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

The shamassons flooded the room speaking in their strange echoes, but there was already so much screaming and crying that much of the room could not hear them and, therefore, would not be calmed. Nerod and a few of the older children began screaming at younger children to be calm and be quiet, but they would be neither. Two shamassons looked at Mrs. Praner and then carried her out of the dining room, her feet dragging shoelessly behind her.


That was the last time I ever saw Mrs. Praner.


The children were put on study hours, and the stone cups of prole-jack tea were distributed in the dining area. I pretended to drink mine and then poured it into a crack in the floor while no one was looking. Then, I watched as the other children became less and less active. Eventually, the morning's strange turn of events would become hazy to them.


Chapter 31: A Requiem for Rules