Intuition

Prologue

     Lush summer wildflowers carpeted the meadow, as dappled sunshine illuminated a random daisy or poppy. A small girl laid on her back, twirling a flower stem between her fingers, her dark curly hair spread out around her like a thunderstorm. Another girl, slightly older with almost similar hair reclined with a book. The air was fresh with sun warmed wind and the rich soil of the meadow. Not far off, three lanky boys were holding a stick sword fight with a well built man in his thirties. The boys giggled as the man poked them playfully with the stick sword, crying for their uncle to let one of them get a hit in. Not far from all of this, sat another man in his thirties, reclining with a woman who gazed upon her children in adoration. The man gazed lovingly down at her as she watched their children. It was a perfect, summer day.

     Until it wasn't.

     Snarling. Screams. Blood...so much blood.

     Then...nothingness. Until fragments...

     A sudden, sharp jab in the neck, a large man with a graying beard in her face, studying her face. "Not yet...it's too soon. I can't be sure if she's the one the prophecy speaks of. Kill them both to be sure."

     "No, it's not necessary to kill them both. Only the two are goddess blessed. Just bind them until we figure it out." A woman's voice, cold, with an undercurrent of horror.

     "It's too dangerous. The stone will find her once she awakens."

     Her brother screaming, her sister pleading for mercy. Her breathing coming in sharp pants. A spoken rhyme, then horrified silence.

     A woman hovering above her...a kind smile and calculating eyes. A withered hand coming to rest on her forehead. More rhymes.

     Bright blue lights...then darkness and quiet. Baited breath around her. Sounds in the distance.

     "Someone's coming! Forget about the boy!"

     Then, howls of terror. Her name and her siblings' names screamed over and over. Crunching bones and the sound of bodies hitting the floor.

     The concerned face of a man with glowing blue eyes holding her face. Darkness. Unfamiliar, yet strong arms carrying her down a dark passage, assuring her she was safe between pants. The seemingly permanent look of horror as he ran, glancing back intermittently at the people running behind him.

     Thumps and whines, growls and screams echoing down the long, dark corridor behind them. Running and pounding becoming louder and louder.

     The smell of earth and sulfur as good magic entangles with dark magic, fighting each other in a dance of domination.

     Her twin reaching out through their bond, ensuring she was alive. Her heart, beating erratically, wondering why her older sister wasn't answering her insistent mindlinks.

     Warmth. Sunlight. The scent of the ocean and incense. Uncle Jarek. Her eldest brother's arms wrapped around her as he fiercely shook and muttered thanks to the goddess. Her twins ironlike grip on her arm.

     Assumed safety.