Bound By Flames (Daughter of Fire 1) *Sample

“LUCIUS VOLTAIRE,

You are hereby summoned to the Seeing Mountain by the Watchers of Fate.

“Make haste and tell no one of this letter.

The future of all Ignolia depends upon it.

We await your arrival…”

SEVERINA.

Lucius Voltaire knew that no good had ever come from being summoned to the Seeing Mountain, but he still walked through the ancient cave no mere wizard had ever been able to witness its archaic existence.

He traced his gloved fingers along the rock-strewn walls as he descended further into the darkness, examining the charcoal drawings depicting his world’s history.

They mostly depicted Ignolia’s finest wizards; the kings and queens that have fought the dangers that threatened the realm, or the significant accomplishments wizards have done over centuries.

He recognized one of the images, a black smear of a figure battling a red-painted dragon. Lucius bit back a snort, pulling out his flask and taking a long, hearty gulp. It’d been many years since Lucius was that sort of wizard.

He was only here now because the Watchers of Fate had demanded his presence.

He ignored the artwork and continued along the unsteady gravel, the thick air becoming warmer with the few flickers of candlelight he could spot here and there.

Tension swelled in his stomach at the thought of being in the presence of the legendary sisters. The three powerful witches were not to be trifled with.

They had been blessed by the gods with the magic of foresight; however, their visions were only given to a selected few. This puzzled Lucius greatly, considering he had not been an active wizard for decades.

He still had his powers within him, potent yet dormant, but ever since that day, he refused to conjure a single wisp of magic.

The dark pathway twisted and turned until, at last, Lucius saw it; an opening into a large cavern, illuminated by strange glowing stalactites above.

The stone-carved chamber resembled a circular throne room, with three limestone thrones lined beside one another atop a set of chiseled steps. At the center was a single, square altar with closed-eyed faces incised on the sides.

Upon the thrones sat the sacred sisters, three nearly identical faces staring down at Lucius. They were breathtaking, ethereal, and Lucius felt his insides clench at their otherworldly beauty.

“Lucius, welcome…”

The one in the middle, who he guessed was Severina, slowly stood up. She had silky white hair that reached her knees. Her skin was the color of dark honey and her lips an even darker shade. Her silver robes hugged her slender, ethereal frame.

Although she possessed the same features as her sisters, there was an authority to her tone that told Lucius she was in charge.

“It has been a long time since we’ve seen you,” she said, head tilting in assessment.

They had never met, of course, but the Watchers of Fate could see anyone anywhere in the kingdom. In the present, past, or future.

Out of unpolished chivalry, Lucius took off his black, pointy hat and pressed it to his chest. He smiled dimly. “Well, I have been busy.”

He looked at his surroundings and noticed the tall, marble pedestal stationed next to the witch on the right, a bright white orb full of incandescent energy swirling at the top. It was the only source of light in the cave. It was magnificent and terrifying at once as if even the slightest movement might cause it to explode.

Severina continued, “My sisters and I have something urgent to share with you.”

“If it is a quest,” Lucius said, shaking his head, “you know, there are other, younger, magicians better suited—”

“This order does not come from us, Lucius,” the one on the left, which he assumed was Liegia, cut him off. “But from the gods…”

At this, Lucius went deathly quiet. That didn’t bode well at all. The last time the gods interfered in wizard affairs, a ten-year-long war had been the result. A war in which Lucius had lost too much. Still, the will of the gods was never to be questioned.

“What could the gods possibly want from me?” he asked.

Severina turned to her sister on the left, Varinia, and nodded. All at once, the witches closed their eyes and hummed in unison, and the orb perched atop the pedestal rose in mid-air…

There was a tinge of magic in the air, and the force was so strong it made the hairs on Lucius’ arms rise on end. The orb began to shake wildly, quivering and growing brighter and brighter as if it was about to detonate. Lucius held up a hand to shield his eyes.

Finally, the convulsing sphere stilled, slowly floating to rest on the stone altar and, with a deafening crack, split open, leaving only a white melting substance.

“Behold, Lucius,” Severina announced. “Your quest.”

There, lying on the hard surface was an infant, barely a day or two old, wrapped in a bundle of blankets. Its cries and squeals echoed off the cavern walls, but they weren’t as loud as Lucius’s thundering heartbeats.

He couldn’t remember the last time he heard a baby’s cries. He didn’t go to town much, only to stock up on alcohol from the local tavern, and he doubted there were any babies there.

But that unsettled feeling was rooted deep in his guts, and it grew worse when Severina descended the steps and went to cradle the child in her arms.

