Prologue

PROLOGUE

Ileafek

One thing Tiaa Brunna had always deigned to drum into my head, was that there were only two sides in the world. Good and Evil. Day and Night. Life and Death. Light and darkness. Most importantly, there were the powerful and the powerless. For one to change sides, another had to suffer. There was no in between, and to upset the balance, one had to be either incredibly brave, or incredibly stupid.

I had always agreed with her, even if I didn't always believe it. She raised me after all, and she was elderly, so she probably knew more than I ever could. And in all sincerity, I was too scared to question anything. For some reason, I had always felt something strange, fiery brimming inside me. Especially when I felt an emotion really strongly. It had been that way all my life and yet, I had never really dared question it. I knew it wasn't normal, and every time I tried to lean into it, to find out what it was, it would just…fade out. Like it hit a block. I never told Tiaa about this, or anyone at all. It was not normal, and our village was too small to risk being the odd one, different from others. I would stick out like a sore thumb.

The reason I'm making you suffer through this boring monologue is simple. I recently realized that I'm not just a normal village farm girl living day to day toiling on a field (not that I didn't know that already) but the reality of who I really was, what my purpose was, and what could happen if I failed, if we failed, was much, more scary than I could have ever imagined.

And dangerous. Very, very dangerous.

My name is Ileafek (ee-lu-fek), I just turned sixteen, and this is my story.

You might want to hang on tight, if you are staying for the ride. It gets extreme.