𝔑𝔬 𝔗𝔦𝔪𝔢 𝔗𝔬 𝔇𝔦𝔢 🌓 KAZ BREKKER

PROLOGUE

00||THE PAST SHOULD STAY WHERE IT IS

ᵂᵉᵈᵈˡᵉ, ᴺᵒᵛʸⁱ ᶻᵉᵐ: ᵀʷᵒ ʷᵉᵉᵏˢ
ᵃᶠᵗᵉʳ ᵗʰᵉ ᶠᵃˡˡ ᵒᶠ ᴺᵒᵛᵒᵏʳⁱᵇⁱʳˢᵏ

Waves cobbled against the hull of the ship as they passed over the True Sea, the three of them bustling around on the deck. It wasn't the biggest boat there was in the harbor but it was an inconspicuous one, where people wouldn't keep an eye on. It was one of the few boats that asked the trio no questions as they got their ferry tickets and boarded. It was enough for the crew, the three of them and maybe two or three other people on it, as long as everybody did their job for however long the passage would take.

The people on board thought they were a weird, mysterious lot. The boy that pointed at the water, finding and catching any fish as if it was as easy as breathing. The weakly looking girl that had a scarf tightly wrapped around her neck, one she never took off, who woke up all too often from a nightmare before the boy comforted her. Then there was the stranger who could navigate with the stars as if she knew them like the back of her hand. Her hair seemed darker than the night itself, her eyes looking as if they were a starless sky. Those were the only notable feature she had, for a half-veil covered the rest of her face. Parts of scars softly tangled their way up from underneath and the crew knew not to mess with her. She was a survivor and they didn't know what she did to stay alive.

Anya stood at the bow of the ship, peering at the horizon as land came into view. She felt the desperate call of not using her powers in a while, even if it hasn't been that long, the wasting sickness slowly starting its tortuous journey. Mal's muttering fell on deaf ears as a sense of calm washed over the raven-haired, soaking in the warmth of the sun with closed eyes, listening to the sound of the waves, feeling the flame burn inside her. Somehow, this was enough to keep the sickness at bay. At least for now. She realized that this was probably the most peaceful moment she had in a long time.

Suddenly, Alina gasped, staggering awake. "What's wrong?" The tracker asked, a tinge of worry in his tone. "Was it another dream?" The Oryalen woman wondered as she furrowed her brow. The young Starkov woman swallowed, dread pooling in her eyes as she nodded. "The fold..." she whispered. "It was expanding and-" her chest rose rapidly as she breathed in and out, panic written across her face. "He was there." The young grisha woman shook her head at her words. "Don't worry. He's dead." She replied as she clenched her jaw. She wanted to believe her own words but something inside her, this gut feeling, these reoccurring dreams she had herself, tried to convince her the opposite was true.

___________*ﾟ*★【🌓】★*ﾟ*__________

The air around her felt as cold as ice, prickling at her skin. There was no current of air she felt, only a sense of weightlessness. When the inferni opened her obsidian eyes, she saw a pair of as stark and white as the Fjerdan permafrost staring back at her in the void-like darkness. Soon, it felt like a heavy weight pressed down on her chest, the feeling of breath escaping her lungs dawning upon her. It wasn't air that she found herself in, it was the sea. The scar that ran down her leg started to throb violently in pain, the creature seemingly rearing in the dark. Anya's last breaths escaped from her lips as she wanted to scream, the creature opening its giant maw, revealing several rows of gleaming and sharp teeth before it swallowed her whole and she plummeted through darkness once more.