the link Prologue Prologue The sanguine dusk settled into the cold spring air, crawling behind the castled mountain. The chateau overlooked miles of prospering trees, no longer plagued by the heavy burdens of winter. Directly below the stone buttress lay an open courtyard on the side of the mountain. Faint glimmers glanced off of the rows of armored soldiers in their encampments. A slow, steady flow of soldiers marched up the mountain to the courtyard, mobilizing under their black and blue flag. Sorelei stood on top of the castle wall, overlooking the stone rampart to the terrace below. Her soft black hair was pulled back out of her statuesque face. The two perfect blue gems of her eyes scanned the endless wave of soldiers as they quickly began to fill the court. She turned her royally garbed back to the sight and left the scene. “Relius!” Sorelei called out, once she was within the walls of the castle. She wandered around a few steps before calling the name once more. From around the corner emerged an old man. Relius dressed formally and stood at attention when his name was called. “Yes, my lady?” Relius responded. “Relius, have you find the reason? Do you know why the troops are mobilizing?” Sorelei asked sharply. “I do, my lady. It was the order of High Bishop Erius.” Relius answered. The duchess’ face screwed up at the sound of that name as she shook her head. “And what is the purpose of this?” She continued interrogating. “That, my lady, I know not,” Relius answered, bowing his head, “I could not get an audience with His Holiness.” The servant looked down nervously, avoiding the vexed look from his master. Sorelei opened her mouth to speak, before closing it to think once more. “… Very well. You are dismissed for now, Relius.” Sorelei waved her servant away, who promptly bowed his head once more and left. The duchess stood there a moment in deep thought, before taking the corridor to her left. She paced down the hallway quickly, until she came across a large wooden door. Without hesitation, Sorelei stormed through the door and up the cool staircase behind it. She quickly scaled the winding stairs of the tower. In moments, Sorelei had reached the top and stretched out a hand to open the door, when she realized that it had not been completely shut. Voices could be heard behind the door arguing, and Sorelei stood there, curious. She bit her lip and then bent forward, peeking through the sliver that remained open into the room. What she could see was only the back of a tall, black-haired man wearing a white cloak. From beyond him she could here a voice pleading to him. Sorelei cranked her ear to listen closer. “I beg of you, High Bishop Erius,” the woman urged, “Call off this war. It is not glory that lies in the future but darkness! I know not how you came to believing this war would could glorify our country, but I ask you humbly now to reconsider!” For a moment, no reply came. Finally, Erius took a deep breath and began speaking. “And you are sure of this? You predict a dark future should this war start?” Erius inquired. “Yes, yes! There is no doubt! My village has seen the outcome, and it will end in calamity for not just our country, but for all other neighboring countries as well!” The woman shouted. “I see. Well, thank you.” Erius nodded. “Does this mean you’ll stop?” She asked hopefully. Erius did not reply. Sorelei held her breath, watching the two stand in silence. Without warning, the priest pulled a knife and stabbed forward, stifling the girl’s scream with his other hand. “Oh, no. On the contrary, you have confirmed that my ambition will come true.” Erius chuckled softly. In one swift motion, he cut across the girl’s throat, sending her limp body into a bloody slump. Sorelei softly gasped at this sight and immediately covered her mouth. The priest wiped the blood off of his knife with a cloth on the table and set them both down gently. He lifted his hand and pointed to the girl’s body. A white stone sprung from the back of his hand, and a black light flowed from his palm and wrapped around the girl. In an instant, the corpse and the shed blood were gone. The duchess spun around and began to descend down the stairs. Sorelei’s mind pulsed, trying to comprehend what she had just witnessed. Her eyes flashed backwards up the staircase momentarily as she came to the bottom of the flight and stopped. Erius stood in front of the exit. “Well, well. We seem to have an eavesdropper, Duchess Sorelei.” Erius noted, finger the blade of the knife in his hand. Sorelei swallowed hard, staring at the priest. “Why are you doing this? There’s no need for senseless bloodshed, Erius!” The duchess shouted at Erius, who smirked. “Why should I answer a dead woman?” Erius leered. The duchess opened her mouth to scream, but no sound came out. Her eyes dropped down to the gash in her neck, as her strength leaked out of the wound with the red fluid. Sorelei fell to her knees, gripping her throat as she looked up at the priest weakly. Within moments, she had joined the lady in the tower above her. Erius watched Sorelei drop to the floor slowly, as he licked the blood off of his knife. He snickered quietly to himself as the duchess’ body vanished like the woman’s before her, “The year has come.”