Prologue
The boy ran through the winding streets of the village, heading for the centre. When he reached the circle of children sitting down, he joined them, and waited. They were waiting for Anthony to tell his daily stories. The children were talking amongst themselves in a hushed tone. Anthony arrived and walked into the centre of the circle that the children had arranged themselves into, and silence fell. "I am not going to tell you a story today," all of the children groaned, and Anthony laughed loudly, before continuing. "I am going to tell you a prophecy, something that has been foretold to happen in the future."
"Two girls,
One white as snow,
The other dark as blackened coal,
Both will bare the sacred mark,
This will help them fight the dark.
To reach their goal,
One must die,
In consequence of this,
The light will survive
But if his love for her is true
And she loves him, the same way too,
She can be resurrected with the sacred song,
And if their hearts are pure and strong,
They will end the war,
In victory their hearts will soar
And the dark will sleep forever more.
Anthony stopped there and the children let out their breath as one, and Anthony smiled. "some people say that this will come to pass in your lifetime, some people say it wont happen for centuries, but whenever it comes to pass, I wouldn't want to be on their bad side." he laughed. One of the children stood up. "The girls in the prophecy are they pretty?" he asked.
"I expect so, it doesn't really say," Anthony replied, turning and walking away.
The children left soon after that, all except for one child. He stayed awhile longer, thinking about what he'd just been told, and then he left too, retracing his steps to his parents' house, already deciding that he was going to tell his parents about the two girls and the prophecy. Far away, on the same, dark night, a newborn baby cried.
Anaya's Journey
Fire
I was collecting water from the river, standing ankle deep in clear, pure water, when there was a sudden scream, a shout of desperation. What in the world is that all about? I thought to my self. I sprinted to the village, water bucket forgotten, and stopped short with a gasp. The scream of desperation had came from A house was in flames, the smoke was so thick it sometimes concealed the house from view, making it even more dangerous. The smoke hit the back of my throat suddenly, making me choke and cough. I could smell the wood burning, the sweet scent in the air. I could taste the smoke and fire in the back of my throat. A few men were hitting the door with a battering ram, while a woman cried about her child being in there, trying to get the door open. When it finally opened, flames burst out of the open doorway, licking at the men's skin. The men the flames hit dropped to the ground in a frenzy of heat and pain, while those who escaped the initial burst rushed into the house, only to return mere moments later, shaking their heads, coughing and gagging. I started forward when the blacksmith gripped my arm. "Where do you think your going?" he sneered, leering at me. "Where you're too scared to go, now let go of me!" I retorted, wrenching my arm out of his icy grip and ran to the house, and through the door way, darting into the house.