Prologue

A faint breeze swirled along the shore, bringing with it the smell of seawater. Overhead, an owl flew by, alighting on the gusts of wind, flapping its wings in a somewhat urgent way. Azure waves crashed upon the coastline, dropping the contents of the sea with them--various seashells, exotic plants, and sometimes a live fish.

Aru watched all of this with eager excitement. It was his first time visiting the sea. He sat on the coast of the sea, letting the waves splash over his feet, laughing at how strange it felt. He looked back, seeing his mom and dad standing beside the cottage they shared.

It stood far from the shore, under the tranquility and shade of the patch of palm trees that sprang up around it. It was made of yellow stone, and had a thatched roof, like most houses in the land.

Suddenly, the weather took a turn for the worst. In almost no time at all, the skies turned from peaceful tones of blue into raging streaks of grey. The breeze turned into a howling jet of air, nearly knocking Aru over. Rapidly, he sprang to his feet and began to run back to the cottage. As he ran up the slope of sand leading to safety, his foot caught a large rock, and he fell upon the sand. Lightning flashed over head, licking at the sky with golden fingers. It was soon followed by monstrous claps of thunder that drowned out Aru's cries for help.

He brought himself to his feet, brushing the sand off of him. It no longer felt smooth to the touch, but rather like thousands of wasps biting into his tender flesh. He ran towards the cottage again, but it seemed to extend farther and farther from him with every step.

Aru reached out a hand towards his father. The sea roared behind him, churning angrily and spitting up foam. Tears streaming down his cheeks, Aru cried out for his father again and again, trying to catch up with his rapidly retreating form.

His father responded by extending a firm hand towards Aru. Aru leaned forward to grab it, but in that instant, a flash of lightning crashed on the spot where his father was. Aru fell back from the force of the lightning, being nearly deafened by the growling thunder.

He opened his eyes, frantically searching for his father, but nothing was there...nobody was there to save him. Only his mother stood there, gazing listlessly out into the raging sea...

Aru awoke with a start, a cold sweat covering him. Shivering violently, he sat upright in bed. He swallowed hard, and took a few deep breaths to calm his racing heart. He glanced out of the window, slowly realizing he was in his cottage.

Outside, the sea was calm and unmoving.