Free Halfstone: A Tale of the Narathlands by Daniel White

Malath’s power or position
they were no longer seen as a threat to Galdrem. The Synod was confident that they
would not return.
    “Even so, there lingered the risk of a revenge attack on Isobel.
She needed security but refused to stay in Galdrem. The loss of Gilthred had
broken her. Only recently had she found out she was pregnant with you, Aldrick.
She left the city and travelled south, to here, where she built a home for
herself.” Jon looked around. Tears glistened in his eyes. “She loved it here, Aldrick.
This is where you were born.”
    Aldrick found tears in his own eyes. He wiped them away.
    Jon rested his back against the chair and closed his eyes for a
time before going on.
    “An appointed aera and I had followed your mother here to watch
over her, but she did not allow us to stay so we moved to Farguard. In time,
the aera returned to Galdrem. I remained, wary that she might one day need my
protection…
    Jon swallowed heavily. “It was in the winter. You were a newborn.
I had come here with supplies for her. When I arrived the house was ablaze. She
was inside. I doused the flames and pulled her from it but… I was too late. She
was…” Jon took a moment.
    “I thought all had been lost that day Aldrick, but it wasn’t. With
the raging noise now subsided, I heard your cry from within the trees. Your
mother had hidden you there, tucked in a blanket. You were safe. I am uncertain
if those who came for her were aware you existed. I knew then that you must be
protected. It was my responsibility. The only way to be sure you were safe was
to see that your identity remained a secret. You couldn’t be known by your
father’s name, Aedimon, nor could you stay with me. I took you to Rain, a
village with no prior connection to you or your parents. Braem and Phelvara
adopted you there. I remained here and rebuilt your mother’s house, to preserve
her memory. But I could never quite let it go, Aldrick. That is why I would
visit you as you grew up. Being such lovely people, Braem and Phelvara said that
I was always welcome. Eventually I told them everything but made them swear
never to tell you, only to come to me if I was ever needed… and here we are
today.”
    Aldrick lifted his eyes from the floor. Everything was out of
focus and glistening. He felt sick and heavy. Above all other thoughts and
questions, imagery of Gilthred and Isobel—his parents—flooded his mind. Both
murdered, his mother in this very home. Slowly an emotion he was unfamiliar
with began to seep through him. So much had been stolen from him! He rose and
left the room.
    Solitude found him outside. He stood a short distance from the
house among the tussocks, fists clenched and head raised to the skies. Rain
quietly fell upon him. Around him the mountains cowered, hiding their heads in
the clouds. He let out a cry of rage and lightning erupted around him.
Simultaneously thunder roared, ricocheted off the mountains and made the ground
tremble beneath his feet.

 
     
     
     
     
    6
    TRAINING
     
     
     
    Aldrick closed the door quietly behind him. He felt much calmer
now. Jon and Télia were standing together in silence. The loose ends of a smile
lingered on Jon’s face. Télia’s was a tone lighter than usual. He walked past
them and seated himself by the fire.
    “Frightful weather outside, is it not?” Jon asked.
    “It is.”
    “Your father’s storm surges within you, Aldrick”
    Aldrick looked up. “Hold on… are you saying… I did that? I made
the thunder and lightning?”
    “You surely did. None of those clouds out there are storm clouds.
That was of your own making.”
    “But… but how? How is it that my father, my mother and Malath all
had these abilities that other wielders don’t?”
    “An intuitive question,” Jon said, raising a finger. “It is
perhaps what brought them together at a young age—their uniqueness. It occurs
in those who have survived great peril in their lives, who have persevered
through immeasurable