The King of Stars and Storms

Prologue

Elizabeth woke to blood-curdling screams and the smell of smoke. She jumped out of her makeshift bed and looked through the window of her rickety wooden shack of a house to a scene that looked like a nightmare come to life. Her eyes widened in a look of sheer terror and she sucked in a deep breath. Elizabeth knew she should turn, run and hide but she couldn't peel her eyes away from what is going on just outside.

Her village of Andown was alight, homes were on fire, figures riding on horseback, who she immediately recognized as the knights from the fae realm, were slashing and murdering the people from her village. The women and children were running and hiding for their lives, whilst the men tried to fight and protect their families. All of a sudden Elizabeth's mother, Alice, burst into her room, the door almost flying off the hinges. "Elizabeth, what are you doing?" She yelled.

Elizabeth spun around terrified. She couldn't move and just stared at her mother. Alice marched over to her and forced her towards the door and into the kitchen where she saw her brother, Alfie, shaking at the table. Elizabeth scanned the room but couldn't find her father. "Mum. Where's dad?" Her mother was frantically pacing around the kitchen and bedrooms putting clothes and necessities in bags. "He's out there fighting the fairy knights." She said breathlessly. Elizabeth could feel tears brimming in her eyes. Her chest started to get heavy. It's all getting really real for her.

Alice shoved the bags into the arms of her children. "Quickly follow me." She blurted out before she raced towards the back of the house. The siblings shared a glance before running after her. The pair followed their mother into the woods just outside their village, out of the sight of the knights. Alice pushed her son and daughter down behind a tree. "Stay here and whatever you hear, do not come back home." She stated before starting to head back.

Elizabeth grabbed her arm. "Where are you going?" She whispered. "Back for your father." Elizabeth couldn't believe what she was hearing, shaking her head. "Are you serious? They'll kill you." Alice ripped her arm from the grasp. "I have to try. Promise me you'll look after your brother." Elizabeth looked down at the ground and whispered, "Promise." When she looked up her mother was already gone. She let a single tear run down her face as she pulled her brother into her. She could still hear the people's screams.

"What's going to happen to us now Lizzie?" Alfies asked, his voice shaky, as he looked up at her. She looked back down at him, "I don't know..." She then straightened her head so she was looking ahead, "I really don't know." Elizabeth clamped her hand over Alfie's mouth as she heard the sound of horses hooves heading towards them. She could feel his eyes on her burning into her skin. She shook her head as she heard them getting louder and louder before they raced past them.

When she was sure that they were nowhere near them, she got up when she felt a small hand on her wrist. She glanced down and saw her brother staring back at her with beady eyes. "Please don't go." He begged her. "I'll be back, I promise. Just don't move." She ran back to the village. When she arrived she was in a state of pure shock. The homes were now piles of ash, smoke rising into the air. The bodies of the dead villages, men, women and children, were scattered all over the place. These people are evil. Elizabeth thought.

Elizabeth stopped dead in her tracks when she spotted two familiar bodies laid perfectly still where her house used to stand. She rushed over to them, tears now flowing out her eyes. Elizabeth's knees gave way and she collapsed on the ground. She let out an agonising scream. Sobbing she didn't notice her brother walking up behind her.

"Mum? Dad" Elizabeth snapped her head around when she heard her brother's shaky voice, wiped her tears from her face and got up to walk to him. "Alfie, I thought I told you to stay put." Alfie ignored her question and just stared at his parent's dead body "Are they dead?" Elizabeth paused for a moment. "Yeah. They all are." She said walking towards him and pulled him in for a hug. "It's going to be okay." She said, trying to soothe him. "Is it though? Why would someone do this?" She glanced around at the destruction that surrounded them. "I have no idea. But they're not going to get away with it." Alfie stared at her. "How?"