They Were Born Upon Ashes by Kenneth Champion Page B

of the fire pit. They threw in some more twigs and tinder and Tyler blew on the ember to spark a fire. Nick wondered why Ron didn’t just conjure up a fire ball and throw in some new wood. He then saw Ron’s face; he had a smile from ear to ear as Tyler struggled to energize the fire.
    Tyler might be the most entertaining of the group but I don’t think he is the wisest.
    Penny rolled over and faced Nick. Her eyes slowly opened to the sight of her love and a smile slowly emerged as well.
    “Good morning, Nick Bint.”
    “Good morning, Penny Goldstem.”
    “I do believe that is the first time we have woken up next to each other,” said Penny.
    “I can surely get used to it,” said Nick.
    “We will,” said Penny with a smile still glowing on her face.
    The two sat up and looked around at the camp. Most people were still sleeping. The only king’s men who were up were Ron and Tyler who had finally successfully started a fire.
    Nick inched closer to the fire and sat with his legs open in the shape of a triangle. He pulled Penny over and she sat in between his legs and leaned against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her and held her tight. There was so much the two had to say to each other. So many tales and so many events that had occurred in each of their lives in the past few days and even in the past six months that they still needed to catch up on. But they simply enjoyed each other’s company that morning. Words could only do so much. But being with each other watching the sun rise in complete silence in a state of bliss was all that they truly needed.
    Time passed and the king’s men slowly awakened from their slumber. The Tarrax brothers simultaneously sat up and stretched their arms. Nick got a quick chuckle at the sight of that.
    As all of the members slowly got up and walked towards the fire to warm themselves, they each gave a distinct baffled look at the site of Nick holding on to a human girl. Soon all of the members were huddled around the fire and began to chat about the events of the day.
    Nick leaned into Penny’s right ear and said, “Now is the perfect time to introduce you. I still don’t know what you went through but I am sure that it will be useful information to the king’s men. You can trust them and their actions. They have the best interest for everyone in Hentrio.”
    “That’s just it,” said Penny. “I don’t know if I can trust the king’s men after what I saw.”
    “Regardless of what happened, you have to trust me, Penny. I’ve only known them for a few short days but in my heart I know these are some of the best people I have ever encountered in my life.”
    Penny nodded her head in agreement and the two stood up to join the group.
    “Everyone, this is Penny Goldstem of Vincot,” said Nick. “She is my girlfriend and to my surprise last night she joined our group. She went to Genold City in search of me and has a few things to say of what she encountered. If you would all hear her out I would be very grateful.”
    The group became silent and all eyes were on Penny. She began to talk about her travels from when she left Vincot to the terrors of Genold City. She talked about the gracious family that took her in and whom she also hoped to reconnect with in the group. She then talked about the events of the castle courtyard. It was hard for her to tell the story as she could almost relive it. She told them what she saw from the cracks of the wooden planks she hid behind. She trembled as she told the king’s men standing before her in their gold plated armor of what she saw two king’s men do in the courtyard. How they slaughtered innocents and raved about the old world. She told them they did it all as a warning to those who opposed the old laws of the land.
    At that point Jeffrey interrupted her. He said, “Those cowards. Those abhorrent beings. They were born upon ashes. They took our armor and killed innocent people so that they could rally the city against