Begins in the Land in the Clouds, where one of our major characters lives.

PROLOGUE:

The Council's Decision

If an entire world existed below this one, would you want to see it?

It was a bright morning in the Castle; the marble floors and smooth white walls glimmered in the Sun's radiance, but the Sun could not send its ever warming light into the heart of a young female, who nervously stood there, feeling small. She looked for a moment outside the colossal glass windows of the castle, at the breath taking beauty that existed beyond them.

Puffy, pearly clouds floated all around the Castle (for it was in the sky) and the Sun threw a golden blanket of pure light on the clouds. The sky was bluish golden and had faint pinkish undertones where the early morning still lingered. Figures could be seen in some places, gliding gracefully in the serene sky.

This was where she lived – in a heavenly world. It was the world of light and purity. To be beautiful and exquisite and grand was the norm; it was expected.

It was stunning. It was supposed to be.

It was the Land in the Clouds,

The land of angels.

At this moment the young female angel, Aliah, turned her head away from the huge window and focused on what was before her. She was in a vast courtroom, with a ceiling that seemed to reach into space itself. The room was polished and clean, and full of light. She stood alone and unaided in the middle of the room before a whole council of grand beings. They too were angels. They sat in a round half-circle – each one an imposing, mighty force. They all seemed to tower over her like tall statues. Aliah gulped and tried to appear brave and calm in front of these older, wiser, stronger angels.

She was not here as a witness or to give a complaint. She was here because she had done wrong.

The angel in the center of the council spoke first, his voice deep and rumbling like thunder, "Aliah, as you know, you are here today because you were irresponsible. You are here because you approached very close to the earth. Too close." The central angel let his words sink in as they echoed around the vast room. "And as you must know, this is a very serious matter."

"Yes," replied Aliah, looking down.

Another council member spoke now - "And is there any reason to justify this carelessness? To answer for what possessed you to go flying in the middle of the night down to the earth where any human or vampire could have seen you?" Anger was clear in the voice of the angel who accused her.

Aliah lifted her gaze to her addressor's eyes. "Curiousity," she said softly. "I just wanted to see everything that has been down below us forever."

All angels knew that below their shining, beautiful home was another world - a world that was ever changing and evolving, a world that was fast and furious. It was the world of the delicate yet complicated human race and their blood-sucking natural predators – the vampires. They knew the world below them was an intricate and confusing thing. They knew of the rolling hills, vast oceans, dry deserts, majestic mountains, icy tundra, flat plains, and emerald forests that covered it. But to them, life in this world seemed discordant and harsh – a mishmash of all things in the universe, good and bad. It seemed without direction.

But Aliah, despite all these things angels thought of The World Underneath, had secretly wondered about the things that existed below the thick clouds that concealed both worlds from each other. She longed to see for herself what a "tree" looked like, or what "dirt" was. She wondered and wondered until she simply had to see for herself.

She now remembered – with both excitement and regret – the night she couldn't fight the curiosity that tortured her all the time.

She had then plunged down through he clouds. She had known then that she was breaking the one most important rule the angels had - to NEVER fly under the last cloud. She had known – but yet her curiosity drove her to break it.

Unfortunately, she had been caught. That was where everything went wrong.

Aliah looked down once more. "I am truly sorry."

"That is not enough," a council member to her left said. "Punishment must follow recklessness."

Aliah's face showed no reaction, but inside she cringed. Angels very seldom punished- they preferred to settle things in a peaceful way, usually. But this was no usual crime, and there would be no usual punishment.

"Yes, yes. Punishment is necessary," said another council member.

"I agree," added another.

The central angel, his face grim, raised his hand. The whole room fell silent. He said slowly, "We must think about this decision with care. Curiousity is a foe the strongest warrior or the wisest scholar cannot always defeat. How do we know that she won't try to escape again once she is freed from her punishment? When seeking the solution, we must take into account that no matter how much we punish the young angel that stands before us – the curiosity in her will never be broken unless its hunger is sated."

Aliah stood still; silently preparing to accept whatever fate would deal her.

The central angel (who obviously had the most authority) turned to face Aliah. He continued, "My proposal is this – you shall be given what your curiosity craves. You have always wished to see what has been underneath us forever, but where no one has gone for ages. Thus we will send you to The World Underneath. We will send you below the last cloud. You shall see what you have always dreamed of seeing."

Aliah's head jerked up in astonishment and disbelief. She searched the angel's eyes for any sign of deception, but he sat firm and decided. A ripple of discontent spread through the others in the council, but the central angel silenced them once more with his hand.

"You may go now, Aliah," he said. "Prepare to leave at the next full moon."

Two angels from the back of the room had now arrived to escort Aliah out. She made a graceful curtsy despite her confusion and walked away. She felt dazed and she frowned in misunderstanding. Had that just happened?

Once Aliah had left the courtroom, the council members began voicing their disagreements at once.

"Why are we, the Council, completing what that foolish child started?" said one.

"Why is she getting away with this? She broke The Rule!" argued another.

Then, a tall angel stood up from among the others and faced the council member in the center. "Your honor," he said calmly. "We must all agree that punishment is a necessary part in this decision. Punishment accompanies any breaking of the rule. "

"Who said my decision had no punishment involved?" asked the central angel. He looked at all the Council and said, "What you fail to see is that the decision itself is a punishment."

At this, the Council was alive with rebuttal.

"Listen, listen," said the central angel. "Do not think I am blessing or favoring the child. Sending her to The World Underneath is no gift. It is a punishment. She may not know it, but she will learn in time that the world down there is full of pain and suffering. When she comes back here at our call, I assure you, she will not try to go back. She will wish she had never wanted to leave. Such is the world she will be confronting in the next full moon. She will surely learn the lesson we seek to teach her."

"But if The World Underneath is so torturous, she may be hurt, harmed. Even killed," replied the tall angel, "If your words are true, we are being cruel to the child. That was not our intention."

"Do not worry," the central angel said, "I know this well and will make sure of it she is protected."

"By what?"

"One of the most powerful warriors on the earth."

The Council Members were perplexed, yet they nodded in agreement. Though they did not know the central angel's entire plan, they did not question it – for they knew that he answered only to two things: law and fate. And as far as they knew, he was working to fulfill them both. Perhaps he had known it was written for Aliah to go down to The World Underneath. Perhaps her destiny was there, on earth. They knew not and questioned not. The meeting was now over.

Thus Aliah wound soon descend into our world – and thus begins our story…