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Prologue
(686/50,000 words so far)

Many years ago…
“Franklin, duck!” a young woman shouted to her younger brother as the young child named Franklin attempted to duck as told. He was too late though as the winged monster had grabbed him in its lizard-like hands and began to fly off. “Franklin!” the woman shouted as Franklin cried out. “Sis!” he cried out through tears.

The woman named Rosalia grabbed a rock off the ground and chucked it as hard as she could, hitting the creature in the back of the head. The creature turned and looked at her with its snake-like face and screeched as it made as it tossed the boy, making its way toward the woman who had attacked it.

As it made its way closer, another voice shouted loudly. “Now!” it screamed as arrows had began to fly at the beast. Franklin and Rosalia had ran toward each other and away from the commotion as the beast fell, screeching in pain as the arrows pierced its scaly skin. It hit the ground hard as its eyes closed for one final time.

However, the woman and the boy were far from safe in that moment. As the beast fell, the two quickly made their way away from the crowd, knowing they would be next. The townspeople had blamed the boy for what had befallen their town and believed him to be an evil wizard sent to destroy them, though his older sister Rosalia knew that it wasn’t the truth.

Though something had troubled her deeply nonetheless. She had recognized the creatures from drawings that her brother had made, as he had proudly showed them to her a year ago. She remembered because she had asked what it was supposed to be, and he had pointed out each part to her: the scaly lizard body, the snake head and fangs, the feathery wings, this creature had looked exactly as if it had come out of her brother’s stories.

But that wasn’t the only thing that troubled her, as a look of alarm crossed her face. “Franklin, it didn’t hurt you...did it?” she asked as her voice quivered a bit. “Nah, it didn’t hurt me at all sis.” Franklin responded quickly, as Rosalia began to relax a bit. “I think its claw hit me on my arm a bit, but it didn’t hurt!” he added as he showed off a claw-mark on his upper arm.

The color drained from Rosalia’s face as she saw the wound. Only seconds after she had seen it, her brother began to change before her very eyes. He had begun to grow as his skin began to transform into one of them, one of the creatures that had attacked him. In mere moments, Rosalia was now looking at another one of the winged monsters where her brother had once stood. Rosalia could barely let out a scream as the creature that was once Franklin attacked and killed what had once been his sister.

Elsewhere, a figure clad in mysterious dark attire had watched from afar, as if taking mental notes of the situation. As the creature flew away, the figure had made their way to the village, turning their gaze toward where the villagers had gathered. The creature had made its way to the village, only to be struck down instantly by the arrows by the villagers who had been surprised to see another creature like the last.

The figure shook their head. “Disappointing.” They said as they made their way into the small home that had once belonged to Franklin and Rosalia. Reaching down, the figure picked up the book and flipped through it, as they looked through, closing the book instantly. “This boy was obviously not the one.” The figure stated simply.

“Something came from that house!” a younger woman outside shouted. The door burst open as a few of the angry villagers had stepped in to find the source of the noise. They looked for what seemed like hours, sure that the two siblings must have come back home. But all they found was an empty house and an equally empty book lying open on the ground.