The Year of the Lumin by Andrew Ryan Henke Read Free Book Online Page A

fell backwards.  He slammed his hands on the table and leaned forward.  The Captain’s presence in the room was suddenly so huge and powerful that Noir unintentionally took a step back and looked at the ground.  “Do not speak to me in such a way, boy!  Unless you desire to feel the blades of my men!”
    A few moments of silence went by until Noir said, “My apologies, sir.  I did not mean….” Noir trailed off.
    Grandel then barked, “Gojen!”  Again the room’s door opened.  “Take him back to his cell.”  He came into the room and motioned Noir out the door.
    As Noir was leaving Grandel said, “Maybe when you learn a little respect, I will let you speak to me again.”
    With the guards behind and in front, Noir walked down the hall and then outside.  His heart beat in his chest because of the confrontation.  As he walked back through the town, he thought, “If Aimee and Uncle Steven have been captured, will I ever see them again?”
    Once Noir got back to his cell, he started asking Ratt about all that he had been told.
    Ratt responded to one of many questions, “So, he said they were taken by bandits because they can use vigors?  That’s pretty crazy.  That means one is attuned to sye.  They will probably take whichever one can use din to Tier and try to sell him or her as a Din Mage slave.”
    “What is din?”
    Ratt shook his head.  “You really are clueless, aren’t you?  It is the destructive side of the three vigors.  They can manipulate fire, ice, the ground.  Stuff like that.  Sye is like mind control and mental combat.  The most powerful Syeters are said to be able to read minds and control thoughts.  I’ve heard that they can also use their minds to move things.  They’ll probably try to sell the sye user to someone in Chrion.  There are other powerful Syeters there.”
    Noir could hardly believe this.  “This is impossible!  People actually can use these powers?!”
    Ratt furrowed his brow and gave a wry look.  “Yeah, duh!  It is pretty much what the world works on.  There are even a couple Luxins in this very group of people.”
    “So that’s what I am,” Noir said out loud.  “A Luxin.”  Noir spoke slowly over these words as if trying them on, “I can use the lux vigor.”
    “You can?” Ratt said excitedly.
    “That is what they said.”
    “No way!  You’ll probably be taken to see Fafnir, then.”
    “Who is Fafnir?  Someone else said that name when I was being tested.”
    “Heh,” Ratt laughed throatily.  “You’ll have to see for yourself.”  Ratt waved his hand as if brushing away the topic.  “These people will probably want you to work for them now.”
    Ratt then asked one of the questions that he wanted to ask Captain Grandel.  “Who are these people anyway?”
    “They are a group of people who live outside the two kingdoms of this area.  I’ve heard rumors of them existing, but no one knows exactly where their hideout is.”  Ratt motioned toward the walls of their cell.  “Although we seemed to be able to find it easily enough.”  He shook his head as if putting aside the joke.  “I heard that their numbers are only a few hundred.  I also heard that they have a secret ally.  She is the lord of lux and awakens lux within people.  Most who can use lux have met her at some point.”
    “This Fafnir person?”
    “Right.  Anyway, this group seems harmless enough.  They stand for good things.  I got sick of how the people are treated in Tier, so I left.  That’s how I ended up here.  I was hiding in the woods and they found me and brought me here.  I agreed to join them a couple days ago.”
    “So why are you in prison?”
    “They caught me stealing from the town blacksmith… which is wonderfully smart of me because they told me later that anyone living in Talik is free to have anything they want from the smithy if they truly need it.”  Ratt laughed half-heartedly.  “So how’d you end up