Sali looked down at her beautiful baby boy, with his brilliant blue eyes. She looked up to her husband Daniel Alister and Wilo Watersong. "Sali he is amazing." Daniel told her. When she turned back to her beautiful baby boy with his brilliant blue eyes. He was very pale, "What's happening to him!" she panicked. "Sali give him to Wilo she can help." he tells her. Sali looked doubtful, "Its true, I can help him." Wilo says. Moving to stand in front of her. "Can you tell me what is wrong?" she asked Wilo. Wilo stepped forward to hold the boy and felt the sting of powerful magic. 'Looks like he has his ancestors magic. He's going to need the cuffs.' she thought. Wilo looked up at the mother, "Yes I can help," she turns to Danile. "But first I need you to go back to send word to Elena Demonai to bring the cuffs." And with that he hurried from the room and followed her instructions.
Elena Demonai-Matriarch of the Clan came in swiftly and moved over to the young mother and beautiful baby boy. 'Its not beautiful its a demon.' she thought to her self. As she used her magic to place the cuffs on but then the blue magic and some green magic of the boy started get bigger as it fought her magic. But finally she got the cuffs on afer several long minutes. 'That was magic, why would they use magic cuffs on her boy.' Sali thought to herself. 'He is going to be very powerful when those cuffs come off.' Wilo thought to herself. 'He will probably get out of control because he is much stronger than his ancestors. And he has clan magic in him to.' Elena thought. Which was troubling, because it will make him stronger than other wizards.
Seventeen years later Han found out that he has magic which the cuffs bloke him from using it. And that he is a decedent from the gray wolf line and Arden King from his mother while his father has wizard blood in him. His grandmother was the lost princess of Theraise ana'Adra who was named Lissa ana'Theraise who had Sali. She couldn't inherent the throne because she was a woman, so her father married other women to have five more kids that were sons. When her guard found out what they were going to do to her. The guard who were loyal to her and wanted to see her on the throne took her to the Queedom of the Fells, where she meet Daniel and had Hanson Alister. Daniel wanted to give his wife a throne so he went to war, but was killed with his men. But what he didn't know was that Sali was pregnant with a girl, who she named Mari Alister.
There remaining soldiers taught Han how to use a sword and other weapons, while his mother taught him how to talk and eat like a pureblood. Han would go to the clans to be trained in hunting, forging, medicine and other useful knowledge. Melissa Hakkam's father has been trying to get his daughter married to Han, because his mother was very rich and well protected. But Sali hasnt made her decion yet, because even though she was pretty she was leaving that to her son. Han spends his time with Raisa ana'Marianna, Fiona Bayar, Bird and Mrlissa Hakkam. He grew to know them pretty well.
Han and Dancer were walking up a trail on Hanalea a mountain named after the Queen after the breaking. Hunter was born with the clans so he had the copper skin, with an angular bone structure and heavy dark brows, with jarring blue eyes set into a bronzed face. Wearing Clan garb made by his mother Wilo Watersong. Han or Hanson Alister which is his real name. Standing tall with brilliant blue eyes and blond hair that glitters like spun gold under light. He has high cheekbones, a long, straight nose, a lean, muscular frame. Wearing the same Clan garb that Dancer was wearing. They both looked up when they heard a crash, followed by a group of deer running by. A few minutes later purple and orange flames came out of knowhere.
"Come on. We better get out of the way!" Hans said to his friend. They ran across the ground to hide behind a rocky prominence. Just in time for the fire to sweep by and consume everything in its path. After that three riders, like shepherds driving the flames before in its path. They were boys no older than Han and Dancer, but they wore fine cloaks of silk and summer wool that grazed their stirrups, and long stoles glittering with exotic emblems. The horse they rode were not compact, shaggy mountain ponies, but flatlander horses, with long delicate legs and proudly arched necks, their saddles and bridles embllished with silver fittings. The boys rode with a loose and easy arrogance, as if oblivious to the breathtaking landscape around them.
Dancer went still, his bronze face hardening and his blue eyes going flat and opaque. "Charmcasters," he breathed, using the Clan term for Wizards. "I should have known." CharmCasters or Wizards as they were known, lived in elaborate palaces surrounding Fellsmarch Castle, and attended the Queen at court. Many served as ambassadors to foreign countries. Rumors of their powers kept foreign invaders away. The most powerful of them was named the High Wizard, adviser and magical enforcer of the Queen of the Fells.
Charmcasters werent allowed in the Spirit Mountains, except to their council house on the Grey Lady, overlooking the the riders drew closer to their hiding place, Han studied them avidly. The Charmcaster in the lead was Micah Bayar siseter to Fiona, he had straight black hair that swept back from a widows peak and hung to his shoulders. He wore mulitpile rings on his long fingers, and an intricately carved pendant hung from a heavy chain aound his neck. That would be his amulet that lets him cast spells and store magic. His stoles were emblazoned with silver falcons, claws extended in attack. The silver falcons would be the emblem of his Wizard House.
