Chapter 1: The Nephalem

  Time: 18:17, Day: Kiviber, Week: 2, Month: K?rgoyde, Year: 36651

  RUN!

  Run and never look back!

  That’s all she could do.

  Her breaths came in ragged gasps as she raced through the wooded countryside, Elix Forest looming just ahead.

  Her demonic tail swayed frantically.

  Her Dharmic wings fluttered now and then, desperate to propel her forward even as they burned from overuse.

  She could hear them a little ways off, but not far back enough for her to slow down.

  She’d wanted this all her life.

  Freedom.

  Freedom to see the outside. Freedom to learn about the world and not about magic and its principles. Freedom to find her own way. Freedom to live.

  Under her mother's rule—Queen Syren’s rule, she would never have that freedom. Not until her mother finally killed her.

  Killed her for something she couldn't control. Something she didn't want.

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  Being a Nephalem meant nothing to her—but to her mother, it was everything.

  Her mother’s reason to train her like a weapon.

  Her mother’s reason to cram her full of magic.

  Her mother’s reason to keep her a secret.

  Her mother’s reason to beat her bloody.

  And now—her reason to have her hunted.

  She stopped to catch her breath, her wings shuddering at every sound of nature that she had to force herself not to explore.

  She could feel herself on the verge of physical exhaustion, and her essence was all but depleted.

  Still, she forced herself to move forward. Finally breaching the boundary of Salem Kingdom and Elix Forest.

  The dark forest was terrifying, especially since this was the first time in her 258 years that she had ever seen it up close.

  She swallowed hard and smiled widely. Her small fangs peeked out between her lips as she ran into the forest with everything she could muster.

  The grass beneath her feet, turned to moss. The green ethereal glow of Nature Sprites danced around her, making her yearn for a moment to dance with them.

  The sound drowned out the forest, drowning out the sound of her pursuers.

  "Keep running, Nephal."

  The voice again—familiar now, like a ghost sewn into her soul. She never knew where it came from, only that it was always right when it spoke.

  “No, I have to rest, and I can't pretend this place isn't a million times better than I imagined.” She said, her wings stretched, tail swaying back and forth along the soft breeze.

  She held out her palm.

  A curious Nature Sprite dancing along her palm, softly kissing her skin.

  A smile of child-like wonder filled her chestnut face.

  She didn’t hear them.

  One moment, she was smiling at the Nature Sprite’s glow—

  —the next, pain exploded at the base of her skull.

  Then, nothing.

  — The Curator’s Notes —

  Next chapter arrives soon. Try not to blink this time.