Prologue
Two figures cloaked in black emerged into a moonlit clearing and regarded each other silently. Around them, the night was peaceful and undisturbed, the silence broken only by the occasional wind swaying the forest trees. A shaft of moonlight shone down into the clearing, illuminating the two figures. The thinner figure moved first, slowly lowering the black hood.
"Arianna, my friend.” the man spoke in a hoarse voice. His milky white eyes drank in the figure standing before him, his sagging skin lifting slightly as he gave a yellow toothed smile. The old man’s back was bent with age, and every inch of his thin face was etched with deep lines. “It’s been too long.”
A woman’s voice rang out, high and uncertain. She had not yet lowered her hood. “Don’t play games with me, Zacharias.” she said. “Why have you called me here?”
“My dear friend, you know why I have called you here. Why so little trust?”
“You cannot be the Keeper! This is a plot! A decoy!”
“I can sincerely promise you, my dear, that this is no decoy.”
Arianna flinched slightly as his milky eyes bored into her hooded face. Regaining her confidence, she finally said, “Then why all the secrecy?”
“Precautions are necessary in a plan as delicate as this, my dear. Now, would you please remove your hood so we can get on to the matters at hand?”
Arianna hesitated for a long moment, and then slowly began to lower her hood.
Her pale, heart shaped face was framed by a curtain of silky black hair that fell down past her shoulders. She had dark, ocean blue eyes and full lips, and every movement she made was as if she was performing a graceful dance. She had perfect white teeth, and her voice was music to the ears. Arianna was perfection in every way, breath taking to all who saw her. She radiated such beauty that she simply couldn’t be mortal.
Zacharias smiled at her. “Perfection, my dear. Now, I presume you have the package?”
Arianna paused. “I… well, not – not exactly.”
Zaharias stiffened. “I beg your pardon?” he asked, his voice icy. “Do you realise that without that package, our plan cannot proceed? That the centuries of planning, will all have been for nothing?”
“Yes, of course, but-” she began.
“The date is drawing closer, Arianna!” he hissed. He seemed to be growing taller in his rage. “How on earth did you fail to retrieve it?”
“He was expecting me, Zacharias. He attempted to protect the parcel. We went into battle.”
“And you lost, allowing him to escape with the parcel.”
Arianna snarled indignantly, her lip curling. “I did no such thing,” she hissed. “The object that we are seeking has ways of protecting itself.”
Zacharias took a sharp intake of breath. “What happened?”
“We were in battle, and then there was a sudden flash of blinding light. Then everything went pitch black, even the stars. When light returned, the parcel had vanished. I slit the protector’s throat, made sure that the parcel was nowhere to be found, and departed.”
“Ah.” said Zacharias softly. “The oldest legend come true. It has transported itself in the face of danger.”
Arianna gasped. “Where to?” she breathed.
“Who knows? Our parcel could be anywhere in the world now. All I know,” he said, his voice becoming more threatening with every syllable, “is that you had better deliver the parcel to me before the month of May is out, my dear, or I will make it my personal mission to have the pleasure of destroying you.”
Arianna swallowed, her beautiful face troubled. “Yes. Yes, of course. I shall not fail my duty as Seeker twice.”
“I certainly hope not. It would be such a nuisance to have to destroy you, dear.” said Zacharias softly. “I shall see you soon. Do not disappoint me.” and with a swish of his cloak, he was gone, leaving Arianna alone in the clearing. With an anxious glance around her, she raised her hood and glided gracefully from the clearing.
