• Prologue
    “Now sit still! Or it’s going to pull.” A little girl stilled as her father sat on the edge of the bed, brushing through her silvery hair. Another daughter was pulling on his arm trying to get his attention. ”Hurry up daddy! I want you to brush my hair too!” Her bright blue eyes were pleading with him, as he softly chuckled to himself, ever the impatient one, his little Sadie.
    “Wait a few more moments, hon. Almost done.” He gave the brush a few more pulls. “There. Now I guess it’s your turn isn’t it,” Sadie jumped off of the other bed and landed right next to Josiah, turning to let him brush hers too. One of the few things she sat still for.
    “How about a story while I finish?” he asked. The reply was a resounding yes. “Now I think its Lenni’s turn to pick the story. What do you want to hear?” He turned to see Lenni’s face, still brushing Sadie’s hair, as she pondered her choice. He could almost see the little gears working inside her head as she finally reached her conclusion.
    “I want to hear a fairy tale, with princes and beautiful maidens and evil witches,” she finally said, predictably. Fantastical tales were an old favorite of hers.
    “Good choice. Climb into bed, while I go get the book.” Josiah walked over to the bookcase and picked up a storybook from the shelf. Returning, he grabbed a chair from by the wall and began to read. Within minutes, both of his twin daughters were sleeping peacefully.
    Lenni was leaning on the window sill, staring out into the castle yard as her knight in shining armor waved to her from his beautiful white charger. He caught the red rose she threw him with a mail covered hand. Raising his visor to reveal sunshine hair and bright, blue eyes, he called to her, begging her to come down. Lenni ran from the window, through the halls and into the courtyard, but instead of her gallant knight, she was tottering on the edge of a cliff. Day was turned into night and she could see two figures at the bottom of the steep rock face. A young man was cornered by a cloaked figure, his clothing stained and his silver hair flying about. She couldn’t hear what was being said, noise of battle was all around. Lenni heard a high, cackling laugh, coming from the young man’s foe, who she now realized was a woman. She bore a bejeweled sword in her right hand. The woman slowly walked towards the young man, as the girl watched. He did not flinch, but stood tall, a look of determination in his eyes.
    A malevolent smile spread across the woman’s face. The two were staring eye to eye, neither giving an inch. Lenni saw the sword being raised through the air. “No!!” she cried, trying to warn the warrior, but he couldn’t hear her. The sorceress had the sword in both hands, over her head, prepared for the final strike. The man cried out, raising his right hand. The sword vanished from the woman’s hands, throwing her off balance. The weapon had appeared in the warrior’s hand, and he was plunging the blade into her.
    A terrible scream rang throughout the dark night. It shook the surrounding cliff, loosening the stones. A dark cloud surrounded the scene below, snaking up to the sky. Lenni saw the faintest traces of a face in it before it slammed into the mountain, causing it to crumble under Lenni’s feet. She screamed with all her might, hoping that the brave warrior would at least hear her warning to get away. She was falling, about to crash in to the bottom.
    Lenni woke up in a cold sweat. Her heart was pounding, still reeling from her dream. But had it been a dream? It had been so real. There had been a young man, so brave and strong, about to be crushed by a rockslide. And a woman. Who had she been? She had been very beautiful, but Lenni couldn’t help but remember a sense of darkness around her, evilness. Lenni lay back down in bed, thoughts racing through her mind, but soon she fell back asleep, waking the next morning with nothing but the new day on her mind.