P R E F A C E

I had no control over what happened next. This was the end. Our end.

The silence was deafening. Ominous. Terrifying. Everything in my view was black and white.

Something told me screaming would do no good.

I couldn't scream anyway.

My mind was muddy and sifting through my memories was a foggy labor.

I almost gave up to the peace tickling the edges of my mind,

telling me to give up.

Every fiber of my being screamed "No!"

My eyes focused themselves on a slender figure in the distance.

That was why I was here.

The figure was so far. Too far.

The peace nudged me again.

Give up.

NO.

My vision cleared a bit and focused on the figure again.

She was completely naked;her skin was a soft,translucent pink. Like lace.

Her hair curled in bright gold and honey colored ringlets down to the small of her back.

Her beauty would have been one to rival my own if she didn't walk in such a manner.

Graceful, but it was the walk of a soldier to his death.

She walked calmly towards a small lagoon.

The surface of the lagoon was a beautiful crystalline color that sparkled, but was somehow murky.

The anxiety that crept up my neck told me what was beneath the lagoon's surface was something worse than evil.

I tried to move my legs, but they wouldn't cooperate. My limbs had become dead weights.

I couldn't even feel them, but I knew I was in excruciating pain.

Not just physically, but mentally. The dread flooding my mind was drowning me.

I knew I needed to get her attention. If I could just get her to turn around.

She was just at the edge of the pool, and the dread choked my throat close.

She seemed to walk in slow motion, deliberately taking steps closer to the beast destroying us.

The water was now up to her waist.

Look at me! Stop! Please!

My mind shouted these things in unison as the fog seeped over it again.

Now the water was just above her head. Her hair floating gently above the water.

Only then did she look at me. She rose slowly as she turned and I exuded an inward gasp.

For the chestnut colored eyes that stared back were exact mirrors of my own.