Chapter One
The News
Brianna had just received the news of her father's death. To her this was too much to handle. Her mother, Roxanne had come by earlier with a message for Brianna, but did not speak to her daughter.
When Brianna had asked if there was a reason her mother had not wanted to talk to her everyone had told her that, she looked to distraught to talk to anyone.
This had made Brianna very nervous.
After losing her second husband, Roxanne had not taken to crying unless it was something absolutely horrible.
When Brianna received the letter baring the news her mother was too upset about to even talk to her own daughter about it only took a few minutes for it to sink in, but she only let one tear roll down her face.
"This must be a joke," Brianna said to herself out loud. "People do it all the time, and not going to let myself believe it until I have proof."
Quickly Brianna walked down to the stables to get a horse ready for her use to ride to Roxane's farm.
Soon her horse was ready and the stable man told her to wait for him to return with a guard that would escort her to her destination.
After confirming that the man was gone Brianna swiftly swung her right leg over the side of the horse and rode off towards her mother's farm, without telling anyone where she was going. This could only mean one thing; she wasn't planning on coming back.
Chapter Two
The Truth
Brianna galloped quickly through the night; she was trying to reach her mother's farm as quickly as possible.
When she finally arrived at the gate and had to dismount she lingered in the same spot for a moment wondering if she really wanted to know the truth. Was her father really dead? She would never know for sure until she saw his face.
The goose that her mother owned for the same purpose as a watchdog merely lifted its head as she walked by, it knew who she was.
When Brianna got to the door she simply pushed it open not bothering to knock.
Inside the house Brianna saw her half brother laying asleep on one of the beds and a few feet away there was a little girl a little bit younger that she did not recognize on another small bed. In the middle of the room she saw her mother crying over a large object that looked alarmingly like a man still completely unaware of her new visitor. Brianna's throat started to burn.
Finally Roxane looked up.
"Brianna?" she whispered.
Brianna just stood there for now she could clearly see the face of the man lying on the floor. A tear rolled down her cheek as her worst fears were confirmed Dustfinger, her father was dead.
She let it sink in for a moment then whispered the only word she could manage, "How?"
Roxane explained how the dark skinned boy had been killed by Basta and how the strange Meggie girl and Dustfinger had been so sad. Then she reminded her daughter of the old story about the fire-eater and his son.
Brianna looked down no longer listening to her mother; she had a fair guess of what had happened after that.
The tears started to come down harder now. That's when she knew that the death of her father would not go forgotten; she would avenge her father's death no matter what it took. She was not about to go kill the boy that her father had died for, no that would be pointless, nor the girl who had encouraged Dustfinger to trade places with the boy, but the one who started the whole mess, the Adderhead himself.