The one hundred and eighth

Prologue

What if there were one hundred and eight children of the separatists and not one hundred and seven? But no one knew about that one, one hundred and eighth, except General Sorrengail and General Melgren.

Persephone (puh·seh·fuh·nee) was fifteen years old when her mother was executed for being a part of Fen Riorsons rebelion. To keep her daughter safe, her mother hid her away from the world with nothing but a rune, given by Colonel Mairi.

    When her mother was executed, Persephone had snuck out and was watching in the far back, and at the same time General Melgrens' dragon killed the separatists with fire, a relic marked all of the separatists' children. The relic stretched over her right side of her upper body and covered all of her right arm. With tears streaming down her cheeks, she slowly backed away into the shadows, prepared to make a run but slammed into someone. Looking up, she met General Sorrengails cold eyes and fear spread through her body. Eyes locked on the relic winding around Persephone's arm the general said in a harsh tone "Who were your parents?".

The general made sure no one knew about Persephone LaMorte, her mother wasn't known to more than a few other separatists and the generals, or if they had read the list of the executed. She had worked in the background, trying to protect her daughter as much as she could. It was to no avail, as soon as the general had found her, Persephone's life had gone terrible to worse. She was forced to train several hours a day and in the evenings she was studying the history of Navarre. If she ever failed a test, lost a battle or asked questions about the rebellion, she was punished with fire. They tried to wash the "propaganda" her mother had fed her for years, away. Erasing it from her memory, but Persephone made sure to never forget the horror that existed outside the border protecting Navarre.

Over the years, the two generals shaped Persephone into their perfect weapon. Shielded away from human interaction other than the lieutenants she had to fight and train with, the harsh punishment and the lack of love from anyone, they had done just that. The only thing she had to do now was to walk over the parapet and bond a powerful dragon. And to protect Violet.