After Eden [Book #1 of The Fall Trilogy]

Fourteen ☾ ☽ Skies of Fire

"With forms that no man can discover. For the tears that drip all over; Mountains toppling evermore. Into seas without a shore; Seas that restlessly aspire, Surging, unto skies of fire." - Edgar Allen Poe

Fourteen ☾ ☽  Skies of Fire

The plan was this: we would wait.

I mean there wasn't much we could do given how much we knew, which was not a lot. There was a strange group (the size of this group was also uncertain), with access to the academy, that were positive that Pandora's Instruments (things that had been lost for centuries that could end life on Earth as we knew it) were hidden in the academy. Oh, and they were willing to murder.

Exhibit A: Miss Sage.

So, we waited. It had been weeks since Miss Sage's untimely murder, and after a brief break from school, classes were once again resumed. Nothing big had happen since then. Seff and his buddies still acted like jerks, Kiara continued to hang over my shoulder, and rumors had circulated that I was somehow involved in Miss Sage's death. I had gone to bed restless, imagining the Council busting down my door in the middle of the night to cut off my head. I was lucky; they didn't. But what did come to me at night when I managed to fall asleep were more dreams, each one more vivid and confusing than the previous.

So exactly eighteen days after the incident, when I crashed into my bed after another unproductive day, my mind immediately fell into the realm of dreams.

☾ ☽

I was lying on the ground when I came to it. Above me hanging from the high ceiling, dangled an arrangement of sparkling chandeliers. I was splayed across the cold, wooden floor, and as I tilted my head to the side, I caught a glimpse of long narrow windows. The rest of the walls were embroidered and decorated with gold, and as the sun gently streamed through the windows it caught onto the gold and the diamonds of the chandelier, dazzling the entire room with white light.

"Camden?" a soft, familiar voice sounded in my ears.

It was the voice of the woman with golden hair. The one who had given me the ring with the strange inscription. I had not seen her in my dreams since then so at the sound of her voice, I sat up, flinching at the harsh light.

I rubbed my eyes. "Camden?" The voice was stronger now, begging for my attention.

I opened my eyes, and there she was, perched on the edge of a throne and a crown balanced on her blonde curls. I blinked once then twice as if I expected her to vanish into thin air. My throat closed, but I finally managed to say my first word to her.

"Yes?"

She smiled, and if I wasn't already blinded by the radiance of the room, her beauty did the trick. "Come here."

And as if I was being pulled by an invisible rope, I automatically rose to my feet and glided over towards the small steps that led to her platform. I didn't ascend the three steps, opting to stay low- beneath her.

But she met me. Gracefully rising to her full height, she seemingly floated down towards me.

"Where am I?"

"The Winter Palace," she answered, spreading he arms.

"Who are you?"