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    Heroes
    Heroes
    Heroes
    Ebook68 pages59 minutes

    Heroes

    By C. J. Brightley

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    About this ebook

    A brother and sister play at being heroes, and the game changes their lives.

    This is a NOVELLA and is about 16,200 words. It stands alone but is set about 12 years after Street Fox and several generations after The King's Sword. It is concurrent with an upcoming novel.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSpring Song Press
    Release dateFeb 15, 2013
    ISBN9781311466723
    Author

    C. J. Brightley

    C. J. Brightley grew up in Georgia. After a career in national security, she turned her attention to writing. She lives with her husband and young children in Northern Virginia. She blogs at CJBrightley.com, where you can find sneak peeks of upcoming books, deleted scenes, background material, thoughts on writing, and books she enjoys.She also runs the Noblebright.org website dedicated to highlighting the best of noblebright fantasy. Noblebright fantasy characters have the courage to risk kindness, honesty, integrity, and love; to fight against their own flaws and the darkness of the world around them; and to find hope in a grim world.

    Read more from C. J. Brightley

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      Book preview

      Heroes - C. J. Brightley

      1

      Liamo

      Third Age, 761

      Iwoke beside a fire . There was raucous laughter, and I smiled. I wondered who the men were. My head felt fuzzy, and I tried to remember what I was doing. Was I sick? I'd been going somewhere, but I couldn't remember where.

      I tried move and couldn't get my hands free. I was sitting on my hands. Why? Something hurt. Everything hurt. My wrists were bound? Why?

      The laughter came closer, and then suddenly I was looking up into a grinning face, the man's greasy hair stringing down almost into my eyes. He held my hair in his fist and twisted my head back roughly. Pretty boy's awake.

      Is he? Ask him about his pretty little sword.

      More harsh laughter.

      Pretty boy, you have a pretty little sword. Mind if I borrow it? He laughed and snapped my head forward again.

      Pretty little knife, too. I like it. Mind if I borrow it? this was a different voice.

      I tried to rise, and barely made it to one knee before something smashed into my shoulder. I fell on my face, trying not to cry out. Someone jerked on the rope binding my hands behind me and I almost screamed, the pain ripping through my shoulders.

      Oh, pretty boy? Have anything else for us? Gold? Surely a rich boy like you has some gold on him.

      They were already going through my things. My gold coins were spread in neat little rows on a broad flat rock, lined up by value. I felt sick, partly from fear and partly because my head ached so badly. What was I doing? Where was I going? Who were they?

      Brigands, obviously. Bandits. I tried to think clearly. The coins were nothing. The sword would be useful but it was definitely out of reach. The knife… where was it? One man held it up and waggled it at me, then laughed and stuck it in his boot. My hands felt numb, tingly, and I strained against the rope, trying not to make it too obvious.

      Pretty boy's trying to escape, is he?

      Someone jerked my arms again and tears came to my eyes. My shoulder hurt, a sharp pain and then a deeper one when he abruptly let me fall again. Someone kicked me in the back, and I bit back a curse and a less manly urge to cry.

      Then they mostly ignored me for a while. I put names to their faces. Grammin was the stringy haired one. Lurdua was the one who had my knife. Srivo was the man with my sword. Then I gave names to the other ones, because I couldn't think of anything else to do. Pig was the fat one. Cur was the one with the sharp jaw and growling voice. Phraa punctuated every utterance with that curse.

      I tried to be brave, tried to keep my mind steady and focused, but my heart sunk every time someone glanced my direction. I sniffled, and they looked at me and laughed.

      Brat. What's your name, pretty boy?

      What's it to you?

      He hit me across the face, a contemptuous backhanded strike, but even so, he knocked me off my knees to my side, unable to catch myself. I licked my split lip, blood and dirt together.

      What's your name, brat? he drew the point of his knife along the line of my jaw.

      Liamo. Liamo Yerskanoa.

      He grinned.

      After a very long while, after they'd eaten (I got nothing, of course), they started to settle down for the night. I wondered what they wanted of me. Ransom?

      One of them cursed suddenly. Grammin, I'll slit your throat if you do that again.

      What?

      Throwing rocks at me.

      Phraa, it an't Grammin.

      You?

      Nah! Hit me too. Came from there. Cur pointed off into the darkness.

      Grammin didn't even use words. He only growled and motioned to two others to follow him. They stomped off into the darkness.

      After some time, Pig cursed. He and Phraa stomped off together, and only Srivo was left to guard me.

      I almost screamed when something touched my shoulder, but a hand was already clapped over my mouth.

      Be silent. the words tickled my ear, and when I twisted my head, I could not have been more surprised. The little hand over my mouth belonged to a scrawny girl of about twelve years old, four years younger than I was. She had thin cheeks and was more than a bit dirty, but there was no doubt she was a girl, a little bright-eyed girl. Blue eyes, turned up nose, pointed chin - she'd be pretty in a few years.

      I nodded that I would be silent, and she took her hand away from my mouth. She cut furiously at the rope around my wrists, one eye always on Srivo. He was looking away from the fire at an angle from me; he could see me,

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