PAINTED IMAGE...

Who is the beauty of the painted image that haunts the stillness of the winters glass... She knows not the noble lineage that courses though her royal veins. Blessed with beauty and a tender heart; She wields the power of magic within her words, as she carries the mark of the serpent's eggs within her left hand.

She was conceived on the eve of the harvest moon rising full on the eastern horizon as the wind whispered to the flickering flames, birthed off the rim of the blue gold chalice slowly glowing in the dance of the serpent's egg; the very day foretold by old Draco the golden dragon with his dying breath.

Lucia Victoria Von Wolfsbane sits quietly on the frozen riverbank deep within the black forest while the queens guard sits upon his Gallant Steed silently by her side dressed as a humble peasant ever ready to give up his life for the safely and freedom of the the princess he swore an oath to protect on the night of her birth.

All the world is draped in the silence of Winter solitude. Lucia is unaware of the danger that quickly approches all around her; there is a break in the silence as the ravens cry sounds out the voice of danger, the fairy Queen stands silently behind Lucia watching and waiting for signs of danger on the edge of the forest trees.

Suddenly, a wolf clan exits the shadows of the forest deep Lucia calls her home; 12 wild beasts of the black forest suddenly surround Lucia in the flash of a moment as she looks up the largest one, the leader steps forward and gives Lucia a nod of respect bowing his head low before her and waiting her response.

Lucia stands up quickly. "What is it Adal? Who dares enter the black forest unannnounced and unwelcome? Have they come for me, again?" Adall gave another nod, turning his head in the direction where the danger was approching from.

Just as quickly and quietly as Adal and his clan had exited the forest, they were gone again into the shadows of the night, leaving 14 tracks in the winters cloak that covered the land surrounding the barren riverbank.

A single Raven sounds out in the distance a call for them to follow, these are the lands of the black wolf clan Lucia is their queen. Little does she know she is the rightful hire to the throne of her fathers kingdom nestled at the heart of the Carpathian Mountains just beyond the black forest.

Lily Bell the Fairy Queen was quick to cover the tracks of Lucia, her faithful servants Gallant Steed and the black wolf clan under the white of the winters cloak. She would cast a single spell over the gray wolf clan, which were quickly approching just beyond the tree line.

They would lose Lucia's scent under her tracks and the tracks of her clan. Leaving no recourse for her uncle's men than to turn back and search for her another day. They would ride out each and every day looking for Lucia, never knowing her twin brother was on the other side of the black forest, watching and waiting under his intuition he was not alone.

The Prince could hear her thoughts, he could sense when Lucia was in danger and she could hear his, but the twins have not yet met. Little do they know each was destined to find a dragon egg and wield the power within.

These are the ancient days of old; the twins are desendants of a millennia old folk tale when dragons were ruled by the witches of the Carpathian Mountians. These shape shifters who ran with the white, black and grey wolf clans deep within the black forest. The spirit of the last dragon who ruled the skies now rests in the heavens as the constellation of Old Draco the golden dragon. He watches over the skies, he will guide the twins back together to rule over the kingdom, and where the two eggs silently wait in the ground ready to be discovered.

Prologue to Heart of The Carpathian Mountains Vol 1

by Christine St Croix 09/24/2016, p. 06/20/2022