Swanheart

Prologue

From a safe distance, a pair of sad, amber-colored eyes looked back and saw how the burning arrow whirred through the air, hitting its mark precisely.

In a matter of seconds, another fire erupted from the straw roof where it had fallen. Spreading quickly, the bright flames rose, destroying and consuming everything within their reach. Black smoke drifted through the hot air, forming thick, stinking clouds.

Terrified screams echoed from the high stone walls of the once proud castle and its surrounding buildings as the world of Ashkyhra was sent into chaos, even though the day had started off so beautifully.

Early morning had come with a golden sun, sending out its warm rays of light. The birds had woken, greeting the new day with their chirping. Bees and butterflies had been happily buzzing around the pretty flowers on the meadows. The peasants had taken care of their fields and animals while the fishermen went out with their boats and nets. Everybody had been minding their own business and going about their daily work as usual.

It all changed with nightfall, because he had come. The one nightmare, everybody had been scared of, had come true.

Even though the old seer had warned them, nobody had wanted to listen and now they all had to pay the horrible price for not paying attention to the old man's words. It had been their biggest mistake and their last one, because now the masked sorcerer had conquered them and he would not allow any more mistakes to happen.

Taken by surprise, the peaceful country had been overrun in the matter of a mere hour, for the dark wizard had not only brought many soldiers to do his bidding. He also was commanding an army of Shadow Warriors, the restless souls of fallen warriors, which could not be killed. Brought back from the dead with a spell of the darkest magic, they followed his command, bringing doom to the unsuspecting people of Ashkyhra.

*****

"GO!" the woman shouted and turned around.

With a mighty bang, the large door of the throne hall was shattered, sending pieces of wood and metal everywhere.

A family, consisting of three, had retreated to this room. After having barricaded the door, they had tried to leave the burning castle through a secret passage that was hidden under the throne. Unfortunately, they were too late.

Only a second after the door had been blasted away, a troop of seven soldiers burst into the room. The men were dressed in black armor, their faces hidden by helmets that bore masks of a demon's face and curved horns on top.

Quickly, they formed a half circle around the three people that sat huddled on the black, stony floor, pointing their swords at the man and woman, who were holding on tightly to their son. The family looked towards the door as heavy footsteps could be heard.

A large man entered the former throne hall. He was dressed like the soldiers. The only thing different was the blood-red cape that was attached to the back of his armor and the horns decorating his helmet were bigger and the same color as his cape, which was floating behind him.

Taking his time, he slowly marched up to the group in the middle of the room.

"So, is that all that is left of Ashkyhra's proud, royal family?" he asked in a deep voice, looking from the man to the woman and finally his glowing silver eyes came to rest on the boy, who stiffened even more in his parents' hold.

"Yes, my Lord," one of the soldiers answered.

"STAND UP!" the dark wizard roared. "Don't be sitting on the floor, huddled together like frightened sheep when it thunders!"

Carefully and slowly, the family rose.

A dark leather glove reached forward to the Queen's face.

Her features with the high cheekbones were what one would have called beautiful. At the moment though they were marred by scratches and minor bleeding wounds that the battle with the intruders had left behind. Her ice-blue eyes were fixed coldly on the demon mask before her.

The hand meant to grab her chin.

"Don't touch her!" The King demanded and stepped in front of his wife. He was tall and muscled. Even though he no longer held a sword in his hand, he was still a remarkable figure. Intelligent brown eyes blazed with anger and hatred, as he stared at the man in front of him. Bearing the marks of the battle that had befallen his kingdom, the King's face was covered in blood and dirt. "Take off your mask and show your face, coward! I want to see who is doing this to us!"

The demon mask turned to him and a red lightning bolt shot out of the dark wizard's hand, hitting the King right in the chest and sending him flying through the hall until his body connected hard with a wall. His skull was smashed as it collided with the stone. Dead, he slid to the floor, leaving a trail of blood behind.

Tortured, the Queen closed her eyes, trying to gather inner strength. She would mourn the death of her beloved husband later. If there would be a later. She needed to think and quickly come up with a plan. 'Try to divert his attention, I need a moment to prepare the spell,' she told her son via mind link, which was a rather unique ability among the people of Ashkyhra.

Shaking his head slightly, the masked sorcerer stepped up to the fallen body. "I do whatever I please, Xandir!" he hissed. "And none of you pathetic little magicians is going to stop me."

"Why are you doing this?" a small voice asked suddenly, making him whirl around.

There he stood a miniature version of Xandir. He could not be older than ten years. The boy was looking bravely at the man, who had just killed his father.

"What is your name, boy?"

"Tyrel. I'm the Prince of Ashkyhra." His heart was pounding wildly and he was scared but his voice was firm, not betraying any of his fear. He stood his ground as the dark wizard came closer to him. "Why are you doing this?" Tyrel bravely repeated his question, not taking his eyes off the demon mask. He was trying to draw the entire sorcerer's attention toward him, giving his mother enough time.

