Read The Sword of Sighs (The Age of the Flame: Book One) Online
Authors: Greg James
The Sword of Sighs (The Age of the Flame: Book One) (21 page)
She’s just another bad guy. Isn’t she, right?
Bang
-dead!
Sarah felt sick inside at the thought. Her hands shook around the hilt of the sword. The words of its whispers were carried to her by the night’s winds. The tears in her eyes felt like ice, and her heart pounded in time with the thunder. Sarah broke away from Jedda. She threw the Sword of Sighs down, its blade of flames hissing and spitting in the snow.
“I will not kill you. You can kill me, Jedda. Go ahead. Do it. Then take the sword away to Him if you must. I won’t end this by taking your life.”
Jedda sprang forward and snatched up the discarded sword. For a moment, she held it and held Sarah’s gaze. Then, she let its burning blade flow forward into Sarah’s chest, cutting through bone, flesh, and heart. Sarah gasped, her eyes opening wide and then closing tight against the deep pain.
The night became suddenly quiet.
The skies overhead thinned as clouds retreated away to the east, revealing stars and the moon once more. They shone down upon the impaled girl atop the mountain and on the young woman robed in darkness before her.
Sarah opened her eyes, no longer in pain, and looked into Jedda’s.
Jedda’s lips formed the ghost of a smile.
She understood.
“Thank you, Sarah …”
Jedda closed her eyes. The Flame ran up her arm, enveloping her in a silent inferno until all of the darkness about her was burned away. She fell to the ground, and she was as she had been before – so it seemed. Sarah slumped to her knees. Her hands flew to the place where the sword had impaled her. The wound was gone, evaporated like so much mist. It still hurt, though.
Jedda’s lips had turned dark blue and her eyes were becoming glassy, unseeing. Her hand reached out for Sarah’s. She grasped it tight, holding it against the bare flesh where the wound had been made. There were tears in Jedda’s eyes. “So long in the dark, Sarah, and He was my only comfort there. All I had was the Shadow of His darkness. So few of those who love the Mother and Light understand what it means to be that alone, that lost to the world. Venna, my sister, save her. For me. Please …”
Sarah opened her mouth to speak, but Jedda stopped her with four words,
“We will… meet again…”
Jedda lay dead in her arms.
Bang
-dead!
Sarah set her friend down to sleep in the snow. She got to her feet and gazed back across the Western Wastes, the Mountains of Mourning, Grah’na and the Grassland Plains to Highmount and beyond. To the shadows of the Nightlands where E’blis dwelled and the Fallen One was entombed beneath the Shadowhorn. Highmount was the last bastion against the Fallen One. Its people, and those of the Three Kingdoms – they all needed the Flame. They all needed
her
.
She was their only Hope.
But there was something she needed too.
More than anything, right now.
Sarah raised the Sword of Sighs high. She slashed at the open air with it. The air opened up. It was a tear in the skin of reality, leading into some other place from which fingers of pale fog trailed out. Sarah lowered the sword, looked at it, and looked back at Jedda, who was steadily being buried by snow. She thought of Ossen and everyone dead or wounded because of her – because of the Flame. Her eyes turned again to the opening in the air before her; it would not stay open for long.
She had to decide now.
“What am I going to do? Where am I going to go?”
Her only answer was in the forlorn whistling of the night’s wind.
She stepped through the hole in the air, and it closed silently behind her.
~End of Book One~
Book Two of The Age of the Flame
~The Sceptre of Storms~
is available
here
.
Author’s Note
Thank you for reading
The Sword of Sighs
. I hope you enjoyed it. If you would like to receive updates regarding new and upcoming releases by
Greg James
, please sign up to my mailing list:
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If you have a moment, I would also greatly appreciate it if you left a review on the site where you purchased this ebook:
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No matter how big or small it is, every review counts and matters to a writer because without you, the readers, we are nothing.
Greg James can be contacted directly at:
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Acknowledgments
I would like to thank the following people for their help, support and contributions to this, the beginning of the Age of the Flame;
Lora Kaleva – for introducing me to one of the key inspirations, Robert Jordan’s
The Wheel of Time
, talking me through my first tentative steps into the Fantasy genre and for shining a light into my life.
Christine DeMaio-Rice – for creating a superb cover that encapsulates the vibe and mood I wanted for this novel. Size is what matters, right? Here’s to making the next one even bigger and better!
Karin Cox – for making the editing process an educational and informative experience as well as doing wonders for my confidence on my first Fantasy effort. Here’s hoping my craft will have thus improved the next time around!
Sarah Buchheit – author of the
Galoria Hunter
series who planted the idea of writing something for the Young Adult audience in my head a few years ago. Thank you for the inspiration!
J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis & Robert Jordan – without their work, this book would not be here.
My fellow self-publishers, all of whom are awesome; Shea Macleod, M. Edward McNally, Jack Wallen, Cheryl Bradshaw, Jessica Meigs, David Gaughran, Jolea M. Harrison, Alisa Tangredi, Heather Marie Adkins, Mike Cooley, Cheryl Shireman, Lin Welch, Athanasios Galanis, Danielle Blanchard, Stephanie Abbott, Michelle Muto, Red Tash, P.J. Jones, Tara West, Julia Crane, Sarah Billington, J. Carson Black, Lizzy Ford, Graeme Reynolds, James Everington, Autumn Christian, Tony Rabig, Sean McLachlan, Tony Slater, Mandy White, Sarah Woodbury, Arshad Ahsanuddin, Laura Yirak, Matt Conrad & Ben White – the Word Lovah!
