The Sorcerer's Ring (Book 1) Read Free

the eidolon would be strong enough, but she wasn’t about to pass up on any opportunity to get stronger either.
    She pulled at the hilt and the blade came out like it was sheathed in paper. She held it above her head and examined it. It was a dark purple Falchion, almost resembling a machete in design. It hummed when she turned it over to the side, and a smile escaped her lips. But then the grin faded as quickly as it appeared.
    She had listened to the stories of the Sages well, and therefore she knew that this sudden and unexpected gift of having an eidolon shouldn’t warrant too much joy. According to her people, one became a Sage when they were able to take their soul and will it into the shape of a blade. A blade that could be used as a literal weapon.
    But she didn’t feel much different, and actually, she was beginning to shake uncontrollably from the cold. The eidolon did nothing but hang from her fingers like an ornament. It gave off no heat she could use, nor did it make her feel any safer should her pursuer arrive.
    It was useless.
    Remi sucked her teeth and mentally willed for the eidolon to disappear. It vanished in an instant and she hugged herself as her teeth chattered. The rest of the knowledge she had on eidolons came flooding through her mind—like how if someone stronger than her happened to break it, she might be killed. After all, it was an extension of one’s soul.
    And she was already dying. So why add one more way to get killed to the list?
    She didn’t feel any different, and therefore she knew immediately that she was no Sage. And if that was the criteria for becoming a Sage, then that meant the Sages of Legend were just as weak as she. And that just saddened her even more.
    For she had spent many hours thinking about the Sages, and how she wished one would come and whisk her away from her horrible life, making her into one of them. She envisioned them having the ability to heal her ailments and defend her honor and all the fancy notions that girls like her dreamed of when they were young and naïve. She had grown up a lot since those days, and reality was a relentless teacher that didn’t discriminate. Finding an eidolon in her hand didn’t change anything in her life.
    It just added to the sorrow.
    Sages of Legend…who cared about them?
     
    She heard shouting when she got close to her hometown, but she had no reason to worry. They lived on the edge of Cimmerian after all. Not that there were people suffering at all hours of the day, just that there was always conflict. Whether it was over something stolen or the fact that a person didn’t like another’s face, her people were the type to pick a fight solely because they needed something to do. It was funny really. They associated themselves with Cimmerians, but they never had the guts to go into their homeland unless it was a raid—to procure some food and supplies so they wouldn’t starve to death.
    She was sure that her health also had to do with the horrible rationing her people did. They would gorge and fill their bellies until they were at their limits and then they would complain the next day when no more food was found. It was an endless cycle. Raid. Eat. Raid.
    This was the lives of all she knew. Anything to the contrary was considered foolishness.
    But since she was unable to participate in the raids, and there were times in which she couldn’t keep the food down, what was her purpose exactly? It seemed like a question her parents asked themselves whenever they thought about their daughter. Why was she there? She couldn’t work or clean that well—nothing they couldn’t do themselves in a third of the time. They couldn’t trade her for anything valuable. She was only friends with that Olivia girl and Olivia was just as useless in her own way. How could such an able-bodied person be so ineffective in raids?
    They never said it, but Remi was sure her parents loathed the day she was born.
    Remi looked up wearily as she saw