TCO: Prologue

A small blonde-haired child, thin but sharp-eyed, traded glances out of a bedroom window and then back to his younger sister, who lay unmoving in the bed. Aderes turned 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?"

From where she stood in the kitchen, Darise sighed aloud. 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 now an honored leader the people recently turned to as their lands were now in threat of being overrun. Against her better judgment, Darise had stayed in their homeland at her husband's request. Now, 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 ran scarce.

Running footsteps cut across her frustrated thoughts as Aderes 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 bright. "You okay, nán? If you are worried about Lesiana being sick, don’t be. I think she will be okay.”

She nodded, hugging him tightly, and then pushed him away gently to get a better view of him. Her breath caught as she noticed the physical changes that seemed to have occurred 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 heightening worry in her gut. Her hand absentmindedly stroked Aderes's back.

"Did you need me to get 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 aligned the edge of their property. She bit her lip, fighting back the tears that pressured her eyelids more with each passing day that the family remained on the farm. Many families living in the kingdom had fulfilling and abundant lives before Mordán's rule began. Yet, as they experienced the darkened days that followed Mordán's claim to the throne, conditions were no longer the same.

Darise was torn by her loyalty to her husband, Jasar, and the continual dreams she had of laughter and feelings of peace she experienced when living in Yevani. The family moved from the Kingdom of Alsar to 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 have 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 made up her mind to tell him of her decision to leave Kraundor. She had secretly made arrangements already and was expected 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 some potatoes for tonight's dinner," Jasar said as he came to the sink to wash his hands.

Darise nodded but remained quiet as she went to the stove to stir the soup.

"I convinced more to join the resistance today," Jasar said as 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. 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. I have not sworn loyalty to Mordán so there will be guards questioning travelers—demanding family names."

"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 cannot 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 corner 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 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 into the next room and lifted Lesiana, who whined in response. Darise ran into the bedroom just as loud bangs sounded on the door. Jasar glanced once at the closed bedroom door before slowly opening the front door. A large Androsan palace guard kicked the door the rest of the way in. The guard, 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 staring hard into Jasar's. Darise watched from a crack in the door, her heart racing.

"Well, well, well," the Androsan guard spoke slowly as he turned his hard, cold eyes on Jasar. "We finally find you—the head of the 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 guard 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 a terrible scream of agony erupted from Darise. She lunged at the soldier, wildly swinging a long sword she had taken from the bedroom.

The Vaznaun nearby sidestepped and grabbed her arm, twisting Darise's arm behind her back. She collapsed to her knees. Darise's sob caught in her throat as she reached out for her husband with her free arm.

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

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

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."

A Vaznaun ran outside, grabbed the horses' reins, and led them to the back of the house. The other Vaznaun 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 blonde hair, 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.

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 sprinting toward 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 and the two disappeared, their horses left empty of a rider.

By the time Aderes 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 in between breaths. "Someone took Lesiana!"

Aderes hurried 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 hand and clothing. He glanced up sharply as he heard soft laughter.

An Androsan soldier stepped out from the corner of the room with Darise's favorite necklace, hanging from his hand. Blood dripped from the necklace. It was only then that Aderes noted his parents' silhouetted bodies on the floor next to him.

He screamed.

The guard pulled out a 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 overcome his shock in time to 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.

Thoughts of torture and pain surfaced within the soldier's mind and terror overcame him. Nightmares worse than what the soldier had suffered from his entire life tortured his mind. His body spasmed as it responded to the physical pain that his mind created. The soldier cried out, unable to escape the illusion. Before his world darkened for good, he heard a deep voice speak softly.

"Release him, Aderes. He’s gone.”

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

***