Chapter 1

Kalahn

Kalahn kept her head down, her eyes planted firmly on her leather boots. Her father’s words echoed in her head.

Take deep breaths and let it go. It’s not worth the trouble.

These were the words she tried to remember when her frustrations surfaced. She took a deep breath, letting it in and out. Her eyes didn’t dare to glance at the man standing before her.

Let it go. It’s not worth the trouble.

The words were on repeat in her mind. It didn’t matter that it hadn’t been her fault. Her temper was threatening to rise as she struggled to push the emotions to the back of her mind. She couldn’t risk the noble calling for the guards. With the ornate key around his neck and a long purple tunic embroidered with gold, and Kalahn with her pewter colored eyes, she knew who they would find fault with.

“Sorry, sir,” she mumbled.

He muttered, using his servant’s cloak to dislodge mud from the book. Kalahn had a feeling he was glaring at her, but she didn’t dare sneak a glimpse. Meeting the eyes of an arcanum wielding noble would be the fastest way to get herself into a worse predicament than the one she found herself in already.

“Sorry sir. I’ll buy a replacement.” She tried again, bowing her head even closer toward her boots. She heard the man scoff at her.

“I doubt you have the money. This was a priceless tome you muddied, untouched.” He hissed the last word, and Kalahn flinched. It was a term she often heard from the townsfolk, one they used for her and others with colorless eyes. She remained silent.

“Humph. You aren’t worth my time. I’m surprised you’re even still here,” he spat. Before Kalahn could ask him what he meant, he headed to the bookshop without glancing back. Once he was out of sight, Kalahn let out the breath she had been holding.

I’m surprised you’re still here.

His words stuck with her. What had he meant by that? Had he wanted her out of Deershore permanently? It was something that many of the townsfolk had voiced, but she had lived outside this town most of her life. The townsfolk had learned to put up with her presence, or at least she had thought so. But his phrasing…he made it sound as if he were surprised she was still living in Deershore.

Kalahn looked at the long list of items on the paper in her hand and sighed when she saw how much there still was to get. She decided to go with what was most important, hoping she could get something done before heading back to the refuge of her cabin. One thing that caught her eye was that she needed to visit a merchant. Her chickens had been over producing and the funds would help her get supplies she would need through the cold season.

As she made her way through the streets, she was careful to avoid everyone. The noble she had bumped into hadn’t been using his arcanum key, but many others in the town would. She kept her eyes on the shop signs, too. Although many in Deershore had painted signs, it being a smaller town on the outskirts of the Alaudian Empire, some of the more well-known shops used arcane energies to light the signs and catch the eye of rich customers. Most of the town used arcanum for everything, from street lamps to shop signs to the ovens that they used to bake goods. And all of it needed to be avoided.

Kalahn headed to the main marketplace. It was a sizable area that many local merchants and farmers used to hawk their wares. More importantly, there was very little arcanum used by the sellers there.

She found a vendor dressed in simpler garb than the noble she had run into earlier. She didn’t recognize him, likely a traveling merchant, his key lay dormant around his neck. He lazily glanced over Kalahn until he recognized the pewter color of her eyes.

“Can I help you?” he spoke, his voice clipped.

“I came to trade. I have several dozen eggs.” Kalahn tried to ignore his tone as she placed the large basket on the table in front of them. He inspected the eggs, picking a few up and turning them over in his hand.

“I’m afraid I can’t offer you much,” he said as he shrugged.

“And why is that?” Kalahn asked, unsurprised. He was going to try to get them at a cheaper price. She’d often found that townsfolk equated having silver eyes with stupidity. She must be lacking in intelligence if she could not call forth arcanum.

“These eggs are poor quality. I can tell from them that your chickens lack the proper feed and temperature for producing quality eggs.” He tsked, and Kalahn had to keep herself from snapping.

Take deep breaths and let it go.

Her chickens received excellent care, the divas that they were. Even the hens strutted around their pen, showing off their feathers. The merchant wouldn’t have been able to discover all of that simply by looking at the shell of the egg.

“Interesting you should say that. I guess I will find another buyer more interested in them.” Kalahn started putting the eggs back into the basket. Should she be bluffing and threatening to leave? Probably not. It was not a move her father would have approved of. She shouldn’t be petty about the eggs, but sometimes she found herself doing it, anyway.

He held out her hand to stop her. “Now see here. I want to buy them, but I might not offer what you’re expecting.”

“If you want them that badly, then you can pay me what they’re worth.” She kept her temper even as she grabbed the handle of the basket.

“I’ll give you fifteen for the lot,” he yelped as he also reached for the handle.

She paused before responding, “Twenty and you have a deal.” It was still less than what a typical farmer would get for this many eggs, but she didn’t want to push her luck. He nodded and gave her the coins as she handed him the basket.

The sum in her hands wasn’t as much as she was hoping for, but she knew better than to expect the townsfolk of Deershore to give her the market value. She made her way back onto the streets of the town and glanced at her list.

