Moonfall: A Flash of Fire (Patreon)

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          Alright readers, this is the last and final project idea I have to follow the recent completion of Wizard Tournament. Of all the ideas I have this one is the freshest and least-fleshed out but I do still consider it matured as I have had it in the background stewing for a little more than a year. The strength of Moonfall lies in the setting, which I will elaborate more on below. This story is a Fantasy/Sword and Sorcery novel with a splash of political intrigue.

          Setting: The planet Airt orbits dangerously close to a massive star and has a special moon magically-suspended between the sun and planet below as without its protection the planet below would not be habitable. As you will see in the opening chapter below, this creates an interesting Day-Night cycle in which a brief flash of intense sunlight is experienced in the mornings and evenings. Between these cycles, there is the "Bright Night" (during which the corona can be seen in the sky and a modest amount of light is diffused through the atmosphere) and the "Dark Night" (where the sun is on the far side of the planet). The title of the story comes from an ongoing calamity in which pieces of this magical moon are beginning to break apart and fall to the planet below, leading to Moonfall (literally pieces of this moon). At the latitude where this piece of moon is missing, there is a great desert that is scoured by the "Long Flash" every evening, during which nothing can survive and even the oceans boil.

          Magic: Talk of the Moonfall naturally leads to the magic system which comes about from these chunks of Lira (the moon) that fall from the sky. Just this last weekend I spent several days reviewing my notes and streamlined the magic system to something I'm very satisfied with. There are two basic energies being manipulated (I won't spoil them). The unique part of this world, as you'll see below, is a heavily rules-based magic system that involves precise math and calculations, thus the "wizards" in the world of Airt are known as Calculists. There is no innate magic, nothing about any individual makes them any more powerful with magic than anyone else. Calculists manipulate Moonfall dust through a combination of special harmonic tones and a rules-based glyph system. Below are examples of the two basic glyph-forms: starburst for Sun glyphs, hexagon for Moon glyphs.

          I don't want to provide too many more details here, but suffice to say there is another application of Moonfall that involves the smelting of metals that gain special properties (including the ability to protect from the heat of the Flash).

          That's probably more than enough background, below you'll find a mock-up cover art along with a draft of the first chapter of the novel.

Moonfall: A Flash of Fire

          Jasper let the handles of his sled drop in the sand behind him. He rushed forward with tears of relief springing to his face. There it was after so long: a piece of Moonfall nearly the size of his closed fist. He lowered himself to one knee and carefully lifted the stark-white chunk of stone. It was cool to the touch and had a faint blue glow emanating from it. There was no mistaking. This was the real thing.

          Six days of effort. All suddenly worth every minute. Well, three days so far, but he still had to walk home after this. Jasper shot to his feet and gave a hoot of pure joy, even pumping one fist in the air.

          There was nobody around to hear him. Jasper was alone in the Wasteland. He spent much of his time alone, but it was rarely as painful as when he had nobody to share in his good fortune. Turning back to his sled, Jasper’s easy smile faded away to be replaced by his much more comfortable slightly-annoyed frown. Behind him the two tracks of his sled faded off into the distance over the next sand dune. He pushed his lengthening black hair out of his face and trudged back over to his sled. Brown canvas was tied tight over his supplies. He pulled it back and tucked the piece of Moonfall into one of his bags. While he was at it he also marked his position on one of his maps.

          Jasper didn’t think of himself as greedy, but he knew that sometimes large pieces of Moonfall break apart and scatter when they land, so it was always worth coming back to locations again. Sometimes the winds shifted and new pieces came to the surface. He thought he might as well also have a look around now in case he found more. That wasn’t greed—that was just common sense. He stood on his sled to get a better look and scanned all around with his eyes sensitive to the slightest glimmer of blue light.

          It was still Bright Night so he could see just fine but he strained his irises open just a little bit wider. He saw nothing but sand. Even a thumb-sized stone would be worth a second trip this far into the Wastes. He didn’t let the failure to find more get to him. Moon hunting was filled with many failures—the new stone he’d found had just ended a series of them—but if you wanted to be successful you had to never give up. That’s what his father always said. If Lira was feeling generous today, he figured he might as well indulge her. Jasper decided he’d head over to the top of the next dune and have another look around before turning back. Three days out was about the most he usually did, much further and he’d have to start worrying about encroaching on the territory of Moon Hunters based out of the Oasis to the South.

