Bramble Burn Read online

  Bramble Burn

  Book 1 of the Convergence Series

  by

  Autumn Dawn

  PUBLISHED BY:

  Autumn Dawn on Smashwords

  EDITED BY:

  Judy Stone

  stonewrightediting.blogspot.com

  COVER IMAGES: Shutterstock.com

  Find out more about upcoming releases: www.autumndawnbooks.com

  Sneak peeks of works in progress: authorautumndawn.blogspot.com

  Friend me on Facebook

  Bramble Burn Copyright © 2015 by Autumn Dawn

  All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form, or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise) without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this book.

  This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, brands, media, and incidents are either the product of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. The author acknowledges the trademarked status and trademark owners of various products referenced in this work of fiction, which have been used without permission. The publication/use of these trademarks is not authorized, associated with, or sponsored by the trademark owners.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Epilogue

  About Autumn Dawn

  Other books by Autumn Dawn

  Friend me on Facebook

  Sneak peeks on my blog

  Website

  Acknowledgements:

  To my readers, always.

  Thank you blog readers for the feedback in cover design. With your help, we went from “okay” to “whoa, baby!” Your encouragement keeps me going on long projects, and your feedback is gold. You make me strive for excellence, and it’s a thrill when you help me deliver.

  To the Lord, who made me stubborn enough to spend months on a project. Remind me it’s a gift when I complain about my strong willed, stubborn children! Thank you for their colorful personalities and the reminder that living safe is not living.

  To my high school sweetheart, John. Twenty-one years and counting, babe. I love you.

  ***

  Bramble Burn

  It had been thirty years since the Convergence, when the dimensions aligned and combined Earth and the world of Gwyllon, known in human mythology as “Underhill”. Elven castles and ancient ruins sprouted in vacant lots, on major highways; sometimes merging with existing buildings, twisting into completely new structures. Roads and rail systems reformed, and after the rioting, starvation and death, agriculture sorted itself out and food began to flow. A new government formed of elves and men had arisen, a society of human tech and elven magic. Cell phones and frost giants, race cars and elven steeds, dungeons and dragons…

  And everywhere, monsters.

  Tree mage Juniper was twenty-three, a child of the new generation. When she found a source of magic buried in an abandoned park, she made a deal with the city. If she can stabilize the park’s wild magic, she’ll own it…if she can survive.

  Now she has to destroy magic spawned monsters, deal with a werewolf suitor and survive her bloodthirsty dragon uncle. She’s going to have to dig deep to subdue Bramble Burn Park.

  Chapter 1

  “You’re a fool, girl.”

  Juniper Rose stared at the blasted, twisted wreckage of the former park and contemplated her mother’s words. She might have a point.

  She kicked the dirt with her worn work boot, her sky blue eyes surveying the scorched, salted soil. Broken glass glittered in the late afternoon light and she smelled motor oil and threadbare tires warmed by the June sun. Trash caught on the burnt skeletons of trees and old cars, and she could smell something rotten, probably carrion. The local gangs probably dumped bodies here.

  Bramble Park had once been a cute little park in an upscale neighborhood, five blocks long by two blocks wide. After the Convergence, a well of wild magic had opened, spawning monsters. The panicked neighbors tried to burn it, hoping to stop the critters from eating their children, and the army had used explosives. The park kept growing, quadrupling, spawning nightmares. Finally it was quarantined, the once prosperous neighborhood now a slum. The residents installed bars on windows and doors and invested in guns; there were no pacifists here.

  It had been thirty years since the Convergence, when the dimensions aligned and combined Earth and the world of Gwyllon, known in human mythology as “Underhill”. Elven castles and random buildings sprouted in vacant lots, on major highways; merging with existing buildings, twisting into completely new structures; the courthouse had merged with an Elven government building. Roads and rail systems reformed, and after the rioting, starvation and death, agriculture sorted itself out and food began to flow. A new government formed of elves and men had arisen, a society of human tech and elven magic. Cell phones and frost giants, race cars and elven steeds, dungeons and dragons…

  And everywhere, monsters.

  Juniper was twenty-three, a child of the new generation of small farmers. Her grandfather was Tylwyth Teg, an elf of the forest. Her father had been mostly normal, or pretended to be, but Juniper had her grandfather’s hunger for growing things. He’d tolerated her visiting his woods as long as he could, but there could be only one Forest Lord. He’d told her kindly but firmly to find her own wood. She could not go back, or he’d kill her.

  “Be sure to write, let me know how you’re doing,” he’d said, and meant it. After all, they were family.

  Her mother paced the farmhouse while Juniper packed. Juniper had her light brown hair and lanky body, but they couldn’t be more different. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you! You don’t see your sister or cousins leaving. Cities are dirty and dangerous, and if you were sensible, you’d get your head out of the clouds and stay here.” She couldn’t hear the call of wild magic, and wouldn’t want to hear about it if she did.

