TCO: Prologue

A small blonde-haired child, thin and sharp-eyed, repeatedly glanced out of a bedroom window and then back to his younger sister, who lay asleep in the bed beside him. He bit his lip as he watched her take a ragged inhale and then turned sharply toward the bedroom door as he heard his mom call.

"Aderes, can you go look for some wild berries at the edge of the forest?" Darise called.

From where she stood in the kitchen, Darise mumbled to herself and sighed aloud as she gazed at the half pot of potato soup the family would have to share for dinner. I will be glad when we leave this place.

As if to protest her thoughts, an image of her husband flashed through her mind. He had worked hard to build them a life in the Kingdom of Kraundor and was held in high respect by the community. He was deemed an honored leader whose advice was sought after as the surrounding farmlands became increasingly under threat of being overrun. Against her better judgment, Darise had stayed in her husband’s homeland at his request. However, rather than changing things for the better, she feared his desire to remain in the kingdom was creating more hardship for his family as resources grew scarcer.

Running footsteps cut across her frustrated thoughts as Aderes bounded down the stairs and appeared at the kitchen entrance.

"Sure, nán. I'll look for berries." He sped by her on the way out the back door.

"Aderes!" Darise turned and reached out.

Aderes stopped in the doorway and smiled as he went into his mother's arms. He looked up at his mother, his eyes watching her face closely. "You okay, nán? If you are worried about Lesiana being sick, don’t be. I think she will be okay, but...” he glanced to the front door again.

Darise, too busy with her own worrisome thoughts to notice Aderes's brow furrow in concern, hugged him tightly. She pushed him away gently to reassure him and gasped. Her breath caught as she scanned his appearance, suddenly noting the sharpness in his features that seemed to appear overnight.

"You are taller," she said.

Aderes smiled. "I'm running faster too."

Darise smiled a hollow smile and gazed out the window, a feeling of worry in her gut. Her hand stroked Aderes's back.

"Did you need me to look for something else?" Aderes asked.

"No," Darise said quietly and shook her head. "No." She smiled again. "Just don't go too far."

She watched Aderes cross the front lawn and disappear into the trees that lined the edge of their property. She bit her lip as she shook her head, fighting back tears of concern for her children as she turned back to the stove.

Many families living in the kingdom had fulfilling and abundant lives before Mordán's rule in Kraundor began. Yet, the days darkened after Mordán's claim to the throne as his desire for more power grew.

Darise was torn by her loyalty to her husband, Jasar, and the continual dreams of laughter and peace she experienced in Yevani, a city in the neighboring Kingdom of Alsar. After marrying Jasar, the family returned to the Kingdom of Kraundor when the children were infants so Jasar could take control of farming his father's land. Lately, however, memories of her life in Yevani and the desire for her children to experience a peaceful life had increasingly become too strong for her to ignore.

She took a deep breath and squared her shoulders as she heard Jasar enter through the back door. She was resolved to tell him of her decision to leave Kraundor and had already secretly made arrangements to join the last escort team the next morning with their two children. Darise would attempt to convince Jasar one last time to leave with her, but she was going—with or without him.

"I see that we have at least found enough potatoes for tonight's dinner," Jasar said as he came to the sink to wash his hands.

Darise nodded but remained quiet as she added herbs to the soup.

"I convinced more to join the resistance today," Jasar said as he sat at the table, "so hopefully we will gather enough power soon to make a direct stand against Mordán."

Darise did not answer him. She felt it was better to keep silent rather than share that she didn't believe he would ever gather enough men to defeat Mordán. To her, his forces seemed to be getting stronger while numbers within the resistance dwindled.

Her brow furrowed as she heard a faint whimper. She glanced at the next room where their daughter, Lesiana, was asleep in bed.

"Lesiana needs to see a healer," Darise said. "Her fever grows worse."

"You must take the back roads into town then.”

“It will take too long to get what we need if I do.”

“We don’t really have a choice given my position. I have not sworn loyalty to Mordán, so there will be guards questioning travelers—demanding family names. They are actively searching for traitors."

"Why do you not just swear loyalty?" Darise suddenly burst out in exasperation. She turned to face Jasar. "It does not matter if you lie when we are fighting to survive!" She took a step toward her husband as her pent-up frustration surfaced. "Can you not see past your pride? Your family is suffering! If you will not swear loyalty simply for the sake of your family, then we must leave!"

"I have already talked to you about my feelings on this matter," Jasar replied, matching her frustration. "I will not discuss this anymore with you, Darise. I will not leave this land, nor will I bow before a dictator who will use the people's trust in me as a leader to gain more power!" He finished with a yell as he slammed down a fist on the kitchen table.

Darise quickly wiped the corners of her eyes and bent to retrieve the ladle that fell from her grasp.

"I would rather die than bury my pride and bow to him," Jasar continued, his voice steady once more. He ran both hands across his worn face.