My friends are my family and this book could not have been done without them, as ever; Ruth Latchford, Jez Joubinaux, Evie Joubinaux, Kris Dyer, Jason Brawn, Dolores Harrington, Mark & Tori Waddington, Sandra Norval, Adrian Chamberlin, Dean M. Drinkel, Nyki Blatchley, Chris Hall, Jean Hatton, Jim McLeod, Libby Cummings, Kiley Owens, Robin Jennifer, Kacey Stewart, Misty Jo Hughes & Ann Giardina Magee.
About the Author
Greg James
was born in Rochford, Essex in darkest East Anglia. He studied Literature and Media at university and spent a year in the Far East teaching English as a foreign language. He now resides in London where he takes long walks on the asphalt beach, dreams strange dreams and keeps trying to get back to Narnia through the wardrobe.
Glossary
A’aron
(AH-aron)
The Creator of Women. Known also as the Mother.
Atosha
(Aa-TOH-sha)
One of the Three Kingdoms.
Barra
(BAH-rah)
Woran Bean’s small but fearless mongrel dog.
Bean, Sarah
An American teenage girl.
Bean, Woran
(BEAN, WOH-run)
Adoptive grandfather to Sarah Bean. He lives on a hill in the Norn valley with his mongrel dog, Barra.
Brindan
(brin-DUNN)
One of the Three Kingdoms.
Cag’kh
(KHAG-kuh)
One of the Phages.
Daughters of Yagga, The
Descendants of the Daughters of the Flame.
Deep Forges, The
The Deep Forges are the birthplace of the Iron Gods beneath the city of E’phah in the Mountains of Mourning.
Della
(Del-UH)
A member of the Highmount Council.
Dionin
(DIE-oh-NYNN)
Creations of the Fallen One.
D’nai
(duh-NYE)
A legendary patron of love whose memory is honoured by the Eve of D’nai.
Drujja
(droo-YAH)
Also known as The Storm that Walks. Creations of the Fallen One.
Earlmen, Earlwomen
Feudal lords and ladies of the Three Kingdoms.
E’blis
(EH-bliss)
The Creator of Men. Also known as the Father of Pain.
E’phah
(EH-farr)
A Molloi city in the Mountains of Mourning.
Fallen One, The
A malevolent being from a Space and Time outside of the Thirteen Worlds.
Fallen-born, The
Scions of the Fallen One.
Fellhorn
A colossal mountain in the Western Wastes.
Fellhounds
Undead hunting animals that serve the Fallen-born.
Ferra
(feh-RA)
Father to Venna and Jedda.
Golem
(GOH-lemm)
A magickal construct that can be an exact copy of a human being including some trace elements of memory, personality and speech patterns.
Gorra
(GOH-rah)
Gorra is the Father of Leaves and the spirit of the Wood Beneath the Worlds. He tends to the roots of all Thirteen Worlds and cares for them at the behest of an unnamed higher power.
Grah’na
(GRA-narrh)
An area of swampland that must be crossed to reach the Mountains of Mourning.
Grassland Plains, The
A wilderness that was formally the shared land of humanity and the Kay’lo.
H’Aoa
(HUH-eh-OH-ah)
The healer for a Kay’lo enclave.
Herb-Sisters, The
An order of healers and carers in the Three Kingdoms.
Highmount
The city-province situated in the one pass through the Northway Mountains.
Highmount Council
The advisors to the ruling family of Highmount.
Hillshine
A high-proof liquor distilled by the Saltwine family in the Norn Valley.
Ianna
(EYE-anna)
Step-mother to Jedda and Venna. Self-appointed Lady Warden to the throne of Highmount.
Iron Gods, The
The Iron Gods were created by the Molloi as guardians for their cities in the Mountains of Mourning.
Jedda
(jed-DAH)
Heir to the throne of Highmount, usurped by her step-mother, Ianna.
Jez, Master
Innkeeper of
The Water Mark
and a former Highmount soldier.
Kaomos
(KAY-oh-MOSS)
The most feared of the Iron Gods.
Kay’lo
(kay-LOW)
A race who once inhabited the Grassland Plains in harmony with humanity.
Lo’a’Pan
(LOW-ah-PAN)
The secret underground city of the Kay’lo.
Marra
(MAH-ra)
A member of the Highmount Council.
M’Eoa
(MUH-eh-OH-ah)
Commander of a Kay’lo enclave with a more liberal outlook than her fellow Kay’lo.
Molloi
(MUH-loy)
Once a proud race of engineers and architects, they built the Iron Gods to guard their cities. Following the war with their creations, they degenerated into savages.
Mountains of Mourning, The
A range of mountains separating the Grassland Plains and the swamps of Grah’na from the Western Wastes.
Nightlands, The
A cold and desolate wasteland in the east of Seythe where perpetual night reigns.
Norn Valley, The
A valley between Highmount and the Three Kingdoms where farmers and peasantry reside.
Northway Mountains, The
The range of mountains that acts as a protective barrier between the Three Kingdoms and the Grassland Plains.
Northway Pass, The
The one clear way through the Northway Mountains.
Ossen
(OH-sun)
A Wayfarer well-known in the Three Kingdoms as a champion of humanity and a bringer of hope.
Phages
(FEYE-gizz)
Soldiers thought to have been created by the civilisation that once existed in the Western Wastes.
Plainstown