Unquiet Slumber Read online

  Unquiet Slumber

  The Blue Fire series, Book 1

  By

  Paulette Miller

  Edited by Courtney Simpson

  Unquiet Slumber: The Blue Fire series, Book 1

  Cover art and illustrations copyright © 2012 by Paulette Miller

  Copyright © 2012 by Paulette Miller

  www.facebook.com/bluefirenovels

  Kindle Edition, License Notes

  This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only.

  This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient on amazon.com. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then purchase your own copy.

  Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

  Second Edition: March 2012

  To Courtney:

  Who taught me that words can draw a world just as vivid and colorful as that which can be created with a colored pencil. I’m forever changed by the experience and eternally grateful.

  To my husband Dan and our children Deanna and CJ:

  For their tolerance and understanding as I put them through yet another mid-life crisis obsession.

  To anyone willing to share in my world:

  May you laugh, cry, and occasionally fan yourself. Just sit back and enjoy the ride as my hidden nature emerges.

  Table of Contents

  Preface - Magic Lost

  Chapter 1 - The Healer

  Chapter 2 - The Quest

  Chapter 3 - The Hunt

  Chapter 4 - Camp Out

  Chapter 5 - Marks

  Chapter 6 - Trille

  Chapter 7 - In the Beginning

  Chapter 8 - Secrets Revealed

  Chapter 9 - Journey Begins

  Chapter 10 - In the Dark

  Chapter 11 - The Truth

  Chapter 12 - Fire Wine

  Chapter 13 - Willow

  Chapter 14 - Intentions

  Chapter 15 - The Touch

  Chapter 16 - Castle Knightstorm

  Chapter 17 - First Sight

  Chapter 18 - Eden

  Chapter 19 - The Dance

  Chapter 20 - Forgiveness

  Chapter 21 - Black Dragon Mark

  Chapter 22 - Play Day

  Chapter 23 - Past Revisited

  Chapter 24 - Evil Destroys

  Chapter 25 - Another Beginning

  Chapter 26 - The Gift

  Chapter 27 - Bonding

  Chapter 28 - Hidden Pain

  Chapter 29 - Haven

  Chapter 30 - The Seer

  Chapter 31 - A New Home

  Chapter 32 - Destiny Revealed

  About the Author

  Preface - Magic Lost

  It’s been 860 years since the night lost its magic with the destruction of the Draak’s Wizard Sett by their once beloved Black Dragon. After centuries of an uneasy quiet, trouble stirs again in Lagrangia.

  The wind whispers that the Black Dragon has returned. Not the comforting and sheltering Black of the past—the dark wind howls only of death and destructive malevolence. This evil brings forth terrible creatures of death to aid in its search for the key that will guarantee the conquering of Lagrangia and enslavement of all that live within her outstretched arms.

  The magical world is in turmoil. Raids by the wicked followers of evil, the Drenn, are increasing in both ferocity and tactics, causing many magical villages to hide themselves behind protective shrouds. One such village, Castle Knightstorm, prepares for war against this evil while the remaining benevolent Draak take heavy losses while trying to rebuild their forces in their stronghold of Haven. No longer are the villages banded together as a large community; each now lives as a separate world, disconnected in the coming darkness. They each fight alone, unaware that their only hope of conquering evil is to band together.

  A small, very special group of Draaks are on a quest to search for the key to overpowering the evil Black and once again reuniting all of Lagrangia in peace—a prophesized warrior. Their long, hard search is becoming desperate to find the warrior before the evil finds what it seeks.

  The human village of Trille, unaware of the magical turmoil surrounding their mountain valley, aggressively expands across both banks of the Song River. Taverns and brawls sprout like weeds as the populace unknowingly reacts to the growing evil. In a small home close to the outskirts of Hartwood Forest, a young woman stirs uneasily in her sleep.

  Chapter 1 - The Healer

  “Ouch!” Tianna cried out as she felt a twig snap. She balanced on one leg while pulling a small piece of wood from the sole of her bare foot. As she righted herself, she glanced around the dark, unfamiliar forest.

  “How did I get here?” she wondered. The last thing she remembered was crawling into bed. She had no idea why she was now in the woods in nothing but a thin nightdress.

  Much of her life was spent alone in forests and they were like her second home. This forest, although unknown to her, was full of the nature she loved. She stepped over to a nearby tree and, while touching its cool trunk, took several cleansing breaths, calming the unease that was building. She slowly surveyed her surroundings, trying to find a place where she could gaze into the sky. She needed to find the stars that always managed to guide her safely home.

  As she debated on which way to proceed, she caught a pleasant, earthy scent. She breathed it deep into her lungs, causing an odd but pleasant tingling to spread throughout her body. Following the scent, she was drawn through the trees until she heard whispering. Somehow she knew that the intoxicating, unintelligible voice was trying to find and guide her home.

