8th May, 207 A.D.
Caerum
Sadly, I am not allowed to leave the manor. The tall white wall separates me from the outside world.
What is outside? Why won't they let me out?
But at least today, the garden is open to me. It is spacious and filled with beautiful flowers, buzzing with life under the morning sun.
Taliah is kneeling by the flowerbed, tending to her white lilies. They are her favourite. She treats them with a tenderness she usually saves for me.
Suddenly, the heavy iron gate rattles. A loud, booming knock echoes across the lawn.
I freeze. That never happened before.
Jonah rushes from the side of the house, drenched in sweat. He sprints to Taliah and whispers something frantic. She drops her shovel.
Both of them turn to look at me. The fear in their eyes scares me more than anything.
Jonah rushes to the porch. Taliah runs toward me, grabbing my shoulders with dirty gloves.
"Seraph. Code Black," she hisses, her voice trembling.
The world tilts. Yesterday it was a drill. Today, the air tastes like iron.
"Is ... is this a game?" I ask, my voice quiet.
"No games," she says, her eyes wild. "Evil people are coming. You need to escape. Leave the inner ring. Go to the slums. Find Lion's Inn."
Jonah joins us, breathing hard. He presses a black dagger into my hand. The metal is cold against my sweating palm.
"Take this," he growls. "Use it only if you must. And listen to me carefully, trust no one with this mark." He traces the black tattoo on his left arm. "If they have this, run."
"But where do I go?" Tears prick my eyes. "Who will help me?"
"Find the Ashen Demon," Taliah says urgently, shaking me slightly to make me focus. "He is a legend in the slums. He is the only one you can trust."
"Taliah, they are breaching the gate!" Jonah shouts, staring at the gate.
Taliah kisses me hard on the forehead. "Your blue hair and eyes they are ... too unusual, hide them, Seraph. Make the Wolf wait."
She spins me around and shoves me toward the open doors of the manor.
"Run!" she screams. "To the attic! Don't look back!"
I stumble, then scramble inside. I hear them reciting the prayer behind me, "...my soul burns by blue flame...", but I don't stop.
I sprint through the silent hall, up the marble stairs, my footsteps echoing loudly in the empty house. It feels too big without them. Too quiet.
I reach the attic, my breath coming in ragged gasps. I shove the old chest aside, my fingers fumbling with the latch of the panel, I grab the leather Go Bag, sling it over my shoulder and squeeze into the dark crawlspace, clutching the dagger to my chest.
Hide. Don't ask questions.
CRASH.
The sound of wood splintering echoes from the courtyard.
I flinch, curling tighter into a ball. But the silence that follows is worse. I need to know.
Trembling, I crawl to the small window that overlooks the garden.
Jonah and Taliah are standing before the shattered remains of the gate. Black smoke blooms from their hands, twisting into the shapes of their dark weapons.
A flood of people in black cloaks rushes in over the debris. They all have the Sentinel insignia on their backs. They carry the same black, evil weapons.
They attack immediately.
Taliah sticks to Jonah, covering his back. They move in perfect sync, a desperate dance among the white lilies. They manage to fend the attackers off, keeping their distance. Jonah even lunges, his glaive wounding one of the attackers.
But there are too many.
A black blade slices through Jonah's heel.
He collapses, his mouth open in a silent scream.
A small, choked sound escapes my own lips. I press my hand over my mouth, tears blurring my vision.
Taliah cries aloud, calling his name. She swings her glaive frantically, creating space.
I can see black smoke forming in her left hand, twisting into shape of a dagger.
"You won't get us alive!" she yells.
She drops her glaive, turns and stabs Jonah in the chest.
My heart stops.
Then she turns towards the Sentinels, who have encircled them. Her eyes are wild and defiant. "Praise the Lord!" she screams and drives the blade into her own heart.
She falls to the ground, lying over Jonah.
Red spreads all over the white marble path. Growing. It won't stop. It creeps toward the flowerbed, staining the pristine white lilies crimson.
Tears pour from my eyes. I am frozen, unable to move.
He took my mother. Now he took them.
The thought is hot. It makes my blood boil. The cold lumina inside me surges, reacting to my rage.
My vision blurs, turning into a blue haze. The echoing voice returns.
...Kill...Them...
Blue mist starts coiling in my hands. But Taliah words echo in my mind and i stop.
Instead, my hands clench the dagger harder, my knuckles turning white.
I hate him. I hate him. I'll find him. I won't forget. Ever.
One of the Sentinels yells a command. The others roll up Taliah's and Jonah's left sleeves, checking their tattoos. Then they grab their bodies and drag them away like trash.
I stay by the window until the house is quiet again. The evil people are gone.
I tightly grip the locket around my neck and click it open. The beautiful lady, my mother, stares at me.
I close the locket. It feels heavier now. Like a promise.
I slide the dagger into my boot and check the bag.
I step out of the attic, down the servant's stairs and slip out the back door into the silent garden. The flowers Taliah loved are still here, but they are no longer white. They are red and trampled.
Ruined.
Go to the slums, hide there.
Taliah's words echo in my mind.
I carefully evade the red stain on the floor, turn my back on the manor and start to run.