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

Chapter 8 - Fox

Lucy is showing some interest in the young warriors, though her favourite changes regularly, and some days she insists marrying a jar of Karen's jam. Anything that isn't a horse is fine by me.

"Alex! Al..." His throat quivered as he continued shouting, but all that came out of his mouth was silence.

He pulled the largest breath he could muster to scream her name again. It wouldn't take long before she disappeared over the hill and into the water, and she had to hear him. Maybe this time she would turn around and save him after all.

She couldn't abandon him too.

Something ripped inside his throat when he tried to break through the powerful silence. A high-pitched squeak, then all that happened was a floodgate of tears opening as the tip of Alex's bow sunk beneath the hill.

"Nice try." Through the magician's gloves popped a row of bony knuckles against the leather. "You sure got potential."

A muted 'no' roared out of his mouth, his arms and legs squirming to escape the tall warrior's grasp, but the evil giant simply flung Fox against the saddle.

The horse neighed softly. If only it had been Billy, he would have kicked his hind legs so hard that the giant would have a bellyache for the rest of his life.

But Billy was now with Seb and Abby. They had left him behind, and now he may never see them again.

"What are you waiting for, Leo? Prepare the boy for the journey."

"This wasn't the deal, Katla. No survivors—that's what my cousin told you." He yanked Fox by the scruff of his neck, causing a pain that seared all the way to his tailbone. "This lad isn't even the worst. What will you do when the girl reaches Half-Ear? Have you thought about that?"

"Gods, Leo, let it be my problem. I'll improvise."

"I've seen you do that before." The giant grabbed a piece of rope out of his pockets and bound Fox to the back of the saddle, the thin thread cutting his already blistered flesh. "And I don't like it."

Fox yelped. He should have never left Alex and Nick. Nothing had panned out the way he had hoped. He wasn't the hero who had avenged his family by brutally slaying their killer. The Gods hadn't helped him, though in Mother's stories the Gods of Virtue always aided women and children in need.

Was Alex right about him being a magician?

No. Magicians were descendants of the Gods of Sin. And the pictures in the book that Nick had once showed him had been very clear: they were tall and dark figures who controlled the elements with a snap of their fingers. None of them had been red-haired children like him.

He was a Fire Master. That's what Lord Brandon had said all those years ago when he had lit his first fire. He was definitely no stupid magician like Katla who conjured flames out of thin air. To play with fire, he needed twigs and firestones.

Or Father's special sword. There it lay now, buried beneath the ashes, but Fox still remembered the day when Father mixed the molten iron with a red stone that Vanya had brought with him from The Jade Islands. It could withstand any kind of attack—even a magical one. That was why he had been able to stop the raging ball of fire.

But the forest...

He couldn't explain why the flames had obeyed him there, so it must have been the Gods helping out to save him and his friends. It was the only explanation.

The rope tightened around him when the giant mounted his horse and landed on the saddle. Fox closed his eyes, murmuring a silent prayer. "Please, Holy Seven. Smite these wicked men and end this madness. I want you to take me someplace safe."