Ash N Ember – Zachary J Simmons

They were tipped with long, curved claws that shimmered like the crescent moon. The beast’s thick fur hung off its body like drapes, making it look even larger than it already was, and no doubt providing significant physical protection. Corrin reached to his waist and pulled out the dagger, though he desperately wished he had his sword right about now. This small blade was hardly half the length of the monster’s claws, and his grip tightened as he forced his breathing to calm down.

What floor was this? The fifth? The sixth? Was he still technically on the third? He had no way of gauging how strong this monster would be, but it didn’t instill the same fear as the thing in the water. Corrin’s breath stilled as he came to a dangerous realization. With the length of its claws and slender limbs, hiding in the crevice wouldn’t be an option this time, it would be able to reach in and attack him even if he hid.

He had to fight. Kill, or be killed. After a moment of consideration, the creature tilted its head and began walking towards him, its claws scraping across the ground as it moved. He took a step back involuntarily, shrinking away from the new threat as his body refused to move how he wanted. All the while, the beast drew closer, unthreatened, until it was only a few yards away. Damn it! He thought. Move Corrin. Move! Corrin tensed his legs, adjusting his grip on his knife again.

Muscles honed from years of effort contracted, storing energy as he licked his dry lips. The monster raised an arm back, claws ready to strike him down. Corrin sprang forward, swinging his knife to cut open its midsection. The knife caught nothing but air, and the monster was gone. Corrin was skidding across the ground, quickly losing his balance and falling into a tumble, sending jolts of pain through his body. What just happened? His first thought was that he’d gotten attacked.

But as his mind caught up, he realized the truth. It had happened so fast he almost missed it, but somehow, he’d run past it in the time it took him to swing his knife. He almost couldn’t believe it, but he’d moved impossibly fast. He’d only ever seen one person move like that before, eight years ago.

Corrin and Wyn were not supposed to leave their homes. They were not supposed to leave the village. They certainly were not allowed to walk miles into the spirit glades, unaccompanied by any adults. But of course, children are not known for following rules, and at eight years of age, they were of the particularly adventurous variety. Well, at least Corrin was, and Wyn was the type to get dragged along with whatever his friend was doing.

“C’mon Wyn, I heard from brother Relis that the adults found a cave in these woods that still had ice in it! Don’t you want to see?” Corrin propped one knee onto a fallen stump and held his hand to shade his eyes as he surveyed the surrounding area, just like a good adventurer should.

The spirit glades were breathtaking, and completely untouched by man, and seemed to glimmer with a certain ethereal light. Dancing in the air around them were a variety of spirits Corrin had never even seen, darting through the air in every color and shape he could imagine. Most appeared as simple orbs of light, but some took on more complex forms: spectral storm clouds, rabbits, and even a snake-like dragon the size of his arm, which drifted through the air in gentle oscillations, leaving the two boys alone.

Wyn, a young boy with raven black hair, followed behind Corrin, tripping over a small branch in his path. His eyes glanced around nervously, fretting over every little movement in the underbrush. “I mean, yeah, I want to see it. I just don’t know if it’s a good idea. We’re not supposed to be out here. The adults say this forest is dangerous.” Corrin just laughed. “That’s what makes it fun! It’s not a real adventure if there’s no danger. Besides…” He hopped down from the log and marched over to the edge of the clearing, grabbing a stick and swinging it around.

“We’ll just have to fight a spirit beast if one shows up.” “We’re not spirit knights Corrin. If something like that shows up, we should run… And what if we get in trouble? My father will be mad if he finds out we were here.” “He doesn’t have to find out,” Corrin said. “We’ll be back before anyone realizes we’re gone. Besides, it’s not like he’ll punish me for it.

Nobody wants to be strict with the orphans.” He laughed maniacally. “I’m not sure if you should be so happy about that,” Wyn muttered.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: ef9b592dfde2f20f
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 1,962,946 bytes (1.872 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• Pages: 296
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 531.46 minutes
• Total Words: 106,291
• Total Characters: 582,713
• Average Words per Page: 359.09
• Average Characters per Page: 1968.62

Most Frequent Words

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