Prologue
The young girl ran through the burning world, paying no heed to the boy who ran after her. He was calling out to her, begging her to stop and come back to him. She stopped running for a moment to turn back to face him. "I can't do it anymore, Cameron! I can't take this, I never want to see them again!" She cried out at him, tears streaming down her face. There was a small cut above her eye which had been cleaned out and semi-healed. There was bruising around her throat as if someone had tried to strangle her, and cuts like the one above her eye all over her arms and legs. He called to her again, begging her to come back and promising he would protect her. "You can't promise me that. You can't stop them. You're just a kid, like me. I'm sorry, but I have to leave." She turned away from him and began running again. This time, the boy did not pursue her.
She fled into a forest whose trees stood tall and barren, burning for eternity. The flames seemed to part for her, showing her which way to go. She came to a clearing in the forest where she found what she was looking for. A slight shimmer in the air gave away the hidden portal, and with only a brief look over her shoulder, she stepped through it.
The world into which she emerged from the portal was an interesting one. The inhabitants knew little of magic and were not a part of the rest of the universe and its ways. This suited Aria just fine, however. After the life she had lived so far, she was happy to be done with magic. She walked away from the portal, vowing that she would never return to her old life. As she walked away, she could have sworn she heard a woman's voice in her head, telling her to 'never say never.' She ignored the voice though and kept walking, head held high, finally free. She was ready to leave the past behind and explore this intriguing new world she had stepped into. She did not realize then just how greatly her decision would change her life, and how much pain she had yet to go through. She saw a new world and a new life, but hidden inside this image in her mind was death and despair like she had yet to experience.
