Prose

Serena Chapter 1 - The Calling

written by: Sweet Insanity

Serena stared longingly out her bedroom window on the 4th floor of her family's castle. It was a clear day, and she could almost see the entire kingdom. She loved watching the hustle and bustle of her people going about their lives. Children playing in the mud and then being scolded by their mothers, men and women peddling their wares or Serena's favorite; riding the magnificent horses.

Serena closed her eyes and inhaled slowly and was shocked when she realized she could all but taste salt on her lips and feel a warm ocean breeze pulling back her long red hair. Serena had been experiencing haunting and bewildering dreams about the ocean calling her to its side. Serena sat on her windowsill and tried to remember all of the details of the previous night. It had started with her running through Geller Woods, terrified in the pitch black of night. When she approached a clearing she was engulfed almost instantaneously in a blue and green glowing orb of light. Serena almost started to panic but took a slow deep breath and decided to analyze her situation. She couldn't make out the shape of her hand in front of her face but the light wasn't harming her in any way. In fact, she felt safe and protected. As Serena tried to figure out what had just happened and where she was, her skin began to tingle and she could feel herself becoming strangely powerful. She could feel sand beneath her toes and the strong scent of the ocean infiltrated her senses. Serena had awoken that morning feeling drained. It had been as if she had been riding her favorite horse, Midnight, for hours. Now as Serena thought back, she knew that this dream was a vision. It was one of many all leading to the same place. Her destiny, she realized lies with the Trial Ocean.