The Last Flame - Crystal Bow

Chapter 1

White Bridge

"Wilkerson, watch out!"

A small boy ran along the path carrying a pale. He wanted to get down to the docks and see his father arrive, so he had to hurry. He dodged around other villagers who shouted and laughed good-naturedly, ushering him on.

Cliffton Wilkerson was born and raised in White Bridge, a village named after the elegant bridges that were made years ago by ancient builders, stained white in a way that no one knew to be possible. Couldn't be paint, it had never come off once. Some people believed it to be magic.

Every town had a few mages, but Cliffton only knew one from White Bridge, and she was only a little bit older than himself. Word around the village was that her parents were killed by demons from another dimension, but Cliffton thought it was just stories, like dragons.

Sure, magic did exist. Mages cast dark spells that can be changed to do good things. Elves use ancient magic to do...whatever elves do, and fae were always ever so tricky. Dwarves usually ran underfoot in forests or were evident in caves, and were kind enough to help the humans by collecting resources for them. It seemed they'd do anything to keep the humans out of their mines.

Cliffton saw his father's boat approach nearby. It was an elegant ship, painted red around the rim with a dragon carving on the front and a few strange symbols carved into the sides. Cliffton's mother always told him that they were old elvish.

"Papa!" Cliffton yelled as a large beam was thrown down from the ship and Cliffton's father strolled down it, followed by his crew. 

"Hello, young lad!" Cliffton's father laughed and picked him up, swinging him around and then pulling him in close to hug him. Cliffton let a laugh spill out of his chest and hugged his dad even tighter. "Did you find anything?"

"In fact, I did." Cliffton's father slipped his hand into his pocket and pulled out a sharp white, shiny object on some twine. "It's a monster tooth, yasee? Wear it and aint no monster gonna come bother you afterwards."

"Yeah!" Cliffton cheered. "Because I'm, uh...uh...Cliffton! Bringer-downer of monsters!" He pumped his fists in the air and pretended to stab a monster with a sword. His father chuckled and patted his head, handing him the tooth.

++++

"Aye Cliffy, whacha got there?" Cliffton turned to see Buckie and his goons walking up to him.

"It's a monster tooth!" Cliffton declared. "My dad bested a monster!"

"Lies!" Buckie spat and the spit landed on Cliffton's boot. "You're dad didn't defeat no monster, s'probably a shark tooth he pulled out of the ocean."

"He prolly din't even buy it!" One of the other boys laughed. "Yer family's too poor to do that."

"They're not!" Cliffton said, glaring at them. Buckie's family came from out of the village and ever since they moved they'd been acting like they were better than everybody else. At least, that's what Cliffton's mother said. "And my name isn't Cliffy!"

"Really?" Buckie laughed, strolling over and taking Cliffton's hat.

"Hey!" Cliffton tried to grab it back but Buckie whipped it away faster than he could think. "Nuh-uh, mines now Cliffy boy."

"Give it back!" Cliffton yelled and Buckie laughed a harsh, mean laugh and put it on his head. "Not gonna happen. S'mines now, that's why you don't tell lies."

"I'm not lying!" Cliffton insisted. "My papa beat up a monster and took it's tooth!"

"Yer dad prolly got bit by a shark." Buckie laughed, he laughed hard, "And 'is tooth got stuck in his leg."

"He did not get bit by a shark!" Cliffton insisted. "It's mine, give me  my hat back! That's stealing, my mum says that when you steal then a faerie comes and it takes you away!"

"You too old to go off rattling stories like that!" Buckie laughed, slapping Cliffton on the back really hard. "Thas just a myth that old ladies tell to scare chilren into bein good."

That day was the last day that Cliffton ever say his bully, because the next day all that was left in his room was the hat.