"I fear it is your pride that will get you—along with your family—killed," Darise said with sudden fierceness, standing up to full height before him. "You see nothing but yourself. I cannot live like this another day, Jasar. I have already made the arrangements. I am leaving and taking the childr—"

Darise turned her head sharply as she heard noises outside their front door. Jasar went immediately to the kitchen window.

"Get Lesiana and go into our bedroom. Lock yourself in," Jasar whispered hurriedly.

Darise stared at her husband, a feeling of dread creeping into her chest.

"Now!"

She moved swiftly up the stairs and lifted Lesiana, who whined in response. Darise quickly descended the stairs into a larger bedroom just as loud bangs sounded on the door. She laid Lesiana on the bed, her heart racing.

Jasar glanced once at the closed bedroom door before slowly opening the front door. A large Androsan soldier kicked the door the rest of the way in. The soldier, accompanied by two Vaznaun, pushed past Jasar.

The largest Vaznaun immediately grabbed Jasar and pinned him against the wall by his throat, his orange eyes steely. Darise watched from a crack in the door, her heart racing.

"Well, well, well," the Androsan soldier spoke slowly as he turned his hard, cold eyes on Jasar and looked him up and down. "We finally find you—the head of the outer resistance. Do you know how long Mordán has been hunting you?"

Jasar struggled against the large gray arms that pinned him but could not free himself from the vice-like grip. "I don't…know what you're…talk—"

"Kill him," the soldier demanded.

The Vaznaun immediately withdrew a short sword from a sheath at his waist and rammed it hard into Jasar's abdomen. Jasar took several sharp gasps and dropped to the floor with a loud thud as the Vaznaun withdrew the blade.

"No!"

The soldier and Vaznaun turned quickly toward the bedroom as Darise lunged forward with a terrible scream of agony, swinging a long sword she had taken from the bedroom.

The Vaznaun nearby sidestepped, grabbed Darise’s wrist, and twisted her arm behind her back. She collapsed to her knees, a sob catching in her throat as she reached out for her husband with her free arm.

The soldier nodded once, and the Vaznaun reached around and slit Darise's throat with a dagger. Her crying ceased as she grabbed her neck and gasped for air, her body falling forward, perpendicular to her husband's.

The Vaznaun turned toward the bedroom as Lesiana's hoarse voice called out for Darise.

The soldier moved rapidly to the front door as he heard the sound of running horses. He turned to the Vaznaun. "Someone's coming, and you both must not be seen with me. Get the child. If it's a girl, take her to the palace, unharmed. If it is a boy…kill him."

One Vaznaun ran outside, grabbed the horses' reins, and led them to the back of the house as the other exited through the kitchen door with Lesiana, who had lost consciousness once more.

Seconds later, Aderes jogged out of the forest to make the trek back up to the house. He stopped in alarm as his sharp vision took in the scene before him. His mouth dropped open as he caught sight of the gray-skinned, humanoid creatures standing outside his home. One lifted what appeared to be a bundle of blankets up to the other, who had already mounted one of the three horses at the back of the house. Part of the blankets fell away to reveal Lesiana's bright blonde hair and her arms hanging limply at her sides.

The basket of berries dropped to the ground as Aderes bolted to the house with a speed greater than that of a normal child.

By the time he reached his home, neither the Vaznaun nor his sister were within sight. Only one horse remained at the back of his house. Breathing hard, Aderes scaled the back porch and pushed the kitchen door open to his home. The door hit hard against the back wall. "Nán!" he yelled between breaths. "Someone took Lesiana!"

Two men in hooded, deep-red cloaks raced their white horses down a road along the edge of the forest. From a distance, they spotted Aderes entering the house. "We are almost close enough, Faelán!" a dark-haired man called to his companion.

The eyes of the two men lit up with a bright light, disappeared, their horses slowing, now empty of a rider.

Aderes hurried through to the front room and tripped over something hard, his hands slipping out from under him as he crashed to the floor. He groaned and scanned his surroundings, his eyes slowly adjusting to the darkness of the room. He pushed himself over and held up his hands, attempting to make out the sticky substance that covered them as blood coated his hands and clothing. He glanced up sharply as he heard soft laughter.

“Should have stayed away a little longer, boy. It’s an unlucky day to be sure.” The soldier said as he hurriedly stepped out from the corner of the room, Darise's favorite necklace in hand, covered in blood.

Aderes dropped his shocked gaze to his parents' silhouetted bodies on the floor next to him.

He screamed.

The soldier pulled out the dagger sheathed at his belt and moved forward quickly, but stopped in surprise as bright blue-white light erupted from Aderes's eyes.

Aderes cried out as he jumped up and crossed the room in a single stride. Before the soldier could defend himself, Aderes had both hands grasped around the soldier's head. The soldier struggled under Aderes's bloody grip but could not shake him off.

The soldier shook from pain and fear as nightmares swam through his mind, and terror overcame him. The soldier cried out in horror, unable to escape the illusion as his world darkened for good. Aderes suddenly heard a deep voice speak softly behind him.

"Release him, Aderes. He is gone.”

Aderes released the man and fainted, dropping back directly into a pair of large glowing blue hands.

***