  As she continued forward, the scent became stronger and the whispering turned into a male voice. It was a voice that seemed familiar, but she couldn’t place a name or a face. Feeling his desperation to find her, she began to run, heedless that she was tearing her gown as it snagged on branches. She knew the man was just ahead and her breathing became labored from excited impatience.

  She burst into a clearing expecting to see him waiting for her, but no one was there. She turned slowly, desperately peering into the darkness, and caught the silhouette of a dark figure. He was searching for her but seemed unable to see her.

  She heard him take a deep breath before speaking. “Mmmm. I know you’re here thanks to your sweet scent. Call to me. I need to take you safely into my arms.” His voice felt like caresses against her skin, and she closed her eyes, swaying slightly.

  Part of her mind begged her not to respond to the stranger. She should remain silent or run away, but there was a small corner of her mind that was screaming at her to call to him. This voice was strong and wanted to go to him and have his arms hold her tight. Before Tianna could think, this small corner called aloud, “I’m here, waiting for you. Come to me.”

  At her words, the shadowy shape stopped and turned in her direction. She watched impatiently as he weaved effortlessly through the trees, easily ducking under branches and over downed logs, focused solely on reaching her. Her pulse and breathing sped with anticipation.

  When he was just out of arms reach, he stopped. He sensed her presence but seemed unable to see her exact position. Although his features were hidden in shadow, she felt the strength of his stare. Heat emanated from his body and she desperately needed to touch him, to be warmed by his inner fire. She smiled and opened her arms, beckoning the stranger to come closer.

  He didn’t move so she started to speak, but he took in another deep breath and let out a low growl that rumbled like thunder. As a chill flowed through her body, her smile left her face, and she quickly dropped her arms. Her pulse sped again, but this time, from fear.
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  As he slowly closed the distance between them, groping for her, her entire mind screamed, “Run!” and this time she listened. When she turned to escape, she caught her foot on a root and fell.

  He sensed her movement and spoke, low and commanding, “I can feel your resistance. You will not run from me.” He let out another thunderous growl, and yelled, “Hold her! Don’t let her go!”

  She quickly scrambled back up onto her feet as the ground below her started to shake. She scanned around her in horror as rotting hands exploded out of the ground and grabbed at her ankles and legs. She kicked and cried out in frustrated terror while they clawed her skin and tried to drag her under. As the hands overpowered her, she frantically turned toward the man and her body froze in terror. He was close enough that she felt his hot breath on her face, but yet she still saw only darkness where a face should be.

  He sniffed the air, angry that he could smell her but not see her. He leaned closer toward her position and murmured, “I’ll find you and when I do, you’ll be mine, forever.” He reached out blindly, trying to touch her, but she ducked and hid under her arms and screamed.

  *~*~*~*

  Tianna awoke gasping and shaking so hard that she knocked books off her bedside table. Her knuckles were white from clutching onto her blanket, and she put a trembling hand over her pounding heart. It was beating so fast that her chest hurt.

  She found herself saying, “It was only a dream. It was only a dream,” over and over to convince herself that it wasn’t real. Every part of her aching body, however, told her otherwise. She quickly threw back the covers and examined her ankles. There were no bruises, but they were cold to the touch like something icy was wrapped around them. Her shakes turned into shivers.

  “Just another nightmare,” she told herself as she lay back down and tried to calm her breathing, willing her body to stillness. Her childhood bad dream had turned into her adult nightmare. She always hoped that she would outgrow this, but she was now 24, which meant 20 years of restless sleep. Over the last year the dreams had grown steadily worse.

  As her body calmed, she stared up at the ceiling and realized that going back to sleep wasn’t an option. Since the sun was just starting to come up and she knew that fretting over phantoms was useless, she decided to make an early start to her day. She got up, dressed, and had a quick morning meal. Her wizard master, Zarin, was on a trip so that left her as the only healer in the village. As part of her training, Zarin asked her to replenish their supply of healing herbs. She went out to the barn to gather the plants she had hung to dry days earlier. Thanks to her large garden, if she worked hard, she might be able to surprise Zarin and have everything cut up and packaged before he returned home.

  Tianna gathered up the dried plants and carried them back inside.

  She frowned as she sorted the herbs because she was harvesting fewer than normal. Her home, located on the fertile banks of the Song River, was far enough outside the busy village of Trille that it was the perfect place for a bountiful garden. But once again, a wild boar had broken through the garden fence and devoured many of her plants.

  One of these days she was going to practice her hunting skills and find that animal. Her meal would be served.

  Suddenly the front door banged open and a young girl’s voice called out, “Ty! We need you!”

  Tianna quickly covered her herbs as a breeze whipped through the room, scattering the plants around the table. She glanced up, responding with, “What’s wrong Sara?”

  Sara ran over to the table in front of Tianna and in a panting voice said, “Ty, you must… come… fast... Garrett. He…did it again.” She had obviously been sent to find Tianna and had run all the way across the village as fast as her little six year old legs could carry her.

