A Dragon and Her Girl by Max Florschutz

Author:Max Florschutz
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Hemelein Publications
Published: 2020-01-05T16:00:00+00:00

Ash and Blood

Hannah Marie

Chapter One

Eva coughed up ash and dust as she fought her way out of the cellar. The heavy oak door crumbled between her fingers, singeing the rough skin of her palms. Even after three days, the embers burned hot against her hands. The house had collapsed on top of the cellar door and had it been any other disaster—a hurricane, tornado, flood—she would have been buried alive.

She was fortunate it had been fire.

She pushed her way through the crumbling wood and stepped into the sunlight.

Gray. Gray and red and orange. Everywhere. Ash coated everything that wasn’t still burning. What once had been a thriving village full of tailors, farmers, weavers, and bakers now drifted away on the wind.

The Queen’s judgement was swift and terrible, riding the sky on wings and breathing fire. This village, Eva’s village, would be a warning to the others who wished to disobey.

Eva turned around and looked at the wreckage of her house. In the cellar, she had heard the screams of her mother and sisters, had felt the blazing heat of the flame, and done nothing. What could she have done?

She bent and pulled at a board. It came away in pieces.

They were still under there. Buried by fire and wood and ash.

Tears ached in her throat, but she shoved them back down, bundling her emotions into a tight ball in the middle of her chest. There would be time enough for tears after.

She slipped back into the cellar and collected a few items in a bag. Things she would need for a journey. Things she would need for revenge.

“Hello?” The voice trembled on the air.

Eva flinched, her hand tightening around the pack.

“Is anyone alive?” It was a man’s voice, laced with shock and fear. “Is anyone alive?”

No. They were all gone. Every last villager burned alive in their homes, in the streets, and in the market. Everyone was ash and bone.

Eva scrambled out of the cellar. The voice came from what was once the town square. She padded down the cobblestones, stepping around wood and bones.

A man stood by the small fountain full of gray water, thick with sludge, his arms hanging limply at his sides. He stared at what was once the marketplace. His patched brown coat and purple felt hat didn’t belong in this world of soot and smoldering flames.

Eva approached, her shoes noiseless. “Who are you?” The words were born from a throat ravaged by screams and smoke.

With a shout of surprise, the man jumped backwards, almost falling into the fountain. Eva watched dispassionately as he regained his balance and braced himself against the stone ledge. He stared open-mouthed at the apparition. Eva knew she looked a sight. With pale gray hair, clothes, and skin, she looked more dead than alive.

“I’m Timas the tinker.” He pointed at the pack on the ground. Tin pots, pans, and cups spilled out of it. “I come to Rose Haven every year for the Reina Day Celebration.”

Eva blinked ash out of her eyes and then turned her head, taking in the devastated village.

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