Prologue

The faint sound of rustling leaves could be heard as the soft breeze picked up.

Sighing, a teenage boy uncrossed his legs as he squinted at the thick hardbound book in his hands. One could make out faint silver lettering that quite literally glowed against the royal blue covers.

The book was as mesmerizing as it was peculiar. Every so often the lettering would morph and shift into beautiful images or strange, nonetheless enchanting, inscriptions and symbols.

The boy looked quite invested in what he was reading, with his nose scrunched as he mouthed the words to the story.

He seemed rather content for someone sitting on a branch of a tree that looked to be at least three hundred sixty feet up in the air.

One would think the boy would be around the age of fifteen or sixteen. Contrary to how young he looked, the youth carried a certain air of confidence and alertness around him. The kind usually seen on people far older and much stronger-looking than he did.

This boy was Ethan Azrael Grey.

The sound of a twig snapping just beneath him caught his attention.

Ethan clicked his tongue, as he shifted on the branch, no doubt annoyed about the interruption.

At the base of the tree he'd been resting on was a cat. It had black fur that turned white nearing the area around its belly. The cat had sharp golden eyes with black slits for pupils, if one observed its gaze long enough, they would find an awareness beyond that of a feline's.

"Esther... why can't you just let me read my book in peace?" Ethan questioned, sounding exasperated as he turned to the next page of the book.

"You shouldn't even be up here! Our rounds start soon! Besides, I bet you stole that book off of Oliver!" The cat, Esther, hissed back twice as exasperated as Ethan was.

Ethan looked at it as if offended by the statement. Despite the distance between the two, they could hear each other just fine, and bickered as if they were right next to each other.

"For your information, I borrowed it... and I left a note," he said, pouting at the talking cat.

"One of these days, you'll get yourself banned from the library, " Esther replied in a monotone voice. "In any case we have to get to the next dimension. So give that thing back to Oliver before he freaks out when he finds it missing."

The cat frowned as it leapt from branch to branch in order to get close to Ethan's spot on the tree.

"No way! I just reached the good part and I'm completely sure Oliver won't mind!" Ethan whined as he gripped the book tighter, bringing it closer to his chest.

Esther scowled and ran up the trunk of the tree to reach him quicker. It swiped for the book with its claws, swiping at Ethan's arms when it got the chance.

"OW! STUPID FAMILIAR!"

Ethan tossed the book at Esther and prepared to cast spells at the Familiar.

As he raised an arm and threw a random spell in the cat's direction, he soon realized his mistake. The spell he'd used came in the form of a golden circle, with complex runes and symbols surrounding the outer and inner rings.

Esther, who had been holding the book in its mouth, used it as a shield to protect itself from whatever spell Ethan had cast.

As soon as the golden circle made contact with the front cover, both the spell and the book were gone, not a single trace of the golden spell or blue book could be found.

The pair gaped at the empty space before them, as panic began setting in.