To Bind Fire (Empire of Ash and Song #1)

by D.E. Carlson

Nothing can stand before fire. It knows no love, no compassion, no gentleness. It knows only its own need. It feeds, it consumes, and only moves on when nothing remains.

They thought it their friend. But they did not know that fire resented its service to them. They thought it watched over them as they slept. Really, it waited.

“Be gone!” the evil voice shouted, shrill and afraid. “This is my time to test them.”

The greater voice grew faint, as if from a great distance, but the fire could still hear. “You grip tightly because you have not their love as I do. Take the remainder of your time. You have little left . . .”

“As long as you hide from your fear, you are a slave to it.”

“Nothing happens by chance, Iris”

“You’ve known pain, Iris, but you do not own it.”

El does not want to make slaves of man. He wants the joy of being chosen, and will accept the pain of rejection for a time, out of hope.”

Not

everything that happens is your fault.

“I hate the Firebloods.” Iris winced and lowered her head as Jacin continued. “They killed my parents. They killed my sisters. They burned everything we had.” A faint tremor entered Jacin’s voice. “The Traders took me in as a child, and I wanted to protect them. I did not want a member of the Fire bloodline in our midst. I saw her as a threat.”

dip in the sacred waters, and when they

surface, be reborn in the name of El.” He paused, gazing at her sternly. “Understand, child, this ceremony is not necessary for a person to commune with El. It is a symbol, a representation when a person is ready to choose him—”

Maybe it was like being hugged by a father.

“I am waiting, Iris. Waiting for you to choose. I stand by because I believe in you. I believe that you will not succumb to evil. It’s why I made you.”

“It will always be easy with me.

We must not allow fear to dictate to us. If we do, Khaoss has already won!

“We are not defined by what happens to

us, but by how we respond to it.”

a message from Him to all who will live to see the coming times.