Shielded in Flame

Calm Before the Storm

Part 1: Tainted Hero
Chapter 1: Calm Before the Storm

Brina Ulriksdotten opened her eyes to the sound of a crackling fire. Her father, Ulrik Brynjolfsen, sat on the other side of the flames cross-legged and poked at the logs. His head was bald, and his long grey beard was full of braids. Tribal tattoos covered his arms and carried up onto his scalp. Most of the symbols held meanings denoting his status and wealth in the clan.

"Da?"

He didn't lift his eyes from the fire. "Oh, Cub. I didn't know you were awake." Ulrik's brow furrowed. Worry lines stretched across his forehead, and the crinkles around his eyes grew deeper with his thoughts.

Brina sat up on her elbow, keeping the warm furs around her. "I thought you were preparing for a hunt."

"Scouts have not yet returned. I sent out a second party to search for them."

Brina's stomach knotted. Something isn't right. "They haven't returned?"

Ulrik finally looked up at her, his eyes sad. "Last I knew, the trail ended somewhere in the Korcari Wilds."

"That is quite a way from here. Easily two days trek."

"Aye." He dropped the stick he held, looking back into the fire.

"Was there nothing closer?"

"We should know more by this eve. The scouts are to return by sundown, regardless of what they find." Ulrik stood and went to the table where he unrolled a map. He leaned heavily against the counter with his head down.

"And if they don't?"

Ulrik remained silent.

We will have to move, again. "We've only been in this place for ten moons." Brina sat all the way up in her cot.

"If Thane Snow-Eye says, 'Move,' then we move." Ulrik turned to look at her. "Cub, we can't stay if it isn't safe."

Brina sighed. "I know."

Silence stretched on. An unspoken word hung in the air, nightgangers. The attacks had grown more frequent the past few months. Are they the reason our scouts are missing?

Ulrik pulled her up from her cot and held her face in his hands. "You are so much like your Ma. You have her eyes; blue-green, like the leaves of the Firebloom. The rest of her is your personality. I'm afraid the rest of your looks you got from me." Ulrik's smile carried up into his honey-brown eyes.

"Aye, I'm as tall as you," Brina laughed.

"I certainly never expected that. I've been the tallest in the clan for so long; I'd forgotten what it was like to not look over the top of one's head. And no one can miss your mop of brown curly hair."

"Ma's golden hair always stood out, to me."

Ulrik embraced her. "You'll do just fine today."

A memory of her mother flashed in Brina's mind. The way her Ma's golden hair shone in the sunlight. The way her face lit up when she smiled. Her warm embrace. Brina's face stung.

She took a deep breath and smiled at her father before he headed through the door. Brina took it as an opportunity to ready herself for the day in privacy.

***

Outside the hut, villagers were already preparing for the day despite the darkened sky. Vendors arranged their stalls. Brina stopped in front of one such booth. A small woman unstacked baskets from her arms into various trays. She was bundled up in furs to fight the crisp morning air, but her hood had started to slip back revealing mouse-brown hair with visible grey streaks.