"Born out of a clash of lightning and thunder, she is known to have a melodious voice that can hypnotize even the deaf. If she comes for you, she can paralyze you where the last thing you will ever hear are her delightful memories with all other sounds fading away."

Grandpa closed the book and looked at tiny, wide-eyed 5-year-old Emma Silverstein sitting in his lap. Alkonost. That's what Grandpa George told me the creature was. She had a counter-part named Sirin who was dark, dangerous. Not like her. The Alkonost was known as a guardian, a protector. She ferried the souls of the "holy" to heaven is what Grandpa told her. He told her lots of stories about the Alkonost and a battle that happened a long time ago between them and Sirin.

He told her that the Alkonost was created by a powerful mage who lived on an island that was always cold, even in the Summer. He said that the mage created the Alkonost because he was lonely, and that there wasn't just one Alkonost, but two. They were both girls who went on to be protectors of the people of Brimfell. Brimfell is where they lived, in a city on the eastern half of the continent. They lived in a city called Stonewall City.

Stonewall city was surrounded by a giant wall. Grandpa told her that it was fortified after the battle between the Alkonosts and Sirin. He had created a legion of undead monsters and beasts that were terrifying. The way Grandpa described the beasts and monsters scared her. He told her they wanted to wipe out the people of Brimfell so Sirin could take over the world and rule as king. Emma didn't like Sirin, he was mean.

"Emma..." Grandpa George said. "You are a very special girl, did you know that?" He looked down at the blue-eyed, blonde-haired little girl who had freckles that spanned her nose and across her cheeks. She looked at him curious and full of wonder. "What do you mean PawPaw?" She asked curiously as she grabbed for the book. He smiled at her, she loved looking at the picture of the beautiful Alkonost and her counter-part Sirin. Like night and day. He let her have the book and she thumbed through the pages and read the words over very slowly. She had just learned to read properly at school.

She looked at the pictures of the beautiful Alkonost, she had long blonde hair like Emma that blew in the wind in some of the pictures of the battle. Her skin had a beautiful, alluring glow to it. Every time Emma looked at the pictures, she hoped that she could be like the Alkonost one day when she grew up. 

Emma didn't like school, the kids were mean to her because she talked a lot when she was nervous. She was always full of energy, so much so that her parents had taken her to a doctor to see if they could help calm her down. She didn't like the medication because it didn't work anyways. A.D.H.D. is what they called it. Bleh. She hated that. It sounded like she was crazy and she was only five years old. Her parents just didn't understand her like her Grandpa did. That's why they sent her to live with him. They "couldn't handle her" anymore. Her Grandpa could though, he was loving and kind to her. He understood her unlike her parents.

Grandpa read to her every night before bedtime, she loved him very dearly. He never judged her or got mad at her. He never yelled at her like her parents did. He was a kind old man. He was her world, her best friend. She couldn't imagine what it would be like if he wasn't around in the future. 

Emma shook the thought from her little blonde head and hugged her Grandfather tightly. "I love you PawPaw," she said as she hugged him. He smiled as her hair brushed the stubble of his old grey beard, then he gently patted her back and bounced her slightly on his leg. Emma giggled.

Suddenly, her Grandpa's face got sad. He got a distant look in his eyes, as he often did when he was deep in thought about something important. Emma said, "What is it Grandpa? Why do you look so sad?"

"Emma, one day I will leave you. I want you to go past the city walls when I do and into the forest. When you get to the mountains in the East, there will be a large pool of water that is deep. Deeper than you could ever imagine, so deep that if you fell into it you might fall to the bottom of the Earth." He paused, she looked sad at the mention of him going away. She didn't like when he talked about getting old and dying. She always saw him as being alive forever. "When you get there, if you walk to the West about fifty feet, you will see a large Hawthorne tree, twisted, the limbs crooked. It bears no leaves, but has a hollow. It will be surrounded by white flowers, and in the hollow I have left you a note. It will tell you all you need to know about why you are so special..." 

She saw tears forming in his eyes and she closed the book. "Don't cry PawPaw, it's okay. You're never going to leave me! Maybe we can go there together as a trip!" She seemed to get excited, but this made him sorrowful and he wept. "No child, you must go on that adventure alone. It is your destiny, Emma..." As she looked at him as he cried, her Grandpa George started to fade away into nothingness. She couldn't bring him back. "NO! COME BACK! DON'T LEAVE ME!" Emma screamed as she began to fall.

She tried to get back to her Grandfather, but she couldn't. He was too far away from her, fading away like a memory that she had long forgotten. She cried as she fell, she couldn't stop herself even though she desperately tried to grab for something, anything she could to help her claw her way back to the only person who had ever truly loved her.

The dream turned into a nightmare, her nightmare. One that Emma couldn't wake up from, things started to rush back to her. Remembering him lying in bed during the last days of his life, the memories hit her like tidalwaves crashing her into the rocks below. Right before she sunk into the deep abyss that she was sure was her doom, her hand shot up towards the surface of the water, the last of the light fading.

Emma shot up in bed gasping, she was wet with beads of sweat dripping down her face. She remembered now, her Grandfather was gone. He had died months ago, but she hadn't been able to face that she still wasn't over it. She still missed him more than anything. 

Emma laid back down and turned onto her stomach, then she started to sob into it. 

"Just a dream... just a dream..." She thought to herself as she started to drift back into a deep, dreamless sleep this time.