Ravenna woke up from her sleep and quickly jumped out of bed, looking around the room. She didn’t realise she had fallen asleep and didn’t know what to do. At first, she found the clock in the dark and sighed—it was past eleven o’clock in the evening. She hadn’t overslept her trip to the Crystal Palace, which was a relief.
The girl hurriedly dressed, pulled her backpack from under the bed and put it on her shoulders. She quietly walked to the window, opened it wide and leaned over the sill, wondering how to get down, since her room was on the second floor. A brisk wind blew in her face, but she wasn’t worried, she would soon be inside the palace.
Outside the window grew an old apple tree and getting out didn’t seem so difficult. Climbing onto a branch, Ravenna carefully closed the window and left it open so she could go back to her room when she returned. The girl stared into the darkness for a moment. At night, everything looked different, much more terrifying, but she pushed the scary thoughts away and carefully climbed down the thick tree trunk. It took only a few seconds for her to walk through the gate and run across the gravel road. Tree blossoms and stars twinkling in the sky slowly blotted out all her anxiety.
Suddenly, the same voice echoed somewhere in the distance.
The child was born from a demon’s seed... the child will be a portal until the world ends...
Her feet pressed firmly on the ground. Somewhere far away, the distinct striking of the clock announced that it was already midnight. At that moment, another, much softer voice came from the depths of the river.
Help me, Ravenna... I have to get out... only you can help me...
The girl shivered from the cold gusts of wind and crossed the meadow. Her white dress shimmered in the darkness, her bare feet met fresh grass and cold earth. The clock strikes slowly drowned in the silence of the night, the wind tried to fling her away, but Ravenna persistently reached for the Crystal Palace. Soon, she stopped by the river with its rocky path. It seemed much more dangerous now, barely visible in the darkness.
Come... come to me... come... A mesmerising voice interrupted all her thoughts. Come...
Ravenna lingered for a while in an empty clearing. The torrential and uncontrollable river flowed in front of her, but she wasn’t afraid. She just stared at the water and remained silent.
Ravenna... Ravenna... come...
Just after that, something brightly flashed on the rocks. She bent down and pulled all the grass, growing on the shore, and found a glowing symbol underneath, which wasn’t visible in daylight. There were similar symbols on other rocks too, but Ravenna couldn’t spare the time to examine them, so she took out her flashlight and switched it on with a light touch. A blinding light illuminated the surroundings. The girl pointed it at the ground so she could see the path, and started to cross the river.
One rock after another. It was hard to grip the flashlight and walk with balance at the same time because the river flowed much more energetically than before. The girl walked slowly, the cold wind seeping through her clothes, pinching her skin and pulling her hair back, but she had already reached the middle and couldn’t turn back. It wasn’t the first time she had walked here, so she was sure that around the middle the rocky path would narrow and become even harder to walk on. But she knew it was possible to pass and refused to give up.
YOU ARE READING
Demon Daughter (Book I)
FantasyOn the night of the Blood Moon, a girl was born, destined for a dark future. She is the daughter of a demon, created from a false love, but she knows nothing about her origins because during the war she was sent to live on Earth with Lynn and Roger...
