Chapter 1 _ 1
1326 BC. Somewhere above the leaden skies of Crete, a man with waxen wings plummeted unwillingly like a shooting star. He pierced through the dense clouds, creating a wide ring of clarity. The cold wind blew the fire off his injured carcass, while molting his melted feathers to smithereens of dusty ashes, leaving a feeble trail of black. The man looked downwards at the trembling sea. He used both arms as a shield before slamming onto the surface. He tensed, bracing for impact, but he felt nothing! Perplexed, he opened his eyes to find himself floating one foot above a slimy mirror. He gazed at his wavy reflection disappear as the slime sank inside the water, thus, a shade of a whale-size snake overwhelmed his sight,
“Shit, please don’t be a Leenash,” ghastly, he whispered while trying to free his legs from an invisible clutch. The sea monster showed half of its body out, and it was what he assumed, a Leenash; a sea snake with a skin of human heads, toothless, but his split tongue of two headless mermen can crush any meal in its behalf. Jaw stretched, the monster sprinted ahead for a bite, but a golden arrow pinned his mouth shut, followed by a majestic shield maiden with wings of fire; standing between the monster and its prey. While gazing at the golden warrior, the man heard a crack behind him! He turned around to see the space crashing like thin glass, opening a dark window. An echoic growling stupefied all three. The shield maiden turned around slowly, bug-eyed, thus screamed bellicosely while shooting dozens of arrows that dissolved before reaching the window, and when she stopped, a giant hand of black smoke snatched the man inside the darkness!
“You thief - - you DAMN beast,” she raged while her entire body turned into blazing flames, vaporising the water below, even the sea monster fled her fury.
The wounded man was teleported far away. He couldn’t perceive the weight of his cadaver or the motion of his limbs, only a mixture of warmth and chill wrapping his skin. He roamed in his thoughts; thoughts he started losing:
’Who was she? Wait! Who was who? I remember falling but how? Where?’
He curved into a foetal position while spinning slowly inside a silver bubble of slime, driving him towards a faint light as he bared one dark thought in mind:
’Ah yes - - I’m dead - - this must be it’
Moments after, he sensed his weak body squeezing out of a liquid embrace, then gently landed on a solid ground.