The sight of a woman rocking a newborn infant brought unwanted memories for Lucius, so he attempted to avert his eyes somewhere else.

“Lucius, my sisters, and I have received a wonderful gift from the gods,” Severina declared, tone rising. “A Slifer!”

That was the last word Lucius ever expected to hear. A Slifer?! They were mere myths, he thought. Wizards who could control one of the four elements of nature.

That elemental power was something only gods could do…

He had heard stories of a couple of them roaming around centuries before. And there was also the fabled tale of the Earth Slifer, who had assisted King James of Imarnia in the previous war.

“What do you expect me to do with it?” he asked, voice faltering a bit.

Severina frowned, moved closer, and presented him with the child. “Hold her,” she demanded.

He hesitated at first, simply because a part of him couldn’t bear the thought of holding another child, and in one mad moment, considered refusing the witch.

But Severina wasn’t asking, and he knew better than to be stubborn with beings like her.

Lucius picked up the infant girl and looked down at her. He had never seen something like that before in his entire nine hundred years of living in this world.

The stories about Slifers mentioned that they differed in appearance from wizards, but he hadn’t quite put an image to those differences. Now, though, he had a pretty solid idea.

The girl had bright, gleaming eyes the color of flames, a mixture of gold, red, and orange framed by dark lashes. Her skin was a light brown, and her hair, though there was so little of it, was pitch black at the top but blended to a fiery shade at the end.

He knew without a shred of doubt that he was currently holding a Fire Slifer. Just knowing what this tiny little thing could do in the future was beyond imagination. Slifers didn’t just control their elements. They were their elements.

“Your task will be to raise her. Nurture her. Protect her from any harm that may come her way. And you will do so until her twentieth name day,” Severnia ordained.

“What?!” Lucius gaped.

“I know this must be hard for you,” Severina said knowingly. “But you must do it, Lucius. For Ignolia. For your people. This child is important. She is to be a guardian, a protector.”

“To whom?”

“His Royal Highness, King Gabriel of Imarnia.”

Lucius blinked the shock away. He hadn’t spoken to Gabriel for years, ever since the day Lucius moved to Vera and left his life in Imarnia behind. The only time he stepped back into the walls of that kingdom was during the funeral of the late King James, and that was nearly forty years ago.

“What does he have to do with all of this?” questioned Lucius.

Severina exchanged a look with her sisters before answering, “The Slifer cannot come to her full powers unless she joins with him. She would need a powerful magical source to strengthen hers. After all, she is destined to be his sword and shield.”

“And by joining with him, you mean…?”

The witch’s dark lips twitched in a smile. “A physical one. And for that, she must remain untouched until she is of age and in the hands of the king. We trust that you keep her safe until then.”

Lucius’s head was swimming with many overrunning thoughts, but he still dared to voice out, “And what if I refused?”

“You can’t. It was decided by the gods that you would be her guardian.” There was a finality in Severina’s tone that told him he couldn’t possibly argue his way out of this.

“Relax, Lucius,” it was Liegia who spoke, twirling a lock of silvery hair with one finger. “It’s not like you’re the only one tasked with this. We’ve already handed three other Slifers to their promised keepers.”

Lucius almost balked at that. Three more?! What the hell were the gods up to?

Despite the sisters’ resolve, he asked, “Why me?”

He was once a brilliant wizard. But now he spent his days wasted away in drunken despair. The sisters surely knew of it, and he was certain any other wizard would be honored at the opportunity of raising a Slifer.

But for him? He found it to be another burden to carry around.

“Because you’re strong enough to protect her,” replied Severina.

“But I’m not the only one…”

“True.” She smiled. “But you’re the only one in need of this.”

Lucius looked once more at the child. He promised himself then and there he would do as the gods demanded, but he would not grow attached. He would provide her with anything she might need, and once it was time, he would hand her over to the king.

She would be his apprentice, nothing more.

He thought of a name for her, and one name appeared screaming in his mind. It demanded to be used, leaving him wondering if this was some sick joke from the gods. Though, he had to admit it did suit her.

Lydia.

***

And so, year by year, Lucius continued to care for the child. True to his own volition, he kept his distance, tucked his heart in a dark, dusty corner where she wouldn’t reach.

There came a day when he told her about her destiny with the king, and as expected, the girl threw a small fit and bombarded him with questions he had no answers to.

One truth he kept hidden.

That she needed the king’s magic to make hers completely whole, and for that, Lucius didn’t know why he didn’t just tell her.