The Quadrants

Prologue

**Author's note-  Heading towards the release of the second book in The Quadrants series, The Demidium, I'll soon be posting the remaining chapters of this book.
FYI, The Quadrants is available on Amazon, in paperback and ebook. 😃👍

*Author's Note* - The Audiobook of the prologue and 1st chapter is available on youtube - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60caiQmV-68&t=371s

-Also, the Gacha of the first chapter is posted on Youtube- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O_q373C3LhQ&t=3s

PROLOGUE

After dark, in a town where only ordinary things usually happened, a man stood with his back pressed flat against a tree, while an orange orb of fire hovered in front of his face. He had been caught off-guard. An Ignus man lingered twenty feet back, his arm held out straight, in command of the fire ball.

"Where's the woman?" he demanded.

The woman watched on from behind some bushes. Darius had gone on ahead to act as a decoy to the tracker while she hid their infant. The people of the Quadrants had finally come for them but they couldn't be allowed to know there was a baby too, and the woman would have been unable to fight while carrying it.

"I told you, she's not here," Darius lied, sounding strained. "We went our separate ways... I-I haven't seen her for months." He brought his arms up to protect his face from the heat.

"You've got one last chance, then I burn you," the man rumbled. "Tell me! Where is she?"

The fireball grew larger. Darius slid to his knees to get away from the flames.

The woman's heart raced as she continued to watch, her mind foggy with panic—in a few moments her husband would be dead. With instinct taking over, she stepped quietly out from her hiding place and picked up a large rock. The object was the size of a bowling ball, but she was Terrus, for her, lifting it was easy. Without delay, she slung the thing, with great force, sending it hurtling in the direction of the man like a bullet. The projectile struck him squarely in the back, and he was propelled forwards several feet before his body slammed into the earth. The fireball went out.

Darius sprang up, his eyes adjusting to the darkness, searching for his wife in the night. He caught sight of her. Moments later they came together and were off, sprinting down the street to reclaim their child.

"We need to leave town, now," Darius puffed as he ran beside her, trying to keep up. "If one of them was able to find us... more will come."

"We don't know that," she replied. "I think we should stay here, I'm sick of running like animals... and the tracker might have come alone, he's no threat now—a dead man can't talk."

"Lilah, be serious. We have to leave. Besides, how do we know that man's dead? If he's not, he will tell his people about us."

"Excuse me, but did you miss my rock cracking his spine in two, back there?"

Her husband glanced at her as they passed beneath a streetlight. She raised her eyebrows at him. "Ok, fine. He did look pretty dead," he conceded. Being in the path of a rock thrown by Lilah was like being hit by a truck, and few survived it. "Well, that's reason enough to get out of here. His friends will come looking for him sooner or later, even if he was alone. I don't know how he found us... but if he did..."

"I know, I know. It's just that... I've grown to like it here," Lilah said weakly. "I've finally gotten to know some people and I was hoping..." She didn't bother finishing her sentence. She knew he was right. The two of them had been in Bakers Ridge for four months. It was the longest they had remained in any one place since they had fled the Quadrants two years earlier. And although she had always known it wouldn't be permanent, the prospect of losing the life they had begun to build didn't hurt any less.