Rhapsodia Chronicles: Prologue (REVISED!)

The golden light vanished, snuffed out in an instant. The doors exploded inward. The sound was something she had never heard before. Time ground to a halt, yet everything moved too fast to catch.

“Regis…!” Her mother’s voice broke on his name. It didn’t sound like her mother at all.

“Run, Kyllene!” her father barked, his voice a booming command. “Take her to the Cradle! Now!”

A violent tug jerked her arm. Her mother, usually so gentle — snatched her hand and hauled her from the divan. The marble floor bit into Resha’s skin, her bare feet skidding along. The silken nightgown she wore was useless against the sudden, bleeding cold.

Her mother lunged for the bookshelf, her palm striking the hidden mechanism. The wall answered, groaning as it began to turn.

“Mama, wait! Papa is still –” she screamed, wrenching a look back, desperate to find her father.

But only his silhouette remained. The dust and shadows swallowed him. A pair of red, glowing eyes — hollow, seething and deadly — cut through the haze and found her. 

Terror drove straight through her like a blade.

“Do not look back, Resha!” her mother rasped, her voice strained and breathless, pulling her close. 

Away from that gaze. 

“Keep your eyes forward!”

Then, the postern swung wide. The darkness exhaled.

She felt her mother’s grip tighten. They plunged in without hesitation, the stone door grinding shut behind them. But one sound chased them into the deep: the shriek of her father’s steel striking something merciless and unbreakable. It tolled down the stairs like a funeral bell — the last sound of Resha’s old life.

They sprinted through the villa’s hidden arteries. The torches and the azure-gold tapestries of the Arcadian emblem blurred into frantic streaks. The sweet air now tasted of ash. Every few steps, Resha glanced over her shoulder, praying to see her father emerge from the shadows.

But only the darkness followed.

Her mother’s command lingered like a phantom weight on her shoulders.

Keep your eyes forward.

♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢ ♢

The arteries spat them out into the night. 

The forest would have swallowed them whole. But the Silverblooms were there — burning like ghost-lights in the dark. Their blue glow lit the ground ahead, pointing the way. The sight of them made Resha’s chest ache. She had run through these same grounds laughing, her father chasing behind, her mother calling after them both. 

Now the same flowers lit their flight.

A sudden gust swept through the trees, carrying the scent of smoke. Behind them, the villa burned. Resha felt the hot sting of tears, but she swallowed them down.

They continued to run. The Silverblooms led them to a dark crack in the rock. Cold air breathed out of it. 

Like something was alive inside. Waiting.

Then her mother coughed. 

Resha looked up. “Mama?”

Her mother pulled a hand down before smiling weakly. “Just a little further, my love…” Then she pulled her forward into the cavern.

The wind followed them in. It felt wrong.

The path plunged steep and uneven, the walls narrowing around them. The Silverblooms still clung to the rock face — pale, their blue glow the only light. Yet with every step deeper, their light started to thin. 

The dark felt like it was closing in.

But they kept going. 

Then the Silverblooms were gone. 

She felt her mother’s hand leave hers for a moment. A faint glow pulsed from her chest, and a tiny, golden orb jumped into the air, lighting their way.

Soon, the path opened up, leading deeper into a chamber.

The darkness looming above them was so deep that even with the glowing orb, she could barely see the ceiling. The pillars were massive — bigger than any tree she had ever seen. Her mother’s footsteps echoed, and so did hers, and the sound didn’t stop for a while.

They stopped in front of a dais, where silence followed. 

Then her mother pressed her palm forward, her eyes snapping shut. Golden lights erupted from her skin, spinning into ribbons that swirled around her in a frantic dance.

“Mama?” her voice came out small. 

Her mother didn’t answer. 

“Mama, what is happening?”

The golden lights flickered, and she saw her mother stumble. She rushed forward, catching her weight. 

“Mama…—!”

The light and warmth evaporated. She held her mother close, but something had changed. An unnatural frost crept over her mother’s skin, turning it mottled and papery. The healthy glow turned into a deathly, grey translucence. 

“Resha, my love…” her mother whispered, cupping a hand on her face. “To wield the Arcana… is a gift. It allows us to protect… to heal… to change the world…”

A hollow hum began to ring through the chamber, vibrating in the marrow of Resha’s bones. It felt as if something was moving from within. 

“But even if… the light casts… a shadow…” 

A golden barrier began to shimmer around them. An intricate insignia that looked like a woven sun and moon formed on the floor. 

“Even if it grows…. To consume… every time we wield the power… ” 

Orbs of light drifted upward like drowning stars, and a faint glow flickered on her mother’s chest.

“A shadow?”

“Do not… be afraid… my love… “

A searing, violent heat ignited where their chests met –- like a molten glass being poured into her veins. Her lungs turned heavy and electric. Her bones felt too large for her skin.

“M – Mama… it hurts!” she sobbed.

“The light… of the Arcana… will guide you…”

Her mother’s body went limp. An inhuman groan tore through the air. A wave of wind tore through, turning marble pillars to dust.

Through the haze, a nightmare took shape. 

A horrifying fusion of man and beast. Its eyes burned with a piercing, predatory red. Its massive, tattered wings — blacker than the surrounding gloom — shattered a nearby pillar with a casual sweep. It drifted, as if commanding the very air and wind around.

The creature turned, looming over the fallen Queen.

 As it flapped its wings, Resha felt a magnetic pull to meet its gaze, the metallic rattle of its breath drowning out her own heartbeat. The chamber felt even bigger now. 

She felt so small. 

So powerless to do anything.

The monster let out another roar.

“M—Mama?” Resha shook her mother’s shoulder. The golden light was gone. “Mama, wake up..! Please, don’t leave me!!”

The monster raised a clawed hand, its tattered wing casting a final, jagged eclipse over her. 

The air hit her like a wall. 

A ringing filled her ears and wouldn’t stop.

She wanted to see her mother’s face. 

She wanted to call for her father. 

But as the beast’s claw angled at her, its features blurred and distorted into a swirl of darkness.

Then, everything faded to white.

Prologue: End