Page 2 of Kingdom of Embers and Ruin

The barkeep quickly took the coin, thank the gods, and placed a horn tankard filled to the brim with ale in front of her, which she gladly accepted, gulping down half of it into her empty stomach. She was working her way towards burnout, but the ale helped her feel stronger; it kindled her ever-present fury, as alcohol did for most people. Maude wiped her mouth and put her back to the bar counter to watch the next fight.

To her right, a lanky man had fallen asleep with his tankard in hand and cheek on the bar in front of his half-eaten plate. Maude spied the hired guards for The Broken Bones Pub, making their way over to the man a second before they swiped him from his stool. She ignored the struggle that sparked next to her and fixed her gaze on the three fighting pits, all currently occupied by men and women battling out some insult or debt. No one noticed her slender fingers slipping into the struggling man’s pocket, and no one noticed when those fingers withdrew his heavy coin purse.

Focusing on the group of people limbering up beside the pits, Maude sized up each opponent as if she were going to be fighting them. Sigurd typically matched her up with whoever was just looking for a fight that night—she never had any personal quarrels with the patrons in this pub. In the limited but warm torchlight of the underground fighting pits, the crowds of men and women drinking, placing bets, and generally debauching themselves felt more like home to Maude than any other place. The thought of calling The Broken Bones Pub her home caused her to shudder with disgust.

“That’s just depressing,” Maude muttered, taking another drink of her ale and swiping the bread off her recently vacated neighbor’s plate, digging in. Already, she could feel the food and drink working to refuel her reserves.

“What’s depressing? The current fight happening or the general atmosphere?” A bright voice sounded from down the bar. A shot of light in her darkness. “Because if it’s the former, theyareflopping around the pit like fish out of water. But if it’s the latter, I would have to disagree. This underground Hel-hole gives off a certain kind of gritty but otherwise charming feel, don’t you think?”

Maude turned to the stranger and wasn’t sure if she should stare or make a snarky comment. She evidently opted to stare because no words came to mind. With their hood pulled forward and hunched over the bar counter, she couldn’t make out much about them except their irritatingly lighthearted attitude. She chose not to respond and returned her attention to the fight.

“Well, in any case, I am looking forward to a much more entertaining match coming up,” the gratingly happy voice continued.

Again, Maude said nothing and sipped from her tankard. The annoying chatterer stood and took up the spot to her right that was recently vacated by the man who had been dragged out.

“Would you like another ale with your…ale? It’s my treat.”

Maude almost snorted. She hadn’t laughed in years, and this stranger almost drew out the foreign act from her.

He ordered two more ales and offered one to her. But still, she said nothing and only looked straight ahead. The stranger pulled the second tankard back and chuckled.

“As stimulating as this has been, others are waiting on me. May Tyr favor your future battles.” He turned to leave but stopped before going further, saying over his shoulder, “I look forward to seeing what the Allfather has planned for you.”

Maude only inclined her head to the ominous parting words as the stranger walked away. She sighed, thankful the interaction was over, andturned to face the bar with her finished drink. She needed to close her eyes and focus on centering herself again—her next round in the pit was coming up, and she always needed a moment to attempt to reign in her ever-present rising anger at her situation. Control was everything, Maude reminded herself.

Something she would never breathe out loud is that she didn’t enjoy fighting like this. It made her sick that she had to brawl like this and show the worst parts of herself to the people of Logi. It made her just likehim. Her anger heightened; she could feel the heat starting to radiate off her skin as her thoughts continued to spiral out of control.

Worthless, weak, absentminded fool.

Words from her past threatened to choke her as the loud atmosphere of the fighting pits dulled to a faint buzzing in her ears. At the touch of a hand on her lower back, her breath was stolen from her lungs as she withdrew a hidden dagger from her thigh, twisting around and holding it to a man's throat.

“Maude! It’s me!” Hands held up to show he was unarmed was Sigurd. Sweat trickled down his face from his proximity to her radiating skin. “Gods, you fire wielders are all such hot heads.”

Sigurd only knew her affinity for fire because of previousincidentsin the fighting pits when her temper got away from her. She shrugged off the thought and tried not to recall her immense mistake that night, the secret she had almost exposed.

“Don’t touch me,” Maude snapped, lowering her dagger and sheathing it back at her thigh.” Is my next round up?”

“Yes, check your weapons and drop into the pit.” Sigurd shook his head as he walked away, blonde locks glowing in the low light.

Maude rolled her eyes; she never checked her weapons. Not when any asshole could steal them from the low security crate at the entrance of thepit. Instead, she stashed them in the darkest corner of the bar behind a broken panel in the wall.

Maude’s hand went to her thigh, fingers entwining in the faded red strip of fabric she had tied around the handle of her dagger. This dagger… she kept this on her always.

Rolling her neck and stretching her arms behind her back, Maude made her way to the pit. Separating the fighting pits from the bar with an invisible line and shining in bright red letters, the wooden sign hanging from the ceiling read:

NO GALDER USE BEYOND THESE WARDS, VIOLATORS WILL BE GUTTED.

Subtle.

Magical wards surrounded the fighting pit, disallowinggalderuse by its onlookers and keeping whatevergalderslips between powerful fighters within its wards. While the threat was clear enough, wielding magic in the Kingdom of Flame if one was not a noble or royal was illegal since the Elemental Wars. Strictly speaking, the common folk were notsupposedto havegalderat all. Of course, with infidelities, sex work, and most of the despicable nobles looking to sheath their sword in whoever walked by first, the magical gifts of fire and air spread discreetly through the capital city of Logi quickly. The repercussion of these actions was the creation of what nobles referred to as thevitki, lowborngalderusers who “stole” the ability to manipulate the elements. The cost of discovery for thevitkiwas death, so naturally, these discoveries were kept quiet.

The Kingdom of Flame’s royal house was known for its ability to wield fire and air; they worked together harmoniously to create a powerful force to oppose. The royal family has always been able to manipulate both,making them the most powerful in the kingdom and leaving most nobles unable to rise in the ranks of power. King Helvig had a bloody history of ensuring that only the royal family could wield both elements, so if there happened to be more noble children born with both gifts, they were never spoken about.

Predominantly, if anygalderabilities were likely to be passed down in this corner of the world, it would be fire or air. But even in the Kingdom of Flame, the number of those who could manipulate fire was dwindling at an alarming rate. More and more air nobles andvitkiwere being born. Some citizens insisted that the God of Fire, Halogi, was angry with them and that Kari, his brother who was the north wind, would soon come to rule the Kingdom of Flame. Some believed it was that Odin was angry about the loss of the Elven during the Elemental Wars and was now punishing us. King Helvig had banned speaking of the gods once he had heard the rumors and effectively buried the information that children were no longer being born with firegalder.

Across the continent of Ahland, the Kingdom of Rivers housed most of the water and earth wielders, so it was rare, but not impossible, to come across agaldergifted person in Logi who had control over water or earth. The tenuous peace treaty between kingdoms allowed for trade between the Kingdom of Rivers farmers and the Kingdom of Flames crafters, but not many stepped out of the shadows of each kingdom in their lifetimes. Because of this, little was known about the Kingdom of Rivers now aside from who ruled it: King and Queen Kolbeck.

The fighting pits of Logi were one of the places where most could flex their magical legs and get some practice. Whilegalderuse in the fights was restricted during the nightly brawls, the daytime offered a sanctuary for the secret practitioners of Logi to exercise control. People like Sigurd— who had surprised Maude when he revealed that he possessed thetalent of earth manipulation— taught control and provided the skills needed to mask their secret in the eyes of the public.

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