ShadowMist #1

Prologue

The memory of being torn from my mother’s arms still haunts my thoughts to this day; her screams echoing through our small cabin replay endlessly in my mind.

This place, which I called home for the last eighteen years of my life, was barely standing and needed extensive repairs that we could not afford. But it was our home.

My mother cried out with everything she had. “NO, PLEASE!”

“By order of the king, any girl who is eighteen and meets above-average health standards is to attend the academy for training.” The short, round guard drawled on, leaning against the kitchen wall, he rolled his eyes as if this was all a bore to him.

He took a bite from an apple that he had stolen from the kitchen counter and turned away, motioning for the other guards to follow.

Tears were streaming down my mother’s face as the tallest of the guards held her back from reaching me. Two other guards were holding each of my arms so tightly that I was sure I would have bruises in the morning. They yanked me away from her, moving us closer to the doorway.

“Ashwood, Avyn.” The bored guard muttered through a half-chewed mouthful of apple as he checked my name off his list. A name on a list, it was that simple. My entire life was about to change, just because I was a name on a list.

“Didn’t your mother ever tell you not to talk with your mouth full?” I spat at him in disgust.

The skinny guard on my right let out a snort but caught himself and hid his smile when the apple-stealing guard shot him a glare that said, ‘don’t.

’ His gaze fixed on me, taking three steps closer; his breath reeked of day-old wine.

Narrowing his eyes as he took another bite of the apple, an evil smile crept across his lips as he chewed.

“Careful, girl.” A final warning.

My heart was racing, and it felt like it would explode from my chest at any second. The guards tugged on my arms, tightening their grip as we moved closer to the door. We stopped suddenly when it slammed shut, and jagged splinters of wood exploded from the door frame.

The bored guard covered his eyes with his arm, “Bloody wind!” he said, jerking the door open, managing to tear it from one of its hinges.

I took one look back at my mother, who was now in pieces on the floor, tears streaming from her eyes as she tried to catch her breath.

A tug on my arm signaled that the guards wanted to continue.

Inside my mind, I was silently screaming, wrapped in panic, wishing there was some way that I could change what was about to happen, but I had to stay strong, so my mother didn’t see the fear that was radiating through my entire body.

Once I walked through that door, my life would never be the same.

I would never see my mother, my home, or my village again. Everything was about to change.