Prologue Part 2

Michael pretended he didn't hear Alys and returned to his swordfighting practice.
"Didn't you hear anything I said?" repeated Alys.  "I sentence you to the Pit."
"I'm stronger than any of your Pit monsters combined," Michael laughed villainously. 
Alys was resolute.  "We shall see about that."

 

 

An arresting official took Michael away from the room. Alys closed her eyes and sobbed. She did not want to do this. Her own cousin.

 

She remembered Michael well. They used to play together a lot before she was sent away. Her uncle Rupert was a jolly fellow, with hair the same hue as his son. What had happened that made Michael this way? Why did he look at her with such callous disdain? Now, though, he must die. He killed her father, the wizard had told her as much.

 

Michael met his fate with the same arrogance with which he'd led his life. No way that damned Pit monster is going to get the better of me. I am stronger and faster. I am a Chosen One. Alys cannot do this. The Watcher chose me to live that day, not Edward.

 

As Michael was lowered into the Pit, a grand tussle ensued for nearly two hours between man and beast. Alys' emotions were mixed. Here had been her cousin, of her own blood and lineage, and on the other hand, he had ended the life of his own uncle and her own father, blinded by searing white-hot ambition.