Star Song

Icelunder Barony

20 Years Ago

Snow fell in large, lazy clumps that blanketed the earth in and endless cold, white sea. Maddox’s horse continued to trudge through the deepening drifts as the caravan he led hoped for some sort of respite. He drew back the hood of his heavy traveling cloak, and exposed his dark, weather-beaten face to the chill winter air. Maddox looked back over his shoulder to make sure they hadn’t lost anyone.

Behind him, the small caravan rolled slowly along. A dozen armed guards, whose riders and horses were thoroughly bundled, escorted a small carriage drawn by four stallions. Why did we have to travel so urgently? Maddox pondered as he worried about the queen and her child keeping warm in the cab.

“What troubles you, my friend?” asked a voice from beside him.

“Nothing, my liege,” Maddox said, turning his attention to the companion beside him. “Just eager to get out of this accursed weather.”

The man riding next to Maddox pulled back his own hood, and revealed the face of a man many thought looked too young to be king. Renau was now in his thirties, but the trace of elven blood that ran in his veins had always given the Atwood family a more youthful appearance. His pale skin contrasted starkly with the long mane of almost black hair that had already started to accumulate snow.

“You think we shouldn’t have come?” Asked Renau.

“I didn’t say that,” Maddox replied.

“You know, we’re only here at the recommendation of my most trusted friend and advisor,” Renau said with a knowing smile.

“Maybe it’s time you got some new friends and advisors,” Maddox said, rising to the banter.

“Ah yes, maybe I should be speaking with Lett.”

“He would fill your head with talk of magic potions, and help you change your mind every five minutes.”

“Hey, I don’t need anyone’s help to change my mind.”

“You are the king, my lord,” Maddox said with a smile. “Still, I’m beginning to wish you’d changed your mind on this, and waited to see the start of the Barrier Wall until spring.”

“Me too,” Renau admitted. “But you were right at the Conclave. If the reports of this necromancer are true, then we must do something about it before it becomes a problem for the Commonwealth.”

“Lord Baron Icelunder is not the imaginative type, my lord,” Maddox said. “If he claims to have proof, it would be best to take him at his word. I just don’t understand why you brought your family along.”

“Roderick’s my astral father, Maddox. He’s family, and I know he’ll want to meet the baby. Besides, getting away from Altuan for a little while and getting ‘snowed in’ could be nice. Let Malachai run things for a bit. I could use a break.”

“As you will, my liege.”

The pair let a companionable silence settle between them as the peaceful serenity of the snow continued to fall. A biting wind began to pick up, and they pulled their hoods back over their heads. The wind continued to strengthen, snapping their cloaks in its intensity. Their horses whinnied in protest.

“Maddox!” Renau had to raise his voice over the howling gale. “What do you think—” His words were cut short as an arrow skewered his neck. The king sat in silent shock for a moment before dropping lifelessly from his saddle, staining the pristine snow in violent crimson.

“NO!” Maddox shouted in horrified disbelief. The winds strengthened further, and Maddox heard a resounding crack. He looked back just in time to see the axels of the carriage snap, and send the cab toppling over on its side, dragging the horses down with it.

Shock and despair reared their heads in Maddox’s mind, threatening to paralyze him, but Maddox was a soldier. More than that, he was a weapons master, and captain of his king’s guard. He needed to act.

“Protect the royal family!” Maddox bellowed. His guards responded quickly, riding to encircle the stricken carriage as the winds retreated. In their wake, flights of arrows zipped out of the blank, white expanse, felling a handful of soldiers before they could raise their shields. Maddox kept his head down and felt a shot shatter on his back plate as he rode towards the queen.

When he reached the caravan, his soldiers were already firing back at faint outlines they could barely see in the snow. Maddox leapt from his saddle to the side of the toppled cab that now made its roof, and threw open the door. The sight was horrifying.

Maddox’s queen lay crumpled at the bottom of the cab, her neck twisted backward at an unnatural angle. Grief now threatened to shut him down, but then he heard it. The muffled cry of a child coming from beneath its mother.

Maddox dropped into the cab and gently pulled back his queen’s lifeless body. Somehow, she had cradled her baby as the carriage rolled, and saved it from harm. Maddox took it for the small miracle it was, and quickly gathered up the child in its blankets.

Taking a deep breath, Maddox leapt and grabbed onto the door frame above him. With a cry of exertion, he managed to haul himself and the child out of the carriage. He crouched low and covered the baby to take in the situation.

