PROLOGUE
There is weakness gnawing its way into my bones, my heart and my mind, but I can endure it all to save my little one.
I feel weary and anguished, lost that I am in the city of unknown.
Unknown? No, This place was once my home. How could I forget? Have I become in adept? I need to be sharp; for, I have a daughter to be saved.
Stumbling as I wander through the endless streets that meander through the city, I am caged in a haze that has me dazed.
Where am I? What have I done?
No! I have it wrong!
What have they done? What has he done- to me?
I am coming undone.
My soles bleed, but my soul bleeds the hardest.
I need to run, I need to save her!
"Give up, give up, you have nowhere to escape", mocks a cruel voice.
"NO!", I scream, I will save her-even if it's the last thing I do.
The darkness unfurls as shadows twirl;
dancing around me-they grasp- for me,
obscuring me from this world,
Guiding me to the place I sought.
And then,
Joy is what I feel when I see the golden gates of relief. There hidden within the mists is the place of her refuge and so, I leave her within its sanctuary.
She squirms in her basket of seaweed that was woven for luck. Her little palms hold a scroll that would perhaps, one day unravel her mystery.
I kiss her even as misery wreaks havoc in my soul.
"I love you my dearest, may the stars shine their holy light upon you, may the shadows forever protect you and may the fates always favour you," I whisper.
I run towards freedom, shredding the last bits of my sanity, breaking the tether that anchors me to this world. I embrace death as it waits for me with its arms wide open and welcoming me.
Thus, I bid her my adieu.
