Fire Mage by John Forrester Read Free Book Online

small, dirty boy in shoddy clothes ran up to Talis.  
    “Please sir, have pity on an old lady and her grandson.” The boy gestured to a frail, wrinkled woman crumpled against a stone house. Her hair looked windswept and tangled, and her skin was sun-burnt and dry.
    Talis wanted to go home and celebrate with his father, but the boy wouldn’t let him pass.
    “Wait,” Mara said, and held Talis’s shoulder. She turned to face the boy. “Where are you from?”
    “We’re refugees…from the city of Onair. Please, sir, just a few coppers?”
    “Onair?” Talis said. Father was from the western coastal city of Onair.
    “She looks hungry,” Mara said.
    “I wouldn’t ask for myself,” the boy said. “But my grandmother is so cold. I’m afraid for her life.”
    “We should help her… Give her some coins.”  
    Talis nodded, glancing at the woman. She cringed as they approached.  
    Mara put out her hand. “Please, we mean no harm.”
    The woman blinked, breathing in and out haltingly.  
    “You see,” Mara said, “my friend here has a few extra coins…we wanted to share them with you. It’s cold out.”
    Opening her mouth as if to speak, the old woman coughed several times instead, wincing as if something hurt inside. She took a long breath, lifting her moist eyes to stare at Mara. “It is cold outside. Cold, cold, so cold…” A tear spilled down her cheek, but she remained motionless.
    Talis placed some coins in her hands. They were like ice, as if nothing could ever warm that flesh. The woman stared at the coins for a while, then smiled at Talis. “You’re a kind boy. I’ve not had such kindness since”—she glanced off—”since before…” Her voice trailed off, and her eyes glazed over.
    Turning to the boy, Talis said, “What happened in Onair?”
    “We came with the others that escaped. All is lost now, lost to the waves.”
    “To the waves?” Mara said.
    “Aye, to the fury of the sea. When our rulers refused to yield to the Jiserians, their sorcerers sent a tide such as has never been seen to destroy our walls.”
    Jiserians? Naru was allied with the Jiserian Empire. He thought of his father telling stories of his childhood in Onair, along the beautiful sea. What would Father do if he knew that Onair had fallen to the Jiserians? Surely Naru would break the alliance.
    “And then the necromancers came, sending hordes of undead into our city, killing the innocent and foolish. We were all fools for not leaving earlier.”
    A cold shiver swept through Talis as he imagined an undead army. He’d seen drawings of them inside books of legend and myth. Ghosts roaming the frozen forests to the north, animating slain humans and animals, their lifeless bodies filled with demonic spirits. Those stories still terrified him.
    “You must come and stay with my family, until you’re well—”
    “We cannot. I thank you, I do. But we cannot bring curses upon your house.”  
    The old woman gazed at a shadow scarring the cobblestone street, her head shaking like she was possessed by a fit of terror.  
    Despite any words Talis said, she just stared at the ground, ignoring the world around her. The shadow of darkness did seem to cast over her, and nothing could lift it.
    “I want to go,” Mara whispered. “Take me away from here….”
    As they left, Talis stopped a moment, watching the spot where the old woman looked. In the dark form, where the shadow merged with the light, he swore he noticed a shape: a wraith. Its eyes seemed to pierce his soul.

6. THE ANCIENT STRUGGLE
     

    In the fires of the great kitchen of his house, Talis pictured the image of the wraith he’d just seen. Although the room was warm, he felt a chill so strong his arms trembled. He gazed at the flames, remembering the story of the siege of Onair. His mind drifted off, and all he could see was hideous scenes of his nightmares. The ones where fingers gripped his neck so hard he’d wake up coughing. Darkness and fire