Prologue

“This is all that was left?” the man asked out loud.

He wrinkled his nose, bothered by the thick humidity living inside the cavern. Rays of light scarcely made it through the fissures in the rocks above, dimly lighting up the surroundings. It was barely enough to properly see anything, but the man could make out the shape of a human figure laid inside the overgrowth of dark brown branches that curved into themselves.

In the branches held an unconscious silver-haired woman. One of her hands wrapped over the other, with her head resting comfortably on her shoulder. Her clothes were surprisingly well kept, considering how much time she must’ve been down here.

Walking closer, her face was relaxed, but the man noticed that her chest was still, and no air seemed to flow through her nose. He raised a hand to make contact but slung it back when it was struck by something invisible. Something unintelligible went under his breath.

He shuffled back to try something else. Raising his arm, he poured magic through his hand to expel fire. The cavern lit up in a blaze, giving warmth that it hadn’t seen in a long time. It flew into the air, dancing along the edges of the cavern until it dived into the woven chair of branches.

But contact was never met, and all of the fire was absorbed by whatever barrier held between the silver-haired woman and the outside world.

He sighed, bending over to take a seat. “What a shame.”

Two items were pulled from his bag, a bottle, and two small drinking cups. He popped open the bottle and poured the clear liquid into both of the cups.

Taking up one of the cups, he raised it to the sky. A sky blocked by stone.