Warden's Fire

There weren’t always dragons in the Valley. From what little information she was able to extract from the ship’s crew, Alina knew that the region used to be inhabited by Titankin; powerful beings that embodied the traits of their Titan creators. Terran such as her had somehow managed to expand their borders until only the most treacherous and inhospitable regions remained outside their influence. Were it not for the attack on her village, she likely would have dismissed the legends as stories just as so many others had. Yet here she was, on the edge of nowhere, intending to travel into a land of beasts and bandits. And, of course, dragons. She stared at the snowcapped mountains as they clawed at the sky above, cutting through clouds as they passed overhead. Somewhere in those mountains was the person that could help her.

Heavy footsteps pulled her gaze to face the captain of the vessel. His broad frame filled out a tunic that appeared to be a size too small and his pants were covered in so many patches that Alina could not tell what the original fabric was. His large, feather-plumed hat and salt-caked cape completed the ensemble but next to the members of his crew he seemed regal. After the crew found her stowed away among the cargo, she pleaded with the captain to take her to the Valley in the Jaws and he had agreed under the condition that she work as hard as the rest of the crew.

She had expected him to drop her onto the beach the moment they arrived at the small collection of shacks and docks called Maraten but he seemed hesitant, reluctant even, to send her off into the unknown. He opened his mouth to speak but couldn’t seem to find the words. He never said more than a few curt words to her during her time on the ship, but he always spoke with a confidence that could inspire a coward to battle a storm. Now however, after three months aboard the Chimera, Alina seemed to have softened the jaded man’s heart. She smiled up at him with raised eyebrows. The captain chuckled, amused at his own hesitation.

“Well, I don’t suppose you’d be interested in staying with us, as a Nomad? The lads have taken a shine to you, you know. And you could see your mother every off season.” Alina knew that the captain was just stalling for time. He had made the offer before and had been rejected but this time her heart ached as she turned him down. It was similar to when she left her mother on the shore, standing among the ruins of their home. She shook her head, turning down the offer while also trying to prevent the tears from rolling down her cheeks.

“I’m sorry, I know that I may never find him but I-” She shut her eyes, frustrated that she couldn’t even say goodbye properly. Then she felt something being draped around her shoulders, as though the ocean itself were wrapping warm arms around her. When she opened her eyes, the captain had folded the collar into a hood and turned his cape into a small, makeshift cloak. Realizing what the man had given her, Alina was about to protest but he shook his head.

“Think of this as a loan from me to you. You’ll need something to keep you warm up in the mountains so you’ll borrow this for now and you can return it in two seasons. Y’know, after you’ve found your mental mentor in the snow up there.” Alina stepped forward and wrapped her arms as far as they could around the man’s waist, muttering muffled words of thanks into his shirt. He held her there for a few moments as the rising tide crashed into the shore.

When Alina finally let go, the other members of the crew soon gathered around her as if sensing her impending departure. Each man presented her with a farewell token ranging from rations of dried meat to a paring knife to a roll of rope. After many more promises to meet again and a final wave farewell, Alina ran down the gangplank and through the dirt paths that led out of Maraten towards the base of the mountains.

The crew of the Chimera watched as Alina’s small figure disappeared from view among the wilderness, each sending their silent prayers to the Titans for her safe journey. As they prepared to rejoin their fellow Nomads in the open seas, a few of the men began to question whether they could have done anything to change the girl’s mind.

“Lads, you all know that her path is not to travel endlessly on the seas. She has too much fire to stay in one place for too long. Besides, once she reaches the mountains she’ll have the Alkonoki watching over her.” When some of the crew wondered how he could be so certain, their captain smiled and turned towards the open ocean.

“Well, if she’s even half the woman her mother is then she will make waves wherever she goes.” The men all exchanged glances with each other until their captain came out of his ruminations.

“Well, what are you dogs waiting for?! The girl is gone less than twenty minutes and you all forget how to set sail?!” Shocked at the sudden change in their captain’s demeanor, they began scrambling to finish their preparations. The captain smiled, reflecting on the impact the girl had on the ship’s crew. And him. She wasn’t what he had expected from a young girl of less than ten years, but she was sharp and showed a hunger for learning anything and everything she could no matter where she was. He was sure she could manage a small sailboat on her own now, not that it would do her much good in the mountains though.

