Prologue

Prologue

I can still feel the shadows wrapped around me, the way they dug their claws into me. How cold and lost I felt in the darkness. I could still hear their whispers of temptation in my ears when it was quiet enough. A piece of me would always be missing, but it was something I would do again if I had to.

My head was almost always quiet now; Ahmes hardly had enough energy to speak nowadays, but it was a price I had to pay to make sure the one I loved was safe.

No one understood why I did it, mate, or not. The dark realms were forbidden, and only someone wholly insane or looking for death would willingly enter such an evil place.

I looked up at Balor; he was the spitting image of our mother. His sapphire blue eyes burned into me as he waited for me to speak. I knew what was coming; I knew how this would end because it always ended the same way.

He would be angry; mother had seen it. She had warned me of his outburst, but I didn't need sight to know how he would react. It was the reason why we made sure my family was safely tucked away in our room.

I gave him a tight smile, the scar on my face aching more than usual. Everything in my left eye was nothing more than a blur since I had almost completely lost vision in it a couple of years ago.

My heart raced in my chest as I forced myself to remember the nightmares I tried so hard to forget. I let out a heavy breath.

"I guess I should start from the beginning then." I mused.

Balor's expression didn't falter as he waited patiently for me to relive my past. I could see the tension in his posture. I could see the guilt in his eyes as he looked over the scars on my face. He was always one to take the blame when something bad happened, especially when he hadn't seen it coming—even being the youngest. He had taken it upon himself to be our protector.

But I wasn't that girl anymore; I wasn't someone who needed to be protected or pitied. I had seen the monsters and lived through the death of everything inside me. And what arose from the ashes and brought light into the darkness wasn't the same thing which had entered them. I had been broken and damaged more times than I cared to admit, but I wasn't going to let my past continue to haunt me. He needed to know the truth of it all. It had to happen this way to prepare him for what was to come.

I leaned back in my chair and looked up at the vaulted ceilings of the dining hall. The knots in my stomach easings as I reassured myself that I was here and this wasn't a dream. I blew out a breath, my fingers twisting in the hem of my skirt.

"It all started with dragons..."