Prologue

              'Destiny won’t be denied.'

‘Knock’

‘Knock’

‘KNOCK! KNOCK!!’

The little girl tucked in her bed squeezed her eyes shut at the sound.

Her heart was pounding like a drum in her chest as her little body shook violently with each shaky breath.

“Knock, Knock! KNOCK!!” The banging started getting aggressive in the quiet room.

Taking a deep breath, summoning up all the courage in her body the twelve years old adorably chubby girl pushed the blanket away from her body. With small strides, she walked towards the window to gaze out.

Darkness and silence were all she could see through the glass~

The half-moon was shining brightly in the hazy sky yet even the moon's light wasn't enough to fade the blanket of darkness that covered the land.

With trembling fingers, she held the handle but before she could open the window the knocking sound echoed in her room again making her freeze.

It didn’t come from the window...

The little girl swallowed hard. . .

Turning around she faced the wall-length mirror, blinking her eyes rapidly. Something she did when she was anxious or confused. Swallowing the lump formed in her throat she blinked back the tears that formed in her eyes as she walked towards the mirror only to find her reflection staring back at her.

Her waist-long curly platinum white hair was a mess. Her unique violet-colored eyes had huge dark circles beneath them because of the sleepless nights she had spent in her room while feeling several presences around her and distant voices calling her 'Princess'.

Esmeray could always have this feeling of being watched by beings that seemed to be waiting for her recognition.

'Was she hallucinating again?' Esmeray thought to herself. Maybe her sisters were right. It was all in her head.

Her family doesn't know yet which House of Witches she belonged to. Maybe she belonged to the House of Untolds with madness running through her blood. Maybe she was an Oracle just like her elder sister Niume.

Maybe she was creating illusions around her. . .

When Esmeray was about to turn around a black hand came out of the base of the mirror and gripped her ankle.

A startled scream escaped from her lips as the claw-like nails dug into her skin, making her bleed.

Tears fell from her eyes as the hand started to drag her into the mirror. A helpless sob escaped from her trembling lips as she desperately tried to hold onto something.

This can't be an illusion!

Suddenly the locked door of her room burst open as her father entered the room. His eyes widened as he took in the scene of his daughter being dragged into a mirror by a Lost Soul (A creature that was already dead.).

“Daddy help!” Esmeray cried out, her left leg had already disappeared into the mirror.

Without a second thought, he jumped towards his daughter. Circling his arms around his daughter’s waist he pulled her out of the mirror, pulling the Lost Soul out too in the process.

While shaking the Lost Soul’s grip on her ankle Esmeray lost her balance and fell on the floor. When she scrambled to her feet again her father pushed her behind him. His muscles taunted as he took a protective stance in front of her.

“This doesn’t concern you, wizard. Hand the Princess to us and you will be spared.” The Lost Soul warned in a sinister sneer like a whisper.

Her eyes were raven yet lifeless, her translucent skin was hauntingly beautiful, her claws were out to feast on the wizard's bones. The Lost Soul was a creature straight out of a nightmare.

“You don’t belong here creature, leave!” Her father commanded as he stepped back from the Lost Soul that was advancing towards them.

“The girl doesn’t belong here too. Hand her over to us, she belongs to us.” The Lost Soul sneered.

Esmeray’s father's palms glowed silver as he threatened the creature. ”Leave before I bound you.”

Getting tired of the wizard’s threats the Lost Soul attacked...

It all happened so fast, one minute Esmeray’s father was protecting her and in the next minute, he was laying on the floor. His skull was cracked, there was blood everywhere.

His limbs were all twisted.

Blood was everywhere~

Gazing at Esmeray her father whispered before he took his last shuddered breath. "Run, my girl."

“It wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t resisted. The wizard would have lived if you had come with us, princess.” The Lost Soul mumbled with an underlying fear in her voice.

The Lost Soul was alone yet she was speaking as if there were more like her. Her raven lifeless eyes we're regarding Esmeray as if she was a potential threat.

Esmeray’s breaths shallowed, her fists clenched as the fear she had felt earlier got replace by burning rage. All she saw was red before attacking the Lost Soul.

The twelve years old girl’s eyes turned black, claws out she clawed at the creature’s throat making her scream and retreat into the mirror from where she came from. Without thinking, Esmeray banged her little fists on the mirror with enough force to break it into pieces. She welcomed the pain as the shreds of glass pierced her skin.

With a cry, the little girl fell on the floor as she sobbed.

She gagged at the metallic smell of her father’s blood.

Her father’s blood~ Bile rose in her throat.

Crawling towards her father’s body she held his face between her bleeding hands as she cradled his head in her lap with such tenderness that it could break anyone's heart. His once hazel eyes had now turned milky while indicating that his soul had left his body.

“Daddy please. . . Daddy. . . Wak. . ." Burying her face in the crook of her father's neck she pleaded hoarsely with her voice breaking at the end.

Even little Esmeray realized that her father wasn't going to wake she leaned back and wailed, scratching at her throat as if she was starving for air.

Her father’s milky white eyes that were staring at nothing pierced her heart. She couldn't bring him back.

He was dead...

Her mighty wizard hero was dead...

What had she done!! She shouldn't have listened to the Elders.

The little girl cried her heart out barely hearing her elder sisters and mother’s horrified cries and screams around her.

Fresh tears spilled down her chubby face. Gasping wails rocked her small body.

Esmeray’s father was dead, dead because of the creatures she had foolishly invited into their lives.

The pain and guilt were too heavy for the chubby twelve years old girl's fragile shoulders but she was bound to carry the guilt & sorrows for the rest of her life...