Before the Dawn

Before the Dawn

  By Kristal Lim

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  Copyright 2012 Kristal Lim

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  Chapter 1

  She found herself looking down at her feet. She was wearing what sort of looked like ballet slippers, except that they were a bit pointier at the end. She tried wriggling her toes and she felt the soft scratch of fine fabric against her skin. The shoes were covered with intricate-looking embroidery of multicolored threads and tiny jewels in a design that seemed completely chaotic at first glance, but then gradually revealed itself to be an incredibly detailed image of a flower garden filled with strange blooms. There were so many things that caught her attention about that garden while she looked at the slippers, and she could have stared at her feet for an eternity, admiring how pretty the slippers were, if a sudden sharp crack hadn’t distracted her.

  She now looked up, and she saw there were other people around her, all of them lovely girls, who seemed younger than she was in appearance. They were dressed in the most fantastic gowns that resembled the gorgeous blossoms depicted on her embroidered slippers, and when she twirled around slowly to get a better look at all of them, she realized that she was dressed in the same rich manner when she caught a glimpse of her reflection in a large mirror. Her full skirts rustled on the floor as she moved and the jewels woven into her dress glittered in the dim light. These young girls surrounding her, there were eleven of them, all gazed at her expectantly like they were watching to see what she would do, and she gazed back at them without saying anything. They seemed familiar somehow, but she also felt the oddest conviction that they looked wrong, like their faces were nothing but mirages, or were not really theirs. But she knew that she knew them, and she knew that they were waiting for her to go first, somewhere. Her gaze dropped back to her feet, and it was then that she noticed a hole in the floor that had appeared just a step away from where she stood. As she stared at it, wondering where it might have come from, the hole became wider. Echoing and mysterious, the hole kept growing and she leaned over it to take a look and saw that there were stairs leading down, down, down to somewhere deep and dark, where the faintest strains of a strange, sad tune invited her to descend into the darkness. Feeling curiously compelled by the music, she moved even closer to the hole, ready to take the first step to wherever it may lead her.

  "Sister, wait." She heard the voice as if it was coming from beneath water. A small, delicate hand suddenly clutched at her arm and a sweet, young face appeared before her eyes. "Are you certain that we should go to the ball tonight? Having that soldier here frightens me. What if he wakes and follows us into the underground?"

  She waved away the young girl’s words as easily as she did her hand. "Don’t be a silly goose," she said to the other girl with a tinkling laugh. "That blockhead drank all the sleeping draught I gave him. Hear how loud he snores!" And, during a long moment while everyone stood in complete stillness, the only sound that came to their ears was the deep drone of a man caught firmly in the grip of dreams. But the young girl still looked frightened despite all her assurances, and she saw that the same fear was beginning to appear in the eyes of the others as well. So she gestured for them to follow her to where the soldier slept. "See?" she said to them. "He will not awaken no matter what may happen around him." And to prove the truth of her words, she boldly reached out and brushed away the dark, unkempt hair that had fallen across the soldier’s closed eyes, the strands slipping through her fingers with a whisper.

  For an instant, she thought she saw the flash of an intense green gaze and she quickly drew back, suddenly nervous. But then she shook her head to clear her vision and she saw that the soldier was indeed fully asleep as she had assured the others. Looking down at the soldier, she was surprised to note that he was actually quite young, his face lined not by age but by the hardships of the wars he had fought in the name of the King. He seemed familiar, too, like the young girls around her. But, again, his features seemed wrong. She frowned, struggling to remember something she knew was terribly important. But the memory stubbornly stayed out of reach, so she simply said to the others, "Make haste. We must go." A sensation of urgency had come over her now, and she knew that there was somewhere else she had to be. It was almost time.

  Then, as if a coin had been flipped, she suddenly found herself descending a flight of stairs that spiraled deep underground. She held a small lamp of crystal before her and, when she turned to see who was following her lead, the soft light cast dark twisting shadows that concealed the faces of all but four of her young companions. She frowned and studied the shadows for a moment and she thought that they seemed strange, like there were too many of them moving on the walls for their little company. But the music she had heard earlier caught her in its thrall again, and she forgot about her concerns regarding the odd shadows and continued to walk down towards the darkness until, suddenly, her eyes were filled with a silvery light.

