Varonian Nights, Chapter One: Red Legion
Author: Tom Bruno
Title: Red Legion (Varonian Nights, Chapter One)
Genre: Fantasy
Rating: PG-17
Frequency: Weekly
The Grand Canal reeks of many things, but seldom of the sea. This morning however a westerly breeze was sweeping across the Sea of Sunken Hopes, carrying with it the brine of thousand leagues of open water that swept through the City’s million open sewers and washed the miasma out with the Eieronian tide. Arlix’s nostrils flared and his eyes opened. For a moment, he was a child in the fjords of Skraelingia, lying on the prow of his mother’s ship, tracing runes in the clouds of an azure sky – a dream that was spoiled by a Varonian matron cursing like a marine at a gondolier who had moored his craft too close to her stoop. The old Skraeling sighed and drew in another deep breath before surrendering the illusion entirely; this time he smelled smoke.
