Hello axolotls:P Behold! A never- before- read prologue! WARNING!!!!! VIOLENCE-I toned it down!!! Prologue- The Stolen Gift The sky was the color of midnight onyx. The icy cold wind howled through the mountains, which loomed over the land like giants, their snowy white peaks piercing the sky. Hidden behind the mountains, standing like walls, was a small house nestled into a snowy valley. The house was a single room, with walls of wood and clay. Despite the bitter cold surrounding the small house, the inside was filled with warmth and light radiating from a little hearth in the corner. Sitting near the hearth was a woman, her long hair tied into a messy braid. Resting on a bed, she breathed heavily as she held something in her arms, wrapped in a white silk blanket. With a soft smile, the woman pulled back the blanket to reveal the face of a tiny newborn girl. When her mother softly stroked the baby’s face, the girl’s sleepy face awoke to gaze back at her with the same loving expression. Her mother gently kissed her daughter’s face, wrapping the blanket tighter around her. While the stubborn fire in the hearth flickered, the storm outside grew more and more severe. The white snow blanketed the landscape. Soon, the storm included thunder. The thunder grew louder and louder, and seemed to be closer and closer with each passing minute. Soon, it pounded on the door, and the horrifying realization struck the woman that this was not thunder. The door exploded onto the ground. Standing in the doorway were four men, their bodies so covered in armor that they were completely unidentifiable. One man stepped forward and ripped the baby from her mother’s arms. She let out a blood-curdling scream as she watched her baby be taken from her. Even though it was covered by the fabric of the mother’s dress, a stain of red clearly arose on it. “GIVE HER BACK!” she demanded. Another one of the men kicked her to the ground as she tried to rise on shaky legs. Her breath was knocked right out of her lungs, and she lay on the ground, completely unable to get back up. “Please…” she coughed as she used all her strength to raise her arm, desperately reaching for her baby. One of the men bent down and grabbed her head in his huge hand, and slammed it against the ground. Blood sprayed on the man’s face, and fragments of the woman’s skull flew across the room. She lay completely motionless on the ground, her eyes permanently frozen in a horrified stare. As for the baby, she was taken somewhere far away. Somewhere where she would have a life of hardship. Somewhere she would change forever.
