~ Book One of THE KNIGHT ETERNAL ~

CALL OF THE FORGE

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PART I

The Cold Defiles

Jacob

The storm came out of nowhere.

A ferocious gale swallowed the California coast, bringing with it hard bouts of rain followed by strong gusts of wind that went up a hundred miles per hour. Jacob dreaded the latter the most. They called it the storm of a lifetime, and in the past twelve years of his life, he had never seen a storm raged with such fury.

It rattled the Ford Explorer he’s in; wind diving down the concrete valley, swaying skyscrapers that flanked their vehicle. Jacob thought they’ll fall on top of them, scared him more than the shaking of the car, only to get a laugh out of Connor, his older brother, who teased him for it.

“It’s just the wind,” Connor said, laughing. “Are you scared of a little wind?”

“No,” Jacob grumbled. Though, he never liked the sound of the car groaning against it. There was nothing little about the wind forcing itself onto the city from the ocean. “I like the rain.”

“Then, why are you trembling?”

“Because of the cold, Conny! Duh!”

He took the gloves out of the small pouch behind the passenger seat and put them on. He breathed onto the palm of his hands, welcoming the warm air. Even with the AC blowing heat at full blast, it couldn’t prevent and alleviate the cold from slowly seeping into the car’s interior.

Why is it so cold? Jacob wondered.

It was hot and sticky a few days ago, but to Jacob, it felt like the temperature dropped below the forties the span of a few hours, which was highly unusual around August. The tail end of summer came with a monstrous vengeance upon the city of San Francisco, squealing against the high winds as the hurricane barreled through the city. It had only been a day since the rain fell, a day since the storm suddenly formed at a rapid rate two hundred miles off the California coast, yet large swathes of the city were now under six inches of water. Living in San Francisco for years now, Jacob had acclimated to the Bay weather and was used to the occasional flooding. The massive deluge of rain wasn’t such a strange concept to him, compared to someone living in Los Angeles. The city received a lot of rain, but why was he so worried about it so much?

Connor never let go of his smile. He leaned over and whispered to Jacob’s ear, “The wind is going to get you, Jacob. It’ll freeze you until both your arms fall off and your nose, and your ears…”

His younger brother, Eli, who was two years younger, joined in the chorus. He had always been a little closer to Connor more than him, and he mischievously poked at Jacob’s shoulder blades from the back and cackled.

“Stop it!” their father bellowed from the driver’s seat.

“Sorry, sir.” Connor and Eli both jerked back and mumbled an apology to their father, but not to Jacob.

“Quit picking on your brother,” his father added. “That’s an order.”

Jacob shot them a glare, but Connor only shrugged his shoulders and returned playing with his mobile game, and Eli continued to read his book. He liked it when his father used his commander’s voice. Being in the army for years, his father had plenty of practice. It kept Connor and Eli in line, which Jacob wished his father used all the time whenever they even dare to look at his way. He was sick of them always teasing him.

Jacob folded his arms and huffed, rolling his eyes at Connor. I’ll bite one of these days. One of these days, you’ll get what’s coming.

Connor was only two years older than him, but he wasn’t a boy no longer, not like the other boys in school. Barely fourteen, Connor was taller than him, nearly a man, with a broader chest and shoulders beyond his years—and still growing by the day—sharing the same fair skin and fiery strawberry red hair of their father, and with eyes of verdant green in the height of summer. And while Connor was as similar to their father as anyone could, Jacob had the reddish-brown of his mother, leaner and strapped compared to his father’s hulking and robust physique.

But he still had his father’s eyes.

Jacob sighed deeply. He wished his sisters were in the car. Amelia would surely be on his side right off the bat even if she were similar to Eli’s age, and sweet Lucy would back him up, too. She’s feisty for a five-year-old, and she never liked Connor being a bully. They rode with Grandpa Andy, Grandma Gloria, and Uncle Easton behind them in the Prius. Jacob wished he rode with them instead, wanting to hear their adventure in a Florida cruise last week. Though the thought of the sun and white sandy beaches soured Jacob’s mood further, wanting the storm to be over.

Too many storms. Too many problems. What’s going on today? Jacob thought.

Jacob caught his father looking at him through the rearview mirror; a concerned look directed at him. Jacob smiled slightly, mouthing out the words that he was okay. His father, looking unsure with his response, returned his focus on the road.

“We are going to drown here by this rate,” His mother fretted at the front seat, complaining at the slow pace of traffic, going on and on about how their week got ruined while they evacuated the suburbs. His father grumbled at every complaint.

“Calm down, Claire. The shelter is only a mile away now. We’ll get there,” said his father.

