Prologue 

The coarse sand, rubbed against his cheek as the gentle waves of the ocean lapped at his lower half. As Marius slowly regained consciousness he realized several things were wrong. His clothes were soaked to the bone, and his head was pounding. He couldn’t remember what had happened. Marius slowly sat up, pulling himself from the frigid water. He placed a hand to his head, grimacing when pain shot through him and his hand came away covered in sticky blood.

“Hey, you okay?” A sharp, feminine voice drifted over the roar of the ocean. Marius looked up at the mainland, finding a tall, fit, woman standing at the edge of the beach. She was in front of the shadow of an enormous castle. He stared at it, fascinated by the sheer size. The woman cleared her throat. “Uh, hello?” Marius dragged his gaze away, focusing again on the woman. She was probably several inches taller than him, which wasn’t saying too much, and she had a full hourglass figure. Her hair was a deep purple, that hung all the way down her back in a thick braid. Her skin was a light grey color and her ears were pointed. So she wasn’t human. Marius knew there was a name for her kind but he couldn’t place it. Not with the throbbing in his skull.

Marius stood on unstable legs, blinking a few times to adjust his eyesight. “I’m okay.” His voice sounded raspy to his own ears.

The woman cocked her head, intrigued by him and practically floated closer until they were face to face. “Oh.” She leaned closer to him. “Your eyes...that pale blue color...and no pupil...are you blind? That is an indicator of human blindness, is it not?”

“I can see you.” He frowned. He couldn’t remember the reason his eyes were like that. He knew there was one.

“How did you get to this island?”

“I...I can’t remember anything.”

She bit her lip, leaning away. “This will probably be a problem.” She muttered to herself, looking out to the ocean, “Do you remember your name?”

“Marius.”

She smiled at him, “Well that’s a start. I’m Amaryste.” She blew a strand of hair from her face and held her hand out to Marius. There was a pale light over the woman’s shoulder and Marius, saw a faint apparition standing behind her, it’s hand on her shoulder. The spectre was identical to the woman except it’s figure was more masculine and his hair only came down just past his ears. When Amaryste saw him staring, she looked over her shoulder then back at him. Marius got the feeling that she didn’t see spirit. A memory flitted in the back of his head but he couldn’t quite get a hold of it. He shook her still extended hand. Amaryste squeezed his hand lightly before letting go, “I suppose I could bring you to Lurien. It would be bothersome if a human died on our lands. Follow along, Marius.” She laughed, turning gracefully and starting to walk towards the castle. Marius took a step forward to follow but faltered, finding himself pitching forward, face connecting with the rough sand. Darkness consumed all of his senses and he fell back into unconsciousness.

Next Chapter: Chapter 1