Only a handful of guards were still fighting. They rode in a circle around the cab, firing arrows back at their attackers. Maddox felt a sudden stab of intense pain. An arrow punctured his shoulder just between his armor plates, and barely above the child’s head.

He did his best to ignore the wound, and dropped down into the saddle of his horse. “Guards! Form up in me!” Maddox shouted. The four remaining soldiers obeyed.

Now, where is it safe? Maddox briefly wondered. Most of the arrows were being shot out of the north, so Maddox rode south. The road is long, but shouldn’t be filled with enemies.

The volume of fire picked up in intensity. Maddox felt more and more ricochet off his armor. Another buried itself in his thigh. He kicked his horse to a gallop, and didn’t look back. When at long last he steed could no longer keep up the pace, he stopped to take in his surroundings.

It was blank and white in every direction. His remaining guards must have fallen somewhere along the way. He was alone, but the child in his arms still lived. Maddox began to really feel his wounds. If he didn’t find refuge soon, they would both freeze to death. He took a deep breath and trotted off into the unknown.

Northern Malthus Barony – Town of Woodrun

Warm light, merry music, and rowdy laughter spilled forth from the Great DragInn to push back the crisp, cold night. While not especially large, Woodrun’s only inn was always full by sunset. Tonight was no exception. Most of the patrons were loggers that worked for the town’s main industry, trying to unwind after another day of hard labor.

Inside, well-worn but solid tables and chairs surrounded a central cook fire. A large cauldron full of some sort of thick, brown stew simmered there, and vented through a soot-stained brick chimney. To one side, a bard fiddled a jolly tune, and a handful of people danced. The flames cast flickering shadows across the great room that played along with the jovial patrons. In the far corner of the room, those shadows draped sullenly over a hunched man well into his cups. Opposite the bard, the shadows were banished entirely by a string of dim lanterns hung over a bar that ran the length of the wall.

At the bar sat two young women with more than a few empty glasses between them. Their laughter rang like a clarion bell through the room. One had the tall, lean, muscular frame of a logger. Her short brown hair was pulled back into a simple tail, and her full cheeks blushed with an easy smile. The other let her long black hair spill freely over her wiry frame. She moved with a predator’s grace borne from a lifetime of hunting. Her own smile belied the ever-present hint of sadness in her dark eyes.

The taller of the two held aloft a shot of some dark liquid as she stood. “Happy birthing day Lestaria!” she bellowed, loud enough for the room to hear.

The tavern rang out with a chorus of, “Happy birthing days,” as the room collectively drank to her health. The woman knocked back her own shot with a grimace. The man in the sullen shadows sipped slowly from his cup.

Star buried her face in her hands as the crowd’s attention washed over her. She emerged with a bemused and embarrassed smile. She tried to keep her voice down as she spoke. “Thenna, we don’t even know when my birthing day is.”

“So today’s as good a day to celebrate as any, right?” Thenna quipped.

Star laughed. “That’s what you said on my birthing day last month.”

“I’ve got to get the day right eventually.”

“We won’t know when you do.”

Thenna shrugged.

“You just want an excuse to drink.”

Thenna chuckled. “I never need an excuse to drink, Star.” She knocked back another shot.

Star smirked. “I’ll drink to that!” She gulped down a shot of her own. The two of them paused for a moment, left to their own thoughts as the innkeeper poured them another round.

“Oh! I almost forgot,” Star said excitedly. “I’ve got something to show you.” She turned. “Gerrik!” she hollered, getting the innkeeper’s attention. He gave an excited smile at her attention. “Start pouring a round for the inn.”

Thenna eyed Star with bemused suspicion.

Star reached into a small purse tied at her waist, and produced a nugget of a bright red-orange root. “Now, you’ve seen this,” she said as she popped the morsel in her mouth. She chewed and swallowed quickly, grimacing as the fire root burned her throat.

“I don’t know how you can eat that stuff,” Thenna said, watching intently.

“Because it lets me do this,” Star said as she passed her hand over the glasses. Both of the drinks suddenly caught fire. Thenna smiled, and the two of them clanked glasses before blowing out the flame and taking a drink.

The man wallowing in the shadows snapped from his reverie. His attention was far more focused than it should be for someone so drunk. He leaned forward and watched.

