Chapter 0

Even as long as I could think, I could see them, those who were no longer with us. As a child, whenever I asked my parents why these people looked the way they did, they would ask me which people I meant, until... they stopped responding to any questions. Since I found it difficult to ignore the dead, other children and their parents were afraid of me. Every now and then, the others would ask me or my parents who I was talking to, probably thinking I was crazy. I constantly heard a multitude of voices, both from the living and the dead. I lived in a peaceful village, but in constant solitude. This changed, however, when a principality came to our village and threatened to destroy everything. The people in the village, whom I had never harmed, accused me of being the principality's solfats and asked them to leave the village alone. The villagers told the commander I had special powers that they couldn't use in the village. The commander then asked me what these powers were, and I replied that I could speak with the dead. A hearty laugh emanated from him, and even the soldiers started laughing. But suddenly everything quieted down, the commander looked at me with interest, and they finally took me away. In contrast to what awaited me, my life was still peaceful. The principality held me captive in a cellar and bound me with magical chains that suppressed my magic. While the inhabitants of my village always steered clear of me, I was beaten and kicked by the soldiers whenever they seemed to be in a bad mood. I was rarely allowed out, and only then was I locked in a magical cage on a carriage to do work for the principality. I wondered when those days would end...