Chapter One

Six years ago, Aydliswille was ruled by the great King Nelson Waycott.  He was known as the best ruler of the age.  Slavery was prohibited; soldiers couldn't enter the army until the age of 21, which decreased the mortality late by at least 2,000.  Under his rule, the people of Aydliswille prospered and cruelty was scarce and rarely heard of.  With his rule, the world was better.

Then, Fochmare Casivant came to power and destroyed King Nelson Waycott in one, single, bloody battle, leaving the kingdom in utter chaos.  Fochmare, however, was defeated by Lewis Stasser, a young Apprentice Magician.  According to legend, he was only eleven-years-old at the time.  But shortly afterwards, Lewis disappeared and was never seen again. 

~()~

"Mollie!  It's time to come inside!"

"Oh, but mother, please!  Just five more minutes?" Mollie pleaded with her mother, pausing in her haste to catch Will.

"You said that five minutes ago, Mollie.  It's dinner time." Her mother said calmly and firmly.

"It's all right, Mollie, we can play tomorrow." Will said, patting her on the arm.

"Right, and you'll be it!" She said, pushing him gently on the shoulder and racing into the shelter of her home.  She turned, hearing Will's laugh, and waved at the raven-haired boy now walking back around her house and out onto the dusty lane and out of sight.

"Did you have a good time, dear?" Her mother asked, patting the top of her head as she returned to cutting up carrots for tonight's dinner.

"Oh, yes." Mollie said, a little breathlessly.  She started to tell her mother all about her "adventures" with Will and what they had pretended to do that day as though her mother had not been watching them like a hawk from the window above the washing basin. 

At the time, Mollie had been ten years of age.  She, in almost every way, resembled her mother.  The only thing different is her eyes were electric blue rather than the soft, comforting brown of her mothers.  She always asked how come she had gotten blue eyes instead of brown, and constantly got upset because she wanted brown but her mother would always say, "You are special." And would leave it at that.  Mollie still didn't understand all of the ways of the world, and thought it only natural that she did not have a father.  She didn't know many other children except Will, who didn't have any parents at all and was not bothered by the fact that her father died.

Will was twelve and lived with his uncle, Jonah, a prosperous farmer who resided in a house a mile from Mollie and her mother, Kendra.  Even though Mollie had only known Will for a little less than a year, they were the best of friends.  He opened up a whole new world of possibilities to Mollie, who loved to sit in front of Will as he poured out story after story, plastering a crystal clear picture in her mind.  She loved the way he would wave his hands to emphasize something, or the way he would pause before a suspenseful moment, and always smile when she would exclaim to "get on with it".

Darkness began to fall in earnest just as Mollie finished explaining a particularly good story to her mother.  Mollie, still being young, didn't feel the chill beginning to creep under the door and turn the corner, expanding to the very corners of the room.  She didn't feel it settling, waiting...waiting...waiting.

"Will says that if I simply start telling a story, any story at all, fresh from my imagination, then I could become a master storyteller like him." Mollie said, brushing the polished counter with the tips of her small fingers.  She tilted her head to the side, as though thinking hard.  "Mother," she said slowly, "what am I to do when I get older?"

Her mother continued to scrub a wooden bowl then stopped and looked over at her daughter with a thoughtful expression.  "How much older are we talking about?" She asked, turning back to the bowl.  A few strands of black hair detached themselves from the bun on the back of her head and played around her face as she worked.

"I don't know exactly but...for work...what am I to do?" Mollie asked, still rubbing the counter with her fingers.  "I mean, what do you do when you become a woman?  Surely you don't run around the yard for fun?"

"Well, no, you don't." Kendra agreed, nodding, pausing to wipe off the bowl and start another one.  "You'll probably get married once you become of age."

"'Married'?" Mollie repeated.  "When?"

Kendra shrugged.  "Seventeen maybe...depends whenever someone falls in love with you."

"Love?" Mollie repeated, testing the word.  "How do I know if someone falls in love with me?"

Kendra paused, thinking.  "Well," she said rather slowly, "They'll be more than just a friend."

"How do you be more than a friend?" Mollie asked, leaning forward a little, curious. 

"Oh, Mollie, dear," Kendra said with a laugh.  She turned; wiping her hands, and took both of her daughter's in her own.  "I promise that you'll know when someone loves you...I promise."

Mollie giggled and nodded.  She trusted her mother.  Kendra kissed Mollie's forehead then returned to washing the dishes.  She started humming under her breath.  Mollie got up off the stool she was sitting in and started to head to her room when she heard her mother suddenly stop humming.  She turned and opened her mouth to ask a question but bit her tongue.  Her mother was stock still and staring out the window at the deserted back yard.

"Mother, what is it?" Mollie asked, frightened at her mother's silence.

"Mollie, I want you to go into my room and hide, understand?" She said slowly and clearing, now moving a single muscle except for her mouth.  "I want you to stay there until I tell you to come out, understand?"

Mollie didn't move.  Her feet were rooted to the ground with fear.  Her mother had never, ever acted like this before.  She had never heard fear in her mother's voice before.

Mollie was about to open her mouth to question what she had been told, but she suddenly saw a flash of movement in the yard, followed by her mother swooping down and gathering Mollie in her arms, running into her room, sitting Mollie on the floor near the bed and walking over to the door, bolting it.

Mollie was now shaking with fear at her mother's actions.  Her mother was doing the same but most likely for different reasons.  She pulled the bed over to the door, pushing it against it just as a voice rang out, "Kendra, I expected better from the likes of you."

The voice chilled the air, spreading evil with its breath, stopping Mollie's heart that had been thundering in her ears.  Mollie was cowering near the window as her mother backed up from the door, saying nothing in response to the voice.  She began to murmur incoherent words that Mollie could not understand, as though it was another language.

"Kendra, Kendra, Kendra, when will you ever learn." The voice said with an evil laugh that pierced through Mollie's being like an iron knife.  The laugh was more sinister and dangerous than the person's anger.

The doorknob began to rattle and the bed in front of the door began to shake.  Mollie couldn't tell if it was the earth, or another being because her own body was shaking so much.  Her mother was backing up even more and in one quick second, even less than a heartbeat, she was in front of Mollie, pulling her towards her and murmuring indistinctly again. 

There was suddenly an explosion of sound as the bed slammed against the wall and the door burst open.  Mollie could see nothing as her eyes were tight shut, waiting for the worse to happen.  She lost track of what happened next.  She heard another evil laugh then her mother's pleas, more jumbled words then another voice, newer than the others then a scream then silence.  Mollie lay on her back on the wooden floor, still and nearing unconsciousness.  Someone appeared before her, but her vision was too blurry that she couldn't make out the person's features.  Then, right before she passed out she heard a voice that cut through her fuzzy mind, "Raymond Leonard Beauwood."