Prologue

            Blood had never been a frightening thing to Lilen.

            Growing up in the forest, her father had taught them to gut rabbits before she knew how to read. But if she had known that the night would end with her sister lying on the forest floor, so like those rabbits and pheasants she’d grown up devouring, she might have chosen to savour the moments when blood was a sign of life and survival. Had she known all that was to come, she might have decided to pay closer attention.

            Closer attention to the way Sephona would plant her palms on the table before she made to gather the dishes. Closer attention to the sound of her voice when she chastised their father for telling weird stories at the dinner table.

            Maybe she would have paid closer attention to the legends that her father wove into the air through his voice.

            “The Council of Bridges, the stronghold of mages,” Her father would begin, crow’s feet crinkling at his eyes as he assumed his story-telling position. “Hundreds of magic wielders, under the guidance and protection of the Five who worked unseen at the top.”

            Lilen huffed, leaning her head against her hand.

            “This has to have been the three hundredth time you’ve told this one, dad.” She rolled her eyes.

            “Hey, I like this one!” Sephona called from the kitchen. Their mother shrugged from the end of the table. Lilen frowned into her hand and picked at the grain of the wood. She ignored the irate glare her father shot her.

            He cleared his throat. “Like I was saying,” He continued, “Five most powerful mages, sat at the top of the council—”

            “The Archenmages.” Lilen grumbled, trying to speed the tale along.

            Her father glared again. She made a face at him.

            “Right, Archenmages. Now while all magic had been passed down by masters, and each mage inherited the powers of their tutor, the Archenmages were bound to no master. They were anomalies, born from the earth and placed among mortals to protect and to serve.”

            Sephona returned from the kitchen, shaking the water from her hands. “Oh, I want to tell this part this time!” She pulled out the chair from across the table, and the screech of the wood against the old board flooring interrupted her father’s musings.

            She wiggled a bit in her seat, tossing a long straw-blonde lock of hair over her shoulders. Her father sniffed in ire. Her mother just smirked and leaned back, rubbing a knot from her shoulders.

            The room seemed to dim as Sephona took up the tale.

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            “The Archenmages protected the mortals, sewing peace and harmony between their kind, and the immortals who lived among them.” Her voice was soft and sweet, but held an air of foreboding, “Usually they moderated affairs of trade and land, bringing forth great houses hewn from earth and rock for those who sought shelter in another’s home. They called down rains from the sky to heal battered crops, and could fashion arrows of light to guide sailors home. Under their guidance, the immortals and the mortals lived in a sense of harmony, a symbiosis of sorts.” She paused, meeting Lilen’s eyes across from her own. Her voice deepened and hushed. “And then came the demons, far from the north… Promising riches and power and the unification of the immortal folk. Born from darkness and disparity, the demons spread a notion of superiority amongst those with immortal blood, wrenching a void between them and their mortal neighbors.”

            Lilen noted her mother glance towards the doorway. She, too, had thought she’d seen some shadow lurking at the window. But Seph continued.

            “As the mortals grew more wary of their longer-lived counterparts, fortresses were built and walls were hewn from great stacks of stone. They pleaded with the Archenmages for aid in this endeavour, but the Council of Bridges were wary of the segregation.

            “The Five travelled swiftly to the North on winds of their own creation, seeking to meet the with the Demon King. Few had ever seen the great lord in person, and those who had were certainly not of mortal origin.”

            Lilen swore the room growing darker.

            “But when they entered the halls of the Demon King’s lair, far beyond the reaches of man or mage, the gates closed. And the darkness swept in. The dark one had betrayed them, choosing to kill off the youngest of their council as a mark of power. The Five, now the Four, fled the castle, destroying half the face of it on their way out.”

            “They say you can see marks of the destruction in Nemarus to this day!” Her father piped in, oddly excited. Sephona rolled her eyes and continued.

            “It was then that the Great War began, like a horn of evil that rang across the land. Immortals slaughtered mortal beings, razed their forests and their crops, killed livestock and cut down great lineages. The Four Archenmages, battle worn and weary, saw the carnage and fires which overcame the land. In their last effort to protect mortal kind, they pooled their magic together and pushed the immortal forces to the North. It was too much to kill them, but great winds and storms and fires raged against their unending forces until they were far from the nearest mortal village. The last of the Five used the final dregs of their power to raise the barrier, the wall cutting the immortals off from mortal lands, thus ensuring the safety of mortal kind forever more.”

            Lilen had heard the legend a million times, she knew each word by heart, and could recite it front to back, left to right, up and down. It was all very taxing to hear once again.

            If she’d known what was to come, she’d have begged to hear the legend from told in the voices of her family once more.

            Sephona reached out to Lilen, clasping her calloused hands in soft and delicate ones. She looked at Lilen with warm eyes of deep blue. The gaze of safety, which Lilen wished she’d memorized.

            “It’s been a long day, hasn’t it.” She said to Lilen. Her parents nodded, her father grumbling something before they both rose from their seats and made their way to get ready for bed.

            “I’ve heard that story enough times that it’ll probably be written on my tombstone when I die.” Lilen mumbled.

            Sephona placed her hands at her side, and looked at Lilen with an oddly grave expression.

            “No, Lil,” Seph said, a sad little smile lifting her mouth, “I suspect you will have a different story to tell.”