My name is Adara Marie and I am dead.

In the kingdom where I lived, magic users are employed to use their talents for the good of others; Healers, Warriors, Shields, even Sentinels. At least that is what I was always told, but I never believed it. Unlike other magic users, I knew that Sentinels are monsters who use their magic to force people to tell the truth.

I was horrified when my father announced he had hired a Sentinel. This one was also a Healer and a Shield and used his powers to protect my family, but that didn't stop me being terrified of him, even after he saved my brother's life.

I couldn't understand how my father, brothers and sisters could treat him as a friend, not after he demonstrated what he was capable of when my sister was attacked. But they all ignored my pleas to send him away. If they had, I would still be alive.

My nightmares became a reality when my sister was kidnapped and my father refused to rescue her. It was down to me and I had no idea how to even start. When the Sentinel said he would help I had no choice but to agree. I had never left the city, let alone the country, but with the Sentinel's assistance, we stood a chance. I would be travelling alone with someone I despised and was scared of.

Little did I know that the journey would change my life forever.

My name is Adara Marie and this is my story.