The other two were ginger-haired, with identical broad flat noses and snarling fellscats on their stoles. They would be Miphis and Arkeda. They rode a little behindMicahand they defered too him. They wore no amulets that he could see. Dancer erupted from the shadow of the rocks. "I am Fire Dancer," Dancer proclaimed loudly in the Common speech, "of Marisa Pines Camp." he skipped the ritual welcome of the travler and cut straight to it. "This camp demands to know who you are and what Wizards are doing on Hanalea, as is frobidden by the Naeming." Dancer stood tall, his hands fisted at his sides, but he seemed small next to them on their horses.
Micah glared down at Dancer, then flinched, his black eyes widening in surprise before he resumed his cool disdainful expression. 'It looks like he known Dancer but he couldnt because he has never came to the camps.' Han thought. Han looked from Dancer and Michal back and forth before he saw it. 'They share the same father. But that is in possibly because Wilo would never lay with a Charmcaster. Something is going on with that and i will find out.' Han thought. Dancer wasnt cowed by te Charmcaster."I asked your names," he said. He gestured toward the reatreting flames."That looks like Wizard flame to me." Before he could speek Han steped out and moved to stand beside Dancer.
"There names are Micah Bayar of the Aerie House and the other two are Miphis and Arkeda Mander." Han said. Michal and the other two stared at him with surprise. "Hanson what are you doing here with a Copper head?" Michal asked him. "He's my friend, now what are you doing here?" Han asked the three boys. "We're here on the Queens orders. Queen Marianna and the Princess Raisa and Mellony are hunting in the Vale below. We're driving the deer down to meet them." "The Queen ordered you to set fire to the mountain so she could have a good days hunting?" Dancer shook his head in disbelief. "I said so, didnt i?" somtheing in the Wizards expression said he wasnt being exactly truthful. "Anyway, your underage," Dancer said. "Youre not allowed to use magic. Nor carry an amulet." He pointed to the jewl at Biyar's neck.
'How does he know that.' Han thought. Dancer struck a nerve, because Bayar glared at him. "That's Wizard business," the Charmcaster said. "And no concern of yours." "Well, Michal Jinxflinger," Dancer said, now resorting to the Clan insult for Wizards,"if Queen Marianna want to hunt deer in summer, she can come up into the high country after him. As she always has." Byar raiser his black eyebrows. "Where she can sleep on a dirt floor shoulder to shoulder with a dozen filthy Kinsmen and go a week without a hot bath and come home stinking of wood smoke abd sweat with a case of the night itches?" He snorted with laughter, and his friends followed suit. "I dont blame her for preferring the accommodation in the Vale."
Now that really made him angry, because they didnt know anything, recalling the cozy lodges with their sleeping benches, the songs and stories told around the fire, the shared feasts from the common pot. So many nights he'd fallen alseep under furs and Clan made blankets with the thread of the old songs winding through his dreams. "Michal shut up before you make more of a fool of yourself." Han said. "Princess Raisa was fostered at Demonai Camp for three years," Dancer said, his chin thrust out stubbornly. "The Princess Clan bred father has some archaic ideas," Byar repiled with his friends laughing. "Me, i wouldnt want to marry a girl who'd spent time in the camps. I'd be afraivd she'd been ruined."
Suddenly Dancers knife was in hand. "Repeat that, Jinxflinger?" Dancer said, his voice cold as the Dyrnnewater. "Yes, what was that Michal?" Han asked just as cold with an arrow notched in his bow. Bayar jerked hard on the reins, and his horse stepped back, putting more distance between them. "I'd say women have more to fear from Jinxflingers than anyone in the camps," Dancer went on. Han looked at the other two to see if they would make a move and when he didn't he relaxed his bow arm. "Relax, Copperhead." Bayar licked his lips, his eyes fixed on Dancers knife. "Here's the thing. My father says that girls who go to camps come back proud and opinionated and difficult to manage. That's all." he smirked as if it was a joke they could all share. 'You did not just say that!' Han thought that Michal couldn't get any more stupid, but he guess he's wrong. Dancer did not smile. "Are you saying that the blooded heir to the Throne of the Fells needs to be...managed?" One of the ginger-haired Wizard cleared his throat nervously, as if uncomfortable with the direction of the conversation. He was the elder of the two, and stocky, with plump, pale, freckled hands that gripped his reins tightly.