The fading sunlight caused the lamps on the cobbled streets to turn on one at a time. They, like almost everything else in the city, ran on arcanum. It was a magical energy that most people of Alaudia could call forth with the use of a key that channeled and directed the energy. The lights were connected to a large generator with stored arcanum, from the townsfolk of Deershore, and it turned that arcanum into lighting for the streets.

Kalahn moved quickly to avoid a noble who was using her key to cast lights from her ornate hat. As she backed up to walk around the woman, she heard a buzzing sound from the lights behind her. The lamps flickered and then went out.

Lights above! In her effort to avoid the noble, she had inadvertently gotten too close to the street lamps. She hurried away from them, hoping she hadn’t caused too much damage. If the guards weren’t going to come for her for the muddied book earlier, they certainly would if she made all the lights on the streets go out.

As she moved away, the lights came back to life, and she let out a breath of relief. Good, she hadn’t gotten close enough to disrupt the magical energies entirely. Kalahn watched as people switched to the other side of the street and tried to avoid her. Some of them must have noticed what had happened with the street lamps.

“I should head home.” Kalahn let out another breath. This trip to town was not going well.

“Yes, dear, do that. And stop making trouble,” an old woman muttered as she passed by. She must have overheard Kalahn's comment to herself. She took another deep breath and repeated her father’s words, but she couldn’t keep herself calm. It didn’t matter what supplies she needed, Kalahn could go another day without them. Never mind that she had little left in her cupboards. At least the eggs had sold, she thought as she turned back towards the town gates and back home.

***

The sight was a familiar one; a cabin sitting in the clearing, surrounded by the forest. The trees, although evergreen, started to show signs of the change in the seasons. Needles littered the grounds around the little house, and a handful of oak trees sprinkled in had shed their yellowing leaves.

Kalahn saw a scene unfold, the cabin appearing in her mind as it once had been, when her father, Kole, was still around. The warm smell of bread wafted out of the windows. He would on rare days fire up the oven and bake bread when Kalahn was out. He could use arcanum, but only enough to do simple tasks. Kalahn fidgeted with his key that hung around her neck. The key had laid dormant since the day he had left her.

Many Alaudians believed that because the key was a constant item they wore that it contained a piece of the soul of the one who wore it. Kalahn didn’t believe it. The Hollowed didn’t have or use keys, and she didn’t like the thought of not having a soul that continued after. But she held on to his key, just in case.

Kalahn had thought the cabin would be a welcome sight, a reprieve from the noise and judgment of the townsfolk. But the building was dark and empty in the clearing, no longer welcoming. “Come on, Kalahn, you can’t stand here all day,” she said to herself.

As she made her way closer to the cabin, she heard the protests from the chickens. They must have heard her approach. “Oh hush, I will feed you soon,” she chided. They, however, kept squawking their demands at her, either not hearing or pretending not to. She laughed as she opened the barrel of seed and spread it on the ground. They silenced their voices as they made a run for the food. “You act as if you have never been fed.” She shook her head, watching her dramatic chickens eat their fill.

As Kalahn opened the cabin door, a chill swept into the silent room. The cold had begun to set in and she needed to get a fire started. She glanced over at the log rack that lay completely, tauntingly, empty. With a sigh, Kalahn walked back outside and made her way over to the woodshed. Wood filled the small, covered building to the brim.

She wished she could say she had cut all the wood to prepare for winter, but that was only part of the reason. Time and time again, she found herself at the chopping block trying to work through her anger. Kole often teased her about it. She took a stack of logs and brought them back inside to put them on the rack near the fireplace.

After a few attempts to bring the fire to life, Kalahn got it to light. How much easier it would have been to start if she had arcanum?

Her glance rested on Kole’s empty chair next to the fire.

Walking over, Kalahn gingerly touched the fabric. A memory came to her mind unbidden. Kalahn, much smaller, stared up wide-eyed at Kole as she tore off pieces of freshly baked bread. He smiled as he told her a story. Kalahn loved his stories. He would often tell her about his trips to nearby towns, or how he had built the cabin, or the trouble he would get himself into when he was younger. A smile crept onto her lips as she thought back to it.

A knock sounded at the door, and Kalahn jumped at the noise. It was an unusual time for anyone to be visiting, not that she had gotten many visitors since her father had passed. She walked over to the door and hesitated as the thought of the nobleman she had run into in town crossed her mind. Could he have changed his mind? Could he have brought the guards with him? She glanced at her bow and quiver hanging on the wall. She preferred to avoid fighting, and hadn’t ever used the bow besides hunting in the woods. Why were her thoughts drifting there now?

The nobleman's words still worried her. She reached for the bow and quiver and slung them over her shoulder, still not sure why she did it.

Swinging open the door didn't reveal the guards but, an old traveling merchant that had long been a friend of her father. The woman immediately eyed Kalahn’s bow, raised an eyebrow, and shook her head as if disappointed. “That is not how Kole taught you to greet guests!”