Iceblade Ascendant

PROLOGUE: COLD WIND

Aefion sat with his back to the cool trunk of Anarys, the greatest and tallest Trelacylon tree of Elbrooke City and breathed in the tropical night air. He was at the trelacylon's pinnacle, the equivalent of a rooftop. Above his head the colossal starfire lance reared like a massive, mechanical lizard, a menacing silhouette against the star-studded, satin sky. Looking out across the glittering city, he realized he would never take how high up he was for granted. The trelacylon trees were like organic mountains, towering above the forest canopy so that the leaves and branches below formed an endless, green ocean.

Drifting up from below came the delicious smells of spices and herbs from the Elbrooke marketplace and the mysterious yet beautiful music of Beltharin performers. There was movement to his right: in response he flicked his head around to see a woman appearing from the stairwell. Her hair had the red-brown sheen of crimsonwood, forelocks sticking out like an insect's feelers. As she walked towards him, the dim light shed by the stairwell's amaranthine plants glittered off the copper in her ears. Her black, leather attire, glamorous and alluring, caused him to inhale and exhale deeply. Gems, jewellery, and various trinkets hung from her belt, neck, and wrists, tinkling in the breeze like tiny bells. Wordlessly, like a leaf coming down to rest, she sat next to him and put her heavy, leather boots up on the bronze railing.

"Mind if I sit here?" Her voice was light but with a hard edge, like a newly forged blade, almost as if she dared him to challenge her. He watched as she took something from her belt.

"Sit where you want," he replied casually, taking satisfaction in the fact that she could've sat down elsewhere but had decided to sit next to him. Her perfume smelled exquisite. "Moonmist, nice."

"Thanks," she commented, twisting the small, brass tube in her hand before placing one end in her mouth. She proceeded to suck, and the tip of the tube glowed brightly, like a red-hot coal. Then she removed it from her mouth and exhaled deeply, breathing out a plume of fine, red smoke.

Aefion smiled and turned his gaze back to the stars. She was a Sprite, a bloodsap addict, no doubt escaping the bustle of the market below. Bloodsap was refined from treesap crystals found on the bark of trelacylons. It was used by inhaling the gas produced from heating up the crystals or drunk in bottled form.

"Hey," the woman's voice addressed him again. He turned back to her, raising an eyebrow inquisitively. Her violet eyes penetrated his entire being. "You got any Bloodsap?"

If he had some, he would've given it to her without hesitation. He could never resist a beautiful woman.

"Nah, I uh... I'm not into bloodsap."

"Have you even tried it?" She raised an inquisitive eyebrow and laughed softly. Her hair jingled with the gemstones woven into it. "Bloodsap is the beating heart of the living city. It's the...the essence of Beltharin culture." She smiled at him, revealing her elongated canines. Only Sprites were gifted with those. It was a side effect of the bloodsap. "With this stuff..." She took another pull on the brass tube. Exhaling the red mist, she grinned. "It makes the bloodfire more powerful. In here." She thumped her chest.

"Yeah...I guess I never really thought about it like that." Aefion frowned, thinking. The bloodfire was a Beltharin's burning, inner energy, which resided in their extremely hot blood. The bloodfire was the main reason why the Beltharin did not get sick: it purged foreign elements from the body and contained healing properties to restore flesh wounds. He glanced back at the woman. Her face was familiar. "Hey did I...did I see you around the queen's palace?"

"You know, I love this city," the woman continued. "This is the jewel at the heart of Lightwood Forest. The atmosphere, the climate, the food, all that stuff. But Queen Esmeraedyn... not so much." Her voice became harder. "We used to be friends. But now she's just a bitch."

"I'm sorry to hear it," Aefion said sympathetically. "But you know, we've got it pretty good here." He waved casually to the city below. "Esmeraedyn made all this possible. Over the last millennium she's done some pretty amazing stuff. She sacrificed herself to become the queen."

"Yeah, I guess gaining immortality and becoming the ruler of a nation counts as sacrifice." Her sarcasm wasn't lost on him, and he smiled.

"Well sure, she's immortal. But think about the paperwork. All that responsibility. I certainly wouldn't wanna be in charge, frak that."

"You're definitely right about that," she agreed. She offered him the bloodsap tube. "Hey, have you heard about this ambassador coming?"

She'd changed the topic.

"Yeah I did...it worries me." He accepted the tube and ran a hand through his russet hair. "As fire elves, it makes sense that fire is the ally of the Beltharin. Our powers are born of our hot blood. I heard this ambassador's a warlock. A warlock with the power of ice." As he inhaled on the tube he could feel the bloodfire flaring within his veins, and it felt good – really good. He exhaled, exalting in the red smoke which billowed up into the sultry, night sky. "Fire and heat are life. Ice and cold are death. Wow this stuff is amazing."

The woman smiled at him slyly, and accepted the tube back from him. "That warlock had better not frak things up here." She tucked her bloodsap tube away and stood up, stretching her lithe body. "You think he's gonna cause trouble?"

"I'm no mystic. But it doesn't take a mystic to realize that he'll be trouble. Have a good one. Maybe I'll seeya round. And thanks for the bloodsap." He nodded his head at her as she turned to leave.

"No worries."

As she walked back to the stairwell, a bright light, a blazing red-gold streak, soared against the dark blue heavens. It carved a path downward until it disappeared into the forests clinging to the slopes of the northeastern Dragynspine Mountains. A sudden, cold wind disturbed the surrounding foliage and then was silent and a thin plume of smoke rose from the jungled mountains. Instinctively, Aefion looked up, and saw a massive darkness blotting out the stars above. Suddenly, a series of blinking, red lights appeared, then proceeded to rotate, in formation. After a moment, they vanished, and the stars reappeared. That was very weird, he thought to himself. His half-sister, Blood Maiden to the queen, would have to be informed...