noble who even touched the stones were…dramatic. But there it was, pulsating softly in the dim light of the room and beckoning to him with its siren call.

  As if from far away, he saw his hand reaching out to touch the stone. He didn’t even realize it was his at first, thinking it maybe one of the other boys wanting to show him how to put his hand, but it wasn’t. It was his, and he knew exactly what to do.

  Closing his eyes, he visualized the plate in his head as he’d done a thousand times on his private cot in the middle of the night. Each time wondering how it would feel and what would happen. But now that it was for real, those images coalesced into a solid thing within his head. It felt like it was already there, just waiting to be born. It lived, glowing solidly before him. For some reason, it never even occurred to him to think of an equation.