Chapter One

I could hear the steady beat of the beast's heart as it drank from the stream just beyond the tree line. It wreaked of blood that oozed from a flesh wound on its chest. I began to creep closer, trying to get a view of the great boar. It appeared to me when I stuck my head out from behind a large oak. I slipped an arrow out of my quiver and latched it into place on my bow. The few seconds before it went whizzing towars its target, I was blinded by an astonishing light...

I was sixteen then, and living alone. My parents had died long ago when the Great Disease rampaged through the land. It had left my home silen, still, and unoccupied. I couldn't even return until two years later when I was ready to face life along. Up until their deaths, they'd been teaching me how to survive and live freely, but I'd always wanted more. I wanted a castle, servants, a wife, and money. It was hard to get, but get it I would, at any cost.

A slight breeze rustled the trees and their leaves, and the scent of the boar. My bow was loaded and redy to shoot. My brain was caught in my throat as I realeased the string and sent it whistling towards my target. Only instead of laying the animal, it thumped deep into a large willow, scaring my prey away. I lt out a long and heavy sigh of defeat and went to retrieve the arrow. It was deeply imbedded in the wood, proving itself to be a thorn in my day.

Author's Note

- In serious production -