Ruein: Fires of Haraden: Action/Adventure Necromancy Series (Books of Ruein Book 2), G.O. Turner [little bear else holmelund minarik txt] 📗

She approached, taking in what toil was left for them. Carved whaleskins were stripped into ribbons, piled, and passed through those gathered. Elderly men and women chewed at the strips. Their gnawing teeth softening them into whaling leathers.

She lowered to a knee before an alleyway. A couple were tending to their allotment. Their faces were weathered, lined, and cracked by a lifetime of labor. So focused were they upon their duties, she was beyond their notice.

For what mattered outside their hardships?

Liv’s heart tugged at her, its pang pulled through her chest. Theirs were wrinkles of pain. Their expressions conveyed how every bite incited raw ignored nerves. Yet, this is what they could give, a contribution for their place.

This. These people. They were her calling.

After the loss of so many in Vandraport, so many she couldn’t save… Liv followed her hand along her beaded chain, clasping the oaken sun symbol at its length. Closing her eyes, she reached within and eased onto her source of life. Celestial words slipped from her lips. Her fingers warmed.

She looked back up to fear-filled eyes.

These were backwater places. They’d never seen such a thing as this. Magic was only ever a thing of curses. Still, the glory rising through her emblem couldn’t help but reflect on Liv’s growing smile. “Don’t be afraid. Life need not be so dark. There is another way.”

Reaching out, she rested her hands on their thin shoulders. Warmth flooded through her. Radiance glimmered from her touch, illuminating the years upon this man and woman’s faces. As divinity ebbed away, rather than diminishing Liv’s heart, it seemed to fill. She drank in their expressions as realization washed over the elderly couple.

Their hands went to their mouths. Fingers probed, searching, pressing for a reaction of pain that no longer came. Their eyes welled as they fumbled for each other’s embrace.

Toothy smiles turned toward the Lightbringer as they pulled her in. Despite their age, there remained strength in those arms, a strength Liv had no desire to resist.

For that joyful span, there was no ache in her chest. The dark of weeks gone by cast no shadows. This…this is what she needed to fill that void.

This is what a Lightbringer does.

A hand too large to be Twigs gripped at her arm plate and pulled her back to her feet.

A bearded fisherman stared. Giving her a once-over, he looked to the joyful alley couple. Before anything more could be said, the couple dragged him in, replacing Liv in their embrace. Elated words were exchanged. The fisherman was at a loss, his arms hanging as confusion knotted his brow.

Crooking a smile of her own, she allowed them some space.

Twigs knocked at Liv’s shin plate. “That was quite a thing. Nature and life, such an act hardens the bark of my life tree.”

Liv cocked him a scowl. What exactly did that—

The crouched fisherman turned from his elders. Cool green eyes broadened as he looked Liv’s way again. He was a hale and hearty man, broad of shoulders, toughened by the sea. The sort her father could find a way to…

Twigs flashed a hand before her. “Looks like it’s doing wonders for his bark too.”

Oh, for fuck’s sake. She looked to the heavens.

“What?” Arching his back, the gnome pressed on. “Long as I’ve ever known ya, you’ve only ever kept family company. Good living still needs a bit of warmth to go with that light, ya know. Bet captain beardy there would agree.”

Liv shook her head in search of patience. Turning to reply, a gathering crowd drew her attention instead. Made sense that divine illumination would stand out in such dim spaces. Deckhands and shoremen had set aside tasks. A near dozen began to assemble around her.

The Lightbringer breathed in and assumed her righteous station. “Hear me, people of Nursk. Have you seen his light? Would you know it? Hardships have a way of darkening spirits. Don’t allow the toils of your life to deny you all that you could—”

“Since when is a Lightbringer a girl?” A stout shoreman stood out from the crowd. The jagged scar on his face reflected his crooked stance.

Stepping away from his elders, the hearty fisherman approached the stout man. He waved a hand out to the crowd. “Here now, Stol! Watch yurself. I think this one’s from the Vandraport Bringer.”

Stout Stol thrust an underhanded finger her way. “Wha? Her? She’s too damn young for him to take as—”

“Know my father!” Liv burst. “Kaea has brought light to many, even if—”

“Yeh have any more of that?” shouted someone from the crowd.

Liv offered a wary look. “More of…”

“Magic,” Stol answered.

Shit. Was that it? Were these people so lost in what they could get, that what they could gain meant nothing? Liv recentered and bowed. “I am but a torch. A kindling of truth lies within each of you. Together, we can find that spark—”

Spittle hit the ground.

Liv regarded the gathering of grimaces and weary shoulders. A few bristled within, lapsing into elbow jabs amongst each other. The needy vied for the front.

From below, tiny fingers snapped at Liv. “Careful, Bringer,” Twig cautioned. “You may be in a giving spirit, but to these folk, so too was the whale.”

The scarred Stol shoved a thumb over his shoulder. “Mailish ’ere has a palsy. I’ve a gimp leg.”

“Me back aches something fierce.”

“It burns when I…”

The crowd grew rowdy. Several shouted for attention. What chance was there for moral ground against needs so immediate? It wasn’t their fault. Yet, Liv’s wish for them to discover something better, brighter began to dwindle.

They closed in.

Caught in a tide of hips and legs, Twigs grabbed for his slung pack and dug into it, rifling for something. Liv’s hand instinctually went for her mace. No. I can’t…

In her hesitation, a hand gripped her arm. Imploring voices beckoned, engulfing her.

For a brief moment, Liv spotted Twigs, jostled about in the scrum, then lost him to the throng.

This had to stop. Angst ratcheted in Liv’s throat. “You’re missing a greater truth. You can make