Prologue: Maeve's Sorrow

I watch the sky. My people, the Rsh, scan the forest that surrounds us, dark and unfamiliar as Ecl. But my attention is not on the possible dangers of the land, but on something that troubles me about the sky. The sun seems to be missing a piece of itself. I feel a tiny brush of something against my skin, a small tendril of magic that was now part of my being.

But that is nothing compared to what happens next.

The sky goes dark and I feel my magic erupt. The feather-soft touch becomes a blaze of fire with a chill of ice, it burns, chills, and cuts into my skin and from around me I know my people are feeling the same pain. The other Rsh whimper as the magic goes wild as the eclipse gains more power, the sun is almost gone. Slowly the pain fades away but I feel different and looking around I notice those differences. The other Rsh now have pale skin and their hair is white-blonde. I know that my features are now the same. We have became much like our animal form, the gift that Leben have given to gain my favor. But I can sense the balance is ready to be shattered.

And then the sky went completely and utterly black.

And chaos reigned.

Maeve, Former High Priestess of the Dasi.