Skye Larkin (prologue)

Prologue: The Beginning          


       
    The day wrapped itself around the inhabitants of REM and squeezed. It smothered

everyone in its blistering heat. Listless branches hung to the ground too tired to dance

in the breeze. Flowers drooped their heads and prayed for rain. Even the wind

was exhausted.  Too worn out to even cool the heat, it just pushed the hot air around. It

was the kind of day in which one should sit directly in front of a fan, or better yet an air

conditioner. A day meant for books and some ice cold lemonade. Definitely not a

day for strenuous activity. Most definitely not a day for running, unless of course you

wished to pass out from heat exertion.

        Had someone happened to look out their window, they would have been

surprised to see someone running. If it had been Your mom, she would have tisked. She

would have stated that someone had ought to know better. Your mother would have

wondered where that poor child's mommy was, and she would have yelled after the

girl to stop!

        The girl ran but she was tired and hot. Sweat matted her curls down, and the effort

had made her cheeks red. Her breath came out in rasping gasps. She had come such a

long way already, at a pace that suggested her life depended on it. It very well did. The

Torments were fast approaching.

        They ran after her never tiring or ceasing, long hairy ears flopping in the wind. She   

was surprised how fast they ran, their hairy feet never seeming to touch the
ground.  Sure, they were only about twenty inches high, and she towered over

them,  but she knew they were ruthless. Once set loose they would not stop till they had

their prey.

        Reluctantly, she stopped and leaned up against a solid oak to catch her breath. The

sound of nearby twigs snapping urged her forward, so she brushed the sweaty curls

from her brow and continued to run.  The Torments were gaining. All they could

think of was the girl, and they raced after her, never losing her from their sight. She

could feel their yellow eyes boring into her back. So she ran faster. She knew if they

touched her, the mental anguish they would put her in was more than she could bear.

Sweat poured down her temples, and her side ached and begged her to stop but still she

ran. She had to. She had stolen the First Book and there was no turning back now.  The

book clutched to her chest didn’t look like anything special. It was tattered and bound

in age mottled leather but still she clutched it like it  was precious. 

        Ahead of her loomed the Formidable Forest, the most dangerous place in

REM. The trees reached toward her with their gnarled branches like fingers beckoning

her to enter. Leaves rustled and crunched under the feet of the animals who ran from

the approaching danger. Their warning calls rang through the forest. The girl ran in

without a seconds thought. She had to get away from the Torments. A safe haven

for the book must be found. In her haste she never noticed the glowing. She just ran

right through the yellow and green swirling vortex that had suddenly opened ahead of

her. If she had seen it, she probably would’ve gone around it to some other adventure,

but that would be a different story.

      She noticed she was suddenly alone. Nausea rumbled in her belly as the whirlwind

tossed and turned her about. Then her heart painfully flip flopped as she came

plummeting down.