Taming the Elements: Elwin Escari Chronicles: Volume 1 by David Ekrut

Author:David Ekrut [Ekrut, David]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2014-12-20T00:00:00+00:00

The first streams of predawn light escaped the storm clouds in the east, giving the small village of Benedict a few pink rays. Wilton sat atop his father’s store with his legs hanging over the ledge, not bothering to wipe the rain from his face. Drops of water thrummed off the roof and dampened the red wood, turning it to a deep crimson. Dark pools gathered at sags in the roof like puddles of blood.

Beneath him, the square was desolate.

Maybe less people would visit this year’s festival. He knew it to be an empty hope. The rain would cause everyone to be inside the inn. Wooden walls provided flimsy protection, even if they were crafted of the thick redwoods from the Carotid forest.

It was not long ago when he remembered this height being the pinnacle of his life. He would come up here as a boy and watch people go by. He remembered being afraid of falling forward. The memories betrayed his current view. The ground was not so far away, ten paces. If he fell now, he knew how to roll into the fall to avoid injury.

If he jumped the right way, perhaps he could find his life’s end. People would say he fell. No one would know what he had done.

He felt tears in his eyes. How many of his family and friends would die?

Wilton had already seen more death than he cared to see. Zaak had been a fool to send him and the others to that island. They were like untrained children against giants. No. Children would have stood a better chance against giants. It was madness to have thought they could have defeated the black savants in their own camp.

Garrin Haysworth of Paradine, a lordling to a major house, had been in command. Like the rest of the thief-catchers, Garrin was lean of stature. Wilton knew that Garrin’s birthright wasn’t the sole reason for his leadership. His dark eyes had a way of weighing a man as if Garrin could see his inner thoughts.

Even now, Wilton could not fault Garrin for his strategy. The lordling had made the best of an impossible charge. With his eyes closed, he could see that night as if he was still there.

The moon almost waxed full, providing ample light by which to see.

Their ship dropped anchor a mile from the shore. Captain Tidworth had been a smuggler of wyvern’s tail before the war, but his ship had been torched by the savants. Seeking revenge, Tidworth confessed his crimes to the king’s court, and the king took the smuggler into his service against Bain. Tidworth’s unique skills took them unseen through the dark.

Not a single torch was lit. Tidworth sailed them by moonlight and memory.

From the deck of the ship, Wilton saw dying campfires, casting shadows on large tents. The encampment of Bain’s army stretched across the sandy shores and onto the rocky plains beyond the beach.

If there were sentinels, none cried out. Garrin said there would likely be no watch on the sea by night.

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