Prologue

A Few Years Ago

Run Eleena. Run and don't come back.

My father's last words echoed in my ears as I ran, the twig snaps and my frantic wheezing had long since replaced my family's shrieks.

The forest was now a tangle of branches and leaves, disrupted only by the few patches of thorny brambles or periodically, berry shrubs.

Only a few minutes of daylight remained, darkness would soon envelop everything. The sun was already setting on the horizon, causing a tinge of orange and pink to the skies. It didn't matter to me though, time was already slipping out of my grasps.

I sprinted further into the darkening woods, peering once in a while over my shoulder to see the once faint glow of the villagers' torches becoming brighter. It took most of my lasting will to keep my legs moving, trying to cover as much land before nightfall. My strength had been drained long before I had started this race.

I'd spent the last few minutes running without pausing, my legs already protesting against my mind to stop. We'd been playing this game of cat and mouse for a while now--hour after hour, the villagers had been chasing after me, their unrelenting focus on capturing me getting to their senses. To be ensnared by them would have been child's play, yet it was a trap that would result in saying goodbye to my life.

The bounty on my head was too high for the villagers to ignore, especially if they were poor. It was not just that the villagers despised us Asterins, but they were too afraid of facing the village Elders' wrath. For the Elders were the rulers of the town and they could do as they pleased.

The thudding of footsteps of the villagers now grew in volume as I kept running, pushing off stray leaves and sticks away from my face, dangling from above. I quickened my pace, perilously trying to get away from them. I needed more time too desperately to bother about resting. There were just seconds left before obscurity encompassed all.

I couldn't help but think it was too quiet--the forest was too quiet, the only sound of my movement hung in the air. I realised the villagers had stopped, no rustle of leaves or the squelching of mud to be heard from behind me.

I edged around a carcass, the creature's big eyes stared blankly at the stars, flies indulging in its bloodied flank. A chunk of meat was ripped out from its thigh, fresh blood still oozing from the wound. Not from an animal, no. It was something bigger, something not entirely from this land.

A shiver slithered down my spine at the thought. Faeries, it had to be faeries. Those foul creatures managed to sneak past the barrier into the human realm.

Warnings of the townsfolk pealed in my head. A sudden drop of animals to hunt scaring them. Brutal slashes of claws and deadly bite marks were found on dead animals that littered the forest floor. They were on the hunt, the faeries were on the hunt.

Not wasting another second of time, I continued to dart deeper into the woods, the canopy so thick now that it blocked out all light. The villagers wouldn't yield easily. No one would give up the chance for that amount of money unless they were already disgustingly rich. And even then ... I'd learnt that men were greedy when it came to money, power and fame. They would do practically anything to receive more of those.

I brushed away a branch that scratched my hand, and blood dribbled out of the bruise still warm and fresh.

I had always thought blood was disgusting and gruesome--a painful agonising experience to usher me to death.

I pressed against the wound still stinging and exposed, smudging crimson red across my arm.

I now wondered if blood is a gift. A gift of crimson red, the last thing I would see before I died. The colour forever peaceful to me, even after death had claimed me.

I sighed in Towering trees stretched on for eternity in every direction, a labyrinth of shadows and timber.

Five hours, I had managed to escape; five hours I had ran blindly here.

But I'd managed to stay hidden. Again and again, I had survived. Had survived for the next few seconds, minutes, hours, even when my legs threatened to give out.

I had used every ounce of strength I had left and now I am left with none, then I had used my will until it had driven me to insanity.

A camouflaged tree root jutted out from the clustered mud beneath me. I had not noticed, my mind too preoccupied on keeping my legs going to notice petite things like this.

My heart pounded against my battered body as I tripped, my ankle twisted at a horribly wrong angle.

Soft mud met my cheek, cushioning me from my fall. My mind was still processing what had just happened, the impact of the fall taking a toll on my head.

I groaned as I tried to sit up, only falling back down again. Black spots danced in my vision as it made bile sting in my throat.

In the minutes that I lay there, my thoughts wandered to my family. I had not spotted my father and brothers since the last I had seen them in the clearing. Had they escaped from the villagers crutches or had they passed?

The former was unlikely as they didn't know how to fight back, but death ... no, they couldn't be dead. The Elders would've wanted me to watch them torture my family. As this wild goose chase had been to me, barely managing to slip away each time.

My aching, bloody fingers brushed against the back of my head feeling the gaping wound there, the pain teetering me dangerously towards unconsciousness.

So much blood--my blood seeping into the mud, forever staining it red. The metallic stench of it was almost unbearable, filling my nostrils with the smell of it.

My breath whooshed from me, my lungs still raw from panting, my lips dry and chapped.

I needed water, badly. But I couldn't move, frozen on the spot.

Exhaustion slowly crept up on me, claiming me as its own. Stars gleamed brightly above me before I knew no more.

. ____________________ .

My head throbbed at the dull pain on my head from the low blow I received a while ago. I had been taken, taken by strangers by the looks of it. I couldn't see who they were, their faces hidden behind their hoods. Their shapes were the last thing I saw before I fell into nothingness once again.

. ____________________ .

Sharp jabs of hay at my feet woke me from my slumber.

My senses slowly returned to me, each one duller than the one before. The sharp smell of rotting wood first, then the prickly feeling of ropes around my wrists and ankles. A lingering coppery taste coated my tongue--blood. Above the sound of the hissing of dry grass, I could faintly hear someone calling my name.

