Prologue

“It would be wise,” said the deep voice from nearby, this time beside the boy’s ear. “To defeat what you fear most, you must gain my power.” The voice echoed far. The boy didn’t move. He had been listening to this for a long time and had spoken only few words. He never saw anyone speaking to him – he could not even tell whether if the voice belonged to a man or a woman. But one thing was certain: it sounded more beast than human

“What is it I fear?” the boy asked.

Suddenly, laughter burst out – laughter filled with menace. His voice was wild and ghastly, enough to bring fear inside every living creature he knew. A chill shook the poor boy’s spines. The laughter died away in an endless echo trailing off far away from where the boy stood. Silence entered for a moment until the voice spoke one last time. “You fear yourself.”

The boy noticed that he was surrounded by a dark void, but he could see his body as if there was light. The void seemed endless – no sides and edges could be seen. The boy looked down and it seemed as if he wasn’t stepping on anything, but there he was. A fading red line appeared from one side, and it began to stretch far and formed weird patterns across the black plane. A red light appeared before him, and another one beside it. They were eyes that glinted with bright flames more sinister than any thing the boy has ever seen.

Pain shot up inside the boy. He could feel movements inside his body, like his organs were suddenly shifting. From under his skin darkness overtook his limbs and began to swallow his body. The boy tried to struggle free but couldn’t move.

He hoped that it was only a dream.