“Yes, but the storm is getting nearer.”

“We’ll make it in time. The last weather report says the entire thing wouldn’t arrive until later tonight.”

“It is already three PM, Marcus! Can’t you see we’re already surrounded by it?”

“This is nothing, mom. It’ll get worse,” Connor chimed in with a mischievous smile and a stifled chuckle.

“Thank you, Connor,” Their mother pointed out with a huff. “At least someone sees it. We’ll get stuck.”

“Yeah. We’ll get stuck, dad,” Eli imitated.

“No, No. We’re not going to.”

“No, we will. And we’ll be on the news where those families try to use their car as a raft…”

“We’re not going to use this car as a raft, Claire. And Connor put your head down and play your game.”

Jacob usually drowned them out by focusing on his phone, but the internet was down. He was finally allowed to have a phone of his own, his parents purchased one for him a week ago for emergencies only, but he forgot to download games into it. So, Jacob watched the pouring rain instead while the traffic crawled at a turtle’s pace.

A soaking young boy, no older than Connor, stumbled against the hood of their car, bracing against the rain and the strong wind. The boy frantically peered through the windshield windows before he ran left; the shocked motorists started honking after him.

“The hell? What is he doing? Oh my, Marcus! That’s a kid!” His mother exclaimed. “He’s gonna get hurt out there!”

“I—I think he’s bleeding,” Connor pointed out.

His mother threw the passenger door open, climbed out, and ran after the boy. Gone were the frustrations about the storm, her facade immediately snapped to that of a doctor, concerned for the boy’s well-being. His father sighed bitterly, pulled the hood of his jacket over his head, and climbed out of the car.

“Stay here,” said his father sternly. He looked at Eli and Connor harder than Jacob. “And I mean it.”

He ran after Mom and the distressed young boy, catching him by the elbow four cars down. The boy collapsed on the ground as they gathered around him. Others began to climb out of their vehicles as well to help.

“We should go out there, too,” Eli said. He was much smaller and skinnier than Connor or Jacob, though it never ceased to stop him from doing what he wanted even at the tender age of nine. Eli didn’t wait for permission. He grabbed the door handle before Connor’s hand shot out and caught Eli’s wrist, and tightened his hold around it. Connor shook his head, but Eli wiggled out of his grip and opened the door anyway; the cold, chilly wind entered the warm space in a snap. Jacob tugged the collar of his jacket closer around his neck.

“Dad wants us to stay inside,” Jacob said, though he never intended it to sound weak as he struggled against a strong gust of wind entering the open entrance.

‘Let me go, Conny,” said Eli.

“Dad says we’re not moving.”

“It could be dangerous, Eli. I think he was running from something,” Jacob said.

Eli rolled his eyes. “Well, duh. There’s a freaking storm outside.”

“Hey, watch your mouth. You can’t curse!” Connor yelled.

But before they could argue and wrestle the door close from Eli’s grip, a sudden glow of bright green and purple light reflected against the flooded waters of the highway and on the windows.

Jacob looked up, and his eyes widened.

A wide rift had formed across the dark billowing clouds, extending out for miles, and disappearing behind the mountains. The closest Jacob could describe it was an aurora, though it was brighter and deeper, more pronounced. As if you could fall—or fly, in this case—into its abyss. Its emergence slowed the fall of rain, and the wind died to a gentle breeze. Hundreds of people began to climb out of their vehicles, phones recording and taking pictures, gawking in awe at the rare sight.

“Whoa,” Connor exclaimed. He quickly pulled out his phone and started recording it.

“What is it?” Jacob asked, but Connor only shrugged.

And then Jacob felt it.

It began with a low rumble, coming from the bystanders gathered around the boy, and Jacob saw his mother jumped out of his reach. Jacob craned his neck to see better. Other people began to run. Screams crescendoed into panic as his mother and father ran for the car.

A hiss followed, and then an ear-splitting thunderous clap.

In a couple of heartbeats, the buildings shuddered violently and caved down onto the crowded street.

The shockwave shattered the car’s glass windows, shards cutting through Jacob’s right cheek, and the vehicle flipped over as the shockwave reached it. Jacob lost his breath, air knocked out of his lungs from a mighty plunge, and a guttural scream came out of his lips. He had never screamed so loud before, thinking he was about to pass out. His brothers screamed with him, all strapped onto their seats, as the car rolled three times.

The door beside him ripped open. Bright green and purple light occupied the free space between him and the ground. He saw his mother and father swallowed by the light. He wanted to scream after them, shout their name, but no words escaped his lips.

Jacob’s seatbelt ripped loose, and he found himself flung out of the open door.