The Dancers in the Mist - Prologue

Here is the prologue for my epic fantasy novel, The Dancers in the Mist.

A link to the book: The Dancers in the Mist available on Amazon, Kindle, and free with Kindle Unlimited.

I've formatted the text differently from the book to make it easier to read on the blog.

Prologue 

Malachi quickly tightened the straps that held the great hump-shelled beasts to the railing; it became tighter as the beasts whined and pulled as they huddled together at the sound of each thunder crack, their serpent tails hissing in warning. Once he was done he walked over to the corner of the barn and took a seat. The barn was pitch black save for the lightning that sporadically lit everything up in explosions of white light, which quickly followed by the deafening chorus of an intense rain, which threatened to burst the nearby rivers bank. 

The barns doors suddenly blew open, Malachi ran over to secure them, pushing back as hard as he could against the intense wind as it seemed to screech and howl in protest. Then there was another sound that caught Malachi's attention; he paused struggling to hear the barely audible sound over the storm, it was the feint howling that could only be made by a creature in a state of immense fear and pain. Before he could stop himself, Malachi pulled on his hood and rushed into the storm. He shut the barn doors behind him and pushed against the rain and wind towards the protracted howling. 

Lightning flashes lit up the night, and thunderclaps sounded all around him. The anxious howls dipped and increased with the roar of the fast-flowing river. Malachi pushed and leaned against the rain and wind; every step caused him to skid and slide as he made his way towards the overflowing bank of the nearby river. Another lightning flash lit up the night, but this one seemed to come from the river itself, rather than the clouds above. How strange, Malachi thought as he searched around for the source of the distressed calls. There!, he thought to himself as the lightning flashed once more as it seemed to split the night sky. Trees were bending and falling nearby, the wind was steadfast in its resolve, as if trying to prevent him from helping this pitiful creature.  

What is that?, some type of cat was bobbing up and down in the water, being pushed downstream. Suddenly it exploded with electricity, it shot out in all directions seemingly in defence at the surrounding storm. The storm responded at the sudden attack as lightning struck the creature, which seemed to be acting like a lightning rod. Malachi hesitated at the river’s edge, as it tempted him into retreat. The creature tossed and turned helpless, the water crackled with the constant stream of electricity from the creature, coupled with the subsequent lightning strikes. He looked around for some type of bridge, the creatures’ howls began to silence. 

Then the creature went under; the river lit up briefly from its electricity, the lightning struck the water surface once more, and once again with reckless abandon Malachi moved. He jumped headfirst into the river, immediately the frigid water vibrated through his body, as the strong current pulled him quickly away from the relative safety of the riverbank and the direction of the creature. Malachi pushed and pulled at the water, trying desperately to get himself moving in his chosen direction, but it was to no avail. Then an idea struck him as he was pushed under water by the current, he tried not to panic as he reached down to a pouch locked to his travelling belt and pulled a small glowing shard out. The blue and faintly glowing shard was barely visible in the darkness of the river depths. 

Malachi held the shard tightly, then desperately tried to remember what to do. He reached with his mind into the shard, trying to will a connection with the essence held within. He began to panic, as his breath ran out and he was carried further down the stream. His plan was not working, why can't I make a connection!? he thought in desperate anger, as he held the stone tightly and tried once more to no avail. What am I forgetting? Malachi thought as he tried to remember the only lesson his father had given on the subject the year before. “Your grandfather was forever telling me the world courses with essence Mal, and its within us as well. You sort of have to feel your own essence first,” Malachi remembered being confused at that statement. 

“My essence? What do you mean dad?” Malachi father grabbed a bucket of soapy water that had been warming up on a nearby fire. “Everything has essence Malachi including you and I; as you become aware of it, it will become much easier to sense the essence in other things around you. Then you can try and reach out and make a connection with the essence in other things.” He had held up a blue shard, like the one Mal now desperately clung to. Then with a series of intricate waving hand and finger movements, he pulled the water out of the bucket nearby and sprayed its contents at the orock that was awaiting its bath. His father increased and decreased the pressure of the water at will. Even after his fathers’ advice and encouragement, Malachi had been unsuccessful even to do the simple task of washing the orock. 

He had tried a hundred times and yet nothing happened. Perhaps I just have no talent for the shard arts Malachi had remembered thinking then with profound disappointment in himself. And now history appeared to be repeating itself… no this isn't the time for doubt Malachi thought as he snapped himself out of the memory. His air was quickly running out and the creature was barely visible, if he didn't do something soon it'd be over for the both of them. Malachi tried his best to ignore everything that was happening to him. A forced sense of calm washed over Malachi, as he tried his best to focus on sensing the essence that resonated within himself. There was something, he felt a feint warmth, like a nearby fire. He then felt another sensation of heat, this time in the hand that gripped the shard stone. This must be it Malachi thought with a desperate hope, he didn't have time for intricate movements or grace in that moment. 

So he just kicked and pushed, then basically just flayed about until the water around him did something. He felt himself being pushed in different directions, counter to the flow of the river, so Malachi directed his bizarre flails to the direction behind him, which immediately caused him to shoot forward. Malachi pushed himself towards the creature, the shard seemed to be getting colder, he looked down and saw it had gone dun, and the river once again took hold of him. He reached into his pouch as quickly as he could and pulled out his last remaining shard. Then he repeated the process, it was a little easier this time, but he still had to concentrate for what felt like a painfully long time. Finally he felt the warmth in his hand once more, and he shot forward and finally reached the creature which was now unconscious. 

Malachi grabbed the creature and almost yelled in pain at the static shock that came from it; before he remembered he was underwater, so he just bit his lip. Malachi held on tightly to the golden-haired creature, which appeared to be a lion cub up close and used what remained of the shards essence to push himself on to the riverbank. He gulped in air as if it was water and he was dying of thirst, then moved over to the creature which lay unconscious nearby. Malachi felt for a heartbeat, it was a barely there, so he began rubbing the creature trying to stir it. A few tense moments passed as Malachi tried desperately to save the creature. Then it seemed to cough, water flooded out and the creature opened its eyes. It looked at Malachi for a moment, and then its fur lit up with electricity and Malachi went limp as an intense pain shot through him.