Prologue

On a Moonlit Night

It was on a moonlit night at the stroke of midnight, when almost everyone who lived on Sheepskin Hollow Road was fast asleep, that a tear in the thin fabric separating one world from the next occurred. It started as a single speck of blue light that blossomed like a flower. Bolts of something that looked like electricity danced around its edges until it was large enough for a man to step through. Then a massive black object shot forth and crashed onto the street, as if a sick dragon had vomited it. With that, the tear diminished much more quickly than it had come. In fact, it seemed to vanish, like someone flicking off a light-switch.

The thing that had appeared stood up and dusted itself off, revealing it to be a man— except for he had a pair of massive, black-feathered wings attached to his back. He also wore a leather hat with a sagging brim, and a long black coat that fell down to his boots, which looked used and worn out. There was a double-bladed axe strapped to his back with a red stone embedded at its center. A small satchel hung around his shoulder.

He sniffed and then reluctantly took a breath. The tension on his face seemed to disappear, as if he was pleased that he could breathe the air.

An incredible light ambushed him. He was blinded, but flapped his wings just in time to feel a massive object rush by his feet as he exploded into the air. He turned in the direction the light had been traveling with his axe drawn, but it was moving down the road at amazing speed. The creatures here are quite strange, he thought to himself.

He flew above the tree line and looked out onto the street, examining the odd dwellings that lined it. His pupils dilated and expanded as if he were bringing a telescope in and out of focus. While he hovered there an orange butterfly landed on his hand. He raised it up to his face and brushed tendrils of coal colored hair out of his eyes.

“Hello there, Night Hawk,” said a voice from below. When he looked down, the butterfly flew off. Four men and four women stood in a line on the street, all of them wearing frowns and rubbing their hands together in a look that was either worry or anticipation. Probably both.

“Have you brought them?” asked a young, clean-cut man with brown eyes. He was holding hands with a short, beautiful woman who wore a wedding ring around her finger. Night Hawk landed in front of them and replaced his axe. The people stared at his wings, so he tucked them back and tried to hide them as best he could.

“I thank you all for coming here tonight. You have been most helpful…” There was a sudden pause in his speech as Night Hawk took time to meet the eyes of every person who stood before him. “The journey you are about to embark on is a dangerous one, so I must ask one last time. Are all of you certain that this is what you want?”

A moment of silence, and then the man with brown eyes spoke. “We’ve come this far. We’ve all seen the signs. I’m convinced that the same thing that happened to your world will happen to ours, and we have a responsibility to do whatever we can to prevent that.” Everyone else nodded in agreement.

Night Hawk turned to the satchel on his shoulder. “Then, it is time.” He opened it and withdrew a gray stone. His footsteps fell in silence as he walked to the clean-cut man and his wife, who were both trembling, and extended his hand to them.

“Both of you, touch it at the same time.” They did as he instructed and the stone started to grow. First a pair of tiny legs appeared, then arms, and finally a bald little head. Within a few moments, a baby boy had developed. It nearly fell to the ground but the woman caught him and held him close.

“He’s yours Sarah, for now.” Night Hawk said. Both husband and wife were smiling as their new baby cried.

“We’ll call him James,” Sarah said, and Night Hawk grinned, though he didn’t understand why everyone in this world had such strange names.

The winged man repeated the process with the other couples until all of the women were holding babies. In a quarter-hour there were two boys and two girls. James, Calisto, Aden, and Ashley.

“I know you will take good care of these children. When it comes time, let them have the truth. I will return when the moon turns black.” The winged man removed a small package from the satchel and handed it to the clean-cut man, then whispered something into his ear.

Night Hawk turned around and the blossom of blue light emerged once more. With a wave of good-bye and a wish of good-luck he jumped through the portal and made his way home.

All of the couples stood and stared at one another, none of them knowing quite what to say as they held their babies. Even at this early age, all of the newborns bore a great resemblance to their parents. They were really their children...for now. The couples all went back to their homes on Sheepskin Hollow Road with Night Hawk’s words echoing in their heads.