Introduction

Nollem was doomed to die, he was to be a great sacrifice for the people of Gavrotte. From birth, he was surrounded by those who waited anxiously for the right time to kill him. Every morning, the priests woke hoping it would be that day; every night, they went to bed disappointed Nollem still breathed. Nollem knew they longed for his death. His eulogy had been written the day he was born. The poets and artisans of Gavrotte obsessively speculated on the many ways he could be sacrificed and depicted their fantasies in word, paint, or stone. Even his mother drummed her fingers impatiently, wishing he'd just get on with it. But, Nollem couldn't die yet, he hadn't learned to love, and it was impossible for Nollem to love while he was surrounded by those who only wanted his blood. If Nollem were to die too soon, the people of Gavrotte would have been doomed to hell. And Nollem was frightfully cheerful about that possibility.

Xerosym had nightmares from which he would wake screaming and bleeding from the ears. His parents, simple peasants, thought he was insane or plagued by demons. But Xerosym was neither crazy nor possessed; he was a Guardian, one of dozens of children throughout Gavrotte recruited by angels to be protectors for the coming messiah. Several of the children touched by angles did become insane or died from the scrambled messes left of their brains after the divine touch. But, Xerosym was stronger than most. When the Monks of Blood Mountain finally found him, Xerosym's parents were keeping him chain to his bed, fearing the harm he might cause to himself or others. The Monks understood the child and took him to their monastery. Eight years later, at the age of twenty, Xerosym emerged from the monastery with no memories left of his parents or his childhood. He knew only two things. The first, that he was a highly trained and efficient warrior being sent to protect, at any cost, the life of the son of the god Urthu until the Time of Sacrifice. The second thing he knew was that when the time was right, Xerosym, and no other, could be the one who killed Nollem. Xerosym praised Urthu for such a blessing.

Chloe was called the Soul Eater, the Death Bringer, the Weeper of Blood, the God Slayer, and countless other epithets the Paladin Xerosym hurled at her. She was very probably even the demon he thought she was. It was not always so. Long ago, she was just an elf, a simple girl who loved her father, mourned her mother, sang in the forests, and served the good of her village. That was before she killed everyone she loved and began to long for the peace and quiet of death - that eternal rest with happy dreams and memories of family and friends long lost. But, as the sleep of death could never be hers, she found solace in helping others achieve it for themselves. The innocent, she allowed to rest. But as for the evil, she ate their souls and they could not rest. Like Chloe and with Chloe, they were forever doomed to wander the world.