Prologue
She glanced at her daughter who was sitting at the kitchen table working on what she assumed was homework. The woman was preparing dinner, standing at the stove and stirring the concoction she threw together.
"Hey mom, when you get a chance, can you help me with this problem? I don't understand what it's asking," her daughter looked up from her homework, eyebrows drawn together in confusion.
"Yeah, just skip it and finish what you can. We can work on it after dinner," the woman conceded. The girl nodded as she looked back at the notebook in front of her.
Just as the woman turned off the stove, a feeling of dread passed through her body. It felt like a pin prick in the base of her skull as it travelled down and out and ended in her fingers, taking her breath away. She was suddenly dizzy as she crumpled forward to lean against the stove.
"Mom?" her daughter asked, jumping up from her seat and rushing to the stove.
"I'm fine, honey. I just definitely need to eat and get some sleep," her mom chuckled tiredly, waving her daughter away. "Fix your plate. I'm going to the bathroom real quick."
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"I'm fine, Maeve. Hurry and fix your plate so it can cool off," the woman said as she left the kitchen and her daughter.
"Okay, I'll fix yours, too," Maeve shouted, and her mother caught it just as she shut the door to the bathroom.
The woman took her phone out of her pocket to dial a number she wished she had forgotten, but was ingrained in her brain.
"Ah, Evelyn. It's so nice to hear from you-" a deep voice answered, but was quickly interrupted.
"It's started."
No explanations were needed. He knew what she was talking about. The day they feared had come. The Nemeton was awake again.