Ashes To Ashes - Volume 1

Brightise couldn’t sleep. She had been lying down on her cot in the tent she shared with Clober for almost two hours, but her wounds wouldn’t let her rest. They stung sharply under the gauze, keeping her awake and suffering.

Clober was sleeping on a smaller cot next to her, unaware of her pain. She had been up till late at night, playing with her new sword and showing off to the younger boys who did not own one. Brightise had had to confiscate the sword to get her to head to bed. Actually, she’d had to ask Syd to take the sword from her, as she was still too weak to catch her.

Children had a very bad short-term memory. One moment Clober was tearing up because she had gotten Brightise hurt by climbing up that tree, and the next she was making her chase her around again to take that sword away.

Brightise looked at her sleeping sister in silent wonder. Did she use to be this innocent too? When did that change? When did she start caring more about bringing food home rather than playing with her friends?

She could probably trace that change back to when their parents had died, but if she was honest, her sisters had always been her best friends. That was why Morral’s disappearance hurt twice as much. When that Fire Demon had taken her, she had lost both her older sister and her best friend.

Brightise tried to sit up without making any noise. Her wounds pulled at her skin painfully when she stretched her arms, but she slowly managed to stand up. She quietly padded over to a low table by the entrance of the tent, where a candle was shining weakly. Brightise had lit it before putting Clober to sleep. Her sister was pretty much used to waking up in dark, strange places by now, but she figured they might as well use a candle now that one was available.

Brightise had other plans for that candle now.

Pushing her hair out of her face, she extended her hands, feeling the warmth of the flame against her palms. The sensation was as soothing as she remembered. While she had been trying to sleep though, she had come up with a theory. Now was the best time to put it to the test.

Brightise used her right hand to take the gauze off her left arm. She had a deep gash there that was almost seven centimeters long. It was not bleeding as much anymore, but it hurt a lot. Picking up the burning candle with her other hand, Brightise slowly moved the flame towards her injury. As it got closer, the pain faded away and was replaced by a calming sensation.

Taking things one step further, she tipped the candle sightly and let the flame touch the gash on her arm. What happened next made her almost drop the candle in shock. She had not expected to get burned, but the result was even better than she had imagined. Not only did her wound stop hurting completely, but it also unexpectedly started to heal before her eyes. The edges of the gash started to glow with an orange light as her skin began to mend itself.

Brightise was breathing heavily. When the skin of her arm looked as good as new, she put down the candle for a moment, unwrapped her other arm, and then repeated the same process all over again until she had two healthy, fully-functioning arms.

Fire Demons did not just wreck havoc all over the Land of Oasis for no reason. The fire on their hands and hair needed to be kept alive in order for them to survive. Burning humans, trees and flowers, or even whole fields, villages and forests, made the fire burn brighter and the demons become stronger. Fire literally sustained them.

Even though Brightise’s hands and hair were not alight, it seemed that fire had the same nourishing effect on her that it did on real Fire Demons. It had healed her injuries in no time.

The scratch on her forehead was not as deep, so she let it be. She had to still appear to be injured the next day after all. To that effect, she wrapped the gauze around her arms again. No one could know that she had this kind of power. She would have to pretend to be tired and hurting during the next few days, but if they came across any danger, she would be able to defend herself and her sister effectively.

Brightise put the candle back on the table and walked to her cot. This time, when she lay down, she was relaxed enough to drift off to sleep.

She woke up several hours later completely refreshed.

Clober was already up and running, trying to get every single person she came across to fight her and her brand new sword. Brightise found her right outside their tent, practising her sword technique with Rayvad. Syd was sitting on a low bench, eating some seeds out of his hand as he watched them.

“How are you feeling?” he asked her as soon as he noticed her presence.

Brightise walked over to him deliberately slow. “It still hurts a bit,” she lied.

Syd nodded in understanding and patted the spot next to him. “Have a seat. Don’t strain yourself.” When she did, he extended his hand. “Want some? They are regular sunflower seeds. Your teeth won’t glow in the dark, I promise.”

Brightise took some with a smile. “What time are we leaving?” she asked.

“Whenever you feel ready. Like I said, no one is rushing you.”

Actually, the Blood Moon was kind of rushing her. “I’m fine. I could ride a horse with my eyes closed.”

“Don’t let Rayvad hear you say that. He’s starting to think you might not be as reckless as he originally thought.”

Brightise was surprised. “I fell off a tree yesterday,” she reminded him.

“That was an accident.”

They left Linvas behind them one hour later and headed deeper into Forest Kastlam. There would be no other signs of civilization until they reached Forest Zavenel and Lake Falad, where the Amazon camp was located.

“All warrior camps are near natural sources of water,” Rayvad explained as he rode ahead of them. “The Amazons live on the coast of Lake Falad, and the main Slorigan camp is up at River Draban. Let’s not even talk about the Elves. They live next to a crossroad of four rivers.”

“What about the Doyas?” Brightise asked. “Don’t they live up on Mount Gamernock?”

“That’s where the springs of River Draban are. Sometimes we find arrowheads in the waters. Anyway, they want to have a good vantage point. They’d never live in a valley or a forest.”

Brightise had heard that the Doyas were avid archers. A handmade Doyas crossbow was considered a small treasure all across the Land of Oasis. Sometimes traveling merchants would stop in Paldagor and claim to have enchanted Doyas arrows or steel Amazon shields. Hardly anyone ever took them seriously. How could an old fat merchant get his hands on the weapon of a female warrior?

“There are people who lurk around battle grounds and search the bodies after the battle is over,” Rayvad said when Brightise asked her question out loud. “Warriors are usually buried with their weapons, but sometimes it takes days for the losing side to send reinforcements to carry the bodies home.”

“That is a despicable job,” Brightise muttered.

They kept riding until it started to get dark. They had gotten plenty of rest in Linvas, so they saw no reason to take a break until nightfall. Syd asked Brightise if she was good to go for another kilometer or so, and she said she felt great. Or as great as one could be, considering she was supposed to have scratches all over her arms. In the end, they decided to keep going until Clober began to feel sleepy.

Rayvad had borrowed a lantern from the camp, and when the sun set, he lit it and used it to navigate his way through the dark forest. Syd and Brightise followed tight behind him on their own horses. Clober was just starting to nod off against Brightise’s back, when Rayvad stopped abruptly in front of them.

“What is it?” Syd asked nervously.

Rayvad still had his back turned to them, so they couldn’t see his face.

“Ray?” Syd asked a second time.

His brother turned around with a frown.

“I can see some light in the distance,” he whispered to them.