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

“Who?” came the mumbles back from other children.


“Those carts! I bet you anything you like that that’s the Order of Civius! They’re the ones who took Caedrus and Vekaya!”


Just then, a hollow drone of a voice echoed out of the stairwell, “Are you all right? You have been up here-”


The shamasson stopped speaking. Her eyes went from us to the shamassons that the children had tied up and then back to us. She turned and began to call, in a ghostly howl, “The children are awake! Come quickly!”


The darkness of the hallway replied to her in the form of a bed post, striking her in the forehead. As she fell to the ground like so much cloth, Sile entered the dormitory in front of dozens and dozens of other children. Shouts from downstairs and the smell of smoke filled the room behind them.


“They’ll be here any second,” he said. “We’ve got them out-numbered, but we need to get out quickly. All those paintings and draperies are starting to burn.”


Chapter 34: A Battle in the Halls