Free Steel And Flame (Book 1) by Damien Lake

work.”
     
    *        *        *        *        *
     
    Several days later, Colbey rested in the council
hall.  No other building was both intact and large enough to house the
population’s remnants, so it continued to serve as their shelter.  Most of the
work thus far had involved recovering serviceable weapons and food stores, then
retrieving the dead for funeral rites.  As much as he would rather not, Colbey
acknowledged that if the horde returned, no matter what they did to defend
themselves they would all fall.
    The others sifted the ruins for salvageable goods,
which meant Colbey happened to be nearest at hand when Elder Orlan regained the
world.  Those villagers nursing the injured were busy when Colbey suddenly
found the old man’s unfocused eyes staring at him.
    “What’s happening?”
    Orlan’s dream world slowly faded.  Colbey decided
against dragging him back into reality sooner than necessary.  He allowed the
elder’s memories to surface on their own.
    The acting nurses found him.  After several minutes of
care, they left him to retrieve new bandages and fresh water.  He lay on his
pallet with his eyes closed, yet Colbey could see silent tears leaking from
beneath his lids, leaving gleaming tracks down weathered cheeks.
    “Elder, it is Colbey.”
    Eyes resolutely shut, the old man responded hoarsely,
“Yes.  I remember you were the one who found me.  Thank you for bringing me
here.”  He paused a moment.  “I’m glad you were spared from this.”
    Colbey had no desire to press the man.  Except time
was short these days.  “Do you know who they were?”
    “No, I haven’t a clue.  What a thing to happen!”
    “We’ve been trying to piece it together.  Thomas is
running things until you’re back on your feet.”
    “Thomas is a good man.  He’ll do well putting the
village back together.  The people will follow him.”
    “As near as we can determine, they were after the seal
beneath the pool.  They left soon after they…they finished.  We can’t tell if
they got what they were after or not.”
    “Are all of the seal masters gone then?  Oh, this is
our darkest time to be sure.”
    “Elder—”
    “They did not get it, young Colbey.  I was down by the
waters, remember?  I was there when they attacked and I stayed there as they
came.  One of their sorcerers attacked me when he found me, but didn’t finish
the job.  I was there to see them try to steal our legacy, and I was there to
see them defeated in their purpose.”
    “The seals are intact?”
    “They tore aside the first layers.  They lacked the
skills or strength to breach the final two.  Those are the oldest, laid by the
original founders of the village.  Not even I could breach them if I desired,
nor could I replicate them.  That skill is lost to time’s erosion.”
    “So it is safe.”  Colbey sighed in relief before
jerking upright.  “But that means they will be back!”
    From his pallet, the elder opened his eyes to take in
Colbey’s visage.  The young man was exhausted, near haggard.  Unshaven and
dirty, the smell of old sweat wafted strongly, yet his body’s set told Orlan
the most.  His clenched jaw and fists, tension in every muscle bespeaking the
rage burning through him.  In his eyes welled a deeper despair than the old man
had ever seen.
    “Colbey, if it comes to the choice, tell Thomas to
abandon this place.  They’re capable of killing us all to take what they want. 
If we can’t stand, we must run and survive.”
    The younger man made no response for several long
heartbeats.  “Elder,” he choked, “all my life I’ve trained to act as Guardian
to the village, the forest and our secrets.  How can you tell me such a
thing?”  He refused to look at the old man.
    “I tell you as a man who has served these people his
whole life and come to understand what’s truly important!  These people are
sheltered, but they can bend and adapt.  If need