Prologue

The wind howled through the trees, rustling as if possessed in the dead of night. Rain had been pelting on the park’s open field for the past few hours. The wet soil left no trace of the events that had happened earlier that day: dogs running around happily, couples having picnics under the warm sun, and the marks of young teenagers thoughtlessly playing soccer on the grass…no trace at all.

The clouds hid any light the moon would have shed on that park. The flowers that grew in their brilliant colors were muted viciously and mercilessly in the darkness. A beautiful park had become a desolate graveyard in just a few hours.

Lightning flashes as the wind picked up and howled loudly. In that brief moment, if anyone had been there, a dark, tall figure would have been visible in that light.

A young man. So unsuspecting and so free. Caught in the rain after a long day at work and desperately running homeward. The shortcut across the park. Across the field. “Fastest way home,” he assured himself.

Another flash of lightning illuminated the night, this time a large crack of thunder followed almost immediately. The young man stumbled, but nothing was going to deter him. He had just finished his last day of work at a camp for the summer and he was going home to his family for the first time in months. The train home had already been late and by the time he got back to his town, he was ready to just run home even though he had heard the rumbling of an impending storm as he had set off.

Just as he had almost crossed the field, he caught sight of that hooded figure by the light of a timely lightning flash. Despite his haste, he paused to see if that person needed any help. Someone who was just standing stock-still in that manner in this kind of storm was probably in need of assistance, thought the young Samaritan. Thus, thinking in this way, he ran over to where he had seen the figure.

The rain had let up a bit, but even so, the field was as dark as ever because there were no lights in the surrounding area. The earth had proven too difficult (even with machines) to dig through to lay down power lines and erect lights, so the constructors had simply just built around it. The light from the closest lamp illuminated the outline of the figure’s billowing black cloak.

Just as the young man approached, the figure seemed to sense the movement behind and spun about quickly. Blazing blue eyes bore into his, the intensity between them as charged as the lightning strikes far above them. In that split second, he blinked and the figure was gone.

The weather lightened up almost immediately, leaving the young man standing there, stunned and wondering what had just happened. Convincing himself he had been imagining things, he set off towards home again, aided by the crescent of the moon that had just peeked itself out through the clouds.

Labels: Sword Symphony Prologue