Prologue

The moonlight crept slowly through the wide open shutters, as if afraid of what it would touch. It tiptoed across the packed dirt floor, stopping just short of a large pool of inky black. Not much further, a person, nineteen years old, in leather pants and an undyed cotton shirt that seemed to glow in the darkness. He lay still, seemingly unaware of the chilling air.

Next to him, a child of four. Her dress was stained dark down her front.

On a pile of furs, a young woman, also nineteen, cradled a three-month old child. A cold child of two leaned on her legs, eyes open.

The shutters closed. The pale blue light fled. A figure left through the door, silently closing off the scene.