A Blaze in the Dark (A New Dawn #1)

Chapter 1 - Sebastian

Dear brother, I hope all is well. Charity and Temperance have blessed us with another hot and humid summer that made the crops grow strong.

Sebastian crawled in the dirt, curled his finger around the clay marble and held it tight. He squinted, aiming for the larger red ball in the middle, then loosened his grip and flicked his thumb out. One by one the grey marbles were shot out of the ring he had drawn into the sand. The green balls didn't even budge.

Puffing out his cheeks, Fox banged his head against the barn, its outer wall one of the last places in the village providing shelter from the feverish sting of summer. "No, it's not fair! Why do you always win, Seb?"

"Because I'm the best." Sebastian wiggled his eyebrows as he got up and stepped out of the shade to collect his rewards. Another five of Fox's marbles would be his.

Just as the smouldering sun pounded down on him, a small breeze shifted the heat. It didn't help much. Sweat was still pouring down his back.

"But I wanna be the best marble shooter in Laneby."

"Soon you'll be. I won't be playing with you anymore when I'm eleven," Sebastian said in all seriousness. Finally his birthday was coming up—only three more days.

Behind his long red fringe, Fox's already pale face turned a shade paler. "No, Seb, you can't abandon me. First, it was Alex, then Nick, and now you. It really isn't fair. I want to join the men too."

"You can't. You have to wait until you're eleven too. It's the law." Sebastian picked up the clay balls and dropped them, one by one, into the grey pouch hanging from his belt. "Besides, why do you even wanna join the hunting patrol? You're not a good horseman. You drop every sword you get your hands on. And don't even get me started on your archery skills. You'd shoot out your own eyes before hitting any target."

He sniggered, laughing louder than he intended to. The joke wasn't that funny, but it was too easy to tease Fox. His best friend had other talents, but fire-building wasn't a skill Laneby's finest warriors were waiting for.

Fox stuck out his tongue, then came charging ahead with the force of the God of Wrath. With his sticky hands, the redhead grabbed the sleeves of Sebastian's shirt and pushed him towards the drying mud from yesterday's thunderstorm, groaning and moaning.

Oh no, that wasn't going to happen. Sebastian swung his arms around his friend and pulled him closer, then he hooked his foot behind the boy's leg. With a high-pitched yelp, Fox slammed down into the mud.

It hadn't even been a challenge.

While a victorious grin filled his face, Sebastian reached his hand out to help Fox back up. "Enjoy the taste of defeat?"

Fox spat out pieces of brownish slime, coughing. "This always happens. Why can't I be as strong as you are? I'm the blacksmith's son—I should be strong."

Before Sebastian could tell him he was probably switched at birth, Alex and Nick appeared on top of the hill. They had just left the edges of the mighty Forest of Lane and its luscious green canopy behind and were treading down the craggy path leading to the barn.

While Alex carried her bow on her back like it had been glued there since birth, Nick was lazily dragging his sword on the ground. Sweat was pearling down their faces, and a well-timed breeze carried Nick's pig-like scent from under his mop of dirty blond hair all the way down.

Sebastian didn't care. Next hunt, he would stink as well. Nick had been with the men for nearly four moons, and Alex for over a year. As a girl, Alex was an exception, but her talents with a bow were like no one had ever seen. She was easily the best archer of all the children in Laneby and better than most adults. So when her eleventh birthday had come last year, Father had given her the best present one could ever get: a place among the warriors.