#mc ewen

It’s the first day for @originalficfest and that means it’s character day. I have so many characters that picking just a few is really hard. In other words, this could easily get long. I’ll limit myself to characters who appear in the book I’m currently editing, Book Two of the Knights of Naren: The Staff, to try to keep it short.

Aeramin Firewind - The main character. He is a young elven mage who grew up in Thril Gandir after being taken there at the age of five. He learns through exchanging letters with his mother that his grandfather, Karuna, once wielded a powerful staff and had left notes on how to create the staff. Aeramin makes it his goal to recreate the staff after graduating from his studies.

Imralion Sunsorrow - The secondary main character and love interest of the main character. He is an elven adahi, a trained protector. He is assigned to Aeramin to accompany him on his travels, protect him, and if need be, to protect other people from him. Aeramin is his second assignment.

Arieth Firewind - Aeramin’s fraternal twin brother and part-time antagonist. They’re brothers. They don’t always get along. They start out jealous of each other. Arieth wishes he had been able to get an education, and Aeramin wishes he could have lived with his family. Arieth grew up on the family farm and has been running it by himself for the past few months before Aeramin’s arrival.

Arancon Firewind - (oops, I only have blood elf art of him) Aeramin and Arieth’s drunk father and also a part-time antagonist. I would have added him to the notable appearances list at the bottom, but he’s around for more than one or two chapters, and he does a thing that causes a problem, so he’s getting stuck up here and listed as a minor antagonist.

Isehari - She is a glimarin elf who left her home for a few years but eventually returned. She acts as a guide for part of their trip.

Incendorath - The antagonist. It’s tricky to write because Incendorath is very subtle at the start of the story. His name is also still subject to change. I can’t really say much about him other than he’s evil and he likes fire. His goal is to watch everything burn.

Lord Rowan walked down the hallway of the guards' headquarters. A person of interest had been brought in, their first possible break in the whereabouts of his nephew, Prince Thal’inas, after the siege on the castle. It had been three days since his brother, King Adinath, had been killed at the hands of rebels, and finding the young prince safe and well was of the highest priority. Lord Rowan and his other siblings had been raised to support their brother, not to lead. In his mind, the future of Kingsperch rested on finding the boy.

He entered the room, regarding the man who raised from his seat to dip into a bow. He was a human who wore simple clothes with stains on them. Lord Rowan frowned at the possibility that he was simply here to collect a piece of the reward. However, no reward would be paid if the information didn’t lead to the prince.

He refrained from twitching an ear as he nodded at the man. “Please, sit.” He sat in the chair across from him as the man obeyed. “What is your name?”

“Cranvul Dund,” the man answered.

Lord Rowan wrote down the name. “And where do you live?”

“I’m currently staying with relatives in the market district.”

“Currently?” Lord Rowan raised a brow.

“I had a room here in the castle before. I worked in the kitchen.”

That would explain the food stains on his clothing, and perhaps he did know something of the prince’s whereabouts. Lord Rowan scratched down the information in his notes. “And you have information about the prince?”

“I don’t know where he is now, but I saw someone leaving through the servant’s doors with a boy who could have been him.”

It wasn’t much to go on, but the details might reveal more. “Someone? Was this person male or female? What did they look like?”

“I think it was a woman, but I didn’t see their face. They wore a long cloak with a hood.”

“What color was the cloak? Did you see their hair? Did you see the prince?” He didn’t want to ask too many questions at once, but he was eager for a solid lead.

“The cloak was black, but it covered their head. I couldn’t even say for sure if the person was an elf or a human, but I think it might have been an elf, going by the way the hood was shaped.”

“And the prince?”

“This person was carrying a young elven boy. He looked to be about three. He had blond hair and was wrapped in a blanket.”

Lord Rowan nodded as he wrote down what the man said. “Do you remember the color of the blanket?”

“White, and it had some fancy gold embroidery on it.”

Lord Rowan looked up. That was the prince’s blanket from the day room where he napped. “Did you see which way they went?”

“No, my lord. I’m sorry. It was chaotic trying to get out of the castle that day, and I didn’t pay attention to where other people were headed.”

“Did this person seem to be with anyone else or on her own?”

“I didn’t notice anyone else who seemed to be with her if it was a her. It could have been a small male. There were a lot of people going through that door though, so maybe there was and I just didn’t notice.”

“Had any of the rebels made it that far into the castle by the time you were heading out?”

The man shook his head. “I don’t think so.”

“Can you name anyone else who was there?” Someone else had to have seen what happened. Maybe they had also seen which way the person carrying the prince had headed.

“Delwyn Vallana was there.”

Deydesli Amberwind wrote the word on the board for the younger children to see. Two of the youngest were learning how to read, and today's focus was the letter ’B’. She had finished her own school work early as usual, and, as she had been doing since the beginning of this school year, had gone to the front of the class to help Mrs. Softpetal. She was only twelve, but as she had nothing else to do, Mrs. Softpetal had agreed to let her assist.

