☀ P R E Q U E L: Part 1

"We should postpone."

The heavyset man jumps just before his hand can touch the glowing book. He clutches his chest, whirling around. "Geez! TOBY! You scared the dickens out of me."

TOBY -- a man of medium height and build, with dark skin and curls -- is leaning in the doorway. He looks sorrowful.

"Please," he says. "At least reconsider. Is now really the best time to have new, untrained bodies fumbling around? With centaur and fae on the verge of war... and the Keeper--"

"I'm following the Keeper's orders," the man says stubbornly. "She scheduled the pickup, I'm following through on it. It's my job. That simple."

"I know. You're just being loyal. But she never predicted this. CHAMP, it's just not safe to bring in newbies right now."

"The world can't stop turning just because there's a disaster. There's always some disaster. This is what Pinefallow has always done, so it's what I'll do now. It's what the Keeper would want."

"CHAMP..."

CHAMP turns his back on his friend, straightening his shoulders, and closes the book. The subtle glow that was filling the room fades into darkness, and the aura of magick dissipates. Just like that, the two men are standing in a simple attic again, the wood floor creaking, dust motes drifting around the ceiling beams.

"I've got this," he says, determined. "If CARRIE can't trust me to keep things running in her absence, then what's the point of me?"

TOBY hesitates. He grazes his fingernails over his bottom lip, gaze lingering on the book.

CHAMP sighs. "Come on. Just say whatever you're thinking."

TOBY glances back up, eyes flickering with uncertainty. He inhales. "There are whispers... reports. Rumors about -- them.With the fragile situation we're in... is it a good idea to bring strangers onto the grounds? Strangers whose pasts we can't be completely sure about? Strangers we don't know we can trust? One wrong person given access to the sanctuary, and everything could fall down."

CHAMP's eyes widen.

"We don't... know that it's -- them," he says, evasively. "They haven't been seen in years."

TOBY's fathomless, patient eyes meet CHAMP's gaze. It's not very long before CHAMP looks away.

Something has shifted. TOBY exhales. He rubs the back of his neck. He gives a slow nod.

"Alright," he says quietly. "Newbies incoming. Aye aye, captain. I'll ready the bunks."

CHAMP steps forward and clasps TOBY's shoulder.

"You're a good guy."

You're floating in midair.

Small droplets of water mist down all around you, sparkling and cool, swirling in odd patterns like swarms of fireflies. It is dark -- so dark -- and yet you're certain that you're in a cavernous space. Something massive, and old, and thrumming with untold power. It's like you've been swallowed by the heart of the universe.

Below you is a legion.

You're reminded instantly of the documentary you saw once about the terracotta warriors of China. Ancient statues, rusted over by time -- forgotten by the world deep beneath the earth, yet standing ever-ready for an unknown threat. The figures stand in rows and rows and rows -- platoons so vast that you can't see the end of them. Archers and infantry and strange mounted creatures the likes of which you've never seen -- all standing still. Frozen. As if asleep.

And around you, also floating in midair --

Lights.

Beautiful, strange, golden lights. Four of them, slowly spinning on their axises. There are objects inside the lights -- you think you can discern the slender curve of a chain, the shape of a handle. But it's so bright that you have to look down.

And then, suddenly... far below you...

Eyes.

Red eyes. Crimson. They flame to life in the skulls of each and every one of the warriors. Blood-red dots disappearing into the distance ad nauseum, ad infinitum, and the deafening sound of one unified footstep as each soldier turns as one to point up to the lights, the ground rumbling, shaking --

And then a roar.

And then --

You wake up.

"Rise and shine, maggots!"

You're thrust back into consciousness by searing fluorescent lights humming to life above you.

You groan.

---

Well. This is it.

Under the watchful eye of the guards at Beaver County Penitentiary, Pennsylvania, you gather your withheld belongings and stuff them into sacks and garbage bags. Even if you hadn't previously been in prison custody, you were swiftly transferred to spend a lovely night here -- it's a very small facility, a little sleepy, mostly boring, and a little too cold -- while waiting for your transfer to Pinefallow Park.

Whatever that may hold.

Supposedly you and the others who've been brought here from all across the country are going to be picked up today to start your new (temporary) life. As you're led out to the sidewalk to wait for the bus, you wonder if it'll be as nice as the judge says it will be. You wonder if the park will have the same beautiful dusty blue pine trees that you're surrounded by now. You wonder if the time will fly, or if you'll be ticking away the hours. You wonder what kind of people and creatures you will meet.

You wonder.