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Chapter 2

Chapter 2


“Father, he loved his present! He gave the other charm to me to keep—as a best friend link you know—so that way we always have a piece of each other!” Vierna skipped through the door that connected her father’s shop to their home. She hopped up on the counter and toyed with her necklace, admiring the dragon’s likeness that was so intricately carved into the metal. Both the charms—Neiran’s and hers—went together perfectly, as did their owners. They had been best friends for so long, ever since she had stumbled upon Neiran hiding from Abraxas, the frightening demon general who served the Lord Ravonaar.

Vierna had discovered the disheveled boy hiding in some bushes when she was exploring her new home. She and her father had recently moved into the village surround the castle, as her father had heard the lord was looking for a good blacksmith. As he spent the day making items to prove his worth, she had left to run through the dusty streets, meeting the townsfolk. The girl decided to take a shortcut back to her house down a little side road, one that was completely overgrown bushes and vines. She had nearly tripped over the small boy who had been hiding—quite poorly, she thought—under a pile of leaves.

“What exactly do you think you are doing?” Vierna rubbed the knee she had scraped when she fell. Wiping away the blood, she glared at the boy, and dusted off her breeches.

“I’m hiding. From the general. Be quiet.”

“Be quiet?!” Vierna put her hands on her hips. “You’re being really rude.” She looked around and eased closer and dropped her voice to a whisper. “What general?”

The boy glared at her. “General Abraxas. You know, from the castle. Lord Ravonaar’s personal bodyguard and leader of his army.” He rolled his eyes.

The Lord Ravonaar? Why…why are you hiding?” Vierna started to feel uneasy. “Why would they be looking for you…?”

“Because Lord Ravonaar is my father. I’m Neiran Cragheart.” He clamped his hand over the girl’s mouth as she gasped. “Be quiet. Abraxas is a demon. He has great hearing.” Vierna nodded, and Neiran pulled his hand away.

“You should follow me.” Vierna tugged at his hand. “I know great hiding places.” She rolled her eyes at his wary look. “Honest. I’ve been exploring all day. I know all the best spots.” She pulled at his hand, and they darted out from under the bushes, running through the dusty streets of the village.

Neiran had come to see her almost every day. She showed him all the interesting things that he was missing up at the castle, and he told her about the lords and ladies that visited his father. They had been inseparable since that first day, and Vierna knew that would never change.

As her mind drifted back to the present, Vierna realized her father still hadn’t come out to the kitchen to greet her.

“Father?” She slid off the counter and knocked on his bedroom door. “Father, are you in there?” She pushed open the door and grinned as she saw her father sitting on the edge of his bed. Walking over to him, she placed a hand on his shoulder. “Father, I’ve been chatting at you for almost an hour! What on earth--” She trailed off as the grin was wiped from her face. Falling to her knees she began wailing and grasping at her father, who sat slumped with blood puddled on the floor from the gash at his throat.

“No, father, no…Who did this?! Where are you?!” She shot to her feet and spun around the room, guarding her father’s body as her eyes flicked from corner to corner. Vierna caught a flick of black outside the door to the hallway. Sher reached down and grabbed her father’s bootknife and crept slowly into the hallway.

“He was never your father, girl.”

Vierna clasped her ears as a deep voice echoed through her skull. Hands against her head, she looked around the hall for any sign of an intruder.

“He is my father! He always will be! Why did you do this? He never hurt anyone.”

“He is of no matter. I have only come for you. You are important. I need you.” The voice seemed to pause in her head. “You will come.”

Her eyes widened as an inky blackness slithered from beneath her feet. Vierna tried to run, but her feet would not respond. She stood paralyzed as the shadow grew in front of her. Her mouth opened in a soundless scream as the darkness consumed her, the bootknife hitting the floor with a dull thud.


Next Chapter: Chapter 3