          With a satisfied spring in his step, Jasper jumped down from his sled and hooked the handles back over his shoulders. He gave a heave and headed up the next dune. Normally dragging his sled uphill exhausted him, but with the sudden bounty tucked away his steps felt light as a feather. He reached the top of the next dune… and stopped in shock.

          His jaw went slack. He dropped the handles of his sled at his feet without even thinking and gave himself a slap in the face to make sure he wasn’t dreaming. The slap felt real, but what he saw before him didn’t. Nestled in the sand between one dune and the next was a piece of Moonfall larger than any he’d even heard of. It was bigger than his entire body. Bigger than his sled! It looked half again as tall as himself and easily as wide. Scattered around it in the crater its fall had caused were chunks of Moonfall large enough to make him a wealthy man. All of it glowed with an eerie blue power.

          “By Lira’s shelter,” Jasper said to himself. Once he’d recovered from his initial shock he jumped on his sled and rode it down the dune towards the carriage-sized boulder. He stuck his foot in the sand to come to a stop a few paces distant. A smaller chunk of Moonfall rested outside the crater just in front of him. He threw back his sled’s canvas and ran over to grab it. He thought for sure he was going to touch the stone and find it was some elaborate trick, but it was cool to the touch just like the real thing. The piece in front of him came up to his knees. He leaned over and heaved it off the ground. It felt like it weighed at least six stone. A fortune the likes of which he’d never imagined. And there was more! So much more!

          Jasper settled the chunk of Moonfall on the back of his sled. It rolled off the end and half rested in the sand. There wasn’t enough room. That was easy enough. He picked through his supplies and got rid of what he didn’t need. His sleeping roll? Gone. He could bundle up in his cloak until he made it back home. The pot he used to prepare his dinners? Gone. The crate with his food? He dumped the sacks of food on the ground. Change of clothes? Bundle of firewood? Coil of rope? He threw it all off the side. Only the barest of essentials did he leave behind: his null-steel armor, a shovel and a small barrel of water. He could do without food during the three day trek back to civilization, but he’d still need some water.

          Since he’d be leaving it behind, Jasper dug into his pack of food and started stuffing his face with salted beef and bread. His remaining supplies only took up the first hand or two at the front of his sled, which would leave the rest for him to pack away as much Moonfall as he could carry.

          “We’re going to be flashing rich! By Lira’s grace!” Jasper cackled to himself with glee.

          Still chewing on tough meat, Jasper grabbed the crate that he normally kept his food in and went around filling it with chunks of Moonfall. There was more than he could possibly fit but he could take some of the easier pieces at least. He walked around the crater throwing fist-sized stones in his crate until it was full. Then he waddled back to his sled, resting the crate against his hips and dropped it heavily on the sled just behind the remaining gear. With the new space he’d cleared he thought he could fit a bit more. He was able to ease the larger boulder back on and secure it with rope. The crate squeezed in front of it. But… as he studied the arrangement he realized the crate wasn’t very tall. If he had a way to keep it secure he was sure he could pile more stones on top of the crate and lean them against the boulder…

          Studying the pile of things he’d thrown off Jasper realized he had just what he needed in his bedroll. He could unroll it and fill it with Moonfall! That’s just what he did. He unrolled it next to the sled and dumped all the smaller pieces he’d salvaged into it. They tumbled in with a pleasant tinkling sound and only filled it about a third. This was going to take a while…

          Carefully, Jasper snapped his irises closed and glanced up at the sky to see how close the Flash was getting. The world looked green through his closed irises, but he could look at the halo of sun without worrying about getting blinded. The black moon stood dutifully before the sun, keeping Airt in a perpetual shadow. Jasper could clearly see the leading edge where two divots in the surface of the moon had eroded. If not for that divot they wouldn’t have the Wastes, but they also wouldn’t have the Moonfall that was about to make him fabulously wealthy. He did his best to judge how much time he had left until the evening Flash. The morning Flash was normal, but out in the wastelands the evening Flash was dangerous. Deadly. He didn’t want to get caught unawares. It looked like he still had the better part of an hour before it would break.

