• Prologue


    “Run Amelia! Run as far as you can!” Those were the last words of she heard from her husband before he was murdered. The shouts of the townspeople echoed outside of Amelia’s home and the cries of a baby filled the room. Fear filled itself inside Amelia, but her determination allowed her to stay calm. Quickly working her way around the broken pieces of glass and broken furniture, Amelia picked up the crying child and soothed it with her gentle voice. When the cries vanished, Amelia ran into her bedroom shoved the carpet aside revealing a hidden door in the wooden floor.
    “Burn the house down! Burn everything!” shouted a man from outside. All the other townspeople joined together in a war cry. A group of men and women approached with torches. Together, they threw the flaming sticks and lit the house into flames. The people laughed as the house fell apart, but one woman was wise enough to notice a shadow running into the woods,
    “Over there!” shouted the woman, “She’s fleeing into the woods!” Everyone turned their heads to the direction the woman pointed at and ran towards the woods.
    There was no moon tonight. Amelia had difficulty finding her way around the black and dark woods. Dead leaves from the trees crunched each time her foot landed on the ground. As she made her way through the forest, she heard a small cry. Cradled in her arms was the baby, warped in a warm, white blanket and laying inside a basket.
    “Shh…” Amelia whispered softly. She brushed the baby’s loose hair and slowly, the baby’s cries died away. After the baby quieted down, Amelia looked back from where she ran. The shouts were grower louder and there was a faint glow of fire. Amelia quickly started off again, until she fell down into a cold stream. Gasping for air, Amelia rose up from the water and shivered from the chilly water. The baby had begun to cry once again from the cold water and Amelia cuddled the baby close to her, allowing her body warmth to transfer to the baby. Tears began to flow out of her eyes as she stared down at the baby’s gentle face. Gently laying her head with the child’s, she whispered,
    “I know you are destined for greatness,” Amelia quickly placed the basket in the water and pushed it away, allowing the stream to carry the baby away, “Goodbye, my little Vi---” Amelia grew quiet, because pierced through her chest, was a sword covered in blood. Her body went limp, and the sword was silently pulled out of her body. The body fell onto its knees and dropped into the freezing water. Upstream, the small baby let out a tiny cry but fell silent quickly and turned over onto its side. And on the spot where the baby’s back was lying, was a tiny jet black feather. Standing up high on a cliff, stood a figure wrapped in a large cloak.
    A hood covered the face as they stared down at the small floating basket in the river.