The Seedborne Saga
Book 1 - The Bloom of Ventis
Prologue
They called her wild. Brave. Reckless. She'd worn those words like armour and never softened them: never bowed.
Not to generals. Not to kings.
Not even to the wind.But the wind had teeth now.Thick sheets of sleet and snow whipped across the trail in blinding waves, devouring the path behind her. Her footprints vanished in seconds. Her breath caught in her throat as she battled exhaustion, but she continued, pushing forward one heavy step at a time.The pines of Whiteveil Forest bowed low beneath the storm, their branches laden with silence and ice, so set that even the vicious winds couldn’t shift them. Somewhere ahead, the Veil shimmered, a line too distant to see but close enough to feel, the breath held between two worlds.Her hand, stiff with cold, clutched the wrapped orb beneath her cloak. The linen was soaked through and frozen, but the weight inside it was steady.The simple iron orb looked unimpressive. No inscriptions, no markings. Just simple, rounded studs that dotted the exterior. Cold iron did not betray the horrific purpose beneath.She wasn’t carrying it because she was chosen. She carried it because no one else could. Because she refused to let it return to the king.Eight days ago, Seed Umbrano bloomed early. So early it shattered every known cycle. Its inky tendrils burst forth, sinking the sky and land in shadow.It descended without warning and lingered for a full day and night.Her lantern, once a faithful guide, had vanished into the dark, its flame smothered by the thick, unnatural fog that always followed its bloom. The world disappeared with it, the horizon vanished in blackness and navigation became all but impossible.Then Umbrano faded. The light returned. Seed Aqueus bloomed in the sky once more, its twisting blue tendrils reaching across the horizon, welcoming the water cycle.With it came a storm, ruthless and unrelenting; one of the worst she could remember. The one that battered her and sapped the last of her energy even now.She’d been halfway through the pass when the winds changed. No turning back. No signals to send. Only the howl of the storm and the unrelenting assault of the frost.If the cycle hadn’t shifted, she’d be through the forest by now, past the frozen pools that led to the veil itself.The orb should have been delivered. Few ever returned from the Veil’s edge. Their stories were legend. She'd never met any who lived to tell them. But perhaps, she could send the orb into the mist without having to enter herself. Perhaps she could have.Now, every step was war.She stumbled through knee-deep drifts, clutching the orb tighter as her other hand stretched forward, fingers frostbitten, splayed against the wind. Again, she reached inward, toward the power of Aqueus; the Seed she was born under. The seed that even now, somewhere above the suffocating blanket of thick grey cloud, was lighting the land of Elkarria with its soft blue glow.The power pulsed beneath her skin, humming in her blood. Maybe it could guide her. Or maybe she just needed to know how close she was to breaking. A flicker stirred within. Moisture beneath the snow shifted. A faint softening of the ground beneath her boots.Then…nothing. Her strength had waned too far. Even with Aqueus hidden somewhere above, the current slipped from her grasp, lost to the renewed cacophony of sharp winds, cutting through her cloak.She dropped her hand in acceptance and kept moving. The seed was no longer with her. She would have to rely on herself now.A low branch tore a strip from her sleeve. Ice caught her step. She fell hard. Knees slammed into frozen earth. Blood filled her mouth as her jaw struck stone.The bundle rolled loose."No—"She lunged. Pain flashed through her like lightning. The linen unravelled in mid-air, and the orb tumbled free, striking a jagged rock, then rolling to rest half-buried in snow.The vicious overture of wind subsided. A quiet warning she felt in her bones. Maybe somewhere deeper still.She tried to move. Her legs didn’t answer.Pain bloomed in her hip, dull and deep. A break; she knew the feel.Still, she reached. Fingers dragging through snow, just short of the orb.She thought of her son. The way he laughed. The quiet stubbornness in him. How he quietly watched. He was just like his father.She thought of him then; her husband. Not as the world saw him, but as she knew him. Steady. Brilliant. Gentle where she was fierce.And she thought of the king.The way his gaze had lingered on her, years ago. Like she was a riddle he couldn’t solve. Not obedient. Not bendable. That had offended him more than any rebellion. Perhaps it was what made him obsessed.She’d always known that this war would end with her fire burning out, or him dead.She smiled, bitter. Defiant still.If this was the end, she wouldn’t go quietly.With the last of her strength, she dragged herself forward. Pain rang through her bones, dulled only by the cold and overcome only by her will. She reached the orb. Her fingers closed around it.And then she felt him. He was the quiet in the storm.A presence. Not seen, not heard; felt. Like the world shifted to let him pass.She turned her head. Through the flurries of snow, she saw him. His silhouette parted the storm. The wind slid past him like it didn’t dare touch.She tried to scramble away. She was so close to veil now, but she knew. She couldn’t escape him.He emerged from the snow. The lines of his armour gleamed white and gold, colours once held for the pure, now tainted by his cruel strength.He stood over her. Green eyes sharp as razors, seeming to see something far beyond the surface of her crimson eyes. Blonde hair swept back, untouched by storm or sleet.She tried to drag herself away, but his gauntlet came down, pinning her shoulder.She glared up at him, swinging an arm and knocking his hand from her shoulder, scrambling desperately away towards the veil.He patiently pinned her again, twisting her so she was on her back."Even if you kill me," she rasped, "we will win. It won't be yours."She pulled the orb close, one final attempt.She reached out with all she had left, called on the power of the Seed. It answered.The ground beneath her shifted and shimmered, water from the earth drawn, frozen though it was. With a surge of effort, all she had left, she burst the power forward, sharp blades of ice launching at the king.An effortless swell from him deflected them with a powerful wind.It was the last of her energy. The world started fading around the edges. She just managed a satisfied smile as the slightest trickle of blood ran down his cheek.He must have felt the warmth as he brushed it with the back of his gauntleted hand, looked down to see the small red smear, and smiled too. Not cruel. Genuine.He said nothing at first, just studied her. Then raised his free hand, a burst of fire flared in his palm.She flinched, bracing for the searing of her flesh, the scorching of her bones, but no flame touched her.The snow beneath her melted. The earth stirred; soft, tilled soil rumbling beneath her.She looked up, bewildered, as he knelt beside her. His arm slid beneath her shoulders, cradling her gently."Even in the end," he said, "you were magnificent, Aeviella. Stubborn to the last." He brushed a curled lock of her frozen copper hair from her face as she tried to swat his hand away again. This time it just slid off, no strength left in her."And I wish I'd killed you when I had the chance," she breathed. A cough tore through her, weak and wet.To her surprise, he smiled. Thin, but unmistakable."If anyone could."He sat with her in the storm. Snow refused to touch him. His flame kept her warm. A comfort she had never asked for.She wanted to throw herself from his arm, to the frozen earth, drag herself to the veil, and sacrifice herself to the mist, but that time had passed.The world slowed. Quietened. Her final breath rose in a soft trail of fog, briefly clouding the silver of his chestplate.And then…nothing.The orb flared. Blue light swirled outward, then pulled back into the iron shell.The king sat still. He cradled her body in silence, face unreadable. He looked into the crimson eyes that no longer burned with her flame. With care, he swept a frozen copper curl from her face, then gently closed her eyes.He stood, unclipping his white cloak in a fluid motion and placing it over her; a funerary blanket. Carefully sliding a hand under her knees and another around her back and shoulders, he lifted her from the frozen ground.Then turned and vanished into the storm, the shimmering veil forgotten behind him.
The Seeborne Saga... Currently under development