"Eleena."

"Eleena."

"Eleena get up."

Wincing, I peeled my eyes open, only able to widen them a little. What I distinguished through my eyes didn't do much for my spirits.

I was tied onto a wooden cross. Three others were beside me, all tied onto crosses as well, still unconscious from whatever had happened before. My only sources of light were from the dim glow of the moon and the stars above as well as the dancing flames of a torch from afar. I raised my head--the action taking so much strength that I almost blacked out again. My heartbeat quickened. A stake. A wooden stake, I was going to be burned alive.

I examined the three others beside me, they were partially shrouded in shadows but not enough to hide their faces.

I stopped breathing.

They are here--my family--they are here. I bit down on a cry as I saw Theodore's humble face, all bloody and muddy, his wrist twisted into a weird formation. I would have clenched my teeth had my jaw not been a throbbing mayhem of pain.

I couldn't panic. No, I need to keep my sanity together for my family and for myself. I had to keep my tears in check, to prevent myself from looking weak in front of these ... beasts. Taking a breath that was all too hollow, I placed a facade of a cool, bored look on myself.

"About time you woke up."

I tilted my head, trying to get a good look at who was talking to me.

I froze.

It was them, Dimitri, Japeth and Gaius. The village Elders. My blood turned cold. "You." I snarled, the dry grass crunched as they stalked towards me.

"Yes, I see that you still remember us Eleena dear."

"Of course I do. Your filthy little faces are just--"

Fire blazed from the corner of my eye, brighter than I had seen it before. The Elders smiled. "Hush now, you wouldn't want your family to be burned, would you?"

I tensed. I wanted to scream at them, torture them for hurting my family--alas, I couldn't as I was just a weak pathetic girl. "What do you want from me?"

"Ahh. Sharp as always Eleena." Japeth said mockingly, "We were just here to discuss about you and your family's ... crimes."

Gaius cleared his throat loudly before pulling a roll of parchment out of his pocket. He looked at me from beneath his eyebrows, a cruel smirk forming on his lips. "Eleena Asterin. You are hereby charged for conspiracy against the village Elders, murder of a fellow villager and breaking the rules of the Covenant of Peace. Your sentence: death. Do you object?"

"Yes, but-"

"Good." Dimitri grinned, loathing practically rolling off him in waves. "Your family has hereby been charged with conspiracy against the village Elders and murder of a fellow villager. Their sentence: death."

I could barely hold my mask up, anger boiling up inside of me. How dare they accuse the Asterins of such things. None of us had done it and none of us ever will.

"What. Do. You. Want." I said, louder than what I had expected, my voice void of emotions. "If you are here just to talk, get it over with. Don't bother trying to pry answers out of me. It wouldn't work." I wanted so badly to cry right then and there, yet I continued my charade to stay strong for my family.

Their grins widened, a sadistic gleam in their eyes. "Oh, I would rethink that if I were you. Last chance." Confusion must have been written on my face, because they looked at me amused. I lifted my head slightly and glared at them in return, careful about not blacking out from the agony. "Fine by me. Don't say we didn't warn you."

"What--"

As I said it, a masked figure holding a torch walked up to Theodore. The flames flickered menacingly under the moonlight. Its dance was entrancing and beautiful, drawing me to it. The figure bent down lowering the torch to the stack of hay beneath Theodore's feet. Dread pooled in my stomach as my throat closed up.

I cast my gaze back and forth between the Elders and Theodore.

"Wait!" Panic rose in my voice as my heartbeat quickened, now a wild song of a drum. "Please ... please don't kill them, take me instead ... take me instead ... I am the betrayer not them, they are innocent!"

I clamped my mouth shut, just as the torch stopped an inch away from the messy stack of hay. My breathing was fast and short, slowing down a little as a wave of relief washed over me. "Tell me Eleena, why should we? After all, you and your family had committed those crimes, am I right?" Japeth purred, his voice turning my insides cold.

Too swift for me to follow, the flames extinguished and the figure stepped back. The action itself lifting a weight off my shoulders.

"No ... torture me, kill me, do whatever you want to me, just don't hurt them. Ever." I was tearful now, praying to all the gods, human and faerie legends alike, hoping that the village Elders were merciful today. They smirked at me, smiling from ear to ear as they considered my offer.

"It's a deal. Agreed?" they said, Japeth raising an eyebrow awaiting for my answer.

It was either this or death--death like no other I have seen before, slow and brutal. I glanced at my family one last time and I knew. I knew I loved my family with a fierceness that was somewhat like loyalty. Because when I looked at my family's limp outlines, I knew they had to live, their lives too precious to be lost. I knew that if I lived, I would only bring misfortune everywhere I went.

I glared at the Elders, pouring all the hate and resentment I had hidden in me for years to them as I said "Agreed."

The Elders gave me one last small, horrible smile before my family was taken away, my last moment with them finally ending. I dropped my head in defeat, hiding my broken eyes that had lost their happiness. "Let us start our little game now shall we?"

The binds around me loosened as I was brought down onto the ground. I didn't care anymore, my soul too crippled to stay alive. I was the living shell of Eleena Asterin--the real Eleena now dead.

With those last thoughts and a whoosh of the whip, I screamed. I screamed until the mountains shook, screamed until I felt no more.