Prologue

  Ten years prior…

  “Rune!”

  Mother’s voice cut through my daze like a knife, and suddenly I was pulled back into the chaos that lay before us. We were regrouping behind our cabin, helpless to watch as the life we had built burned to the ground. For twelve years, our parents had raised us in that cabin. I had helped Father patch the stone walls from the time I could walk. We had just restored the thatch roof this morning. Our entire village had been built from the ground up, just before I was born. It was hidden in the hills of Aubrine, away from prying eyes. Clearly, it hadn't been hidden well enough.

  “Take Gia and go!”

  My lungs burned as I tried to protest, but Mother pushed my twin sister into me. My eyes stung with tears as I squinted, trying to see through the smoke and debris. The village, once a symbol of peace and safety for our people, was now in ruins.

  The screams of our community tore into my very soul. Some were cut short by metallic sounds of blades on bone and flesh. Gia clutched me and buried her face into my side. This was far too much for her kind heart to comprehend.

  “Find your father at the safehouse!” Mother insisted, pushing us away from the house.

  A large figure stepped through the smoke to her left, which was now thick and black with the remnants of our home. My breath caught in my throat. This man was not like the stories told by the Elder. He was worse than I had imagined. In full armor, flames illuminating him from behind, the paladin looked like something straight out of my nightmares. Like a demon sent straight from Avernus.

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  He looked mostly human, but there was something more about him. He was bigger, for one. His skin looked thick, and slightly green or perhaps grey in the orange glow of the fire. Pale scars littered his face, and bright red blood was splattered across the gold plates on his body. The black sword at his back looked to be the size of my entire body.

  He scowled as he grabbed a fistful of Mother’s thick, white hair, and yanked her towards him to fall at his feet. She hissed at us in our native tongue once more to leave, refusing to look in our direction. The beastly looking man pulled her head back to look at her face and scoffed.

  “Begging will do you no good. You creatures are a blasphemy against nature. Cowardly scum.”

  Mother’s pale blue eyes locked on his gaze, showing not an ounce of fear. Her changeling accent was thick as she spoke; “The only cowardice I can see here is a king, slaughtering an entire race that he refuses to understand for centuries, claiming to be righteous in the name of a raging war god.”

  A… king? What king? Why does he hate us? Which god? I pondered all these new questions, starting to drift again as my thoughts raced.

  The man growled and drew his sword, and the sound reminded me of the situation I was in. Gia needed to get out, and Mother entrusted me to keep her safe. I wrapped my arms across Gia’s back and shoulders as slowly as I could manage, and edged backwards into the shadows of the forest surrounding our home. She looked up at me, terror in her gaze. I put a finger to my lips, urging her to stay silent. When we were past the wall that surrounded our cottage, I released her and stepped back.

  We stared at each other, her blue eyes meeting my white ones. I took her hand, soft and dainty compared to my calloused palm, and gave her a tug as I stepped towards the pines at my back. “We have to go.” I whispered, barely making a sound above the chaos of the raid behind us.

  She swallowed hard, and gave a slight nod of acknowledgement. With that as my cue, I turned and ran as fast as I could, still gripping her hand. Without looking back, we fled into the pitch black of the night. My mother’s final shout, of praise to the Goddess, ended in a gurgling gasp.