Sneak Peak...
I
The gateway is open. They are coming.
II
The oddest sound was the galloping horses. This is a sound she has not heard in her dreams in quite a long time. This accompanied with the dim orange glow in the night sky is disheartening. Most of the dream is accurate. The flames, burning bodies, and the horses fleeing the rapidly spreading blaze. Other parts aren’t as correct. The demons flying around for one thing. Whispy black things soaring around the flames cackling. She is pretty sure they weren’t there the first time.
The figure on the hillside is another matter. He is standing next to a white steed watching the flames stretch into the air. A large black cloak billows around him. She cannot recall if this man was really there when it happened or not. Then again, when this happened she was six years old and that was more years in the past than even she can recall.
From this point, the events are radically different. She watches as if floating above as a little girl stands at the edge of the inferno. The child is crying, her tears making clear trails down her soot covered face. The girl turns and sees the figure on the hillside. She opens her mouth and screams something, but her voice is muffled by the collapse of the roof nearby. The girl runs towards the figure.
This is all wrong. This isn’t how it happened, she is sure of it. This girl isn’t supposed to be running across the grass towards a shadowy figure while huge horses stampede around her. She is supposed to be frozen in place watching her home burn to the ground. But run she does. Towards that man on the hillside and his beautiful white horse. Surely a man of evil would not be riding such a regal steed? Perhaps he can help her save her parents from their hellish demise. Perhaps he can rescue her brothers who at this moment lay dead on the other side of the property. The little girl doesn’t know this though. She doesn’t realize that at 6 years old she is now truly alone.
The man quickly mounts his horse. His eyes remain fixated on the fire. He knows not of the little girl racing towards him. It is at this point the girl slams into something hard. She cannot see the barrier preventing her from going any further. It’s almost as if an invisible wall is blocking her path.
“WAIT!” She cries, “Please help me!” Her sobs and shouts go unheard by the man on the white horse but as he turns his horse to leave, she catches a glimpse of his face. A glimpse of the hard war weary face framed by black hair. It wasn’t the face she would remember though. It was the eyes. The deep piercing, and haunted blue eyes.
The woman reliving this agonizing dream gasps in her sleep as the little girl places her hand against the barrier and watches her last hope rides off into the darkness.
III
Adia opens her eyes and sits up in her bed. A soft fire is fading in the fireplace across the room. Outside, the sound of horses echoes in the night. Something is wrong. At this hour of the night, she shouldn’t be hearing a herd of horses running across the valley floor. Adia pushes her blankets aside and walks across the cold wooden floor to the window. She pushes aside the curtain and stares upon the vision below.
Thousands of horses are stampeding across the valley. It seems as if all the horses in the country side are fleeing. Looking closer, Adia can see not just horses, but other animals as well. Foxes, wolves, bears, even some odd looking creatures that she has yet to bother herself with learning the names of.
Adia pushes open the window and leans out. Immediately, warm air hits her. It is barely the beginning of spring. The air should not be this warm.
“What is going on?” She whispers. No sooner do the words leave her lips than a wave of intense heat washes over her. Seconds later, a huge explosion blows her off her feet and rips the wall apart from the house. Adia curls herself into a ball as chunks of debris and pieces of animal crash around her.
Adia shoves away pieces of wood and glass and stands up. She reaches to grab her boots and quickly pulls them over her bare feet. She walks quickly to the edge of the floor and looks at the remnants below. A huge smoldering stone steams inside a crater. The air is thick with burning hair and flesh. Now that half of her home has been ripped away, Adia has a full view of the valley and can now see what caused the animals to flee.
Fire.
Adia jumps from her room and lands safely near the edge of the crater. She walked quickly to the edge of the roadway and her eyes widen.
The forest around her is in flames. Many of the trees are already blackened and collapsed.
“My god.” She says.
The world is on fire. Adia walks down the roadway and confirms what she had hoped was not occurring. Her second home, the peaceful city of Rhydin is gone. In it’s place, an inferno.