"My boy, just what is it that you are trying to do?" His voice was dangerously low as he cocked his head and looked at the young Prince.

Tyrel's eyes widened. How could that be? No, it was impossible, he could not have known about the mind link and that he and his mother had been talking silently the whole time, could he?

In the same moment, the Queen whirled around, screaming, "MIGHTY SPIRIT OF ASHKYHRA! GIVE ME STRENGTH AND SAVE US!" She raised her arms and threw her head back. Blue sparks shot from her fingertips.

The blue rays of positive energy transformed into the shape of four tigers. Translucent and gleaming blue, they opened their mouths, revealing large, sharp teeth. The tigers' eyes shone a bright yellow as they roared, making the whole hall shake from the volume.

The soldiers that had circled the royal family fell to the ground as they lost their balance on the shaking floor.

Unmoved and not in the slightest impressed, the masked sorcerer kept his position. It seemed he was not affected at all.

The Queen's body was beginning to tremble from the strain of holding up the spell for such a long time. "SAVE US!" she yelled again, pointing her fingers at the opponent.

The tigers roared even louder and pounced.

Before the energy bolts could reach the dark wizard, he just calmly raised his palm and absorbed them. They just vanished into the leather of his gloves.

Staring at him in disbelief, the Queen sank to the floor. This last, powerful spell had drained almost all of her energy. Panting, she realized that it was over. Whatever was going to happen, she didn't have the strength to prevent it.

The dark wizard roughly pushed the boy out of his way and into the arms of a soldier that had managed to get back on his feet. "Hold him. He might still be of use to us."

That said, he went to the Queen. Looking down at her, he shook his head, waving a finger at her as if he was chastising a petulant child. "Tsk, tsk, tsk. You should have known better, Rovannah. You never were a match for me."

Looking at the demon mask, she had the weird feeling that somehow she knew the man, who was hiding behind it.

"Let's stop the foolish games. You know why I am here. Give it to me."

Rovannah stammered weakly, "I don't... I don't know what you are talking about."

He reached for her arms, gripping them tightly enough to leave bruises and pulled her up. "Don't lie to me," the dark wizard hissed through clenched teeth.

"My Lord, should we search the palace?" the soldier, who was holding Tyrel, chimed in.

"Yes, get as many men in here as you can. Let's tear this place apart until we have found what we are looking for. Pay attention to hidden nooks and crannies. I'm positively sure it's not kept in plain sight."

*****

A horn sounded in the distance.

The white tiger was camouflaged by bushes. Trembling and shaking from fear, she slowly crawled through the undergrowth and away from the burning castle. She needed to get to the river. Once she would have reached the waters, she would be safe.

All of a sudden, she stopped and pressed herself flat against the ground, trying to blend in with her surroundings and the darkness. With her heart pounding wildly, she waited, not daring to move until the footsteps, caused by heavy leather boots of more soldiers running towards the castle, disappeared from her range of hearing.

*****

"I want the stone. Where is it?" the masked sorcerer demanded. His glowing silver eyes bore into the Queen's ice-blue ones, while he held her face tightly in his gloved hands. "Where is the stone, Rovannah? Where is it?"

She screwed her eyes shut and screamed as she felt white-hot pain rip through her head. He was trying to prod her mind and she did her best to keep him out.

"It can be over, Rovannah. I just want the stone. Tell me where it is and I let you and your son live."

The pain stopped suddenly and she tried to get her bearings.

"Where is it? Just tell me where it is." Repeating the words over and over in a gentle tone, he attempted to lull her into a trance. He had tried to extract the information from her mind by force but she still had enough strength to shield herself and he couldn't get access to her conscious.

Gathering what was left of her powers, Rovannah, the Queen of Ashkyhra, sent out one last desperate thought to the mind of another, before the darkness conquered her mind.

*****

'Get to safety, my precious!' The words tore through her mind and she jerked in surprise, while she was still hidden in the undergrowth. Tears welled up in her amber-colored eyes as the mind link was broken only a second later. Reaching out with her mind, she tried to regain it, but it was gone and she felt her heart break, because she knew it was gone forever. A feeling of extreme emptiness attempted to overpower her, but she quickly shielded herself and tucked her feelings away. She needed to get away from here.

Once again, the tiger began to move, carefully. Pricking up her ears, she listened intently. Setting one paw in front of the other, the sound of rushing water grew louder with each step she took.

A short while later, she had reached the high cliff.

Taking one last glance back at the column of black smoke, which rose in place of the castle, she jumped off the rocks and plummeted into the torrential stream.

The air was forced from her lungs and she almost went into shock as her body hit the icy water. She knew it would be in vain to try and fight against the current, which just swept her off as if she was weightless.

Keeping her head above the surface, the white tiger entrusted her life to the waters of the river, letting it be her guide to safety.

Continued...