          Once he didn’t have to look at the sun anymore, Jasper snapped his irises open. He shoved another hunk of salted beef in his mouth and continued rapidly gathering up the smaller pieces of Moonfall in the area. There were a handful of other large stones like the one he’d laden the back of his sled with, but those would have to wait for his next trip. He filled and emptied his crate two more times before his bedroll was completely filled. It clinked nicely as he cinched the drawstring closed and dragged it next to his sled. By the time he finished the last refill of his wooden crate most of the smaller pieces were gathered up. He dropped the crate back onto his sled just behind his remaining supplies then strained to drag the filled bedroll on top of it. Once he got everything tied up tight and covered back up with his canvas he checked the sky again.

          It looked like there was only a half hour left. Jasper shoved a loaf of flatbread in his mouth even though he was starting to get full and pulled out the last of the equipment he hadn’t removed from his sled: his shovel and his armor. He hated digging in his armor so he got to work burying his sled in sand before he put it on. His shovel had a nice wide mouth, designed specifically for sand.

          Crunch. Shk. Crunch. Shk.

          With practiced movements Jasper soon had the sled covered in deep enough sand that he was certain it wouldn’t be burned to ash when the Flash came. He opened the sack that contained his null-steel armor and started to pull it out. No sense in cutting things too close if he didn’t have to. Once the Flash came he could busy himself covering the massive Moonfall boulder with more sand so nobody else found it once he was gone.

          A sudden flash of light lit up the sands around Jasper’s feet. For a second his heart nearly stopped as he wondered if maybe the Flash had started early, but then his brain registered that the light was red, not white. He relaxed and looked up to see a stream of red fire shooting into the sky. The sign of distress. Jasper watched the flare trail up into the sky. It didn’t fall. It just kept climbing straight into the sky until it faded away. That wasn’t a flare, that was magic. Jasper decided that was a good sign. Sometimes bandits preyed on the well-meaning and set traps with fake distress signals, but only the truly desperate ever took part in such a despicable act. And desperate people didn’t trek three days deep into the wasteland, then use expensive magic flares.

          “Flash me, that’s real, isn’t it?”

          Jasper closed his irises and checked the sun again. Not much time. It looked like the signal had come from maybe two or three dunes South. He might be able to make it before the Flash if he left immediately. He looked around at the treasure before him… He had to go. Surely if Lira had seen fit to bless him with such a bounty she would look poorly on him leaving some poor stranger to die right after he received it. With a frustrated sigh he shoved his armor back in its sack and slung it over his shoulder. Before he left his sled behind he looked it over one last time to make sure it was fully covered. His food and other supplies were still lying out in the open sand but he assumed a stranger’s life was probably more important than things he would soon be able to buy as easy as breathing. Just in case, he kicked a quick layer of sand over it. In a final burst of paranoia, Jasper snatched up enough fist-sized Moonfall stones to fill his pockets and took off over the hill. He wasn’t being greedy, that was just common sense.

          With no time to waste, Jasper worked up to a jog. The sand tried its best to make running difficult but he was used to it. He used long strides to conserve energy. The heavy bag of armor on his back clinked away as he moved, but each piece was individually-wrapped to dampen the noise. Soon, he reached the top of the nearest dune. He didn’t see anything in front of him so he aimed in the direction he’d seen the signal and slid down the dune in that direction. As he climbed the next dune he checked the sky and could see Lira’s wound getting brighter. More light was beginning to work its way into the upper atmosphere. He would have to stop and don his armor soon—distressed stranger or not.

          When he reached the top of the next dune, Jasper saw the person that had used the distress signal. His first thought was that it definitely wasn’t bandits. His second thought was that this man was probably going to die.

          It was just one man. Alone. All he had was a small backpack. No wagon, no sled, nothing that Jasper could see that would protect him from the coming Flash. The man wasn’t even moving; he was just slumped weakly on the top of his dune looking to the South.

          “Hey!” Jasper shouted to get his attention.

          The man’s head immediately snapped around. He raised an answering hand. “Savaii!” he shouted back.

