Free One (The Godslayer Cycle Book 1) by Ron Glick

indignantly upon the speaker.
    “ I...”  Bracken's momentum was stopped as abruptly as it had begun by the broken utterance coming from Nate, though he could not later have said why.  “I have heard that before...  somewhere...  I know that...  those words...” he managed.
    The woman nodded.  Of course you have.  You've known the prophecy since you were born.  Before, actually.  It was part of your conception, born into this world completely with your birthright.”
    “Birthright?”  Nathaniel responded.  “What are you talking about?  I don't have a birthright!   I know nothing of nobles or their claims, and I assure you I am no lost son of any throne!”
    “ Certainly, you do,” the woman purred.  “Were you not listening?  You are the one the prophecy spoke of.  You are the Avatar.”
    “ A wha'?” burst out Bracken.
    “ Not 'a'.  'The'.  There is only one.  At least, there's only one for our purposes.”  The stranger pulled up a chair that neither of the friends had noticed before and proceeded to sit without invitation.  Bracken still stood where he had come to a stop in his abbreviated rush upon the strange woman as Nathaniel leaned forward in his own chair expectantly.
    Close up, the woman seemed of indeterminate age.  Her hair and skin suggested the vibrancy of youth, yet her eyes told of a far more worldly existence.  There was an aura about her, unmistakable at close quarters, one that seemed magnetic with her sharp blue eyes and golden locks.  Even her clothes, at first seeming merely common cloth, gave the appearance of being almost regal in quality when closely inspected.  Bracken had experience with things of magic, and the hairs upon his neck and chin bristled in its presence, as they most assuredly did now.
    “Okay, so wha' is the Avatar?” Bracken asked, feeling the unmistakable urge to defend his friend.
    “ A servant of the Gods,” answered the woman.  “An emissary, if you will, between the divine and mortal realms.”
    Nathaniel felt his own face flush now.  “I do not serve the New Order now, nor can you ever compel me to.  You are mistaken if you think some small poetry will sway me against my nature, for I have learned it upon hard lessons since I was barely able to lean against a grown man's knee!”
    The woman's eyes seemed to sparkle with glee.  “I am pleased beyond measure to hear those words.  For the Avatar must never serve the interests of the New Order.”
    Nathaniel was taken aback.  “But you just said...”
    “I said ,” interjected the woman, “that the Avatar is a servant of the Gods.  I said nothing whatsoever of the so-called New Order.”
    Bracken's features blanched at the meaning of the words spoken, and his friend's face paled visibly.  “You mean the Old Gods?”  Nathaniel managed weakly.  “But they've been dead for centuries now...”
    The woman smirked.  “If you wander into the trees for a time and are not seen by other men, do you die without recognition?”
    “ Ya be sayin' the Ol' Gods be no' dead?” Bracken asked.  “I be thinkin' ya woul' be havin' a hard time sellin' such snake oil ta the masses, 'speci'ly wit' one of the new clergy in residence.  The Ol' Gods, if no' dead, 'ave certainly left this world behin' a long time ago.  And asides, I would be thinkin' this talk, eit'er way, has b'come a bit too treach'rous to go on wit'in my pub.  I woul' thank ya fer yer input on my frien's dream, unwanted as it may 'ave been, an' bid ya to kindly take yer leave now.”
    A wicked grin crossed the woman's face momentarily, but it soon vanished and she bowed her head.  “As you wish, sir dwarf.  This is your domain and I shall respect your wishes.  But know you, young Nathaniel Goodsmith,” and at this, the woman's eyes were again intent upon the young man, “it was no dream what haunted you, but a foreshadowing.  You saw what was , you witnessed the awakening of One and, as you say, your life will