Star stood. “Now,” she said. “Since you’ve already made me the center of attention for my ‘birthing day’—” She turned to face the tavern. “—Drinks for everyone!” She exclaimed to a roar of cheers from the crowd. “But first,” she continued, holding the patrons’ attention. “A toast. So hold your glasses while Gerrik gets you all your drinks.”

Gerrik dutifully went about the inn, distributing drinks to eager hands. As he did, Star reached over the bar and produced a small jar of pickled capers. She promptly unsealed the lid.

“Watch this,” Star said to Thenna, chewing down another chunk of the fire root followed by a small handful of the capers. She stepped away from the bar and raised her glass as Gerrik finished passing out the drinks.

Star wobbled drunkenly on her feet a little before addressing the room. “To a year of hard fucking labor behind us; and to another year of fattening the Barons’ stacks of gold ahead of us!” Star closed her eyes as the crowd muttered in agreement. All at once, every drink in the room burst into flame. Shocked men and women dropped their glasses, which shattered on the floor and scattered the burning liquid. One man, standing close to the cook fire, stumbled drunkenly into the cauldron. Its contents splashed across the ground, and overturned a nearby pot of cooking grease that promptly caught aflame.

Reacting on instinct, one of the patrons kicked a dirty mop bucket onto the flames. Burning grease spread like wildfire through the panicked crowd. Loggers pushed into each other and trampled one another trying to get at the doors and windows.

People were screaming and shouting over one another. Shocked, and not knowing what to do, Lestaria reached into her pouch. She choked down another chunk of fire root, cringing in pain as it burned her insides. She did her best to ignore the burn and chew through a massive handful of capers. As she finished swallowing, she closed her eyes again.

After a moment of concentration, she flung her arms out wide, and every fire in the room was completely extinguished. The inn went dark and quiet, stunned to silence. Lestaria cried out as the fire inside her burned hotter than ever. She slunk back onto her stool and gulped down water.

A quiet panic descended across the crowd. The sullen shadows in the corner grew deeper in the dark, but there was no one there to keep them company.

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The Great DragInn closed early. With the fires extinguished, a hushed calm permeated the tavern. Those that could see Lestaria in the limited light eyed her suspiciously. Gerrik quickly started ushering them out. The crowd showed mixed expressions of fear, awe, and bewilderment at what had just happened. Lestaria herself just sat, dumbfounded.

Thenna pulled her arm. “Come on Star, let’s get out of here.”

Lestaria let herself be led. What remained of the crowd parted before her as though she was a ship cutting through water. Still quite drunk, Lestaria and Thenna stumbled out the door and into the crisp autumn air. The chill bite of the breeze helped to clear their heads.

The pair walked slowly down the narrow, cobbled streets. A crescent moon lit the way. The scattering patrons of the inn disappeared into the tightly packed buildings that loomed above, leaving them alone with the stars and the sounds of night.

A block away from the inn and around a corner, Thenna finally broke the silence. “Ok, what in the nine hells was that?” she demanded.

An unexpected smile broke across Star’s face. “Surprise?” she asked coyly.

“No, no, no, no, no,” Thenna snapped. “What, in the nine hells, was that?” she repeated with extra emphasis.

The two of them continued down the empty street. Star stopped and took a deep breath to clear her thoughts. When she spoke, her smile was gone, but there was a tangible undercurrent of excitement in her voice. “So, we’ve always known I could eat a little fire root and make flames, right?” she asked.

“Yeeesss,” Thenna replied, dragging the word out to encourage Star to continue.

“Well remember last week at the DragInn when we got really drunk?” Star asked rhetorically. “Well on our way home I snatched a jar of Gerrik’s pickled capers.” Thenna looked a little grossed out. “Don’t ask me why,” Star continued, “but I like them. Anyway, I was eating them on my way home, thinking it was way too cold for this time of year. Naturally, I wanted a fire when I got inside, but was far too drunk to find my matches; so I chewed some fire root and went about setting it. I hardly had to try, and the logs burst aflame and nearly lit my house on fire.” Star chuckled. “I’ll leave out the part where I tripped and pissed myself.”

Thenna laughed. “I think you just added it.”

Star smiled. “Isn’t this great though!?” she asked excitedly, leaning drunkenly on her friend. “I think the capers somehow make the fire root stronger.”

“I don’t know,” Thenna said. “I still don’t really understand any of this.” She paused to gather her thoughts. “I mean, if that’s the case,” she continued, “then why are you the only one that can use fire root like that?”

