𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐲𝐛𝐢𝐥 𝐖𝐢𝐭𝐜𝐡.

“Beware ro nalkriuk lat trust... (Beware of who you trust)”, he uttered while standing by the bank of the deepwater river as I stood five feet apart from him looking at his actions with caution. Blood oozed out of his left rib as I looked at it with worry. Trying to touch him I found myself not being able to expect one brief second.

“Who are you?“, I asked when suddenly, within a fraction of a second something pushed him down to the river, as I shouted in fear as he collided with the water. Drowning, he looked scared and helpless as he struck his hands around to find some support that might pull him out. He looked at me dead into the eyes as I stood there, by the bank, watching...unable to move neither a muscle nor a limb. My consciousness screamed at me to run and save the man’s life but nothing happened. No matter how hard I tried, it’s like some force was stopping me from intruding, whispering into my ears,

“Enemies. Waiting ve strike... (Enemies. Waiting to strike...)”, its serpent-like accent making goosebumps rise on my skin as I shivered in fear.

Tears made their way down my eyes as I sniffled uncontrollably, shouting for help as I forwarded my hand in an attempt to reach the man who smiled at me sadly,

“HELP!!!!!!!!!!!“, I shouted again, my sobs more erratic as I fell to the ground and pushed my hand as much as I can towards him.

“Somebody please...help...“, my throat burned from the constant shouting as the man spluttered water, his constant attempts at keeping his head above water as he somehow grasped onto my hands timidly as I looked at him with hope. Somehow managing to keep his head on the surface he breathed,

“Let der princess, my ekko tor service Ku over. Ka lat must shok... they need lat atigat... (Let go, Princess, my time for service is over. But you must live... they need you there...)”, he coughed some more water out as blood flowed along with it. My eyes widened as I somehow understood his language, but why was he speaking in this language? My mind asked as I shook it off and whispered confusedly,

“Nalkriuk needs alnej?... Nalkramal? Nalkra ayh lat talking about? (Who needs me?... Where? What are you talking about?)“, hopelessness strung through my voice as I replied in the language that I identified to be Orchish... the elvish language. His hand started slipping as I struggled to grip onto it harder,

“No no no no no...don’t let go... let me help you.“, I cried as I tried to pull him to the shore but something held him back as he looked down for a brief moment and looked up at me with a knowing smile,

“Your kindness and bravery can not be measured, my Princess...take care of my son...Odyss calls for you...“, my eyes squinted as I breathlessly replied,

“Odyss?...Wha..NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!“, I shouted as he pried my hand off his before subduing to the strong currents as agony seeped through me. His face slowly bobbled down the surface as I wailed silently. He held up his right hand into the air as he made the motion of pushing someone or something forward as I started feeling dizzy. My tear-dazzled eyes looking around at my surrounding as I clutched my head when a pain soared up through as darkness enveloped me all around.

* No One’s POV *

“Odyss...Enemies...his son...Waiting for me...“, Sitting beside her daughter, Ivy Mille, caressed her daughter’s platinum blonde hair as worry gripped her heart quite hard. It was an hour past midnight as she and her husband slept peacefully in the room down a hall from the corridor when they woke up to her daughter’s screams. She was shouting for help when Ivy rushed up to her and took her in her embrace, shaking her to wake up but nothing worked. Tears streamed down Fiona’s fair skin as Ivy brushed them apart as she slowly started calming down,

“Honey, wake up!“, Ivy shook her daughter gently as Fiona slowly opened her beautiful grey eyes, the ones that swirled with so many mysteries, the ones that managed to encapture everyone. Sighing in relief, Ivy grabbed the glass of water on the bedside table with her nimble fingers as she handed it to her daughter who gulped the content in one go.

“Slow down child...“, Ivy gushed as she rubbed off the drizzles of water flowing down Fiona’s chin with the hem of her scarf. Looking at her mother in a distraught manner, Fiona gripped Ivy’s upper arm in fear as she snapped her head right and left to check her surroundings when a fresh set of tears suddenly spilled out of her eyes. A heartbreaking wail flew past Fiona’s lips as she hugged her mother across the torso, shook to the core as she cried,

“I...I watched him die! I..I...I saw him drown..drown yet I did nothing...“, Ivy looked at her with a worried look on her face as she cupped her daughter’s cheeks and looked into her eyes before speaking determinedly,

“It was a nightmare, my child... you did nothing...nothing bad happened.“, Fiona shook her head in negative as she removed Ivy’s hands from her chin before sitting up and replying,

“No..no..no...“, she looked right and left as she shook her head in no before looking at her mother and continued,

“I felt it..“, she kept a hand on her chest, “It felt so... real.. it was like if I had extended my hand further and held him tighter..he would have been alive...I felt his touch mother...“, she expressed, her hair ruffled into a bird’s nest as she gripped onto them before making a frustrated face,

“I let him die...“, she whispered as Ivy sighed before saying,

“Look at me, Fiona...“, her demanding voice had Fiona look into her mother’s eye as Ivy continued,

“It was a nightmare Baby...nothing happened, you were here... in your bed sleeping when you dreamt this...“, Ivy’s tone softened towards the end as she pecked Fiona’s forehead and repeated,

“Nothing bad happened, you didn’t let anyone die...“, somewhat calmed, Fiona took in a deep breath, the damp tears almost stained her cheek as she rubbed them off before replying in a heavy voice,

“This person that I dreamt about... asked me to travel to someplace...“, Ivy smiled at her daughter sadly as she asked gently while brushing her fingers through Fiona’s hair,

“And which place is that Fiona?“, with a determined look in her eyes, Fiona stared directly into the eyes of her mother before replying,

“Odyss...”

Heya readers... I hope all of you enjoyed the prologue, I wanted to keep it mysterious and interesting although I don’t how much I succeeded in doing that, anyway,

Do vote and comment to keep me encouraged and motivated.

Love,

sriiijjaannii.