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Prologue

The first book in the Sign of Seven Trilogy series

To my boys,

who roamed the woods,

even when they weren't supposed to

Where God hath a temple,

the Devil will have a chapel

¨C ROBERT BURTON

The childhood shows the man

Asshows the day

¨C JOHN MILTON

Prologue

Hawkins Hollow

Maryland Province

1652

IT CRAWLED ALONG THE AIR THAT HUNG HEAVY as ool over the glade Through the snakes of fog that slid silent over the ground, its hate crept It caht

It wanted his death

So he waited as it pushed its way through the woods, its torch raised toward the empty sky, as it waded across the streams, around the thickets where small animals huddled in fear of the scent it bore with it

Hellsmoke

He had sent Ann and the lives she carried in her woht now as he sprinkled the herbs he'd selected over water Not his Ann But he had seen the grief on her face, in the deep, dark eyes he had loved through this lifetime, and all the others before

The three would be born froht by her And from them, when the time came, there would be three more

What power he had would be theirs, these sons, ould loose their first cries long, long after this night's as done To leave them what tools they would need, the weapons they would wield, he risked all he had, all he was

His legacy to them was in blood, in heart, in vision

In this last hour he would do all he could to provide them as needed to carry the burden, to remain true, to see their destiny

His voice was strong and clear as he called to wind and water, to earth and fire In the hearth the flames snapped In the bowl the water trembled

He laid the bloodstone on the cloth Its deep green was generously spotted with red He had treasured this stone, as had those who'd come before him He had honored it And now he poured power into it as one would pour water into a cup

So his body shook and sweat and weakened as light hovered in a halo around the stone

"For you now," he murmured, "sons of sons Three parts of one In faith, in hope, in truth One light, united, to strike back dark And here, my voill not rest until destiny is met "

With the athame, he scored his palm so his blood fell onto the stone, into the water, and into the flame

"Blood of my blood Here I will hold until you coain on the world May the gods keep you "

For a rief Not for his life, as the sands of it were dripping down the glass He had no fear of death No fear of what he would soon erieved that he would never lay his lips on Ann's again in this life He would not see his children born, nor the children of his children He grieved that he would not be able to stop the suffering to co that had come before, in so many other lifetimes

He understood that he was not the instrument, but only the vessel to be filled and eods

So, weary from the work, saddened by the loss, he stood outside the little hut, beside the great stone, to meet his fate