Prologue
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Prefacing the Depths
…
Now.
Nothingness. Being.
A pulse vibrates. Light emits.
With a start, sounds flood my consciousness.
No longer do I slumber.
I feel funny.
I think I’m here, but I don’t know where I am.
My eyes open, but it’s all a blur.
Loud, primal, disorienting.
Is this a dream?
I don’t move. Oh, I can’t move.
I feel concrete, artificiality, roughness.
The wind hits my skin. I must be out of doors.
I hear grunts. Metal clanks. Fast footwork sliding across the deck.
Nerves activate. I scan. My eyes struggle to focus.
I detect a commotion, a skirmish, swordplay.
Raw power. Sparks fly as weapons collide in a titanic clash.
An aggressive, enraged, foreign tongue. A The belanoc.
One smaller, fleet-footed defender. The half-human.
Someone’s down, wounded. An old lady? Oh. Is she who I think…?
Fright tightens its grip on the air.
Nearby, a reflective object ensnares my attention.
A power surge swells within the heart of my core.
At last, my eyes focus as memories recollect. I know where I am.
Upon the hard surface, I spy sharply crafted, edged metal.
“What is that?” I wonder silently.
Ah, an ornate, shiny, ancient instrument of death (currently not in use).
This is no ordinary fight. The loser will be killed.
God, I must’ve been in the deepest of sleeps.
I don’t understand why how why/how I’m not dead.
From my body, the experience separates.
Finally, we awaken.
And I’m ready.
We are ready.
Or so I think.
Know what goes here?
Nothing.
Here goes nothing…