  Given the girl’s exasperated expression, Tianna knew that whatever was wrong, it wasn’t life threatening. She guided Sara to a chair so she could catch her breath and asked, “Let me guess. Was he helping your father again?”

  Sara gave her an exaggerated nod. “Yeah. Garrett cut his leg working in Papa’s shop.” She did an elaborate demonstration, flinging her arms around in the air as she talked. “Papa’s really mad. He’s stomping around yelling at everybody.”

  Tianna leaned back quickly to avoid being hit in the face by one of Sara’s movements. She let out a frustrated sigh. “I thought Garrett had learned his lesson the last time he got hurt.”

  Sara giggled. “No. He thinks he can do anything Papa can.” Sara rolled her eyes and stood up. She grabbed Tianna’s hand and started to drag her to the door. “Please come quickly. He did it really good this time.”

  “Okay, okay. I’m coming. Just let me grab my bag.” Tianna quickly took her medicine bag from its hook by the door. The bag held all of the essentials for healing basic wounds and common ailments. More importantly, it was a gift from her master Zarin when she turned eight and began her formal apprenticeship. It always gave her confidence to carry it.

  Within the last few years, Tianna’s master had allowed her to handle almost any injuries without him being present. More recently, she had noticed changes in herself. She felt like she was ready to handle anything. Unfortunately, there was little chance to prove herself in Trille. Living in a fishing and farming village meant that most of the time she usually saw only common injuries, ailments, and broken bones from tavern brawls. She didn’t mind, since healing made her feel useful, but a nagging feeling told her that she had more to offer. There was somewhere else she needed to be.

  Sara brought her back to the moment by tugging on Tianna’s arm hard so they headed out the door.

  As they raced down the dirt road, Tianna realized how often she had visited Garrett and Sara’s home throughout her apprenticeship. She had visited most of the village families, true, but she almost had this path memorized. Luckily, most of his injuries had been minor and Tianna hoped this time would be no different.

  After just a few minutes, she and Sara arrived. Before they entered the home, Tianna overheard Sara’s father talking. “Couldn’t you have waited to do this until Zarin was in the village? You know how much I hate having that wicked sorceress in our home.”

  Garrett responded angrily, “Father, do you think I want her to touch me? My skin crawls every time that evil witch comes within a few paces of me!”

  Tianna’s stomach clenched at their words, but she pushed back her emotions. She just needed to do her job and get out quickly. She took in a deep breath as Sara pulled her through the front door, announcing innocently “I brought the wizard!”

  Tianna walked into the room to find Garrett sitting at the table with his upper thigh wrapped tight with a bloody cloth. His mother was trying to wipe off blood splatters from his arms and hands while his father was standing with his arms tightly folded, tapping his foot, and glaring angrily. None of them greeted her or even acknowledged her entrance.

  Tianna took in another breath, walked over, and knelt down to take a look at Garrett’s leg. She said in a calm voice, “Good morning Garrett.” Garrett averted his eyes, refusing to respond to Tianna’s greeting. Ignoring his rude behavior, she asked quietly, “May I ask what you did?”

  He turned, glared into Tianna’s eyes, and responded curtly, “The saw slipped.” She felt loathing in his stare.

  His father angrily interrupted him. “I told you not to start cutting until I finished what I was doing. There are some things that we still need to do together. You’ve been working with me since you were a young boy. Even now, as a man, you still haven’t learned to heed my words.” His voice cracked like he was having a hard time staying calm.

  “I know Father, but I wanted to get the cutting done before we went into the village.” As Garrett spoke he looked at the floor, avoiding his father’s angry glare.

  His father let out a long sigh. “As I’ve told you many, many times, whenever you work in haste, you get careless. Achieving both speed and quality will come in time. You have the potential to become a very skil
led carpenter, but you must have patience, which I fear, dear son, is something you lack.”

  To avoid having to listen to another long lecture on safety, which she could now recite from memory, Tianna interrupted and said, “You two can talk shop later. Let’s see what I can do to stop the bleeding.” She carefully undid the bindings on his leg and noticed that the wound was a fairly deep cut. She started her work.

  Tianna mixed up a herbal tea and had Garrett drink it so that he would relax and be still. Although he knew that he needed to follow her directions, when she handed him the cup, he made sure that his fingers never made contact with hers. She touched his thigh, whispered some words, and his leg went numb. Now it was time to begin the healing. She placed both of her hands just above the wound, closed her eyes, and whispered the words of the spell quietly to herself. As she spoke, a slight breeze blew through the room and her hands began to glow, slowly building until what appeared to be blue fire was coming out of her fingertips. This fire would feel hot against Garrett’s skin but it wouldn’t burn him. Even though she had healed him many times, she could feel his body tense when he saw the blue flames.