Building A Legend: A Sword and Flame Novella Book 2

By CP Bialois

Respect is often one of the most difficult things to find when setting out on a new path. It’s not any easier being a Halfling, but Eron is determined to achieve his dream of being a ranger.

Following the death of Reinhart, Eron is duty-bound to follow through on his dream. The one thing he never expected was to be challenged at every turn by those who he meets along the way. From shape shifters and old men, to a one-eyed Dwarf and a secretive Elf, he quickly learns not everything is as it appears.

Success is won one step at a time in Building A Legend.

• Language: English
• Publisher: CP Bialois
• Release date: Aug 14, 2016
• ISBN: 9781370304073

CP Bialois

Where do I begin? Well first I guess it's only fair to say that CP Bialois isn't my real name. It's a collaboration I made out of the three greatest pets anyone could ever want. My real name is Ed and I'm just an average person that has found a way to do what he loves. For as long back as I can remember I loved to pretend. Whether it was with my Transformers, GI Joe, or He-Man toys I loved to create intricate plots and have them fight it out. As a fan of horror, science fiction, action, and comedy I dare say my taste in movies are well rounded. Some of my favorites were Star Wars, Star Trek, martial arts, and anything with Swarzenegger in them. I'd write my own stories about the characters I saw in the theaters or TV or I'd just daydream about what I'd see myself as the hero of course. You can't have a daydream without beating the bad guys, getting the girl, etc. It's just not right to envision yourself as a flunky or sidekick. As far as books I loved Sherlock Holmes, Treasure Island, Dracula, and the normal assortment. My early love was the Star Trek novels, I'd read them or the Hardy Boys relentlessly. For a time I could tell you the plot of over a hundred books not to mention comics. I have to come clean and say that I learned to read because of comic books. I was bored, make that extremely bored when we started to read in school. Reading "the cat fell down" really didn't interest me. My dad, who continues to astound me with his insight to this day, figured comics would work. With that in mind he went to the newstand in town and bought issues of Donald Duck, Scrooge McDuck, Tales From the Crypt, and Spider-man. He patiently read through them with me until I picked it up. Whether it was him or the comics I learned to read in about two weeks and for a while few were as good as I was. For years after that whenever we'd go out he'd always spring for a couple of comic books for me. While it wasn't exactly the perfect beginning everything I've ever read or have seen has influenced me in some way and now is the time I'd like to share some of the ideas I've had over the years with all of you. I hope you enjoy my stories, they're always fun to write and I don't see myself stopping anytime soon.

Book preview

Building A Legend: A Sword and Flame Novella

By CP Bialois

Copyright 2014

Cover Art by R.J. Keith

Smashwords Edition

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. This book contains material protected under International and Federal Copyright Laws and Treaties. An unauthorized reprint or use of this material is prohibited. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form, electronic or mechanical, photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system without express written permission from the author.

This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and situations are a product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual people living or dead, events or locations is entirely coincidental.

DEDICATION

To my wife, Jamie, and my dad, Ray: Both of you have given me the courage and tools necessary to follow my dreams.

To my beta readers: You guys are so awesome and your critiques and ideas are a big part of everything I publish.

To my readers: For your constant support and desire to read my work. You all are the reason this dream is a reality.

Other books by CP Bialois:

Mythological Thriller

Call of Poseidon

Horror

Skeleton Key

The Winter Creek trilogy - Horror,Thriller

The Winter Creek Beast

The Winter Creek Hunter

The Winter Creek Withch

Science Fiction

The Last World

Epic Fantasy

The Sword and the Flame: The Forging

The Sword and the Flame: The Purging

The Sword and the Flame: The Lightwalker

The Sword and the Flame: The Dragonmaster

YA Series Sword and Flame Novellas (Epic Fantasy)

Stranger Passing

Building A Legend

Chapter 1

The small wagon jostled from side to side in a violent motion by a smelly, distempered ox. The man driving the wagon sat on the small makeshift plank he nailed to the front of the hay wagon. Closing on his seventieth year, Malak was among the oldest of the people near the city of Kemperpore. A few years before, he decided his time walking along the ox to guide it was long past. It was time to leave those tasks to the young and enjoy the time he had left on Pyrain. It was an interesting idea, considering he had never been one to be frivolous with his time.

In his world, time was something that wasn’t to be taken lightly. As a farmer, his work day began when the sun rose and ended with its setting. The harvest, animals, and maintenance of the farm took up more time than he would’ve liked. Because of being born into the life of labor, Malak never bothered to make the time to find a wife or have children.

As the fifth youngest out of six children, he saw the trouble having children caused his parents. His father was never home, having to take extra work on as a carpenter to help feed his family after a handful of brutally cold winters resulted in a small amount of crops being planted for the next year. After three years of battling those conditions, they were only able to harvest enough food to feed themselves. Without the added inventory to take to the market, what money they did have quickly disappeared.

Malak knew he and his siblings were to blame for their own misfortune. Had they not been born their parents would’ve had plenty of food for them to have become pillars of the community instead of their lower class standing. Malak was absolute in his efforts to not repeat the same mistakes and the results were much as he expected. While not rich by anyone’s standard, he always had enough money to pay his taxes or to hire hands to take care of the farm if he so chose. To him, it was an ideal existence without the entanglements of having other mouths to feed. Not once did he regret his decision. Not even when he came upon the young child laying in the middle of the road on his way back from Kemperpore.

The journey was the one thing he enjoyed more than farming. The peace and quiet of the roadway between the outlying farms and the town proper helped to ease his mind when something troubled him. Born and raised in the northern portion of the Wilderness, Malak had never seen any sign of the barbaric hordes many claimed ravaged the countryside. The Wilderness was a land of outlaws for outlaws, or that was what he’d been told since an early age. In his opinion, there had never been such a people. They were made up to scare what peaceful people there were into the arms of a protector. Malak had news for them, he didn’t scare so easily.

It was for that reason he stopped to help the child. Not out of kindness, but because he could. The boy’s parents may be one of his customers at the market. If so, he was certain they’d want to pay more than usual when they purchased their vegetables from him. Gratitude could be quite rewarding, if one was on the proper side of it. Malak was so caught up in his imaginings of being rewarded that he hadn’t noticed the twelve inch knife tied to the boy’s left side.

Fearing the jostling of the wagon would harm the boy while he was unconscious, Malak loosely tied him down with some hemp rope and secured the items he bought to the sides of the wagon so they wouldn’t fall over on the boy. If he woke, the child would be able to free himself without much effort, but he’d have to remain in the wagon. Malak made sure the plank was only large enough for him to use and no one else.

*****

Eron’s dreams confused him. Every time his eyes opened, he saw his mother screaming at him while Reinhart wrestled with the dire wolf. Throughout it all, his sight and mind were locked on the woman standing between him and his friend. The woman no one else could see, yet she was real. She had to be. Otherwise everything he believed in was a lie. No, not everything. His mother never lied to him and neither had Reinhart. Eron was sure of the latter, despite what the dreams said to him.

Something was different about his newest dream, he could tell by the feel of it. There was something about the images that had the scent of truth about them. At first, Eron tried to run to them, excited to see them both waiting for him but when he took a step, the ground beneath him moved