Shrine of Ithnur | Guardians of Ethereal - Book 1

Prologue

A wooden door with a tree carved in the center stood in the middle of empty space with layers of leaves scattered in an array of golden-brown around the base of the frame. With a gentle touch, the door opened with a soft creak causing the collective leaves to scuttle into a chamber filled with disarray.

Standing amidst the clutter was a large wooden desk surrounded by silver candelabras flickering with a purplish-blue flame whose glow danced across the pages of a book held open by a burly man with flecks of silver traced throughout his beard. Padding his head sat a round cap with golden feathers poking out the side of the plush white fabric that matched the elaborate robes he adorned. His silver eyes staggered from left to right as he scanned the surface of the pages before placing the book aside and unfurling a layer of goat-skin parchment in front of him.

Grabbing the golden quill from the upper right-hand corner of the desk and tapping the tip of the feather against the bottle of black squid ink he began to write on the wrinkled parchment.

Without looking up, he spoke with a hint of deepness in his tone, "you're early Adrasteia," to a woman with brown wavy hair that peaked beneath the silver hood of a cloak which flowed towards her tan, sandal-covered feet that poked from beneath the fabric.

"I know Sebastian," she replied as she moved towards a couch adjacent to the desk where she placed a wicker basket that contained a small baby boy that rested soundly beneath the linen he was swaddled in. With a gentle hand, she raised the child from the basket and place him gently onto the plush gray surface of the couch where she stroked his dark brown hair gently while he slept. "I know. But his eyes continue to lurk beneath the shadows of the evergreen, and I fear that it won't be long before they find our sanctuary."

"Don't worry my dear! By the time they arrive we'll have already sent him to a place he'll never be able to reach anytime soon," Sebastian replied in a solemn tone as he tried to calm Adrasteia.

"You're right," Adrasteia crooned as she stroked the head of her child sleeping soundly on the couch before lifting herself off its surface. She removed the hood of the cloak to reveal white fabric wrapped tied tightly around her damaged eyes. "How close are you to finishing their instructions?"

"I am on the last one, just give me a few more minutes."

Adrasteia cocked her head slightly as she listened to something in the distance. "Sebastian you need to hurry up, I don't think we have a few minutes," she responded hastily as the door shuttered from the ferocity of the wind that lay beyond its wooden frame. "I will do what I can to hold them off. Whatever you do, you must protect this child."

"Go, I will handle everything here," responded Sebastian as he picked up his pace to finish the instructional letters.

Adrasteia took an amulet from around her neck and placed it on the child who was stirring from his sleep. As the child slowly opened his aquamarine eyes, Adrasteia forced a crooked smile as bloody tears soaked the white material that covered her eyes. With a trembling voice, she spoke, "I am sorry my child, but there's something I have to take care of."

With that final note, Adrasteia untied the strings of her cloak to reveal a silver and gold infused chainmail breastplate that covered a white sleeveless chiton that ran right above her knees where silver and gold greaves extended across her shins. Around her thin metal-covered waist was a golden sash connected by an emblem of a tree at the front where it continued past the fabric that poked beneath the breastplate. Extending from her back were a pair of large effervescent wings that span several feet as they spread outwards to remove the remaining material of the cloak. "Don't forget your promise," she told Sebastian before producing two Mythril swords from her side as she left the disorderly chamber and into an evergreen forest that lies beyond the wooden frame.

With each stroke of the quill, the chamber became murky as the text glowed a brilliant shade of black and gold causing a cold winter breeze to permeate the room.

As the wind escalated, the candles flickered out as the scattered parchment spiraled out of control causing the serenity of the place to transition into the ferocity of a winter storm deep within the mountains while carrying the sound of a babies cry across the rocky hills of the mountainous terrain.