As a holiday gift for all of my readers, I've decided to post the rough draft of the prologue to my new book here on my blog (and also on WattPad). I hope everyone has a safe and joyful holiday season. Enjoy!
Prologue:
He was dying.
He couldn’t be sure of much
else—his mind was so hazy and confused—but of this vital fact he was certain.
Part of him didn’t care. After all,
his life had ceased to have meaning. He couldn’t even remember his own name.
And yet…
There was something that told him
to hold on—a gentle reminder that there was something worth living for.
He stared into the featureless
white that surrounded him. He couldn’t remember anything before the whiteness,
but he knew that there was something beyond. Something important.
A slender figure appeared before
him.
Her black clothing was a stark
contrast to the white of their surroundings and her silver hair shimmered in
the light. His heartbeat quickened at the sight of her, and yet he couldn’t
remember who she was.
She shouted something at him, but
the words became garbled before they reached his ears. She struggled to move
forward, but the light held her fast.
Who was this woman? Why did he feel
such a strong sense of longing when he looked at her face?
Suddenly, he was no longer dying.
A surge of energy bolstered his
life force, and he felt as if he had the power to do impossible things.
The woman was much closer now. He
studied her face with detached curiosity. She was incredibly beautiful to
him—but not because of her physical appearance. There was something about her
face that filled him with inexplicable joy. Why would that be? Also, there was
something deeper in her eyes that spoke of strength and resolve. He did not
doubt that she could do anything she set her mind to.
Her metallic purple eyes swirled
with golden light, and he was mesmerized by the sight. Her skin was darkened by
the sun and the tip of her lightly freckled nose was burned by the exposure.
Her brow was furrowed in concentration and she studied him as though he were
some kind of puzzle.
She stared at him for long minutes,
and he stared back.
What was she doing?
He could feel something happening,
but he could not identify what it was.
Then, as if being yanked from a
sinking bog, his mind became crystal clear and he remembered everything.
The kidnapping. The journey across
the sea. The ritual that was meant to steal his life away.
His name was L’iam, and he was King
of the L’avan.
His eyes locked once more on the
face of the woman before him, and he knew who she was. His heart was
overwhelmed with love and relief. She was safe, and they were together again.
“Adesina,” he whispered.
Her smile warmed him like the sun.
“I love you, L’iam.”
But something was wrong. He could
sense it, even if he didn’t yet understand it.
Adesina closed her eyes and a surge
of vyala poured out of her and into
the light that surrounded them.
L’iam knew that she had already
expended a great deal of vyala to
restore his health, and his chest constricted in alarm at the amount she was
allowing to rush into the Threshold.
“Adesina!”
He watched in horror as her face
became a ghostly white and she collapsed on the ground. L’iam moved to catch
her, but the pillar of light was now centered on her limp form and it acted as
a barrier between them.
The young king thought he caught a
glimpse of Ravi’s feline form on the other side of Adesina before the light
became a swirling mist that caught up the young woman’s body and carried it
through the closing portal.
The sudden darkness that fell over
the room left L’iam momentarily blinded. He blinked to help his eyes to adjust
and he looked around frantically.
He was standing in a small cave
that was lit by a single torch. There was no sign of Adesina or the Threshold.
He looked at the ground and saw that he was surrounded by a tight circle of
runes. The runes must have been what had connected him to the magical gateway.
Where had Adesina gone?
Was she unconscious at the foot of
the Threshold? Had she been carried through to the other side?
Was she…dead?
L’iam shook his head fiercely. She
had to be alive. He needed her to be alive.
He gingerly stepped outside of the
rune circle, half expecting something to force him to stay within.
Nothing happened.
He sighed in relief. Adesina must
have sealed the Threshold completely, which meant that all of the protective
magic would be gone now.
L’iam squared his shoulders and hurried
towards the tunnel leading out of the cave. His mind was becoming more clear by
the minute. Memories that had been nothing more than a confusing haze while he
was under the influence of that vile potion now made sense.
A demon had been released on the
world.
Basha had made some sort of blood
contract with the monster, and now there was no telling what they would do.
The first thing L’iam knew he
needed to do was to find Adesina. She would need his help in restoring her vyala to balance. L’iam reasoned that
she couldn’t be too far away from where he stood.
Once they were reunited, they would
return home and prepare the L’avan for battle. There was a lot of work to be
done.
The L’avan might be the only force
standing between that demon and world domination, and this was a war that L’iam
knew they could not afford to lose.
To read the next preview chapter, click here.
To read the next preview chapter, click here.