  She could not see anything clearly for a moment, her senses stunned by the almost overwhelming glow, and she dropped the lamp she was holding. It shattered on the ground and the light it provided was instantly snuffed out. She closed her eyes to shield them from the dazzling brilliance that now filled the world then opened them again very slowly, and she beheld a grove of trees unlike any she had ever seen before. Silver. The trees, their leaves, and their fruits–all the marvelously beautiful things in the grove–were made of cold, shining silver. A small breeze stirred and a tinkling sound that resembled the call of tiny bells rang out. She stared around her in amazement. Everything was all so lovely that she wanted to stay in this wondrous place for as long as she could in order to examine all the details of the incredible foliage. But, no. Another memory teased at her mind then vanished without revealing itself, but she knew she could not stay. She had to keep going. She had to be someplace else. But before she could take another step, she heard another crack, this time of something breaking, and the young girl trailing close behind her became nervous once more. So she shushed the girl and told her not to be so afraid. As they continued their journey, she kept the young girl by her side and told her a story someone had shared with her about the silver trees.

  "They are magic," she said. "They provide protection and light. If you keep one of their leaves with you, it will make sure you are safe from enchantments. But you must remember this: the power of a silver leaf will only stay true if you do not become tempted to give in to the spell that seeks to trap you."

  "How do you know this thing?" the young girl wondered, distracted enough by the little story to forget about her fears for the moment.

  Until this question was asked, she had not been able to recall who had told her about the silver trees, but now she remembered. "The Prince," she smiled, suddenly feeling like her heart had taken wing. There was such joy in the simple remembrance of his face. "He told me of this while we danced last night."

  The girl sniffed. "How come your Prince tells you of these things? My Prince just likes to tease me and argue with me all the time."

  Her smile grew wider at the other girl’s aggravated expression. "I believe it is because you are still so very young. You quite amuse him, I think, and your Prince seems to be very fond of being amused." Then she could not help but frown a little as the memory of a dark figure flashed briefly across her mind. The recollection of amber eyes and a knowing smirk caused her to feel a certain annoyance.

  But she was quickly distracted from these thoughts by yet more wonders as they continued walking in this twilit realm, and the conversation between her and the young girl eventually ended when she ran out of stories to tell. Soon, they came to another grove–and this one had trees and plants made of warm, bright gold. The fruits on the trees glowed with a soft
light, tempting her to reach out a hand and pluck them. But she resisted the urge for she knew they could not linger in this golden grove either, and they kept walking until they arrived in a place where the trees sparkled with little fires. When she touched the trunk of one, she saw that it was made of something crystalline. "Diamonds," she heard herself say out loud. "These are diamonds grown from the bones of queens." By this time, she was so enraptured by all the marvels she was seeing that she barely noted the sounds of two other cracks as they passed through the different groves. The only thought that consumed her now was how strange yet how familiar everything seemed. But recognition still eluded her, always dancing out of the way before she could grasp it.

  And then the sound of slow waves lapping gently against a shoreline caught her hearing, diamond trees shifted and cleared a path before them, and they were standing before a large dark lake. The black water seemed to call to her in a voice that was almost comprehensible and she edged closer and closer to it so she could understand what it was trying to tell her. But two frantic pairs of hands pulled her back quite sharply before a small ripple could touch the hem of her gown.

  "Sister!" hissed a voice in her ear. She tried to turn her head to see who had spoken, but once she did, she could see nothing but shadowed eyes and the flash of ruby lips close to her cheek. "Remember the Prince’s warning about the lake."

  Another voice whispered urgently, "To fall into these waters is to fall into oblivion. You must take care."

  She wanted to ask the ones who had spoken what they meant. However, the words stilled on her tongue when she saw lights appear in the distance on the other side of the lake. These lights twinkled to life one by one, and then grew steadily bigger and brighter until they began to illuminate the outline of a castle made of black stone with towers that soared high into the night sky. Soon, the castle itself seemed to glow with the pale ghostly aura of moonlight and her heart felt like it suddenly burst into fire at the sight.

  She knew this place. She knew it. She had been here before.

  Finally, she was here again.

  With a sense of yearning and melancholy so powerful that tears began to flow unbidden from her eyes, she watched as the castle’s drawbridge began to lower, and small boats of light glided through the dark water towards the shore where she and the others waited.

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  Chapter 2