The Golden Scepter - Prologue

She slowed her breathing. Something warmed her from behind; crawling like snakes down the skin of her legs. She froze in horror. Maryin turned her head slightly, and stared into the eyes of the Head Priest. He held a staff of flaming blue light, and his entire figure was differed by the advent of the mists. Her heart raced. He would kill her before she would even had time to scream for her life.

She stepped closer to the portal, but a tendril of snaky blue fire knocked her away. Maryin scrambled back onto her feet as she dodged yet a second attack from the Head Priest.

" You will receive what is mine."

" I will do nothing for you!" She yelled. A convulsion suddenly racked her lungs. She yelped for air, but it only burned and did more harm than good. The Head Priest waved his hand and the feeling intensified. Maryin tried to crawl to the entrance of the portal, but something invisible: magic; held her in place.

" You will follow Xavier and get back what is ours. What belongs to the Gods'" He sent another convulsion inside of her, and she felt as if she would have a heart attack. Tears ran from her eyes, but the cool mist quickly stopped them from coming; freezing them against her cheek.

" Will you do what I say, or would you rather face a fate far worse than death? The Gods can arrange such a fate."

He lessened his force against her so she could speak. She turned, against her will, to look into his dismal eyes. Into his eyes, that where truly in themselves, a portal of death and hell.

" Yes...yes I have no other choice!" Maryin's voice was more of a whisper than a proclamation. The Head Priest smiled then pointed a finger at her. She expected a powerful blow, but instead felt a serene calmness. A calmness so strange that it was more felt than sensed.

" I have blessed you with the Gods' Desire. Your only focus now, here and to the time your retrieve the scepter is to bring it back here, to the city of Crest, and place it back onto the altar. Your reward would be discussed then. Now, be gone before Xavier gets too far!"

The feeling lessened against her entirely, and without a moment's thought, Maryin burst through the fiery portal; the Head Priest's reflecting laugh screaming in her heart.