Sulphur & Lightning Chapter 2: 001 - The Beginning

Read chapter 2 of Sulphur & Lightning by anaugustauthor on NovelPedia.

The beginning is the best place to start – that is a maxim. It is a maxim, but it is easier said than done. The realm of Reigina, after all, is a strange and storied land, and no matter at what point we choose as our beginning, it would appear as though we were leaving something vital out. Whether we were to pick, just as an example, the much-concealed history of the Astral Plane Wars or the ludicrous happenings during the Great Coup Festival (where power changed hands from despot to despot no less than 7 times in a three-year period), we could scarcely fit enough in our narrative. Nevertheless, as we must start somewhere, we will start where we left off. 12 years after that night of a strange birth, a sleek but old bright yellow and green omnibus [1] suddenly jerked and stopped moving. The large rectangular beast of a machine, panelled in its bright but dust-covered lacquer, now stood inactive on the side of the dusty road. Observing it, the conductor and driver saw that contact with a nasty pothole had damaged the rim of the wheel. “Did you grab a spare?” one of the passengers asked from his position in the vehicle, overhearing their diagnosis. The conductor didn’t speak, avoiding his inquiring gaze. “It wouldn’t help even if you did,” the driver spoke up, his usually threadbare though clean uniform covered in dust from his inspection of the situation. “The axle is damaged too; even if we managed to replace the wheel, the axle would just further deteriorate and cause a worse accident down the line.” “I guess it can’t be helped,” another passenger said with some regret. Most of them had descended from the two-tiered vehicle at this point and were looking around for suitable shelter, with only a few staying close to ensure that their luggage was safe. Luckily, this route was chosen because of its isolation from the roaming beast hordes that plagued the lands between the provinces in this realm, so, although they were very annoyed by the inconvenience, they weren’t anxious over their safety. Still, if something wasn’t done quickly, placid annoyance would turn into unappeasable anger. “What do we do?” “I’ll send someone ahead to intercept one of the omnibuses ahead and follow them to the closest checkpoint to get help.” He noticed the ugly expression of the conductor at this. “It’ll take a long time, but our only other hope is if a blacksmith or mechanic with their gear just happens upon our predicament.” “I’m a blacksmith, sir.” The sudden declaration came from a small voice a little distance from them. The shocked driver nearly jumped out of his skin, but turned to see a child with a large load of luggage on his back. He hadn’t been there a moment ago. The conductor reached for his rustic yet trusty sidearm but was restrained by the driver. “What are you doing?” “It could be an evil spirit,” he whispered back. The combination of his sudden appearance and bright yellow eyes seemed to support this seemingly wild supposition. The only thing more abundant than the myriad races of this land was the number of dangers at every corner. At this query, though, the boy dropped the stacked backpack he was wearing on the ground. The dust that was stirred up in the aftermath basically confirmed that he was tangible and not an immaterial evil creature (although one could never be too safe as far as these things went). “Regardless, you know what he is,” he insisted, looking at the child’s uncut tangle of hair and ragged clothes with contempt. In Reigina, this combination was generally reserved for one thing, and though it wasn’t as bad as an evil spirit, it was certainly not a welcome or auspicious presence. The driver waved him off and gave the young boy a once-over before turning back to the conductor. “How long would it take for someone to reach the nearest checkpoint and get someone over?” “A few hours probably,” the conductor admitted, still uneasy about the child in front of them. “Can you fix this in that time?” “It’ll just take a few