Prologue
a few years prior
The Da’hems came at the fall of night.
The boy sat with a book by candlelight, even though his mother had just put him to bed. The thunderstorm outside the window wouldn’t let him rest.
The rush of rain against the windows was deceptively calm, only now and then torn apart by a flash of lightning.
Suddenly, screams swelled, followed by hurried footsteps on wooden floors.
He snapped the book shut and crept to the door, opening it only a crack to peer outside. No one was visible in the corridor, and the kitchen was empty as well when he entered it moments later.
“Mother?” He moved quietly ahead to open the door leading to the castle courtyard. As the only child living in the servants’ quarters, he knew the place inside and out.
The rain was so heavy that the courtyard was already flooded. Countless puddles had formed, stretching like dark pools across the gravel.
His gaze drifted toward the gate, where two guards normally patrolled. Except they weren’t.
He leaned his head outside, stepped a little into the rain, not noticing that his bare feet sank into the wet ground. The air was filled with panicked screams. They seemed to ripple through the entire city. Goosebumps rose along his arms.
In the distance, a massive, hairy body appeared. It had the build of a wolf—but far, far larger. The boy immediately bolted back into the kitchen and slammed the door shut behind him.
He ran to his room, yanked open the wardrobe, and pressed himself beneath the clothes. He didn’t dare breathe as he waited, listening to every sound. Any moment now, he expected the wood to be torn apart and the monster to come for him. Just like in the book he had been reading.
But nothing happened.
He didn’t know how long he had stayed there before he finally opened the door again and crept back out.
This time, his curiosity sent him down a different path. It led him up the stairs and out of the servants’ quarters, straight into the castle.
But the entrance hall lay in ghostly silence as well. No servants rushing about. Not even the castle guards stood at the main door.
An icy hand closed around his chest. Where are all the people normally walking arount? And where was his mother?
“Hello?” The only sound answering him was a distant whimper. Was that her?
With his heart pounding, he climbed the stairs. They led toward the chambers of the ruling couple. Why would his mother be there?
Even as he hurried up the steps, the entrance door crashed open. He spun around and just caught sight of two black, shaggy creatures bursting into the entrance hall. They looked around, glanced at each other, then scattered in different directions.
Panic drove him up the last steps. The wood creaked beneath his feet, but he couldn’t afford to worry about that now. He followed the whimpering down a corridor that seemed endless, leading straight to the rulers’ bedroom.
He didn’t think about it. With clammy hands, he tore open the door to the room and slipped inside.
The sight made him freeze on the spot.
A man of inhuman size snapped his head toward him and fixed him with eyes full of hatred.
In his outstretched fist, he held the king by the collar. The queen sat on the bed, trembling and whimpering, while a shaggy, furred monster kept her pinned in place.
“Get out of here, boy!” the man thundered, then turned back to the king.
The child didn’t move, watching the scene unfold without heeding the dark man’s command. In his grip, the king looked like a small toy.
“I’ll repeat the question, King of Crudelis,” he shoved the man back against the wall until his feet left the floor, “where is my wife?”
“What are you talking about?” the king gasped, close to suffocating as the man’s grip tightened around his throat.
“We harbor no Da’hems,” the queen cried out and was immediately answered by a harsh snarl from the monster beside her.
“Kill her,” the giant man said, and the wolf snapped its jaws at her.
The boy tore his hands up to his eyes, stifling the scream that wanted to escape. He was still pressed against the door, unable to simply turn around and flee the way he had come.
The queen screamed, the king shouted a hoarse “No!”
Then silence filled the room.
It took a long moment before the boy dared to open his eyes again. His heart pounded so hard it felt as though it might burst from his chest.
The queen was not dead; the wolf merely bared its teeth inches from her face.
“Where have you taken my wife?” the man repeated, jerking his arm to emphasize the question. “Where is she?”
"Not here.” The king’s eyes flicked to his queen, then back to his captor. He swallowed hard before speaking again. “We never threatened Faelan, High Lord. We never attacked you. Please spare our city.”
“It’s too late for that, King,” the man growled. “My. Wife.”
The wolf opened its jaws, releasing a sound that seemed to rise from deep within its chest.
“They took her away,” the king finally blurted out. “As far as I know, she’s on her way to the Citadel.”
The man’s shoulders began to shake.
Slowly, the boy edged along the door, trying to open it as quietly as possible.
Just as he was about to slip through, the man vanished before his eyes and transformed into a monster like the one beside the bed—only far larger than the other .
In the next second, the boy was out of the room, running down the corridor. Behind him came the horrifying sound of tearing cloth and screams of endless agony, before everything fell silent.
His vision blurred, tears streaming down his face. He couldn’t stop them. He ran as fast as his legs would carry him. On the stairs, he stumbled, tumbled down several steps, and only managed to get back up with a groan.
As he rounded a corner at the bottom, he crashed into wet fur. He was thrown backward, his head slamming against the tiled floor.
Then the world dissolved into black.
