The chronicals of Elderon. B.R. Schlüter

      Chapter 1 The Dream

      Again I woke up next to my bed in a cold sweat.

      I had the same dream every night for several weeks;

      I am a young woman, wrapped in a cloak and creeping through the long corridors of a castle at night.

      Several times I have to duck into the nearest corner as the guards were patrolling.

      Finally, after several attempts, I made it into the courtyard, past the guards, out into the woods.

      The sun had just set and the first wisps of fog were rolling in, covering the forest floor.

      I crept on through the dense undergrowth, deeper into the forest.

      After about a kilometer of walking, I finally reached my destination: the clearing of the lovers.

      At the edge of the forest, between a sea of fireflies, another person stood and held out his hand to me.

      I briefly looked around to see if no one had followed me, then I ran toward him.

      It was my friend Raven.

      We could only meet under the cover of night, because our families were against our connection.

      He took me in his arms and whispered gently in my ear, "Elisabeth, what are you doing here? It's too dangerous for you outside the castle."

      Yes these were difficult times, for there was war between the empires.

      "I just had to see you, Raven. It's been two moons since our last meeting." I breathe almost pleadingly in his direction.

      He looked at me a bit snivelling and took me even tighter in his arms.

      I noticed how a tear ran down his cheek. A moment later he whispered, "I'm sorry."

      "What are you le...?"

      But I couldn't say more, because I slumped to the ground at the same time, with a dagger in my back.

      I pondered this strange dream some more until I looked at my alarm clock.

      "Arg Juna, get a grip on yourself! It's just a stupid dream!"

      I shouted to myself. I squinted my eyes, shook my head, and got up from the floor to go to my bathroom.

      I quickly jumped in the shower, combed my silver-blue hair, and put in my green contacts so no one would see my completely strange purple eyes.

      The strange hair color I could still explain and dismiss as coloring. But this eye color, that had something of Halloween or Cosplay.

      I grabbed my lunch box and an apple and left my house to go to work.

      I work on a collage, as a professor of mythology, legends and lore.

      After four hours of class, I took my well-deserved lunch break.

      I got out my sandwich and was about to bite into it when suddenly someone covered my eyes.

      "Guess who's here?"