“Living in the shadows has its advantages” the mysterious lady thought to herself while she was staring up at the old, decrepit building. Once this building was called the Palace of the Kings. It was a huge and wonderful building. But nowadays no one lived between these walls and most of the buildings were in a terrible state. She couldn't even remember when the inhabitants had left. She recalled an old legend about some pretentious warriors who were blinded by their self-confidence and pedestal they have placed themselves on. Their days have ended being killed by their own people. Yes, it was good to stay in the shadows being everywhere yet nowhere, a delicate art of being invisible.

The lady looked at the only being that was to be seen anywhere nearby: her little Pet Ling, the most faithful being she had ever met. It had accompanied her since she was a child and it was her longest and only friend. With a smile on her lips she remembered the day she had received it. This was only a few days after her parents had been killed by some dreadful Human warriors. What a tragedy! She was sad and alone in the world! But thank goodness the old instructor at the military school had adopted her. She still remembered his words when he gave her the pet: “From now on I will call you Bellatrix!” and he explained that this was the name of a star in the constellation. Its name meant female warrior and it was also known as the Amazon Star.

Suddenly Bellatrix frowned. Somewhere she had heard a noise. But no one was there. Was her mind playing tricks on her again? For years she had been haunted by flashbacks of the horrible things that had happened to her. Of course there was a reason why she was living this lonely life near the remains of the old castle.

It all happened when at the time when she was a proud and powerful warrioress, feared by her enemies and always on duty for the Magmar army. She was on patrol near the Human border. For weeks the Magmars had been left in peace, there had not been any sign of a Human raid. Even though this sounded like something good she knew it wasn’t: the Humans were up to something, something huge and dangerous. There was a shimmering sound somewhere. Someone had to be somewhere quite close. Now she saw him, creeping through the bushes: a Human! One of these pathetic Human animals!

The Human warrior was in a terrible state, he was bleeding and had numerous wounds all over his body. He was sobbing and crying. “Help me”, he yelled. She had some trouble understanding what he was saying as his knowledge of the fine Magmar language was quite poor and he kept crying all the time. But she managed to figure out what he was trying to say:  He told her about a civil war that was taking place on the continent of Ogriy, the home of these low Humans. Apparently he had almost been killed by his own brothers. “We Humans are so selfish nowadays”, he said, “we hate and fight each other as much as we hate and fight the Magmars!”

“If you stay here, I'll have no choice but to kill you!” Bellatrix was speaking in a cold voice. The Human started crying again. He told her more details about what had happened to him and he mentioned that he had detailed knowledge about the strategies of the Human commanders and about secret weapons they had developed. The heart of Bellatrix began  to soften and she almost believed him when she suddenly realized something that was popping out of his pocket: On first sight this was an ordinary stone but Bellatrix knew this was something really dangerous: This stone was filled with powerful magic. With the help of the stone the Human could call a whole army of zombies within seconds.

The Human had tried to deceive her! What a filthy swindler! Her lungs filled with anger. However, she managed to stay calm. The Human could not realize how angry she was. Slowly she took out her dagger and with a stern expression and a quick move she sliced his throat. Before he fell down dying he shouted a few last words, having a surprised look in his face: “You have no heart!” But Bellatrix replied: “ I do have a heart: A cold heart!”

It took her a moment of composure before she felt that something had changed inside her. She felt that the cloud of darkness that had filled her mind had disappeared and that she had been liberated from the shadows of the past. It was time to embrace life. Soon everything would begin…