Interlude 1 

Camp Boulderstar - 581 Miles North of Jybaltin

A frigid wind blew across the surface of the snow, sending ghostly tendrils of white swirling through the air until it thinned and vanished into the black of night. Beyond the thick bars of his cage, the boy observed the shifting of the snows and heard the howling of winds as unforgiving chill penetrated the space, sending the and the other children into fits of violent shivering, guarded only by their thin jackets and pants sewn from discarded burlap

One girl was dead already, her skin purple and stiff as she lay on the floor of the cage, her body drawn into a fetal position in a futile attempt to keep warm just before she passed out of this mortal realm. The other children were huddled together; one boy issued violent sobs while another girl clenched her fists. Somewhere outside the cage, thick boots crunched against snow, cracking and breaking sheets of ice as voices shouted throughout the night. 

“Where are we?” The boy asked. “Tell me, what do they want with us?”

“They have brought us to work,” A girl said through chattering teeth. “Across fen and fern, away from our parents, they have taken us from Jybaltin, from Onira, from outlying towns and villages to work the mines of Utharia.”

“We work, and then we die,” Another boy indicated the girl on the floor of the cage. 

The boy frowned, and then observed the others in the cage. 

“How interesting,” He mused. “And tell me, what do they wish for us to mine?”

“Who cares, newbie!” The girl spat. “We work, we die, that is what is, that is what will be! They will come for us soon, and then we will dig until our hands are raw and bloody!”

“How old are you?” The boy asked. 

“Twelve,” The girl said proudly. “My name is Lilli!”

“And you?” The boy pointed to another child, a boy who stood from the huddle.

“My name is Byron, but what’s it matter?” 

“All of you,” The boy said. “Are extremely resilient. I shall have need of you.”

“Need of us?” Lilli said. “You’re touched!”

“We’re in a cage,” Byron said. “Have you not paid attention?”

The boy turned and placed his hands on the frozen bars, looking out into the night once again. He saw a faint shape in the distance, another voice obscured by the howling wind as it blasted through the drifts and reformed the frozen tundra before his very eyes. He grinned and then turned back to the children. 

“They will come for us soon, I expect,” He said loudly, unconcerned with his voice carrying through the cold. “and when they do, I will kill them, and then we will take our revenge but you must help me.”

“Kill them?” Lilli laughed. “Help you? How do you expect to kill them? Who do you think you are?”

Even as she spoke, the boy could see the faint outline of a man making his way toward the cage, a long rod in hand. Time was running short. 

“I have had many names,” Said the boy. “I have bore witness to the creation of the stars, I have named planets, and I have deigned to live among the very first species that the universe saw fit to create. I have seen fish sprout legs and crawl upon the land for the very first time, I have seen war, and famine and selfishness beyond compare. From the sparkling blue oceans of a world called Earth, to the sandy beaches and rolling fields of Canweld, to worlds where women ruled and men suffered beneath the yoke. My names, have been numerous, but…”

The boy turned to the group and regarded them with a solemn expression that bore the slightest traces of a grin as his left hand began to glow. 

“You will know me as the Mockreet.”

END OF PART 1