As the ship left the shore and returned to open waters, the captain took one last look towards the snow-capped towers. Pulling the brim of his hat over his eyes he whispered a final wish to the sea breeze.

“Good luck, kid.”

****

Alina had just reached the top of a hill outside of town when she felt a warm breeze toss her dark hair around her face. She turned and saw the Chimera on the horizon. From her spot on the hill the ship almost looked like the back of some mystical creature, its bright red fins cutting through the waves. Wiping away a final tear, Alina steeled herself and continued up through the rocky mountainside.

By nightfall, she had made it through the woodland surrounding Maraten and found shelter among the rocky crags at the base of the mountain. The cold winds howled, nipping at her fingers and nose as she chewed a savory piece of dried meat. She was not sure what animal it was made from but it had been her favorite treat while aboard the ship. The pepper and sea salt were the only other ingredients but the more she gnawed on each piece the more she thought of her home by the sea and her time aboard the Chimera. She could feel the warm summer sun on her face and the smell of the salty ocean breeze. She wiggled her toes inside her worn shoes, remembering the feeling of hiding them in the sand along the shore. Laying her head down on her pack, she wrapped herself up in her new favorite cloak and fell asleep.

Alina was awakened by the sun as it broke through the trees. She stretched her cramped limbs, took note of her surroundings and sighed. Trees and rocks everywhere. She turned and looked up at the mountainside. There appeared to be a small trail leading deeper into the mountains where the snow started to gather. She had found her path. After another small meal of dried mystery meat, she picked her way across her rocky campsite and started up the trail. By midmorning, she could no longer see the ocean and it was getting harder to breathe. Snow had started collecting on the path forward and the wind had picked up, biting through her thin tunic and pants. She was not sure how high up she was and the last time she caught a glimpse of the lands below she had to fall onto her hands to steady herself from the nausea that overcame her. She inched onward, one hand on the rock face and the other clawing through the snow.

By midday she reached a plateau and collapsed in a mass of cloth, snow and sweat. Each breath was like inhaling fire straight into her lungs. Her limbs ached and shook from the cold and her vision began to blur. Squeezing her eyes shut she rolled onto her side and took a deep breathe to try and calm herself. As she opened her eyes, she was met with the image of a young boy lying on the ground. He was so close that Alina felt that she could reach out and touch him. Her heart was twisting in her chest and her breath caught in her throat.

This should not be possible.

Alina knew who this boy was even before she brushed his long silver hair from his face.

“Soren?” Her voice wavered. She flinched as the boy’s eyes shot open; two violet saucers stared back at her.

Why am I dead?

The question drained the blood from the girl’s face. She broke down into a sob as the boy continued to question her from beyond the veil, eyes never breaking away from hers. The pangs of guilt pulled at the weak strings in her heart.

Why? Why are you alive while I am dead?

“I’m s-sorry, Soren. I c-couldn’t stop h-him.” Alina’s chest burned. Her whole body burned. She could feel the magic building in her body, looking for an exit. Building. Boiling. She cried out for Soren to run but he remained motionless. The flames were filling her lungs with smoke. Unable to keep them contained any longer she let out a pained scream as her pale fire poured from her body, searing the rocks and melting the snow around her. The mountain groaned and cracked from the arcane disturbance. Alina was gasping for air when she heard the mountain roar overhead. A wave of ice and snow gave way and rushed down the mountainside towards her.

Now, you’ll be dead too.

Soren’s voice faded as Alina felt the ground shift beneath her before falling away into the torrent of snow. She pressed herself into the rock as hard as she could; praying that it would not turn over and crush her. The ice continued to pile onto her and her rock as it pushed them down the mountainside into the valley below. Alina tried to keep a grip on the wet stone, but the mounting snow formed a wedge between them, and she soon lost her hold. Tumbling into the icy rapids, Alina's mind scrambled to make sense of her orientation. She would see the sun for a moment before being forced back into the ice. Rolling, twisting. Her pack straps strained before the seams popped. Rolling, falling, tumbling. Finally, the ice seemed to lose momentum and began to pile on top of her.

