Awake the Cullers (History of Ondar) Read Free

suggesting?”
    Thomas looked down and swallowed past the lump in his throat. He forced the next words out with great difficulty. “Sublinates are drawn to war, but there were no wars anywhere near the town where I met the stranger. The only thing that could have drawn him was the reports of the brutal killings. What if the Sublinates and Cullers never ended their war? What if the reason everyone thinks the Cullers are gone is because the Sublinates strike fast and eradicate any sign of them before their madness can spread?”
    No one answered.
     
    *   *   *
     
    “Again,” Zanden ordered
    Rand held out his hand to help Lynnalin stand. He cringed at the bruise forming on her face, but she didn’t complain. She just took her stance and prepared for the next attack. As a dwarf, he wasn’t accustomed to fighting elven women, but Zanden insisted everyone in the unit, even the mage, be able to fight. His argument was simple. They needed to work together as a team, to anticipate each other’s movements and fighting techniques. Learning some basic moves and watching them practice the more complicated techniques would help her know how to better use her magic to assist them in a fight. Conversely, they each spent time learning what spells she could cast, their range and intensity, both on their own and with augmentation from her Suriaxian fire, so they would be less likely to get in her way when a spell could prove more useful than close combat.
    They were part of a four man cinder unit, an advanced scout team being sent by Queen Maerishka to investigate the reports of raiders in the Southern Plains. Zanden was their leader and an expert fighter. Rand was a pretty good fighter himself. He didn’t know any self respecting dwarf who couldn’t hold his own in a scrap, but that wasn’t why he was on this mission. Rand was a marenpaie trainer. Marenpaie were special hounds bred in Suriax for combat, racing and long distance travel. They were exceptional animals, but not entirely accustomed to fighting in tandem with the Suriaxians’ new fire abilities. This mission was as much a test of their adaptability and continued usefulness to the city as it was an opportunity to work out the kinks in the new fighting techniques Zanden spent the past month developing for the military. Lynnalin was the mage of their group. It was always good to have one of those around for long range attacks and support magic, and the group was rounded out by a member of the Flame Guard named Casther. Rand didn’t know him before this mission assignment, but the past few weeks of intensive training had taught him not to underestimate the man’s skills. When subtlety and precision were needed, he was their man.
    Rand moved to begin the fight, but Zanden held up a hand. “This time with fire,” he added. Lynnalin’s eyes flinched and Rand hesitated, but after a quick breath she called forth her flames and nodded. Blue fire wrapped around her hands and arms, burning just above the surface of her skin. Rand called the fire to his hammer. The metal gleamed in the flickering light, reflecting the movements of the flames. After his old hammer caught fire and lost its wooden handle, he forged a new one made entirely of metal. The only draw back was the extra reverberation he felt when he hit something. Metal didn’t diffuse the impact waves like wood did. Feeding the fire into his weapon, he felt the metal heat up. Swinging wide, he began his attack.
    Lynnalin avoided his attacks with all the grace and dexterity of a mage. In other words, she stumbled and nearly fell three times while just barely avoiding serious injury. Her breathing quickened and she had the wide eyed look of someone trying to follow his movements without the skill the keep up. Then everything changed. He swung down , and she used her fire to deflect his blow. Still unsure of herself, she did not follow through with an attack of her own, but jumped back and threw off two blue fireballs