Evanesterrin

Prologue

The small form trembled under the gaze of the figures that surrounded it, peering in at it through the bars of light that trapped it. A faint buzzing sound emanated from the bars of pure lavender light. The atmosphere of the room was tense.

The child fearfully looked up at its captors and its wide eyes were met with blank stares from the masked figures. The child looked around and tried to reach out to one of the figures, pleading, but to no avail. The masked figure used a staff in his hand to strike the young child with a beam of pure electricity.

The small child collapsed to the ground with a wail. It was unconscious.

"We need a better solution than a cage." One of the hooded figures spoke up.

"Yeah, and the kid doesn't learn. It's a waste of resources to keep it here when we can't even change it!" Spoke up another.

"Perhaps it is time for a different approach. We cannot keep children like this with other children, but I have a plan." The tallest of the figures, presumably the leader, spoke up.

"Well, what is it?" the first figure inquired.

"We will create a test that every person must pass. If they fail they will be separated from the others."

"How will we separate them?"

"Where will they go?"

"We don't have enough cages for everyone who fails!"

A chorus of murmuring and mutters broke out.

"Silence! I already have a plan!" The leader seemed quite irritated by now. As he spoke he slowly circled the cage of light, looking at the child.

"We will create a world for the people who pass. A paradise, of sorts. And this one," he jabbed a finger at the unconscious child, "will be the first to test the world."

"That one? But sir, he would be one of the failures..." Someone spoke up from the shadows.

"No, this one will test the world. Make sure everything is in working order. Then once the testing is done and we make sure it will work... then we can bring others there." his tone was final. No one dared to argue with him.

So they began. Carefully, meticulously they built a world. Slowly adding flora and fauna. Huge meadows of flowers, calm forests with vast trees, quiet lakes with peaceful animals that gathered there to drink and bathe. After nearly two years, they were ready to add the final touch. A shadow passed over the lake. A herd of deer startled and leaped away. A gentle rain began to fall. The world was up and running.

Welcome to Evanesterrin! Please enjoy your stay! Get comfortable here in your newfound paradise!

The message flashed across the monitor screen that took up an entire wall of the huge room where Evanesterrin had been designed and created. A cheer went up from the hooded figures. Cries of triumph and success filled the room.

"Not yet! Not yet!" The leader growled, motioning everyone to be quiet. "It's time for the final test."

As if on cue, the same small child was brought in to the room, chains of light binding its hands. A chain of light around its neck insured that it could not escape.

Though two years had passed, the child remained almost skeletally thin and pale. Years of captivity had left its body and spirit stunted and broken.

"How would you like to go to paradise?" The hooded leader asked the child. The child, knowing better than to respond, merely stared at the floor silently.

"Come this way." The leader commanded, no longer wasting time on pleasantries. The child stumbled to follow the leader to one corner of the room. In the corner stood a giant cylindrical tank. The child's eyes widened in awe mixed with fear as it gazed upon the huge apparatus.

"Get in." The leader commanded, opening a sliding panel on the tank and pointing to it.

Trembling, the child clumsily stumbled inside. As soon as the door had shut behind it, the chains of light binding it had vanished. The child reached up and touched its neck with surprise, confused by the sudden lack of the restraints that had become so familiar.

At a signal from the leader, one of the hooded figures flipped a lever and pressed a button and the tank began to fill with a clear purple liquid. The child looked around in terror and tried to find a way out, but it was useless. The liquid continued to fill the tank, rising up from the floor, and as it did, the child's lower body began to fade, slowly disappearing where the liquid had touched. Eventually, the liquid was well over the child's head, but the child was gone.

The leader and the rest of the hooded figures turned their gaze from the tank to the huge screen. They waited. Seconds passed.

"There!" Someone shouted.

Sure enough, there on the screen a lavender rift had appeared. The child materialized from within the rift, looking traumatized and weak, but physically unharmed. A cheer went up from the crowd of hooded figures, and this time it was the leader who started the cheer. The leader screamed two words, and the rest echoed in an elated chorus.

"TO EVANESTERRIN!"

"EVANESTERRIN!"

Hello everyone! Welcome to Evanesterrin! I would love to hear your thoughts on this first chapter! Thank you so much for reading my story and supporting my writing!