Inflamed

Prologue

PROLOGUE

Six months ago: in the city of Ildia

The man shuffled quickly along the alleyway, glancing behind him several times. The bustling, wide city was hidden from view at this angle, but noises still reached his ears.

He was a blonde haired, gray eyed man. He wore clothes that were clean, and yet the quality was less than fine. His shrewd eyes darted everywhere at once, taking everything in. This man had no real home. This man moved around city to city. He was a thief.

He checked his wallet, and moved forwards some more.

"Stay where you are."

A red-haired woman stepped out from behind the shadows. The man scowled darkly. How had she gotten there without him noticing? "I know what you want. You're not getting it." Even as he spoke, he fingered the fine golden orb in his pocket. It pulsed with a quiet thump, thump as he stood there, cold to the touch.

The woman raised a glowing sword. "Eddington, know this: your days of thievery are at an end. Give up your object and hand it over."

Eddington smirked at her. "Do you even know what this is?" Casually, he pulled out the orb. It lay there in his hands.

Her eyes betrayed no emotion. "I was ordered to retrieve the object and nothing else."

"Do you know what this is?" he repeated.

The woman watched him calmly. "I was told to retrieve that with no other directions."

"It's Azul's Rage." Eddington nodded. The woman obviously didn't know what she was dealing with. "It contains a powerful curse that will ruin this world when broken. So unless you want to risk destroying the whole civilization, you might want to back off." He sneered at the sword. "Kill me and I'll smash it. I may die but millions will follow."

"I was told to retrieve the orb. And I will."

The woman raised the sword, pivoted, and drove it towards him. It flew towards him of its own accord. He was standing five feet away, and yet the sword managed to find its way all the way into his chest. Eddington stared at the magical sword suspended in his chest, letting out a dry laugh.

In the blink of an eye, he dropped the orb casually onto the rough pavement. His cold gray eyes watched as it flew, in slow motion, before hitting the ground.

It shattered, releasing a thin vapor that almost immediately vanished from sight, twisting its way past the two and out onto the streets. The gas was almost completely unnoticeable, but the woman stepped back, eyes widening as she saw it. Then Eddington opened his mouth with effort, blood soaking his chest.

"You've just killed off the human race."

As the man fell back and let out his last breath, the woman bent down at the orb. It had shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces. She took a breath to calm herself, and then knelt down. She pointed a hand at what remained of the orb and whispered a phrase, causing the pieces to rise in the air and briefly merge.

Turning away, she directed a hand at the dead man. The sword flew back in her hand. With the orb now whole, and the same, she left the alleyway.

But there was one difference. One enormous, tremendous change.

The vapor inside was gone... and now it was traveling the entire continent.

~

Hey, guys! You may know me from another story you've read, The Last Ever After. Or you may not. Anyway, this is an idea that's been developing for some time. It's a Fantasy and Romance story -- yes, Romance. You might not see it now but it'll come later. :)

I hope that you read it and enjoy it. I hope that you laugh and cry and feel real emotions. As an author, the greatest joy I get is when someone enjoys the story.

That said, I have a few announcements to make.

The cover is made by @sourier. Follow her, check her out, @sourier's a really nice cover artist! :)

Updates will start once a week after July 21 (If you ask in the comments, I'll tell you why). This prologue is more like a teaser. So add it to your library and check it out later!

Vote and comment if you liked the prologue!