MOTC Prologue - WIP
I hit a brick wall. I got this coo-kee idea that I want my prologue and epilogue on this series to be identical. It isnt working, but I want to give this a shot. That said, this is a VERY rough idea I want to refine and I'm having a lot of trouble figuring out how I want to get this stretched out and polished up. If you could please tell me how it makes you feel, tell me what interests or disinterests. It's only a few paragraphs, but there we go, such as it is.
Prologue
Maybe death would have been preferable. It seemed the best course when every alternative offered more suffering than the last. Or maybe I chose to ignore the silver lining around the storm clouds broiling. In story books, there is a prophecy that comes to fruition and protects the heroes from harm until the final battle when they must choose life or death, good or evil. The Goddess is never so intent on such things. There was no prophecy that guided our lives, guided our actions. I was on my own.
I doubt even a prophecy would have made it any easier. Predestined or free will, I still lost things I will never get back. I suppose we all did. Humanity will never recover. Does anyone recover from that kind of loss?
We know now who the enemy was. It wasn't who we were told. That doesn't make any difference in the grander scope of things. We--I have done things that can never be forgiven. To think otherwise is foolish, prideful, and uncaring.
I do look to the future. The land will recover. Homes will be rebuilt. The world will turn as it always has, but without me. I have gone as far as I can in this land. I know I must seek my answers elsewhere, but they are answers that Aslennor cannot know. Not yet.
I also look to the past. My life is a lie and I wonder if any of it would have happened if I had not existed. It's a cruel trick that the Goddess should give us the will to wonder what could have been. It is only a matter of time until it happens again. That I know and I look back on my life and wonder if it can be prevented, or altered elsewhere.
But I am prepared to stand before the Goddess and account for every life I took. Oft do I wonder if more of my own people will be waiting for me in the celestial than those who we considered the enemy. My own actions caused more harm to me and mine than caused trouble for them and I must accept retribution for my choices.
Because of me we've lost so much, but we've come so far. We've had to become stronger than ever before to face the onslaught. In doing so, we created the very thing we'd hoped to destroy. It will repeat itself when we begin to grow and expand once again.
But things in this world do not add up and one being has the answers.
There is nothing left for me here. I'll follow her. To the edge of the world and beyond if I have to. If I slip out in the night, no one will notice I've gone. She's out there somewhere and I will not rest until I've found her.