An Axe in the Flames

Anese

Ten years after the Battle of Dry Lake

Ever since she was old enough to have her first doll, Anese knew she wanted a baby to call her own. A little one to share life with, giggle with. Comb her hair and tell fairy tales, too. Watch them grow into a woman, go on her first date or courtship, and eventually marry a handsome young prince, preferably. She had imagined just about all of her life about having a little version of herself. She had been such a quiet and well-mannered child, after all. Her twin brothers, Tomas and Haven, were the wild ones. Most of the men and boys in the Star family had been hunters and warriors for the Sect's army. Their ambition and dream were to fight with honor to conquer the kingdom. Anese, however, wanted no part of the bloodshed and nastiness. A proper lady would never dream of such.

Her father, Rikart, was a Battle Master for the Flame Sect's Long Swords. The second men into battle, and the most fear-inducing of the army. They swung giant two-handed swords, big enough to slice a cow in half with one swing. He was a large man with glowing red hair and a close-cropped beard with tattoos of fire glyphs over his body. He commanded respect wherever he went and rarely had to raise his voice to get what he wanted. Her mother, Yalina, was quite similar. A muscular, lean woman who was a battalion leader in the Shield Sisters. The third line that protected the Long Swords. She, too, had the fiery red hair of those from the west deserts and, like most of her comrades, was married to the one she protected in battle. Their family was well respected among the Sect.

Anese, seemingly from nowhere, was diminutive in size and skinny with very little muscle. She could never even get a shield off the ground when her mother tried to train her. At fourteen years of age, she should've already been fighting, but the Gods had other plans for her. She was obedient, small-voiced, and although very pretty, not what the boys in her sect had looked for in a life partner. Always being picked on, she knew her role in the family. Stay hidden and don't stand out. She knew her father wasn't proud of her, but what hurt most was that her mother was disappointed in the woman she had made with one of the greatest warriors of the Sect.

The war on the kingdom had begun when the Flame Sect's scholar division had accidentally discovered a way for their Touched, some of the few magic users left in the world, to steal the magic from young children who also were touched. Anese thought this was such a terribly tragic thing. They were harming small children no older than eight because their magic bonded to them after that age, apparently. They had invaded Crag first but found very few children with the touch, then moved to Moon Garden, where they found their king's ransom of children with the touch and almost eradicated their future races. After that, they met their first actual resistance in Red Sands and found children with strange magic able to shape and bend the sands to their will. Enslaved, their children became the backbone of the invading forces as men seemed to think twice about killing children. Finally, they were thwarted in Dry Lake by the Red Sands, Crag, and Dry Lake conjoined armies. Moon Garden didn't believe in fighting such wars. The Salt Deserts became the new throne of the Flame Sect, where they prepared for their next attack on the kingdom, despite having so few touched left.

So when Anese wandered one day through the endless salt-encrusted flats and found a little girl wrapped in oiled rags and no clothing hiding under a Weeping Shade tree, she was surprised. What surprised her even more was that the girl immediately liked her. Her eyes were wider than any she had ever seen, and her hair was a golden yellow she had never seen before. She guessed the girl to be maybe six or seven years of age and perhaps small for even that. For days, Anese had returned and brought the little girl food, water, and old, outgrown clothes. The girl didn't talk but quickly learned how to say the name Anese had given her. Pela. It was the only word the little girl said, but she seemed to understand every word Anese said to her.

Anese had no idea where Pela had come from, and she certainly couldn't tell Anese either. Though occasionally, Pela would cry and draw in the salt crust, she was a tall woman with long hair to her legs. Anese supposed this was her mother but had no real way of knowing. She would lie awake at night, wondering what Pela did during the night, how she stayed warm, or even where she slept. Every day, though, she waited by the same tree for Anese. This had gone on for months, but with the winter winds coming and Deep Winter just around the corner, she had decided that today, she would bring Pela home and find a way to hide the little girl within her room. It was spacious enough as the Sect had gifted them a house two levels tall and with a basement for storing their vegetables. She had no real plan and figured it would work out somehow.

She walked the trek from the newly built city walls to the forest of Weeping Shade Trees, trees that somehow thrived in the dry salt-covered ground, then to the outskirts where the trees became fewer and fewer and saw her. She was sitting cross-legged and staring wide-eyed, looking for Anese, and smiled when she saw her. Anese was excited to tell her that she would come home with her today but would have to hide. Would she even understand or accept her invitation? Surely she would, and if she was hesitant, then...well, Anese was confident she could convince her. What could possibly be the worst that could happen?

"Pela, I have exciting news!" Anese exclaimed as she hugged her friend. Pela wrapped her arms tightly around Anese's neck.

"You're going to come home with me today. You can be my little sister." Pela quickly let go and stepped back, looking perplexed.

"Pela?" She said, her brows furrowing in concern.

"It's going to be fine. I can shelter you. Make sure you're fed every day and with new clothes. We can play almost whenever we want, and you can stay warm and dry! It's a whole house with walls and a ceiling and everything. Doesn't this sound wonderful?"

Anese grabbed Pela's hand, but the little girl snapped her hand back and said softly, "Pela..." looking down at her clothes and then back up with worried eyes.

Anese got down on a knee to be face to face and gently held a palm on Pela's face, "It's going to be ok. I'll take care of you. Like an older sister or even a mother. Don't you trust me?" A pleading in her voice.

Pela's eyes began to soften and water at the mention of mother, and Anese pulled her into a hug. "I'd never let anything happen to you. You have to know that. I've waited all fourteen years of my life for a moment like this. My family is very well respected, and we want for almost nothing. Why, I could treat you like a princess! Princess Pela!"

They both giggled as Anese's concern seemed to dissipate with the innocence of Pela's high-pitched giggles. She had done it; Pela was coming home with her tonight!