  Juniper patted her Black Adder mount, Twix, and rummaged in his saddlebags. A mix of horse and Kudu, it had a kudu tail and long spiral horns, a broad deer’s head, fast horse body and horse hooves. Its bite was mildly venomous and it liked to dine on hay, bracken and small rodents. He was tireless and cheaper than a car, because gas was expensive. Convergence caused magical pulses that played havoc with geology, and magic was needed to reinforce the mines. The dark elves had cornered the market on the technology, and they weren’t cheap.

  A mist rose, obscuring rusting cars, a crashed airplane and blackened ground. Parts of it had been salted, as if salt could contain magical monsters.

  Her hand brushed aside the deed to Bramble Park, aka Bramble Burn. She’d made a deal with the city and gotten it cheap, on the condition that she stop the expansion. She had a year to do what no one else had done and no time to waste. She couldn’t afford a hotel if she wanted to buy supplies, and she wouldn’t survive a night in the open. A group of rough men openly watched her, and shadows slinked in the Bramble. Her rifle could only do so much to protect her.

  She pulled out her seed collection and chose an acorn. Time to move in.

  “Keep an eye out, Twix.” She moved a bit deeper into the park and gently breathed on the acorn, the way one would blow on dice before a throw. She didn’t believe in luck, but it helped calm her nerves. Thi
s was a big moment, and she didn’t want to screw it up.

  She placed the acorn on the ground and mentally plunged into the magic of Bramble Burn. A thrill chilled her. There was a river of power here, waiting to be tapped. It tested her, a wild current eager to drown her like it had done to so many others, but she knew how to tame wild magic. She channeled the magic and anchored it to the acorn.

  Gleeful to have a target, it grabbed the acorn and pulled it under the soil. A sprout emerged, rippling the ground in its rapid growth. A normal oak grew a hundred feet tall and four feet wide. This one widened until it was the girth of a house and soared thirty stories, as tall as a redwood. The leaves spread over the ruined park, forming a huge canopy of green.

  Deep in her trance, Juniper stepped inside the hollow tree, followed by Twix, and sealed the door. Dusk was approaching, and they needed solid walls between them and the Bramble, but they also needed light. Narrow windows of thick amber formed beside the door, acting like one-way mirrors. More dotted the trunk, forming an amber spiral, and her eyes slowly adjusted to the gloom.

  Juniper breathed deeply of fresh green oak, feeling the exertion. She formed a box stall with a sandy floor and took a break to remove Twix’s tack. She taught the tree to draw water into a basin for him and made one for her own use across the way, adding a drain.

  She was trembling, so she quickly formed a crude toilet and called it a night. Exhausted, she washed and ate jerky and trail mix.

  The floor was hard under her sleeping bag, but it was solid and she was safe. She slept like a log.

  The tree screeched in her mind, jolting her awake. Twix paced his stall, frantic with the smell of smoke.

  What the garbage? Was someone trying to smoke them out? Fuzzy with sleep, Juniper tapped into the tree to see what the problem was and flinched. There were things crawling on the limbs, burrowing into the bark. They were infested with mutant squirrels.

  The tree groaned in pain as another blast of fire seared the bark. She peered cautiously through the amber windows and saw a pack of giant hedgehogs breathing fire, having a squirrel barbeque. They were milling in excitement at the all-they-could-eat buffet.

  Alrighty then.

  She was already dressed, so she sat on her bedroll in a lotus position and focused on the tree. “Time to exterminate some pests.” She let the tree feel her outrage, the need to protect and avenge. She fed it power and limbs suddenly became limber, swatting and squeezing Rottweiler-sized saber-toothed squirrels into jelly. It flung carcasses at the hedgehogs, bowling them over. While they were distracted, the roots and branches snared the hogs, binding and crushing.

  The magic built, and Juniper grew lightheaded. She directed the tap roots to draw on the aquifer, pulling up massive amounts of water to quench the fire ravaging her branches. Dots peppered her vision, and she strained to rein in the energy. It resisted, testing her. She dug deep and hauled up hard, forcing it to spin until it stopped fighting. Roots burrowed into the ground with a sigh and blackened limbs hardened.

  Sirens split the night. Dizzy, she staggered to the door and peered out the narrow window. Fire trucks and armored police vehicles screeched to a halt next to smoking carcasses. Making sure the tree was quiet, she cracked the door, her vision watery. She flinched at the glare of headlights and reached for the wall, but the light grew and punched her in the face.

  She must have fainted, because when she came to, she was lying on a stretcher with a flashlight beam in her eyes. She turned her head and tried to sit up, but that made the world flare white. She gave up.

  “She’s awake. I can’t find any injuries,” an elven EMT reported.

  “Jus’ tired,” Juniper slurred. “How’s Twix? He bites.”

  A head blocked her view and resolved into a man’s grim face. “My name is Lt. Bjorn. I’m with Fire and Rescue. Can you make a statement?” He had dark eyes and short dark hair and might be in his late twenties. Judging from his black Kevlar and the rifle over his shoulder, he was the Rescue. If there was mayhem, soldiers were deployed along with fire crews. They were empowered to make arrests, though mostly they shot things until they stopped twitching.

  “Sure. My tree was attacked by mutant squirrels. I need to make some adjustments.”

  He scowled. “I should arrest you for disturbing the peace and trespassing.”

