Accursed

THE FIRE KING

By

Juliette Barrymore

© copyright by Juliette Barrymore, January 2010

Cover Art by Alex DeShanks, January 2010

ISBN 978-1-60394-405-2

New Concepts Publishing

Lake Park, GA 31636

www.newconceptspublishing.com

This is a work of fiction. All characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and not to be confused with fact. Any resemblance to living persons or events is merely coincidence.

Chapter One

First Morning of the Mountain War

There was no foreshadowing of the disaster that was about to befall them. Esa awoke earlier than usual. The sun had not yet risen above the hills to the east of the small cottage where she lived with her grandfather. Dressing quickly, she started her chores, beginning by building the fire up in the hearth and fetching water for the pot used as many times daily as they had meals. If they were lucky, there were at least two meals cooked in the pot a day. On bad days there might only be one or none, but they had done well enough in the past several seasons that it had been a very long time since they had had bad days.

"Grandfather, wake up. I'm making breakfast," she yelled toward his room. She smiled, knowing she had started something.

"Wake up? I've been awake for hours. I was just planning my day, li'l miss smarty," Terran grumbled as he stumbled from his bedroom to the kitchen table.

"What do you have to plan? All you do all day is tell your old fairy tales to anyone who'll listen," she retorted teasingly.

"Fairy Tales! Hrmmph! You didn't mind hearing my stories when you were a yung'n.

She placed a bowl of spiced barley and oats on the table in front of him and kissed him on the forehead. "I was only teasing, grandfather. I still love your stories."

He smiled and looked up at her. "All my stories are real. I just spice them up a bit in places."

"I know. Every time you tell them the knights are braver, the fair maidens more fair, and the dragons more fierce." She smiled back at him. "I'm going up to the lonely hill to collect reagents so it'll be late when I return," she added when she'd settled to eat her own breakfast.

He looked up from his plate frowning. "I don't like you going up there alone. There's no tellin' what manner of creatures are up there. I'm even heard rumors of goblins roaming the countryside."