Prologue
In my shadow you sleep, hungry for my soul.
In my heart you live, nurtured and at peace.
In my life you belong, always.
The red dawn of war clashes with the tide. Black descends. Shadows come alive.
I call to you. I see you across the field of battle, calling to me. So many stand between us.
I turn away to the tide; the tide sweeps forward, surging, billowing, covering.
I raise my hand and stare at the sky above. Silence descends. A hush. Tears fall down. Liquid, they fall down my face, down my grimy cheeks, onto my bloodstained clothes.
I raise my other hand. A burst of time shoots forward, galloping like my heart as I wait for the final blow . . . but it never comes. I’ve frozen the moment in time as the blade meant for my heart pierces his.
The sobs choke my chest as I stare at the metal, gleaming red like the rising sun, sticking from his chest. His eyes are frozen as well, locked onto mine. They look unsurprised. I sink down to my knees; tears fall harder.
I hear your voice. A shout, a scream of pain and anger and despair and fear from across the field. I don’t turn. I look straight ahead to the eyes that are locked onto mine as I bring both of my hands down in a gesture as sharp as the blade. Light explodes outward from me, shooting across the battlefield, consuming everything.
I fall. He falls too. His eyes speak the things he cannot say. They close after a minute, but mine stay open.
You reach me then. Everyone else is flattened, reeling on the blood-soaked earth, but you reach me. You turn me face up. You gather me in your arms. You weep, but my eyes are dry now. My eyes are dry. “It will be alright,” I whisper to you. “It will be alright.
