Ash and Honor (Book 1): Prologue

I'm soooooo excited to share this story with you! I've been waiting for a month to post the prologue, and now, here it is!

Before you read the Prologue, I want to tell you a bit about The Lantern Chronicles. The Lantern Chronicles is a series of medieval fantasy books (not sure how many in the series there will be, yet). Ash and Honor is the first book or this series and I hope there will be many more. Some of the characters in this book are:

Aralas; a squire; from the city of Harathane, the City of the Five Blades

Hawke; a witch's shain (apprentice); the forests of Kyothan

Grundel Stonebrew; a dwarf commander; from Old Silverbrook

Uldra Thunderbraid; a dwarf; from Old Silverbrook

Mira 'Cutlass' Moorland; one of only two pirates in all of Elmaris; from the territory of Drakenholt

Vandros Malgrin; the villian; no one knows what, who, or where he came from.

Now, let the adventure begin!

The Lantern Chronicles: Ash and Honor (Book 1)

Prologue

Cold wind whipped around Aralas and a shiver went up his spine. It was partly the cold and partly the feeling that someone was watching him and his knight through the thick forest trees. The low creak of a tree made his horse side step and Aralas nervously patted its neck. A twig snap. The scream of a horse and the drawing of a sword from its sheath. Aralas' horse bolted from the noise but stumbled on a long branch resting across the path and Aralas fell to the ground. Someone, or something, grabbed his arms, holding them behind his back and ahead of him lay Sir Harlan Woodrowe, his fearless and selfless knight. On top of him was an Orc. With a cry, Aralas shruggled against his captor, but it was no use. Whatever held his arms had a strong grip and wasn't going to let him go any time soon.

If they were captured, how would they ever find the lantern and free Elmaris from the evil reign of Vandros Malgrin? The lantern was their only hope. But now- what was going to happen?

The Orc on top of Sir Harlan drew his sword, the blade gleaming in the moonlight. Aralas gasped. They had to complete their mission! He squeezed his eyes shut and willed his ears not to hear. The dreadful, bone chilling screech of metal against metal made Aralas' eyes fly open. Sir Harlan had somehow drawn his sword and in a mighty shove, he pushed the brute off his chest. What happened next was hard to make out. There was a series of quick blows, sword against sword, as the Orc and the knight battled in the growing darkness. Whatever held Aralas captive tied something over his eyes and he could no longer watch the battle. Aralas started to struggle, causing the blindfold to slip off, but what he saw was not pretty and as soon as his eyes opened, he screwed them shut again. The Orc stood over Sir Harlan, grinning. Sir Harlan was dead.

Before Aralas could do or say anything, he felt the sharp blow of a sword's hilt to his head. With a groan, Aralas slumped forward. The last thing he heard was the twang of a bowstring and the thump of an arrow. He felt himself toppling forwards, then everything went black.