Prologue

The Tree of Mayhem - 200 years ago

Nebula pulsed with life.

Beyond the veils of earth, as they called her, laid an oddity set to shake her core. Deep within Rebrook—the City of The Damned—in a glass cist glowing Celestial light, laid her last guardian clad in a white dress.

The Tree of Mayhem was a genius place to conceal her; heir of Nakir, the fallen ruler of Inferno. It stood right in front of The Impasse, cloaked by ancient Oriental magic.

The cist levitated in the middle of the cottage within The Tree of Mayhem. Aside from the scant library with a stack of books to the side, the only other furniture was a painting on the wall—a field of fading green grass burning yellow on a hot summer day.

White light pulsed from the cist, casting its brightness about the dark nest. The twines carpeting the walls were green with life and encroaching on the bland white ceiling, twisting about each other like star-crossed lovers as they went. Just like the stars that twinkled in the sky at night, the fireflies danced around the room—a harmonized beauty.

He stood over her, watching as she swirled about like the leaves in a slow breeze. She wafted about clad in a white dress, with long cascading white locks as though the cist was boundless.

Nakir laughed—a low booming sound, then he paced about the small space. 200 years and here laid the answer to his lifelong quest of reclaiming Inferno. That little Oriental witch had used up all of her essence to conceal his seed from him for centuries. If she hadn't almost woken, he wouldn't have sensed her.

He held his hand to the cist and connected to his daughter's mind, invading her dreams.

She was alive and waiting to be named. As it was with Celestials, only the one she sprung from could wake her, but did he want to? Although leaving her any longer in stasis would make her too powerful to use, she was an abnormality that had never occurred. What was Julieta's big plan with her?

Nakir paced again, circling around the cist with his hands fastened behind his back, and his brows furrowed in thought. He halted, turned to her and placed his hand on the glass cist. His eyes took the colour of darkness as he named her.

"Sapphire," Nakir called with a voice like death, echoing the expanse of the cottage and The Impasse behind them.

The cist shattered to pieces as she gasped awake; her eyes pure blinding white engulfed the room in Celestial light. Gradually the brightness died down, and she levitated to her feet, looking about the room with a newborn's delight. Her eyes settled on him; clear icy irises with rims of gold around them. She looked him over, head to toe and smiled.

"Nakir."

He stepped over the glass debris to her. "You may not know this, but it is rude to call your father by name. Dad would suffice."

"But it is your name," Sapphire said matter-of-factly.

He shrugged. "Still, it is rude."

Her response was a slight frown. "It's exactly like I dreamed it." She spun about the room, then she turned back to her father. He was watching her with a smile. "May I meet Darrian now?"

Darrian? He knew that unfortunate Thionite, why would she care to meet him? He eyed her with a cunning suspicion. Her mind had been hovering over Rebrook when he entered earlier, perhaps she linked herself to a protector.

"Darrian is irrelevant right now. We have far more important things to do."

Her brows drew together in a frown like her mother's and the gold in her eyes twirled in mild irritation. He waved his hand over the space and it cleared; the darkness vanished, and sun rays poured into the windowless cottage. The plants and twines disappeared, and the walls gleamed gold. Right beside the little stack of books, a desk and a few couches appeared. She watched while Nakir's magic transformed the cottage into a far more pleasing space.

"You must remain here until I find a safe passage out of the city for you, Sapphire." He combed his fingers through his short pumpkin coloured hair and looked about. Rebrook's dome would sense her within it once she stepped out of Julieta's blessed grounds. But the town's mystics were not his worry—it was the Celestials in the in-between. if they came upon her, they would know she was his. It would be best to get her into another dimension, one without the gargoyles. "You cannot reveal yourself to anyone. It is far too dangerous."

"And Darrian?"

That damned Thionite again? "Reveal yourself to him and you put him in as much trouble as you will be," he said as calmly as he could. Her obsession with the Thionite was irksome.

Sapphire lowered to a couch and exhaled a sigh. Nakir took a moment to observe her. Although 200 years old to the day, she was a fetus scourged with an existence he wouldn't wish upon anyone. He adjusted his black, gold embellished robe.

"I will be gone for a minute. Do not let anyone else in." While he'd called her forth by naming her, she was only privy to her powers on her mother's side. On his side, she needed to ascend to access her powers—immunity to magic and telepathy were all she had access to for now.

"Why can't I go with you if it's so dangerous here?" she asked, jolting him out of his not so urgent thoughts. "I've been around the city. No harm will come to me here. I'm sure of it. I've known these people for decades."

He lowered to her and stroked her cheek with a smile. "You are a peculiarity that has never happened. They will not understand you, Sapphire." He took her hands in his. "Even I don't understand it yet."

"You're lying."

As expected, she adopted the telepathy of Celestial, eye of God as Inferno named it, against him. He rose with a sigh, if she would be like this, there was only one way around it.

"Sleep," he willed. She slumped into the couch, and he lowered into the one beside her with an exhausted sigh. His plans hinged off her living a perfectly normal life until she was fully aware. He turned to her—or perhaps her believing she'd lived one. He rose, and the room reverted to the way it was before he named her.

A Celestial cist appeared, pulsing the essence of the sun and ready to do his bidding. He levitated Sapphire into it, and it snapped shut with an addict's glee.

"Eldrin, give her the life she desires," Nakir instructed. Eldrin's Celestial light drained and transferred into Sapphire. She shuddered awhile and then settled. Nakir's lips lifted in a contented smile, then he took one last look around the cottage and vanished in a cloud of darkness.