  Juniper gulped the sweet, salty drink the EMT handed her and was able to sit up. “I bought the park from the city. I have the deed, so it’s not trespassing.”

  “I’d like to see this deed.”

  “Sure. Please bring me my pack.” She nodded to the tree, which emergency personnel and assorted gawkers were giving a wide berth. “She’ll behave.”

  He looked doubtful, but approached the door. The warning snort inside made him pause.

  “Twix, come here,” Juniper called, summoning the beast. He’d never let the soldier in without her.

  The crowd moved back warily as he walked out of the tree. Black Adders weren’t known to cotton to strangers.

  The lieutenant brought her pack. She rummaged in it and found the deed so he could look at it. “I’m surprised Fire and Rescue was called out for Bramble Burn.”

  “You grew a tree as tall as a skyscraper and set it on fire. It could be seen for miles, and you’re surprised anyone noticed?” he said dryly. “Sheer curiosity would have gotten us called out, if nothing else.”

  “That’s me, drama queen.” Her poor tree. She couldn’t see around the lieutenant’s broad shoulders, and the spotlights were blinding. She tried to access her magic to check the tree for damage and nearly blacked out. Spots danced before her eyes and she quickly lay back. She felt like puking. Clearly, she’d used up her reserves.

  “Your blood pressure’s low,” the medic reported. “We need to take you to the hospital for observation.”

  “Nope, too expensive. I’ll be fine tomorrow.” Juniper struggled to sit up, but the medic placed a hand on her shoulder and pointed to the smoldering tree. Smoking corpses littered the ground, and splintered holes gaped in the hollow trunk. “Were you planning to stay there?”

  Juniper sighed in defeat. There was no way she could patch it up, not tonight, but a hospital stay was out of the question. “I just need food and rest. Any chance you could drop me at a hotel on the way back?”

  Lt. Bjorn exchanged a look with the medic. “Look, we have room at the station. You can bunk there tonight. We have medics on staff who can keep an eye on you.” At her doubtful look, he added, “Or I could arrest you and toss you a cell for a few hours. It’s not pretty, but you’ll get some sleep without becoming a chipmunk snack.”

  Not much of a choice, and she was weak as wet paper. “Fine. I accept your hospitality. Appreciate it.”

  “My pleasure. Now I won’t have to come back later for your body.” He left to help with cleanup.

  What a grouch.

  “You really bought Bramble Burn?” The medic chatted while Juniper was loaded into the ambulance for the ride to the station. “You do things like that often?”

  “First time for everything,” Juniper mumbled. She was so tired. Maybe she’d been overconfident. Obviously she needed to tweak a few things. If she wanted to anchor the park, she’d need a safe place to crawl home to at night and a way to keep from draining her energy. She couldn’t afford to be weak, or the Burn would eat her.

  From what she could see, the station was a stark brick building on a city lot. It was clean inside and furnished with Government Issue furniture and castoffs. She walked in under her own steam and nearly fell into one of the kitchen chairs. The pair of F&R guys with KP looked at her uncertainly.

  “She needs to eat and crash,” Bjorn said, placing a bowl of steaming stew in front of her. “It was that or arrest her so she wouldn’t get killed in the Burn.” He had the handsome soldier thing down, but his harsh tone was off-putting. Did he resent saving her? Maybe he’d rather be home watching football.

  Juniper ignored him. The stew fortified her en
ough that she could coax Twix into a box stall, calming his furious protests. He’d followed the ambulance, but they wouldn’t let him hang out on the street, scaring pedestrians.

  “Quit, old man. They aren’t going to eat us,” she muttered, rubbing his neck. She was tempted to lie down in the hay, but Lt. Bjorn was watching. If she looked too weak, he might decide the hospital was the place for her.

  She showered, but it took all she had. The bunk in the women’s dorm was clean, and she collapsed on it gratefully. She had a thousand things to do tomorrow, and she couldn’t wait to start the day.

  Chapter 2

  “What did you do to the bed?”

  Juniper opened her eyes and peered at the frowning woman. It took a moment to remember attack, fire and rescue. She sat up and looked at the bunk bed, then hopped off for a better look. “Holy cow!” The bedposts had sprouted into saplings, rooting into the floor as she slept. The branches formed an arch over the top bunk, and the only thing missing was a flock of little birdies.

  She looked at the fire fighter, dumbfounded. “That never happened before.” Did it have something to do with Bramble Burn? She could sense the park, even from here. Had the tree done something to tune her senses to the park’s power? The tree was supposed to anchor the magic, to be the first of many “fence posts”. She’d never dreamed that the wild energy might change her, too.

  The woman snorted. “The guys are never going to believe this. Come on, let’s get breakfast.” She waited while Juniper brushed her hair and changed into jeans and a t-shirt, then led the way downstairs, chatting as she went. “I’m Mia, by the way. Word has it Kjetil picked you up from Bramble Park. You know, we were on the roof yesterday with binoculars watching that tree of yours grow. You’re the talk of the town. No one knew if it was some kind of new monster.” Mia had short, straight black hair and was built small but sturdy.