I lived in the time of men, gods, and monsters. This is the story of my life. My death…well, that is an entirely different matter…
-Sabine Julius, last remaining member of the Julii
The Awakening
I was born Sabine Julius, daughter of Sextus Julius Caesar, a member of the Julii clan. I do not remember much before the age of six. Perhaps it is that nothing worth remembering happened, or that my child's mind blotted out that time for the sake of my sanity. For if that time was a happy time, I do not wish to remember in the face of what came next. I was named Sabine for the women of the Sabine tribe, kidnapped and raped by my Roman ancestors. I was named Sabine for my Sabine ancestors and Julius for the clan of my male ancestors. What no one told a six-year-old child was that through the blood of the Sabine women of my bloodline ran the power of magic. So when, at the age of six, my mind or my soul, whichever you prefer, traveled to a world of verdant, ancient forests and monsters not even depicted in the myths of old, my childhood was erased.
In that world, nightmarish creatures that defy explanation hunted me. I ran, for I knew that to die here would be to die forever…and so I ran for what seemed like lifetimes until the pounding of my heart was drowned by the pounding of the sea. I had run through the forest to the edge of a cliff that rose miles above a thrashing sea. Before me rose a tall tower of stone, like a fist punching into a sky heavy with stormy clouds. Vines, thick with thorns as long as my forearm, twined around the dark stone, circling up to a yawning entrance. Something about the tower called to me, drew me towards the base and I began to climb.
The thorns tore at my clothes and my skin. My young hands, slick with blood, made it difficult to find secure purchases, making it even harder to climb, but climb I did. It seemed to take many more lifetimes to reach the opening of the cave. Exhausted, I lay in the entrance and watched the sun set behind gray clouds, then rise and set again. The cave was extensive, the ceiling lost to shadows. Something in the back of the cave, hidden from my sight, called to me and, finally, I was able to move. The floor was smooth, as if worn down by the passage of many feet. The cave was not as deep as I had suspected, for soon, I came to the end of the room. Before me, on a stone altar, sat a large tome that lay open. The pages were of stone, thin but somehow strong. On the open pages, there were many names and markings written in blood and other fluids, so many, there was no room for mine. I turned the page. The thin stone bit into my skin, opening a fresh wound. The stone seemed to absorb the blood as I wrote my name. As soon as I wrote the last letter, the blood began to glow, and soon the light spread across the walls and floor of the cave, illuminating hundreds upon hundreds of other names not written in the book. The light flowed around me, filled me…
And I opened my eyes to find myself back in Rome. I now saw the world around me with different eyes. Sabine Julius had gone to sleep in the house of her father, but it was Sabine the Mage who awakened.