Prologue
It was over.
He had known from the moment the life of his family had been threatened.
And now, as he lay dying in a hospital bed he certainly knew he didn't deserve, a deep sigh escaped him--taking with it a final breath, a final wish. . . the last of a series of heartbeats he had taken to counting whenever he couldn't stand the silence of the room. The steel of his gaze had long ago melted like the snow outside. Had instead become clear, gray, sapped of will and reflecting the storm brewing on the clouds outside his windowless existence.
His hand barely twitched.
No one would be there to care anyway.
She sat on her bed, her hands trembling. No matter what she did, it would never be enough. He would always be there in the shadows, waiting. She lifted her head, tears falling down her ashen cheeks as she closed her eyes, willing it all to go away. It had been a long time since she couldn't bear the tears, all coming back in one reflective blow of a dream in the suffocating darkness of her room.
What would it take to get rid of him? What would it take to rid this world of it. . . of her pain?
She was sick of fighting. She was tired, broken, and her soul shattered beyond repair. It was a wonder she continued breathing. She was beginning to lose faith in this world, in what it held that was so special.
Was this love she fought for really worth it? Were their bonds really worth protecting? With so much pollution, pain, and degrading acts smothering the light of the sun, it was hard to fly. She had been hurt countless times by them. Deep within her, pride screamed her injustice. The voices, her other pieces fought, the battle echoing in her skull, reverberating in such a way that shook her to the core and made her jaw clench.
They had tortured her, taunted her, shown her things that broke her from the inside out. They had taken her dignity, crushed her spirit, and killed her slowly. What she could have been was something that was best left to the shadows that were forcefully ignored.
Grief shook with a wailing scream, crying her loss of time.
And as this thought reached her mind, Raven sank into the deep softness of her pillows, simply listening. All the voices a mutated chorus of cries and debate, of fierceness and a passion for the light or the night.
Nonetheless, there was something they all came to once again agree on, once they had all but spent their energy to get her attention.
What would happen was unknown. When he would get a hold of her, they weren't sure.
But no matter what she did, the path she took would lead all towards the destiny of their world.