The Day You Were Born: A Prologue to the Deathweaver Series

By Daniel Greenbrook

In a small, forgotten village at the forest’s edge, a half-elf warrior named Dramon watches helplessly as the birth of a child goes horribly wrong.

Dramon is used to hardship. He is a Hybrid, half elf and half human, and he fights every day to survive alongside his kin. They can count on none but themselves and often turn a blind eye to what happens around them, but not always: sometimes they hear of humans on the warpath, raiding the elven border. Those rumours they never ignore.

Four seasons past, Dramon and a few other warriors were sent ahead of time to one of these settlements: they hoped they could stop the humans.

They were too late then, and Dramon feels like he's too late now...

• Language: English
• Publisher: Daniel Greenbrook
• Release date: Apr 26, 2020
• ISBN: 9780463831762

Daniel Greenbrook

Is there anything more satisfying than writing fantasy when you feel like breaking all the rules? Daniel Greenbrook didn't find any better solution when he started writing, a good ten years ago.Since then, he has used many fictional settings to tell stories about issues both old and new, weaving tales that strip away some of reality’s complexity and, sometimes, are simply an excuse to talk about the human condition. These undertones complement the grandeur of these unseen universes, making them mysterious and alive with life of their own.The Deathweaver Series, one of his most recent projects, is one such story. There is no better place to start than The Day You Were Born for a free and bite-sized glimpse of what’s to come in the series.

Book preview

THE DAY YOU WERE BORN

A Prologue to the Deathweaver Series

DANIEL GREENBROOK

Copyright © 2020 Daniel Greenbrook

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

Thank you for downloading this ebook. This book remains the copyrighted property of the author, and may not be redistributed to others for commercial or non-commercial purposes. If you enjoyed this book, please encourage your friends to download their own copy from their favorite authorized retailer. Thank you for your support.

THE DAY YOU WERE BORN

Dramon heard the whispers and looked up. Raising his head had never been this difficult. Relriel poked her head out of the shack's door, looking at him.

‘Dramon,’ she called, ‘I need your help.’

He rose and stepped towards her, noticing her bloodied hands. ‘As I recall,’ he said, ‘you didn't want me inside.’

Relriel glared at him. ‘I know,’ she said through gritted teeth. ‘Things have changed. I made a mistake. I never thought it could get this ugly, but it has. And now you're welcome to come in.’

Dramon looked down and felt his hands trembling. He had been insistent before and now he hadn't managed to be calm with her, but only because he was afraid. Mortally afraid. And it must have shown. He had sat there for hours and nobody had talked to him, despite them knowing what was happening. It was not like the fear before a fight, when everything that's going to happen is in one's own hands. This was different. There was nothing he could do.

Relriel walked through the door, leaving it open so that he could enter. An unsettling whiff came from the threshold. There was her smell, for one: the one she'd had since yesterday, which he couldn't remember ever smelling before. Pleasant, though strange. But then there were all the other smells, which were all too familiar: blood, piss, faeces, sweat.

He rushed inside, closing the door behind him.

As he breathed the air of the shack, he coughed. The smell was stronger in there. The warm light of the candles gave the place a welcoming look. Dramon looked around and followed Relriel with his eyes as she went to wash her stained hands with a wet cloth. A black pot of boiling water stood beside it.

He looked to the other side, beside the bed. There she was.

‘Lara!’ he called, rushing to her. ‘Are you well?’

The elven woman was crouching down, held on her feet by two of Relriel's assistants. Dramon didn't look down, and tried not to imagine what was there either. He knelt down and tried to look into her eyes, but when he found them he saw only the void in them. Her gaze was blank and empty.

He felt his hands shake. ‘Relriel,’ he said, slowly, ‘what's happening to her?’

‘Does she recognise you?’ she asked.

Dramon took a deep breath, still seeing nothing but confusion and emptiness in the elf's gaze. ‘No,’ he whispered. ‘Does she… does she even see me?’

‘I don't know,’ Relriel said, coming up to his side. ‘She knew who you were when you brought her here and she could make out who I was until a few hours ago, but not anymore.’

‘Why is she always blinking?’

‘The headache. The same headache she's had since yesterday, only now it's much worse. She doesn't talk now, but when she could that was all she spoke about. The pain in the head.’

‘And the child?’

Relriel stole a glance at him, a half-smile on her lips. ‘You can look.’

Dramon looked down. There was a clean, white cloth under the elf, with a few drops of liquid dotting it. He looked a little up. A head. In between Lara's legs, there was the head of the baby.

He took a deep breath. Why, why didn't that sight fill him with relief? At least the baby was alive. But no. He didn't care about her child.

He stopped his racing thoughts in their tracks. He feared