In the dim light of a storeroom, Vekaya wakes up, alone and with no memory of who she is, where she is, or how she got there. In an orphanage run by an arcane religious cabal, our first protagonist has no choice but to become an investigator, a rebel, and her very own hero. At nearly the same time and not far away, a mysterious and deadly force from an uncharted region causes the town of South Hall to destroy itself, leaving Gyrath and his little brother Caedrus equal parts baffled and horrified. Taken from a stable and easy life, they are now adrift in a world of wolf packs, shapeshifters, will-bending shamassons, and the death crawler: a worm made entirely of corpses, the size of a tower that breathes violent madness into those unlucky enough to be near it. The trio must learn to put aside their differences in the hopes that the three of them will survive their adventure and save Hammercleft - and possibly the world - from those who would dominate it. A Flash of Sparks is created by Emile Bienert, an eGlobal Creative Publishing Signed Author.

A Flash of Sparks

What blankets there were in the House of Civius were thin and somewhat scratchy. I can remember straining at them in every direction, battling to keep myself covered and warm. It never really worked. The few children who slept soundly were, I imagined, used to it. Looking back on it now, I cannot help but wonder if they weren’t used to worse on the streets or wherever they had come from. A seeming eternity after Vekaya’s promise to help Caedrus and I escape, a storm rocked Hammercleft. It was the sort of storm that destroyed old houses. Lightning boomed, rattling windows and teeth. Rain fell in an unrelenting cascade, as if the blue of the sky had become a black ocean and fallen upon the streets of the city. And what was worse, I smelled iron.


My swallowed my suspicion. Vekaya takes beatings for other children, and we are in a city that has a million different reasons to smell like iron. Do not be ridiculous. There isn’t time for it, I thought.


Chapter 28: Sneak Thief