The Cadre of Embers

Prologue

Regnum Desertum (Desert Kingdom) 900 BC

Spoken in Ancient Xarathian

The foundations crumbled in piles around her as she ran. Muddled, mutilated screams blended together, begging her to break her focus. She didn't though. Althea just kept running. It took everything inside of her not to look back at the fallen ruins of what was once her home. As the fire blazed, scorching her bare feet, she hopped up onto a stone pathway that had not yet been destroyed.

She could see the dim light from within her fathers corridor. She was almost there, just a few more steps. A loud crack boomed through the smoky, night air, the pathway on which she stood began slipping from under her feet.

No! She was so close! Her feet kept moving, as if they could outrun the descent of the crumbling pavement.

There was no time for her to think before she was falling. She reached her hand up and felt cold, hard stone beneath her fingers. She gripped it as tightly as she could, her nails splintering and cracking against the rough surface. The impact of gravity on her arm was overwhelming. She looked around for something, anything to hoist herself up, but there was nothing.

"Papa!" she screamed. It was all she could do, call for help from the only family she had left, the one she had been running to.

Tears stung her eyes, already swollen from the smoke which burned them.

"Althea?"

She blinked back her tears as she looked up. Her fathers golden hair fell in swirls around his face as he stared down, in awe, at her. His pale skin was glistening in the light of the flames that surrounded their once beautiful home.

Without another word, he quickly pulled her up and carried her into his corridor.

"Where is your mother? She should have been with you."

He pulled the twigs from her now matted curls, she had inherited her mother's deep chocolate brown hair. The very thought of her mother brought tears to her eyes once more.

    "She... they," she could barely get the words out as they broke into sobs. "She's dead, they stuck a sword through her heart."

    Her fathers eyes widened and in a swift movement he was cradling her in his arms.

    "No..." he could hardly believe his daughter's words. No one, not even these miscreants would kill a child's mother in front of them. She was only nine years old.

    "They killed her papa," she sobbed into the fabric of his cloak, his scent, the scent of home filling her with an essence of safety.

    He closed his eyes tightly as tears dampened his own face. He knew he was out of time, and he wished he had more of it to spend comforting his daughter but her safety was of the utmost importance now. If he did not do what he must, he knew they would both pay the same detrimental consequence his wife had.

    "Althea, look at me," her father said, staring down intently at her. She could see the damp streaks running the length of his cheeks and knew he was crying with her.

    "There is something I need you to do for me."

    It was then that she noticed the blue metallic fog emitting from behind her father. What had he been working on when she interrupted him?

    She looked back at him and nodded curiously.

    "I'm going to send you somewhere safe, okay beloved girl?" She swallowed, but nodded.

    "But we will go there together, right?"

    His eyes saddened. She knew his answer before he spoke it.

    "Oh my precious child, my work here is not yet finished, but where I am sending you, you will be safe, I promise. And one day, we will be reunited once more." Her long curls clung to her cheeks as tears soaked them.

    "Please papa, I don't want to go without you, please," she begged, falling to her knees in front of him. He kneeled before her, lifting her chin so she was forced to meet his gaze.

    "It is important that you know I love you my dearest Althea, and that this is the only way I can keep you safe. There is a great change coming, one that you will bring upon us all, eventually. Great power now lies dormant within that beautiful spirit of yours, girl, and with that power comes great responsibility, one day you will understand that."

    Before she could muster a response, her father stood quickly and looked over the edge of the corridor wall.

    "We haven't much time, we must act now Althea." She could hear the shouts of angry men and roaring beasts growing louder.

    She watched as her father's eyes glazed over and turned white. She knew he was activating that power within himself... the ability he was about to use to send her far, far away from him.

    He lifted his hands towards the dark sky, as if gathering the darkness from around him, then shot a bolt of blue light out in front of him.

    Just mere feet from where she sat, a spherical orb of light glimmered in front of her. Inside she could see horses clomping on paved roads, and large buildings with perfect walls and steps. She was unsure what or where she was even looking, or rather when she was looking. The place was so unlike anywhere she'd ever been.

    "It's time now," her father said, his eyes clear once more.

    "Please," she cried out, "I can't go alone!"

    "Yes, Althea, you can, and you must, for in two-thousand six-hundred and fifty-five years on your twenty-first birthday, that power that lies dormant within you will flourish, and it will be you who rewrites what has been lost to us all."

    She shook her head in confusion. He was speaking in riddles.

    "I wish I had time to tell you everything you need to know, but I'm afraid it wouldn't matter anyway. Once I send you through this portal, you won't remember anything from this life. Your memories won't resurface until you embrace what is yours now Althea."

    The floating orb hummed louder the longer it remained open. She found herself becoming drawn to it, as if whatever was waiting on the other side called to her. She looked back towards her father, still sobbing.

    "It's time for you to go now Althea, I love you."

    The orb began sucking her in, she tried to move away but the force of it was too strong.

    Suddenly the large doors burst open and a large mythical beast charged towards him.

    "No! Papa! Don't stay..." she knew it was no use. As the portal engulfed her fully she screamed out, "I love you!"

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