Chapter One: The Shard in the Dunes

For as long as he could remember, Felix was always one to lag behind, never the first to volunteer or the first to offer his opinion on any matter. For this reason he often blended into the background, which was the way he liked it.

Whenever the fair came to Truce, whenever the magicians or acrobats arrived from far and wide to perform for the people of their small village, the young boy stayed at the back of the crowd, watching from afar and usually clutching his mother's arm.

The same shyness overtook him even when spending time with his favorite person in the world - his older brother Claudius. Felix and Claudius - their mother had a liking for old-fashioned names, and this often drew laughter and ridicule from the other village children. Felix was often picked on because of this, but no one dared to breach the topic when Claudius was around as well. Claudius emanated something like a mixture of charm and brash confidence to whomever he met. For a boy of only twelve years, this was an impressive feat of character. Felix would sit awestruck at his brother's side as Claudius told ghost stories around a campfire to the younger children of Truce, and he would stand by and watch as his older sibling took up a sword and practiced with their father in the woods nearby. It wasn't that Felix wished he could be like that someday - quite the opposite. He wanted something different from life, though he couldn't say at that point what it was. Still, spending time with his brother, learning from him - this imbued him with a type of courage that made him believe he would be able to do anything one day.

It was sunny the day that the two boys decided to head to the dunes to play. They loved to pick through the different items that had washed up on shore to see if there was anything they could take back to sell in the village market - tourists loved stuff like that, Claudius had told his brother. Felix tagged along behind Claudius as always, letting him lead the way through the undulating hills of sand. When he tripped and slid down one particularly large hill, Claudius helped him up with a bit of a patronizing smile tugging at his lips.

"Come on, squirt. Race you to the valley between those two dunes over there." Claudius signaled the finishing line for the impromptu race to his younger brother. Felix shook his head violently, not wanting to fall again.

"I'm not going to be able to beat you anyway, Claude. What's the point?"

"Just try," said Claudius, laughing. "You're always so quick to give in. Would it hurt to just give it your all for once?"

"I guess not," said Felix timidly. He stood up a little taller, puffing out his chest a bit. "Alright, let's go."

"That's it! Now, we start here..." Claudius said, drawing a line in the sand with the toe of his boot. He got into a runner's stance behind it, and Felix followed suit. "When I get to three, we go, alright? One...two...three!"

Claudius shot off like a rocket, and to his surprise, Felix wasn't as far behind as he thought he would be. He scrambled to keep up with his brother, realizing it would eventually be futile. Still, he was shocked to discover that he was actually having fun challenging his brother in such a way, even though they both knew deep down that Claudius' longer legs and athletic build would give him an insurmountable advantage. Before he knew it, Claudius had skidded to a stop between the dunes, with Felix coming in a respectable second place.

Felix bent over to catch his breath, only to see that Claudius too had bent down to look at something. Felix followed his gaze to what looked like a sharp shard of rock half-buried in the sand of the dune to their left. It glowed with a dim red light, and Claudius reached out to touch it.

"What d'you suppose this thing is, Felix?" Upon picking up the shard, Claudius held it up to eye-level in order to better inspect its features. It was actually quite large, and much sharper than a normal shard of rock would be. The part that had been buried in the sand bristled with needle-like appendages that looked like they would be harmful to the touch. Nonetheless, Claudius handled the object deftly, turning it over between his hands.

"I have no idea, but maybe we should put it back," said Felix quickly, not sure why he was getting a bad feeling about the object. Maybe it was the strange glow it emitted, which seemed to be getting stronger as he watched...

"Why? We could probably sell this in the market," said Claudius with a cheeky grin. "Could tell people it's a rare artifact from long-gone times..."

"I don't know..."

"Well, at any rate, it won't hurt to just take it back and have someone appraise it," said Claudius in a rush. He chuckled. At that moment, he gripped the shard tightly with both hands, and several things seemed to happen at once.

Claudius let out a howl that sounded like he was being scalded with boiling water, and the shard flashed a blinding red. Felix covered his eyes with his hands as he was thrown backwards from a wave of energy that seemed to rocket from the shard. Claudius, however, stayed perfectly in place. Before he even had time to scream, Felix watched as a strange swirling vortex spun into existence underneath Claudius, sucking him in with an unearthly, guttural accompaniment. Just like that, his brother had disappeared. Nor was there any sign of the red shard. Felix opened his mouth, but he could barely breathe, much less make any sort of sound that could be heard.

He did start, however, when something clasped his shoulder from behind. Felix whipped his head around to see that a pale, ghostly thin hand was grasping him, and that the hand was connected to a tall figure in a swirling purple cloak. Long violet hair cascaded from underneath the hood of the garment, while the eyes remained hidden from view. Felix was too stunned to do anything, and he was afraid he would faint if he made any sudden movements.

"Come with me," said the figure, and another vortex swirled out of nowhere, seemingly at his command. Felix stared dumbly and let himself be pulled into the blackness.

Next Chapter: The Prophet in the Shadows. Dun dun dunnn.