Get ready, everyone. It's finally, finally here. This prologue has been sitting in my Dropbox since about ten chapters ago in Book 3. I've been so, so ready for this moment.
I'll do a proper book introduction in the first chapter, but here is the prologue of ELEMENTAL BOOK FOUR: THE FINAL STEP.
Prologue
A young warrior stood on the edge of a clearing painted in blurry monochrome. The cat's eyes flickered back and forth as if searching for a sign yet knowing what it would be. It had no idea what right it had to stand here, on this cursed, in-between land.
From the black and white, flat movements of the world came the lovely, light form of a cat composed of the land's fabric. She was a strong cat with a pelt black as the shadows that she symbolized, but her eyes were the only piercing color: a deep and vibrant green as old as her travels would only give. Upon seeing her, the young warrior stepped back with a gasp.
"This cannot be," said the young warrior.
"I don't believe we've met," said the black cat with a tired smile. "My name is Hollyleaf. But I suppose you already knew that."
"You're the cat that's been inside my head," said the warrior. "And this means…"
Hollyleaf sighed quietly and gave the warrior a glance that was truly sympathetic.
"I'm sorry," she said in a quiet voice. "I don't need to explain anything to you. I've already given you all the information you need."
"Yes," agreed the warrior. "By taking up residence in between my whiskers!"
"It was not my choice," said Hollyleaf bitterly. "I'm sorry."
There was silence between them, as the young cat reflected and stared at the shifting grey grass.
"How much time do we have left?" the young warrior asked.
"Not as much as you or I would hope for," said Hollyleaf. "I'm so very sorry…really, I am."
"No apologies can help me now," said the warrior. It stared down at the grass once more, as if positively sure that the answers would spell themselves out in shifting blades of grass.
"I would have liked to meet under happier circumstances," said Hollyleaf. "But I am, as you know, here for a reason."
"You're here to spell out the end," said the warrior.
"To offer you what little information you don't already know," said Hollyleaf, nodding. "Are you ready to know?"
"I have no choice," said the young warrior.
"There is always a choice," said Hollyleaf, but she got to her paws as if the choice had already been made. To the young warrior, it had. A smile, somber and yet beautiful, passed over the features of the warrior.
"I made my choice moons ago," the young cat said. "I will save, even though it will come at great…" A laugh. "Shall we say personal sacrifice?"
"We all make sacrifices," said Hollyleaf. She began to lead the young warrior along, through the translucent world of shadows. "Do not worry. I'll be with you for as long as I can be."
"I appreciate everything you've done," said the young cat. "But it will not give me what I want, just what I need." The warrior laughed. "Drown in water, drown in air, drown in ice."
"Drown in earth, drown in fire, and then stars will be your truth," said Hollyleaf. Then the two of them continued on through the shadowy land between lands until Hollyleaf swept her tail, and they were gone.
Review?