Out of Place

PROLOGUE
The Boy on the Riverbank

Silan giggled at the little wave that lapped at the shore of the riverbank, washing over the tips of his toes before rolling away. Frisking at the river's edge was one of the small pleasures of being a fisher lad who helped pluck fish from nets. Some day, when he was older and had much stronger arms, he hoped to be out on the boats like his father. It was risky work, but he reckoned being on a boat all day would make up for the risk. Clean air in your lungs, fish on your hook, and a nice full belly at the end of every day- that was Silan's dream.

But today, like all of the little fisher lads who waited on the shore, Silan wondered why the boats weren't coming in. It wasn't safe to be on the water when a storm was coming, and surely the boatmen could see the large cloud gathering in the very centre of the wide stretch of river. It was a peculiar cloud to be sure, as Silan had never seen one that was all yellow and pink like that and sat so low to the surface. Then again, Silan was only in his eighth year so he figured this was one of those rare things that you only saw a few times your whole life.

It was one of the older boys who noticed the absolute unnaturalness of the cloud first. Being a different colour and low down was almost excusable, but it grew so rapidly that all of the children started to gasp and point. Soon a boat arrived in, with the fisherman inside yelling, waving their arms, and jabbering so quickly that Silan could scarcely hear what they were saying. "Boiling… fish all dead… sunk," were some of the snatches he managed to pick up.

The state of their vessel helped to piece things together- some of the hull looked decrepit and worn, like it had rotted almost clean through. Finally, once all of the fishermen had their feet planted firmly on the ground, one of them spoke up clearly. "That fog appeared and we heard some of the crews screamin' out. We went to help, but the boats was already sunk by the time we'd set the sail. Then the fog was gettin' bigger and coming towards us and we could see everything! The water under it was bubblin' away like a hot pot and the fish was all rising up to the surface, cooked like," the broad-shouldered fisherman's eyes scanned the water, watching the low cloud he thought was too thick to be fog, spreading out towards the shore, "all you boys scatter quick and find the guards, mages, anyone who will listen."

Some of the boys weren't in the habit of following orders, but the panic in the man's eyes and tone of his voice sent them running to do just as he said. Silan stayed where he was, having shorter legs than the rest of them, and wanting to see if any other boats would turn in. His Papa's boat was out there, and surely it hadn't been one of the ones that were gobbled up by the water.

He waited and waited but only two more boats came in, neither of them his Papa's, and the cloud was getting closer. When it was close enough to see the water bubbling away, dead fish floating, and steam rising up from the surface, Silan ran. Every few steps he turned and looked over his shoulder and so he was able to see the cloud reach the shore and creep over the dry land, turning any green things black and crispy like they'd been through a fire. It seemed to be getting faster, or perhaps Silan was getting slower.

People in the streets had noticed too and the small boy could hear their screams over the sound of his own panting. He looked over his shoulder again to see that the cloud was still growing- it had probably reached Fig Street by now- and in his distraction he fell, his knees and hands crashing down on the cobblestones. Each time he tried to get up he was jostled back down by a frenzied runner, until he was so dizzied and scared that all he could do was curl into a ball and pray.

The prayers didn't help when tendrils of fog crept over Silan, but they gave him comfort as his chest seized up and he passed on to the world of the dead.

A/N: I do hope you enjoyed the prologue and will stick around for the upcoming first chapter, which will feature some familiar faces from Emelan. The fog is a matter of some importance and will be attended to throughout the story.