Preface
My family stood on two divided lines, neither one gaining or losing ground. On one half of the dreadful abyss of battle lines long since drawn, my loved ones stood for a sense of duty and responsibility; a calling that many of us would never have understood before we had become a family. I frowned at the irony of those thoughts. The random events that had pulled us together now seemed to be tearing us apart. Whose cruel idea was this? Had my family not suffered enough? What more had we to prove?
And there, on the other side of the eternal stretch of emptiness, stood the rest of my family. A line of resolute and decided faces, fighting for what was right. I had seen the truth, and still I denied it. I was such a coward, even in this life. Why couldn't I just fight for what was right? I could do it, couldn't I?
I always thought that my own death would be the hardest thing that I would ever face. Social degradations, gang violence, economic depression, and global war all seemed like nothing compared to this moment. This terrible moment of anxiety and fear. A gnawing fear that whatever choice I made someone I cared about would be torn from this world forever. I snorted in disgust at the dangerous meaning of that word. Forever. My definition of forever was not what it once was. I had thought forever existed in that seemingly endless space between now and yet to be. That self same space that drained students of brainpower, sealed lover's hearts, and made kings from paupers. That used to be my forever. But now, forever was something much more permanent. And something much more terrible. Now forever was the hovering ghost that could steal any number of my loved ones from me and leave me to wander alone.
But I didn't have time to dwell on such dilemmas for long. A wave of power was building, and both sides of my family were determined to keep their side alive; at all costs.