The Raven Lord | Book I

Prologue

10  𝒀𝒆𝒂𝒓𝒔  𝑨𝒈𝒐

Everything was as it should have been. So, how did it go so wrong? 

The marble gazebo glowed faintly in the light of the moon. My nightdress, which was painfully too long for me, dragged in the grass. I entered the ring of faint candlelight coming from the center of the gazebo. From my hiding place, I failed to stifle a sneeze. 

"Is that you, little one?" my mentor, Gaius chimed. I stepped out of the shadows and looked shamefully down at my dirtied toes sticking out from under my nightgown. "Come here, Kaira. I want to show you something."

I nodded and ran to him, climbing into his lap where he held a musty, ancient looking book. His smell enveloped me, and I felt my body relax. His presence alone was enough to quell the tempest in my head, if only for a moment. My only wish was that I had treasured it more. 

"You have got to stop sneaking out of your room. I can only cover for you for so long." Gaius' raspy voice swept me into a trance as I sank back against him with a sigh.

"My room is too cold." I pouted.

"No-" he poked me gently in the side and I giggled "-You are just too curious for your own good."

"What's that?" Ignoring his chiding, I pointed at the open page of the blackened book that he held.

"Ah, this? This is the Blade of Nimueh. She was the first of your kind. A Midori's Huntress, I mean."

"But, I do not have the gift," I frowned, tracing the lines of the ancient looking sword on the page.

When he did not reply, I glanced up at him. The wrinkles around his eyes creased from years of deep thought now turned downward as something dark washed over him. "You do, little one. You do. It just takes time to show itself, is all."

"Everyone else got the gift years ago," I stated, knitting my brows together in confusion. "I'll never be a Huntress at this point."

His messed gray hair looked white in the dim light, and the lines on his face were pulled together in sorrow.

"Kaira, listen. Nimueh was a strong warrior, but there is a price to pay for the strength she had. To take one's life is to sell your soul to sorrow and guilt. You are never the same after you kill. If you do not get the gift, do not fret over it long."

"Tell me more about Nimueh, please," I said, turning back to the book. I did not want to talk about it anymore. All of the other girls at the Sanctem were becoming Huntresses; more and more each day. Yet, I showed no sign of ever becoming one.

 Gaius laughed a hollow, tired laugh. "I am afraid that will have to wait for another night, Kaira." He set me down while I crossed my arms in protest, sticking out my bottom lip.

"You promise?"

"Yes-" he pushed me along "-now off to bed before the Madame catches you."

"But-" Before I could finish, the low trill of a horn came from somewhere near. I whirled to the edge of the trees- the source of the sound, but found only darkness. I was in Gaius' arms before the sound had fully reached my ears. "Hey!" I exclaimed. Gaius ran, but his old age made it difficult while carrying me.

Finally, he placed me down in the field and handed me the ancient book.

"Take this," he wheezed, his eyes wide. "Run back to the manor and stay inside. Do not look back." He gave me one last look riddled with sorrow and love, before turning and running toward the figures that slowly emerged from the shadows where I had been staring just moments before.

An icy stillness- a bone silence- crept into me as I stood veiled in night. I knew that I should obey him, but my feet would not move.

So there I waited, the stars as my witness, as I watched my beloved mentor and the only person I had left, grow further from me.

Three of the figures, broad shouldered brutes, rushed at Gaius with swords drawn. I watched as Gaius somehow threw one down with his staff, striking the other over the head. But three were too many for him to handle. I watched in disbelief as the third figure held him, and a fourth emerged from the shadows. Words that I could not hear were exchanged before the fourth drew his sword and plunged it straight through my mentor.

I cried out, already charging for him, but strong arms gripped me and pulled me back toward the manor. I fought and screamed, trying to get to Gaius.

He couldn't leave me. He promised.

I thrashed wildly, but I was too small, too helpless. Something inside of me stirred, deep and unending. It burrowed its way through me like a river cleaving itself through rock. It burned and clawed and tore-

Everything went black.