My friend wrote this, please review, she would really appreciate it.
Jeweled Elements Book 1:
Kindling Fires
Prologue
Six people sat in a circle, each in a chair the same distance from the others on both sides. All had weary faces, lined with worry and despair. Very few marks of laughter remained on their cheeks and foreheads.
The tallest slowly shifted, his red robes imitating the colors of fire during movement. He rubbed his face, as though trying the wipe away the wrinkles permanently etched in his features.
"We must do something," he said, anger breaking into his voice. The woman across from him nodded her head. Her pretty face was marred by a scar that went from across her forehead, down her cheek and bit into the edge of her lip.
The four others voice agreement, each with their own troubles on their minds.
The first man stood.
"Is this our fate? To sit around, while the Outliers burn our villages?" He demanded, meeting all of his companions' gazes. They all looked away, except for one. She stood and faced him.
"I understand your troubles, Aedus, but our own lands are suppressed. We fight our own battles."
Several cries of "Holon!" came as she sat down.
Aedus frowned in thought.
"Maybe...no, it's to risky," he muttered. A woman, who had been silent through out the whole council, stood.
"You want to call the Mage," she said, her accent lingering over the words, and making them sound inhumanly beautiful. What the words suggested however, was far from pleasant.
Several cries of protest came from the remaining men and women, all except for two who huddled together.
The man who wore blue robes whispered to the woman in white,
"If they do call the Mage, we will be the only two survive."
Both people had glints of satisfaction in their eye.
Their time had come.
