PROLOGUE
“Why did our journey bring us to Earth again?” The masculine voice rose from the dense cover of the forest. Torin's voice carried the musical rhythm of their native tongue, even as he spoke in the harsh language of this planet.
“Countless planets circling countless stars, yet our endless travels bring us to the Scottish Borders.”
Torin moved through the forest, where sky-reaching trees with tangled branches formed a thick canopy above. His heavy footsteps thudded against the moss-covered ground. Sable-haired and muscular, Torin's aristocratic features matched his chuckle. He held his head high and walked with a confident swagger.
“I hope she's ready to be charmed,” he said, his voice cutting through the forest's silence.
“I hope even more so that she's pleasing to the eye and worth our trouble coming here.”
“Is there to be no peace from your incessant babbling, Torin? We're all eager to find her, but you carry on like a fledgling whining for its first taste of energy.” Though Cillian shared his youngerbrother's looks, the warmth and maturity in his green eyes set him apart.
Turning scornfully, Torin's response was met with a soft rustling of leaves as if the forest itself bristled at his tone.
“Aren't you curious to know if she'll match the passion of our women? Or how she'll react when she glimpses our smiles and bodies, honed by the Gods?”
“Silence, Torin!” a third, more aggressive voice barked.
Fionn moved steadily ahead through the forest. The eldest of his brothers, he bore a stern demeanour and cold, piercing blue eyes.
“Cillian, haven’t you learned by now that Torin thrives on his own self-importance and troublemaking?”
“I don't need you to remind me, Fionn,” Cillian replied. “Perhaps we should all be silent. Don’t you feel the shift in the energy? It's coursing through my flesh like an electrical current.”
He paused.
“She’s near...I feel her presence so strongly.”
An eerie stillness descended on the forest. The birds fell silent, and the trees watched like sentinels while the skies ominously darkened.
“Can you smell that?” Fionn asked, stopping and sniffing the air like an animal. His eyes narrowed as the water from a gurgling stream nearby began to ripple. A deluge erupted from the sky.
“I sense a malevolent energy descending through the atmosphere. Others have been sent for her! They are hunting, too.”
“We don’t have much time,” Cillian said. “Quickly! Follow the stream through the forest. It leads to a road near the wind farms.”
Fionn reached for the jewelled dagger hanging from his belt and hacked away a branch barring their path. He led his brothers like a platoon commander. “Hurry! We can’t let them find her first!”
ONE
VARETH’S MARK
Isat on the stool, watching the old cuckoo clock, my breathing matching the slow swing of the pendulum.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
My arms wrapped around my knees as I stared at the intricate carvings on its face. It had been here forever, or at least as long as I could remember. Its tiny bird, poised to spring free, was frozen behind the wooden doors. How long had it been broken? Weeks or maybe years?
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
I couldn’t stop watching it. The motion, the sound, it pulled me in and filled my head until it was all I could hear.
Everything felt off today. Not wrong, exactly. Just unreal.
Why did everyone believe so easily? Believe that God built the world? That trees were green, the sky was blue, and time moved forward and never back? We’re told these things, and we acceptthem without question. We’re told what’s beautiful, what’s ugly, what’s possible, what isn’t. But what if none of this is real?
The cuckoo clock ticked louder, its rhythm burrowing deeper into my head. My chest tightened. I couldn’t breathe. The air felt heavy. My vision blurred causing the room’s edges to distort.
