Prologue

“Prophesy for me, you wench!” A voice shouted, and yet another loud smack closely followed.

There was no crying. No begging for mercy. No attempt to calm down the situation. In fact, the only sound at all was the crackling of a fire and the heavy breathing of the tall figure that loomed over the seemingly fearless woman.

The woman sat motionless, her hands tied behind her back and her feet tucked under her slender frame. She was wearing a simple black dress that would go down to her knees if she were to stand. A usually elegant dress, it was now torn in several places after having dealt with her frustrated captor.

Despite the cuts and bruises that now covered her face, most would consider her a rather beautiful woman. She had long, brown hair and eyes that sparkled with the firelight. But it was her smile, above all things, that defined her beauty. It had a peculiar light to it that could put a smile on most anyone who saw it and melt even the hardest of hearts.

Barely able to control his rage any longer, the looming figure picked up a painting that was over the adjacent fireplace. With one quick motion he broke the picture across the fireplace and chucked the frame across the room, nearly hitting one of his comrades. The tall figure that stood next to the now broken painting didn’t even flinch, his impenetrable gaze focused solely on the woman.

Within the room there were a total of four people if you including the woman and the now enraged figure that stood over her. Next to the broken frame was a tall figure that wore white armor with gold markings and the pelt of a wolf’s head as his helmet. His face was hard to see in the flickering firelight, but one could tell that he had many battle-scars on the few blotches of skin that could be seen. The other figure was located in front of the door and wore a black cloak that made any features, beyond physical stature, indiscernible.

There was a moment of silence before the cloaked figure finally said, “I think she’s made her intentions clear enough. She will never give us the prophesy, and so this has been a waste of time.”

The tall man who stood in front of the bound woman had a look of defeat and frustration spread across his face. “But she has to! We’ve come too far to give up now.”

The cloaked figure gave a menacing chuckled. “Gideon, who said we’re giving up? I merely said that she will never give us the prophesy…not that we can’t get the answer we’re looking for.”

The man who stood next to the frame quickly nodded and replied, “Then let us go.”

Gideon, still not convinced, looked over to the cloaked figure for reassurance. After not getting an immediate answer, he started to pick up the woman and head for the door.

The cloaked figure raised a hand to infer that Gideon that he stop immediately. “That is not necessary. We will leave the woman.”

The figure in white armor shifted uncomfortably, his left hand tightly clenching on the hilt of the dagger that was on the side of his belt.

Gideon shook his head. “Fine…I didn’t want to drag the stupid wench around with us anyhow.”

He then threw her to the ground, moved past the cloaked figure, and walked out the door. The man in white and gold armor sighed deeply and stood motionless, his eyes still fixed intently on the woman.

The cloaked figure turned to walk out the door, stopping as he made it to the doorframe. “Coming?” He asked.

The figure in white armor didn’t reply for a few moments, his gaze shifting from the woman to the cloaked figure over and over. Then, without a sound, he quickly walked to the cloaked figure and followed him outside the house.

 

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She didn’t cry. She didn’t make a sound. She didn’t even call out and plea for mercy. She just lay on her side, her face still expressionless.

The thoughts and dreams of yesterday now flooded her mind. She dreamed of being with her husband once again. She dreamed of having a son and raising him to become a great man someday. She dreamed of somehow getting out of her predicament and escaping to a better tomorrow; one full of so much more promise than this day had brought.

But her dreams would soon end. She didn’t need to look into the future to see that. Her gift of foresight had shown her that this day would eventually come, but she chose to accept her destiny rather than change the future and risk letting her family. She knew where they were right now and that were safe. Nothing else mattered.

 

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Outside, Gideon turned to the cloaked figure and asked, “Lord Saul, are we going to just leave the girl?”

Saul gave a dark chuckle. Under his cloak his eyes shined with a red tint that gave him a rather menacing appearance. “Don’t be foolish, Gideon,” he replied. “I would never be as cruel as to leave a lady to the wolves.”

            Saul then held out his left hand and uttered the words, “Firasa.” Immediately a ball of fire appeared just above his hand. It was shaped into a sphere and had flickers of blue and white that randomly appeared within it.

The henchman in white armor stepped in front of Saul, his right arm tightly clenching the handle of his sword. He didn’t say a word, but his stern eyes said it all.

Saul growled, his lower lip now beginning to curl in his irritation. “If you know what’s best for you, you’ll get out of the way immediately.”

Standing tall in front of Saul, the defiant warrior slowly shook his head. Clearly there was no reasoning with him.

Saul’s rage quickly came to a boil. His face contorted with rage, he yelled at the top of his lungs. “Gabriel, I will not ask you again! Get out of the way!”

            Gabriel gave a deep sigh and remained standing, his head still shaking. “This was not part of the deal,” he replied in a low tone.

            The sphere of fire that Saul was holding gave a quick flicker of blue flames. Saul continued to roar with frustration. “I don’t care if it was part of the deal or not! Her death is of no consequence.”

            Gabriel looked up towards the sky. Closing his eyes, he whispered a few inaudible words under his breath. His hands loose at his side and his eyelids flickering back and forth, he appeared to be deep in a trance.

            Seconds later Gabriel came back to normal. Looking Saul sternly in the eye, he said, “So be it.”

Saul laughed manically, his eyes now turning almost completely red. “Don’t have to tell me twice.”He then threw the ball of fire. It broke through the outer wall of the house, leaving a small hole in the side. At first the house seemed like it was fine with the exception of the wall. For half a second Gideon wondered if the spell was only strong enough to break through the wall, but seconds later there came a massive explosion from inside.

Fire broke through the glass and poured out the windows. The door was torn from its’ hinges and thrown into the yard. The walls started to collapse. The roof began to crumble.

And all that remained was ashes…