The world was now layered in ice and snow and Alina had just enough room to take pained, shallow breaths. Her head ached and her body felt broken, but she knew that she had to escape. She thought back to the flames that she unleashed on the mountainside and tried to remember the sensations she felt. The burning in her chest and the heat in her hands. How it built up and boiled like a pot of water left out over a fire.

It was weaker but Alina could feel the flames warming her body. The ice became small puddles around her, soaking her clothes before becoming a warm vapor. Alina pressed her hands into the ice overhead and pushed. They cut through the ice until they hit something solid. A rock? She continued to melt the ice around it until sunlight began to pierce the layers of her icy prison. With renewed vigor, she clawed her way onto the surface and dragged herself away from the icy wreckage. Her magic faded as a new sensation began to take over her body. Exhaustion. She stared at the open sky happy to finally feel grass beneath her. Her eyelids began to lose their strength as a person flew into view and started circling overhead. She smiled to herself as she fell asleep, amused by what she saw. First dead friends and now people with wings.

****

When she awoke, the first thing Alina noticed was that she was inside a tent. The next was that her body hurt everywhere though she was surprised she didn't hurt more given her fall down the mountain. She reached around her shoulder to pull her cloak around her when she noticed it was missing. Sitting upright, she searched the tent. Nothing, save for the mat she was laying on. Where was it? She needed to find it. She crawled out of the tent and was immediately blinded by a blazing campfire. Shadows of ancient trees shifted around her as though the fire were giving them new, unnatural life.

“Oi, the lass is awake.” A man on her right stood up and approached her.

“Y’need some food? We’ve got a fresh kill we can share with ya.” Her vision was blurry, but Alina could make out layers of orange hair on the man’s head and long mustache that drooped past his jaw. Just as her eyes were starting to adjust, another voice joined in from across the campfire.

“Leave the child be, Margren. Give her a chance to get her bearings.” The voice belonged to an older man. His skin was tanned like old leather pulled across lean muscles. His long white hair and matching beard were braided with wooden beads that clicked together as he spoke. Margren returned to his seat on a small rock as the elder man raised a small wooden bowl up for Alina to see.

“Here, child. This is yours if you want it.” He placed the bowl onto a small stool next to him. Alina was hit by the smell of unknown spices and meat. Entranced by the curious aroma, she cautiously made her way to the stool and picked up the bowl. She looked back at the older man who nodded back at her before returning to his own bowl. It was filled with sizzling chunks of dark meat coated in a myriad of dried seasonings. She popped a piece into her mouth and let out a small squeak in surprise.

“Not to your liking?” Alina shook her head before putting another chunk into her mouth.

“It’s amazing! Just too hot.” The men broke into hearty laughs as Alina continued to scarf down her food. She had never tasted anything like it. The meat melted in her mouth and the seasonings created sparks of flavor on her tongue as she crushed them between her teeth. She was so enamored with her meal that she almost forgot about why she left her tent in the first place.

“Where is my cloak?” Margren pointed a knife towards a low branch a few meters away where her cloak and torn pack were hanging.

“A friend of ours found ya. He had Vale and I go back ta check and we found a few of yer things.” He motioned towards his companion who gave a nod in agreement. Alina wiped her hands on her shirt and ran over to fetch her cloak from the branch. She held it against her chest and made her way back to the fire. She was glad that she could still smell the ocean on it.

“Thank you.” Alina wiped a stray tear as she pulled the cloak around her shoulders, feeling whole again.

“Do you mind telling us what you are doing out here, child? Are you from the settlement?” Alina shook her head.

“I’m from Aestus. I’m looking for a warrior so he can train me.” The two men looked at each other clearly shocked by revelation.

“Ya tellin’ me ya crossed the sea and a mountin’ all to find a man to train ya te fight?! The devil you want trainin’ fer? Ya should be with ya family, girl, not cuttin’ down men an’ beasts.” Alina stared into the campfire. She remembered Soren’s body in her arms the night that her home was burned to the ground. She could feel her stomach knot, churning the food in her gut.