“Thank you, Deydesli. Children, who can tell me which letter is at the start of the word.” All four hands went up. She looked at the two youngest. “Iandor?”

“It’s a B.” the boy answered while wiggling in his seat.

“That's right! Now, who can read the word?” she looked at the oldest two, Leria and Tavion who were eight and nine respectively, as they both put their hands up. “Tavion?”

“Ball.”

“That's right. It starts with the letter B and the word is ball. B-b-ball,” she said emphasizing the ‘B’. “Deydesli, give them the next word, please.”

Deydesli wrote the word ‘Bird’ and turned around to around to look at the children. She nearly gasped upon seeing Iandor covered with blood, but when she blinked, it was gone. She glanced at Mrs. Softpetal, but she carried on with the lesson as if everything was normal.

She looked back to Iandor. Another image came to mind. Wolves. She recalled that over the past few months she would get bursts of clarity, or that was her best way to describe it. It was almost as if she knew the answers on the tests before she knew the answers, and it was the same with her reading and math homework. It didn’t make sense, but she thought maybe she would walk Iandor home. He’d be safe that way, right?

She looked down at her arm and gasped at the sight of blood, but then she blinked and it was gone.

“Deydesli? Are you okay?”

She had really gasped that time. “I’m fine. I’m sorry. Is it time for the next word?”

“Yes, please.”

Deydesli wrote the next word, ‘Baby’, trying to forget what she had seen. Maybe it had just been her overactive imagination, but had it ever been wrong before? She thought she was going to get her first bra for her twelfth name day, and she did. Just yesterday, she had the idea that her mother was making a fresh loaf of bread that day and it hadn’t cooked right. That had been right as well.

She looked up to see Iandor covered in blood again. The wolves had surrounded them. She couldn’t protect him.

She looked at Mrs. Softpetal. She was still giving the lesson as if everything was normal. “Mrs. Softpetal,” she interrupted. She was starting to panic and didn’t know what else to do. She continued, “Iandor can’t go home at the normal time or the usual way today.”

The teacher raised a brow in surprise. Deydesli hoped she wasn’t getting in trouble. She quickly added, “Something is going to happen. I know it is.”

“Deydesli, calm down. What’s going to happen?”

She frowned with worry. How was Mrs. Softpetal going to believe her? “I just know it’s something bad, and it might involve wolves. I don’t know how I know. Please, he can’t go home along his usual path.”

“It’s the only path to his home.” Mrs. Softpetal went to hold Iandor’s hand. The young boy looked scared now, and Deydesli felt a pang of guilt for causing his fear.

“Can we please get someone with some sort of weapon to go with him? I’ll go too if there’s someone strong with us.”

“Lessons are almost done for the day. Can you watch the younger ones while I’m gone? I’ll get someone. It’ll only be a few minutes. Finish the rest of the lesson with them.”

Deydesli nodded and did as asked while Mrs. Softpetal put on a shawl and hurried out the side door. She returned a few minutes later with a man who neither had a weapon nor was very strong. She glanced at her teacher doubtfully.

“Deydesli, you remember Solrys. He just graduated a few years ago.”

She nodded. She remembered him. He had graduated just as she had moved into the older group so she didn’t know him very well, despite sharing a classroom with him for a few years. She did know there were stronger options. He wasn’t even carrying anything to defend himself with.

“I remember him, but-”

“I remember you as well,” Solrys said. “Come, step outside with me. We need to discuss something.”

Did he have a weapon outside? She glanced at Mrs. Softpetal, who merely nodded. Deydesli tried not to show her irritation. Were they even taking her seriously? She followed Solrys outside.

“So what is it? I asked for help getting Iandor home because I know something is going to happen, and I’m sorry but you don’t look like you’ll be an awful lot of help.”

Solrys smiled slightly. “Looks aren’t everything, especially where magic is involved.”

She stared at him, frightened of what he’d say next. Was that it? She had magic and they were going to cart her off to Thril Gandir? She’d never even been out of the town. She was close to panicking when he spoke again.

“I meant me, but I think, based on what Mrs. Softpetal said, you might have it too. I have some books that may help in my home. You can borrow them if you want, but you’ll need to be careful. It’s hard to get books on magic outside of Thril Gandir without raising suspicion.” “You have magic?” “Shh, not so loud.” He voice lowered to a whisper. “I can help you get the boy home safely, and I can help you figure out what your abilities are and how to use them. I think. I’ve read a lot of books anyway. You might not like hearing that I think your ability is very rare. However, before I do any of that, I need to have your word that you won’t tell anyone. There are only a few people who know about me. If the wrong person knows and lets it slip, Thril Gandir will show up very quickly to take us both to stay in the mage city. This needs to be a secret.”

She nodded, though she still didn’t look sure. “You really think I have magic?” She kept her voice down this time.

“Yes, and a very special ability. I’ll explain everything I know about it later. You promise to keep it a secret?”

“Yes. You can really get Iandor home safely?”

“I’m sure of it. Let’s go get him, shall we?”