“I don’t know either,” Star admitted. “Buuut I’m not complaining,” she added with a whimsical shrug.

“Yeah, well Gerrik might complain a little after what you did to his bar tonight,” Thenna said.

“Let him complain,” Star said nonchalantly. “It’s not like I burned the place down or anything. Besides, Gerrick loves me too much to stay mad at me.”

“That’s probably true,” Thenna chuckled. “After tonight, he may be the only man in Woodrun that still wants your attention,” she added. “Still, he may ask you to help pay for damages.”

“That’s fine,” Star smirked. “I used my little trick to do a bit of work,” she said, producing a few purses full of coins. Their ties had been cut.

“Star!” Thenna exclaimed. “One of these days the people of this town are going to figure out that you don’t make your living off of hunting alone.”

“I think you give them too much credit,” Star dismissed. “Besides, I hardly plan to stay in this backwoods town forever.”

“Where would you go?” Thenna asked.

“I don’t know,” Star admitted. “South? Maybe I’ll go see if Altuan is all it’s cracked up to be.”

“Lestaria in the biggest city in the world?” Thenna asked. “I think you’d miss the quiet solitude of the woods.”

“I think you’d miss the quiet solitude of the woods,” Star retorted. “Besides, I didn’t say I’d stay there. I just want to see the world is all.”

“So what’s stopping you?” Thenna asked.

“Well I’d like to have my best friend come with me.”

Thenna raised her eyebrows. “You know I could never convince Wynn to go along with that,” she said.

“Ah, yes. Let us not forget about your doleful husband Serwynn. Always keeping you grounded,” Star said sardonically.

“Hey, I love my doleful husband,” Thenna retorted.

“I know,” Star conceded. “He just doesn’t share your wanderlust.”

“I think you’re confusing your wanderlust for my wanderlust.”

“Ok, I’ve had way too much to drink to play your mind games right now,” Star said.

“Well then, maybe it’s time we go to bed,” Thenna said. “I’ll return to my doleful husband, and you can go start fires and piss yourself.”

Star chuckled. “Good night, Thenna,” she said as she hugged her. “You’re the best.”

Thenna smiled, hugging her back. “Good night, Star.”

The two broke their embrace and headed their separate ways into the chill autumn night. Thenna went to find her home deeper in town; Lestaria wandered east to the Wood River. She paused for a moment when she reached it, watching the silver moonlight dance across the rushing waters. Turning north, she followed the waterline towards the cabin she kept on the outskirts of town.

Lestaria walked slowly, letting the frigid air work at clearing the drunken fog from her head. How easy would it be to just descend to the docks, steal a boat, and just take the river south to Altuan, Star asked herself. Or even just turn around, walk south instead of north, follow the roads wherever they lead? One day she would, she was sure of that.

As Lestaria’s mind wandered, she didn’t notice the hooded figure until he stepped sullenly from the shadows to bar her path. A bottle dangled from one hand. The tattered cloak he wore obscured his features. “They’ll find you now,” he muttered drunkenly.

Lestaria gasped, startled, and instinctively drew her knife. She relaxed slightly as recognition crossed her face, but kept her blade bared. “Oh, it’s you Stumbles. You scared me there,” she said, regaining her composure some more.

“Fear,” he said. “Fear. That’s good. Be afraid,” Stumbles mumbled. “But not from me. No. After what you did, they’ll find you for sure. You shouldn’t have done that,” he rambled.

“Okay Stumbles,” Lestaria said indulgently. “I think you’ve had quite enough to drink.” She reached for his bottle.

He reflexively snatched his hand back quicker than expected. He leaned forward, failing to look more coherent, and barely keeping his balance. “You don’t understand,” he said. “You’re in danger. You need to leave.”

“I can handle myself,” Lestaria said defensively, brandishing her knife. Still, something in his voice troubled her. She took a deep breath to calm herself. “All right, Stumbles,” she said, tucking away her knife, “off you go.” Lestaria reached into her purse. “Here,” she added, pressing some coins into his hand. “Go get yourself a room at the DragInn, and not another bottle,” she said as she pulled the drink from his other hand. He didn’t resist.

Lestaria stood and watched as Stumbles staggered off, back into the shadows, looking as sullen as ever. When he was out of sight, Lestaria turned back towards home and took a swig from the bottle she’d confiscated. She grimaced as she swallowed the vile liquid. She hoped it would be just the thing to banish the haunting feeling she was left with.