“My home is gone. A beast burned it down and killed my friend. I’m grateful for you both looking after me but I need to find the Raven-” A shrill screech filled the air as a large hawk swooped over the campfire and perched itself among the branches.

“Who’s looking for me?” A gruff voice accompanied a figure as it materialized at the edge of the camp, its form twisting with the flickering of the campfire. The man pulled back the hood of his gray cloak to reveal a mass of thick, dark hair that fell just above a pair of dark eyes. Alina froze under the man’s gaze, his brow set in a permanent scowl. He scoffed.

“What could a child so far from home possibly want from me?” Alina looked back at him puzzled. Vale and Margren had only just found out where she was from, how could he know? Raven answered her unspoken question.

“My companion, Khali, saw quite the light show on the mountainside.” He looked towards the hawk that was busy cleaning its feathers.

“She also saw the avalanche it created and the only one to climb from that mess was you. Anyone trying to escape the Valley would travel east towards Clivul but a foreigner from the west would travel through Maraten and up through the mountains.” Alina was shocked. More impressed really than intimidated and rested her face in her hands as the man continued.

“No matter where you’re from, you aren’t from here. Which means you don’t know who I am, so explain what you could possibly want from me?” Before either of the other men could speak up, Alina shot to her feet and bowed.

“Raven of the Wall, I want you to train me to be a warrior.” Alina’s muscles twitched in protest, but she remained still until Raven stood in front of her. When she looked up, the man was still frowning but there was something else flickering behind his dark eyes. Curiosity?

“No.” The weight of the rejection fell on her heart as though the weight of the ocean itself were crushing it. The pain soon gave way to rage, and Alina could feel her flames flicker in her chest once more. Raven’s companions began to protest when he held up a hand.

“Not unless she can show me what she did on the mountain. If she cannot control her magic, then she is nothing but a disaster waiting to happen. And if she cannot fight tired then she will never train hard enough.” He turned back to the girl and motioned her to follow him.

“However, if you can prove that you can use it at will then I will consider training you.” He stepped away from the camp into the open field a few meters away from the tree line. Alina followed after him.

“That’s far enough.” He turned and stood with his arms folded across his chest, a lonely statue in a sea of green grassland. Alina paused standing almost two meters from him.

“Now, attack me. If you cannot or it’s too weak to make me move, then you fail. If you so much as make me flinch, then you win.” Alina was still fuming with Raven’s initial rejection. He had no idea how far she had traveled, what she had to leave behind to meet him here. The flames roared in her chest. And he dares reject her after she traveled all this way? The flames grew and filled her body. She gritted her teeth as she concentrated her flames into her left hand. Hotter, stronger. Her hand filled with pale light as her magic flowed freely. Her muscles ached and twitched but she didn’t care. She would make him see that she was worthy. Holding her palm towards the man she took one last breath before releasing her magic in a single burst. Silver flames erupted from her hand, burning everything in their path as they charged towards the warrior. Alina watched as the flames engulfed her target. She let her hands fall at her side defeated as Raven stepped through the flames, clad in an ethereal armor. She collapsed onto her knees as he approached her, fighting back tears from the pain that now rippled through her body.

“What is your name, girl?” She looked up at the man, his armor fading away as he kneeled down in front of her.

“Alina...of...Aestus.” Fighting to stay conscious, she tried to sit upright but fell sideways. Raven caught her and scooped her up into his arms before making his way back towards his companions. Khali was screeching in awe at the girl's performance while the men stood in shock, their mouths stuttering incoherent compliments. Their dumbfounded looks were only outshined by Raven's broad smile. He was afraid that his mission would die with him but Alina's arrival stirred a spark in his chest that he had not felt for over a decade. Training the girl was a risk he was willing to take if it meant restoring his order. Even if it did mean training a half-breed.

“Welcome to the Wardens, Alina of Aestus.” Alina didn't hear him. She was fast asleep before they reached her tent.