A druid apprentice with a black thumb; A final test. Will Rex discover the truth before Spring is lost forever?
This short novella is from the Adamant Spirits: A 2022 Charity Anthology of Romantic Urban Fantasy, Science Fiction, & Paranormal Romance for Ukraine and has only been reformatted from the anthology version.
Firebrand is set in the Supernatural Detective Agency world, but does not have any overlapping characters from the first two books.
Excerpt: Unproofed / Unedited
Chapter 1:
Rex DeVille felt a trickle of heat. It started in his belly and radiated out to his right hand. At the center of his palm, a tiny red flame that smelled of mulling spices appeared. For a moment, he could ignore the cold wind whistling down the walking path next to Cascade Creek in Rochester, Minnesota. He could swear the little flame giggled and then ducked behind his thumb.
“What are you doing?” Lawrence’s voice sounded annoyed and was edged with anger. His white cowl with gold piping along the edges and the winter jacket hidden under his robe made him seem like a much bigger man. “You should be paying attention.”
Lawrence and the other four Druids had to perform the ceremony for Imbolc, one of the high days meant to assure the transition of the season to spring. If they couldn’t do it by midnight, then spring might never come to Earth.
Lawrence had brought Rex, an apprentice, because the signs had said the ceremony would not complete without him. Too many ceremonies had failed recently. Something was out of balance.
Rex shivered and put his hands behind his back even as he felt the flame slip under his skin and heat his blood. He leaned forward so his long, black bangs hid his eyes, and he schooled his features to blankness. Lawrence must never suspect how different Rex was from the other Druids. If Lawrence knew, Rex would never be allowed to take his final test.
Lawrence stared at him for a moment longer. His expression didn’t give anything away. He walked back to the clearing, murmuring something to the other robed men. They would need three items to create a sacred space.
One placed a portable fire pit on the ground and knelt near. Another added a stack of wood for the fire. A third Druid placed a large mug in the shape of a stone well three feet away from the fire pit. The final Druid placed a two-foot-tall Christmas tree so it formed a triangle with the other items.
Once they created the sacred space, the Druids could begin the ceremony.
One Druid bent by the fire ring and clacked the fire starters to create a spark. The spark landed in the tinder, but a blast of cold wind snuffed it out before it could take hold.
If they couldn’t light the fire, the ceremony was doomed before it had even started. His stomach twisted. Balance was essential for the world. It was like the very elements prevented the flame from catching.
“We are running out of time.” The Druid trying to start the fire stood and handed the rocks to the man next to him. The first Druid blew on his hands and put them in his arm pits.
The next Druid knelt and struck the rocks with a snap. The spark didn’t even smoke in the kindling. The man muttered and tried again. “Ya’ll, the fire just won’t light,” the Druid said in a southern drawl. “Damn, Blues.”
“Quiet.” Lawrence stood apart.
Rex wasn’t sure what a Blue was, but did know that the Druids grumbled about them occasionally.
“What about the boy?” the man with the southern drawl asked.
“Rex, can you start a fire?” Lawrence glanced back and met Rex’s gaze. He wasn’t sure what was going on with his mentor. Lawrence seemed reluctant to involve him but still strangely determined.
“Sure.” Rex ignored the flutter in his gut. This was it. He was finally part of the group. Crouching down, he focused on how good it would feel to start a fire. He slipped his necklace off and separated the two attached fire making items. The chunk of quartz fit in the palm of his hand and the iron pyrite between his thumb and pointer in the other hand. Rex didn’t really need those things, but no one else knew that. His blood heated and heat pooled in his right hand.
Rex struck the stones together in a downward motion and released the heat to create Little Red, what he called his flame, who fell into the nest of kindling. The fire caught hold. He focused on feeding it progressively bigger pieces of kindling and sticks until he had a solid fire. Relief warmed his chest. He had helped. Spring would be saved.
Lawrence narrowed his eyes at Rex and pulled his hood up around his face. Had he seen what Rex had done?
Lawrence dropped a silver coin in the mug, picked it up, and poured water on the tree. The rest of the Druids stood in a circle around them waiting for the sacred space to form. The five men should disappear and complete the secret ceremony in that space.
Rex felt a strange chill at the small of his back and scanned the area. A cold wind swirled around the fire and it sputtered. His Little Red flame fought something blue in the fire. Then more and more blue entered the fire and Little Red disappeared with a final puff of smoke. Rex blinked and ice replaced the flame.
“What just happened?” Rex stared down at the ice. Could his use of Little Red be at fault somehow?
“All you need to know is that the ritual failed.” Lawrence walked past with his jaw set and his spine stiff.