Shadun

Burn it all

Chapter Four

<Burn it all>

The common room wasn't burning yet but the thick acrid smoke made it hard to breath and see. In the suffocating__ and vision obscuring___ smoke, Relda remembered Sluven's lesson. 'Real swordmen can hold their breaths for long durations,' he said, 'I happen to know a few of their training,'

'Like the footwork you taught me?' Relda was eight at the time.

'Yes, girl....'

Relda plunged out of the memory as if coming out of deep water. Then she took a deep breath of smoke, emptying her mind till there was nothing in her head but a blank space. In that blank space, she imagined a realm filled with air, cool air: the sun rose, flowers bloomed, birds chirped from unseen places. The blank space was no more, instead, she had constructed a world filled with roses in her head. This technique is called the Fading. It's a very difficult technique. Though to Relda it came instinctively because of practice.

She held her breathe. As far as she holds the realm of roses in her mind, and the air swaying the flowers, she wouldn't be required to breath.

Relda set out upstairs, used to the terrain from a hundred times of visiting the inn not to be bothered much by the obscuring smoke. Fire everywhere. The second floor was burning badly, walls and ceiling together. The heat scalded her skin. She didn't wince or hesitate, instead, she listened. Her sharp ears caught noise__ through the roar of the fire__ from upstairs, that sounded like a person yelling....., or calling for help!

Relda bounded up immediately, taking the steps in twos and threes: a chunk of ceiling fell too close to her for comfort. She bounded to the landing of the third floor and stopped. Not because of the fire burning the walls. In fact it wasn't burning nearly as bad as the second floor here. But because of the voices she heard. Two men arguing loudly.

"........, for what?!" A powerful voice yelled. "Few Spores and a squad of frightened human soldiers? While Venar slips out of my fingers yet again. Another decade of suffering under the shadow of pathetic fake gods!"

"More than that," The second voice, cool and calm, assured. "More than that lord Kloud. I have this city now, and will strengthen my power as far as Luxer before spring ends."

Kloud? Relda thought curiously, the demon king? Who calls himself that even as a joke. "I don't care about your pathetic human land!" The voices were coming from the attic. Relda moved closer. Lord Kloud continued. "I'll burn it all if I could, Veas Sha, Armagol, Dia, hell even the high realms! I would chase mother out of Nara if I could today."

"All in time," the cool voice answered. Relda reached the steps leading to the loft. She climbed up finding the hatch door open, then peered into the room as the voice continued. "That's why you have the army in the Lost plain,"

"Pathetic!" Lord Kloud shouted, but his words was not what made Relda freeze. The room was burning for one, and for another, master Trom lay dead with a dagger in his heart on his Sheashen carpet not two steps from the table he sat behind to talk to her earlier. "Those are just bands of Forsaken bastards and Mad Giants, I need Flameyes. If only one of you Monsok fools could locate me a Wreckress I'll be eternally grateful."

The voices were coming out of the bedroom. Just beyond the bedroom door, Relda had her first look of the cool voiced man as he answered. "We have been searching my lord," he wiped his face with a handkerchief. He looked a kind middle aged man: slender and aging well, with his short white hair and a cold look in his grey eyes. The other one, she couldn't see___ lord Kloud___ was pacing around in anger. "But Veas Sha and their dogs keep harassing us...."

"Enough of that!" Lord Kloud snarled. "You'll locate Venar, Bashir, you'll find out why he killed our mutual friend....." He paused, Relda could hear the smirk in his voice. "I see our dear master Trom, or should I say Foue the demon of stars...,"____ Bashir, the cool voiced man, flinched____ "keeps hellspiders as pets. I'll take those old friend." And he stormed out of the room coming into the study.