          Jasper gestured to the bottom of the dune between them for them to meet and began to slide down to meet him. He saw the man did the same and they met at the bottom. The man’s shirt was open to expose a wiry-thin chest which was currently soaked in sweat. He had short black hair and dark skin like Jasper. If anything his skin was a few shades darker. Jasper wasn’t surprised to see he had bright yellow eyes with irises that made vertical slits. That was the norm down South, which appeared to be where he had come from.

          “So savaii,” the man said with a huge grin. He clasped Jasper on the arm from wrist to elbow as was the Southern custom. “Mai variss na—”

          Jasper cut him off with a sharp shake of his head. “I don’t speak Anashet,” he told him.

          The man’s brows drew together in confusion. “How not?” He gestured to his own face. “Here you is having the eyes like me, no? How not you speak Anashet?”

          “I’m from Nodrek. Look. I don’t speak it. Can we deal with the situation at hand?” Jasper pointed to the sky. “You do know what time it is, right? The Long Flash is coming.”

          The man’s easy smile returned to his face. “Yes, it is as you say. This Flash is coming, but so are you, my friend. You are here coming to be my savior. My name is Hazbel Naerish Vomai the third, most famous Calculist in all of Anaresh. What be you naming by? Maybe I just call you ‘savior,’ no?”

          “Name’s Jasper,” Jasper answered simply. He squinted suspiciously at the supposed Calculist. He’d never heard of the Northern academies allowing those of Anaresh blood to enroll, but with the sun bringing death so soon he felt like now probably wasn’t the time to start questioning the man’s credentials. Jasper dropped his bag to the ground, causing the heavy metal plates within to clink loudly. He shook his head. “I’m afraid I can’t be your savior,” he said. “I’ve only got the one suit of armor.”

          Hazbel’s eyes went white. “San nastai! It must not be so!”

          Jasper dumped his armor on the ground and started pulling the different pieces out of their cloth sacks. Hazbel would just have to see for himself. “I don’t know what to tell you, Hazbel. What did you expect? What happened to your own armor? There’s no way to get this deep into the wasteland without any.”

          Hazbel let out a heavy sigh and started digging in his little backpack for something. “I run,” he said simply. “I run all day. Since morning I run.” He gestured South with his hand. “These men, they chasing me. I running into waste, I think they not following me, but they do. I keep running and they are putting on Sanvizar. How you say… Sun-steel armor?” He enunciated the last foreign word carefully.

          Jasper nodded. “That sounds right. Are they still chasing you?” Jasper gritted his teeth. Now this damn fool would lead them right to him! Even if he let this Hazbel idiot fry in the Flash the men chasing him would be able to follow Jasper’s own trail back to that bounty of Moonfall. He stepped into his greaves one at a time. The metal was cool to the touch.

          “Yes, they coming,” Hazbel confirmed. “They is slow in they heavy Sanvizar, but still they coming.”

          Jasper gnashed his teeth harder in an attempt to staunch his building rage. He didn’t even care about this idiot anymore. Who runs into the wasteland with no plan to survive the Flash? “How long until they reach you?” Hazbel pulled out a delicate silver pocket watch from his bag and studied it. He muttered what seemed like numbers under his breath and didn’t answer. Jasper continued to strap the cuisse onto his thigh while he waited for a reply. “How long?” Jasper repeated. More loudly this time.

          Hazbel looked up. “Eight minutes and forty six seconds,” he said.

          "Eight minutes?” Jasper asked. It was surprising to get such a precise answer.

          Hazbel nodded. “Yes. And forty four seconds.”

          Jasper blinked. “How can you know that?”

          "These are calculations I be doing long in advance,” Hazbel answered. He tapped his forehead. “Always I remember them. Very important for Calculist to remember.”

          Jasper shook his head. “That doesn’t make sense. You calculated in advance how long until your pursuers would reach you? How would you even do that?”

          Hazbel’s brows shot up and he opened his mouth in a surprised “Oh.”

          “I am sorry, no,” he said firmly. He shook his head to further emphasize. He waved a hand off to the South again. “The men that chase me, they be taking many hours to reach me. I am faster running with no Sanvizar.”

          "Then what was the eight minute thing about?”

          "That is how long until I shall be dying.” He stroked his chin thoughtfully. “Actually I am thinking perhaps I will be dying in nine minutes. But the last minute will be very much pain.” He gave a strained smile. “And burning.”

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