"Micah," he said in the Vale dialect, nodding toward the valley below. "Come on. Lets go. We'll miss the hunt." "Hold on, Miphis." Bayar stared down at Dancer, black eyes glittering in his pale face. "Aren't you called Hayden?" he inquired in Common, using Dancers Vale name. "Its just...Hayden, isn't it? A mongrel name, since you have no father." Dancer stiffened. "That is my Vale name," he said, lifting his chin defiantly. "My real name is Fire Dancer." "Hayden is a Wizards name," Bayar said, fingering the amulet around his neck. "How dare you presume-" "I presume nothing," Dancer said. "I didn't choose it. I am Clan. Why would I choose a Jinxflinger name?" 'Good question,' Han thought, 'some clans used flatland names in the Vale. But while would a Jinxflinger like Micah Bayar know Dancers Vale name?' Bayar flushed red, and it took him a moment to muster a response. "SO you claim, Hyaden," Bayar drawled. "Maybe you fathered yourself. Which means you and your mother-" Dancers arm flashed up, but Han just managed to slam it aside as the knife left his hand, and it ended, quivering, in the trunk of a tree. 'Come on, Dancer. Killing a Wizard friend of the Queen would buy them in a world of trouble.
Bayar sat frozen a moment, as if he couldn't believe what just happened. Then his face went white with anger. He extended one imperious hand toward Dancer, took hold of his amulet with the other, and began muttering a charm in the language of magic, stumbling over words a bit. "Micah," the more slender fellscat Wizard said, nudging his horse up close. "No. Its not worth it. The fire was one thing. If they find out we-" "Shut up, Arkeda," Bayar replied. "I'm going to teach this base-born copperhead respect." Looking put out that he was forced to start over, he began the charm again. Han swung his bow and nocked an arrow and aimed it at Bayar's chest. "Hey, Micah." he said. "How about this?Shut up or I shoot." At the sight of Han's bow nocked with a arrow, Miphis and Arkeda pawed at the hilts of their swords. But Dancer nocked his own arrow , and the boys let go and raised their hands as well.
"Smart move." Han said. "You tried to murder me," Bayar said to Dancer, as if amazed that such a thing could happen. "Do you realize who I am? My father is High Wizard, counselor to the Queen. When he finds out what you did..." "Why don't you run back to Gray Lady and tell him all about it? Dancer said, jerking his head toward the downslope trail. "Go on. You don't belong here. Get off the mountain. Now." Bayar didn't want to back off with his two friends as witnesses. "Just remember," he said softly, fingering his amulet, "Its a long way down the mountain. Anything can happen along the way." 'His teachers taught him to never be ambushed and Bayar was thinking about doing it.' Han thought.
Keeping his bowstring tight, Han pointed his chin at the Wizard. "Micah, take off your Jinxpiece," he ordered. "Throw it down on the ground." "This?" Bayar touched the evil-looking jewel that hung around his neck. hen Han nodded, the boy shook his head. "You cant be serious," he snarled, closing his fist around it. "Do you know what this is?" "I have an idea," Han said. He gestured with the bow. "Take it off and throw it down." Bayar sat frozen, his face going pale." You cant use this, you know," he said, looking from Han to Dancer. "If you even touch it, you'll be incinerated." 'That's what you think.' Han thought. "We'll take are chances," Dancer said, glancing over at Han. The Charmcaster eyes narrowed. "You're nothing more than thieves, then," he sneered. "I should have know." "Use your head," Han said. "What would I do with a Jinxpiece I cant use. I just don't want to look over my back the whole way down."
Arkeda leaned in toward Bayar and muttered in Valespeech, "Better give it to him. You know what they say about Copperheads. They'll cut your throat and drink your blood and feed you to their wolves so no one will ever find your bones." Miphis nodded vigorously. "Or they'll use us in rituals. They'll burn us alive. Sacrifice us to their goddesses." Han clenched his jaw, struggling to keep the amusement of his face. It seemed the Jinxflingers had their own reasons to fear the Clan. "I cant give it to them, you idiot," Bayar hissed. "You know why. If my father finds out I took it, we'll all be punished." "I told you not to take it," Arkeda muttered, "I told you it was a bad idea. Just because you want to impress Princess Raisa..." 'Bayar thinks he can impress Raisa with a Jinxpiece, what a idiot.' Han thought.
"You know I wouldn't have taken it if we were allowed to have our own," Bayar said. "It was only one I.. What are you looking at?" he demanded, noticing that Dancer's interest in the conversation and maybe realizing for the first time that he knows the flatlander language. "Were looking at some one who's already in trouble and getting deeper," Han said. "Now, drop the amulet." Bayar glared at Han. "Its strange. There's something...You seem.." His voice trailed off as if he'd lost track of the thought. Han sighted down the shaft of his arrow. "I'll count to five," he said, hanging on to his street face. "Then I put an arrow through your neck. One." With a quick, vicious movement, Bayar yanked the chain over his head and tossed the amulet onto the ground. It clanked softly as it landed.
"Just try and pick it up, I dare you." Han still was unsure if to pick it up. "Go on! Get out of here!" Dancer said. "I reckon you'd better think about how you are going to put out the fire out. If you don't, I guarantee the Queen wont be happy, weather she asked you to start it or not." Bayar stared at him for a movement before charging downslope as if he was trying to catch the fire. Arkeda stared after him, then turned towards Dancer. "You fools! How is he supposed to put it out without the amulet?" With that the two Wizards followed Bayar down the slope.