Kaine Ashford's Arc

Chapter 1 of 7

The hammer rang against the anvil three more times before Kaine heard the scrape of boots on gravel. He turned from the forge, tongs still in hand, and saw the man stagger through the open door. Blood soaked through the stranger's shirt in dark patches. The man's lips moved, forming words Kaine couldn't catch over the hiss of cooling metal. Kaine dropped the tongs and crossed the dirt floor in three strides. He caught the stranger under the arms as the man's knees buckled. Outside, past the stone chimney and the low bench where Kaine kept his healing supplies, the old boarding house stood empty across the clearing. The man's fingers clutched at Kaine's sleeve, pulling him close. His breath smelled of blood and dust. "Friendship Boarding House," the stranger whispered. His eyes rolled back, then focused again with effort. "The deed. I know where it is." His hand went to his chest, then fell away. "Royal charter. Legal standing. It's yours if—" The words dissolved into a wet cough. Kaine lowered him to the ground and pressed a cloth against the worst of the wounds. The man's breathing turned shallow, then stopped fighting the pull of unconsciousness. Kaine looked up at the abandoned building across the way, its intricate carvings barely visible in the fading light. A location with legal protection. A place the elven authorities couldn't touch. He had turned away three people last week for lack of space, and now this stranger had collapsed at his door with the answer. The clinic wasn't a dream anymore. It was a deed away from real.