sria

Prologue

The chimes of the clock struck midnight. From within the fallen darkness, a figure crept into the moonlit nursery. He was not much older than thirty, although, he looked as though he'd seen much suffering and fought many battles. On his face grew the short stubs of a beard and mustache; his light-brown hair in need of cutting, as locks fell around his neck. A deep scar ran along his jawbone; his nose was slightly crooked, as though it had been broken once. At about six feet, he was dressed in dark clothing; camouflaging him from the seeing eye. Moving into the few shadows along the wall, he crept silently towards two cribs. In each lay a babe, no more than a month or so. Both were identical, but then most twin babies resemble each other. Trying to decide between the one in the powder blue cloth or the one in the snowy white cloth, he looked from one to the other. His decision would be the fate of the human race. Such a heavy burden for one man to bear, and yet this weight had befallen his shoulders. His dark, emerald eyes danced back and forth between the cribs. Praying to the god, Pir Arius, he picked up the slumbering child wrapped in light blue and deserted the silent room. Never noticing the pale green eyes of the other child follow him from the room.
As morning broke, the mother entered the room to take the babies to breakfast. She saw that only one crib held and infant. Her olive hued eyes searched the room, already the intuition burrowed into her that teh missing child would not be found. Turning back to the one remaining, she picked the child up and went down the spiral staircase. When her husband heard of the missing child, he had his questions and wants of searching for his baby, but deep within her heart, she knew that Pir Zyexij had taken her baby for a reason and would keep him safe. And so, she silenced her husband and never again mentioned the lost child, convincing her older children that they had only been caring for him for a short time.

Part I
Chapter I