Holding Ground - Prologue

There weren't always dragons in the valley.

Like many other creatures associated with magic and those who practiced it, dragons tended to cluster around Enclaves, where they were treated with more respect than fear, and everything was reasonably fireproof. Some of them had followed the young Beastmaster, Kirios, to their new home, even though the derilict castle had a long way to go before it was a functional Enclave.

Still, it would be someday, and its comparatively few inhabitants were working tirelessly to make it so.

Tiera paced around the lodestone at the heart of the castle fortress, the redwood shaft in her hand tracing through the air, leaving glowing runes in it’s wake.

The majority of the runes settled on the lodestone, sinking into the rock and fading from view, where they would gain power over time and as the population grew and their latant magic added to the supply. Finding a suitable lodestone had taken time and a great deal of effort; certain rocks held magic better than others, and those were frequently snatched up by the rich and powerful to build their Keeps. Other stones held magic well, but broke or wore down quickly and easily: the last thing any Mage with half a crumb of common sense wanted in a lodestone.

Other runess spread out onto the walls, floor and ceiling, re-enforcing the foundations of what was to become their new Enclave. Weakened stone strengthened, old and cracking wooden beams unwarped and straightened. A small flock of birds, who had previously nested in a nook caused by a dislodged stone, took flight before they could be trapped, twittering angrily.

It was a good thing that Tiera was a Runecrafter and not a Beastmaster, or she might have picked up several new and interesting phrases fit to make a statue blush. A small smile touched her lips at the thought of asking Kirios to translate, knowing that he would refuse. According to the tall and devestatingly handsome young man, the ability to hear animals mostly comprised of having to check that the steady stream of blatant propositions, threats and aggressive attempts to pick a fight weren't actually aimed at the Beastmaster themselves.

They had all been weary from battle and fatigue when Kirios had explained it, but Tiera still found the explanation amusing.

Ley-lines glowed on the floor, branching out from the lodestone carefully placed where they intersected. Magic flowed along those lines and out to the exterior of the castle, where Tiera’s friends were chanting, raising wards and protections. Having made an enemy of the Tyrant, the Destrier Enclave was likely to house refugees at some point, and external protections were not something that Tiera was willing to compromise on. Treachery, and the fact that the Tyrant wielded a terrifying amount of power were still significant possibilities, but that was no excuse to be careless.

Far above her, stone rumbled in time with distant chanting, the sound of neglected, crumbling fortifications being restored to their former strength. Once that was finished, the Enchanters and Battlemages would move in to add their touches, adding wards and giving them metaphorical teeth.

Tiera doubted that the wards would be enough, if the Tyrant decided that they were enough of a threat to be worth dealing with, but if he desired her death, or the death of those who would soon be under her protection, then Tiera intended to make him work for it.

Holding Ground is the sequel to The Enclave, which you can start reading at the link above.

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