Chapter 1 - Awakening

#Writing #BloodofSilenceSeries #BloodofSilence #BoS

Zeraenik

It was not lost on me, the similarities they shared.
If I tried hard enough, I could almost see her in the girl's place, dangling her legs innocently under violet canopies.
Those same diamond eyes, the same sweet smile, and the same desire to explore the world.

She gazed off the ledge at the waterfall, hair of pale violet gently swaying as leaves drifted with the wind.
Small patches of light flittered through the leaves of the Twelveswood canopies above, making her pale grey skin seem almost as if it were glowing.

She was merely a year older than the Viera girl I once knew, and exuded the same innocence and playful nature, though much more vulnerable and gentle.

Alas, she was not her, and would never be, but even so…

"O'zrha?" she called softly.

"Hm?"

"What're you thinking about?". She gazed at me curiously with those star-filled diamond eyes; the swing of her legs coming to a stop.

I could only hope that she would escape the claws of Hydaelyn, and not befall the same fate as those who came before. Though I knew all too well that fate would be against her.

Sitting up, I turned to face her with a warm smile. "Nothing, Fira. Don't worry about it."

…

It was a cold winters' night, many, many years ago when this all started.

I pulled the blankets up further around myself to shield from the harshness of the cool air. The room was dark aside from the crack of light filtering underneath the door.

A small Vieran child, Firyna, slept soundly on a mattress opposite mine, having insisted that it was warmer by the door. Chestnut hair draped half over a bronze-coloured face as leporine ears flicked softly as they slept; indicating they were deep in a dream.

What was it about? I wondered, as I laid awake, having been unable to sleep for an hour or so.

I could hear a faint conversation between their parents on the other side of the wall. Something about the mother crystal and the every-declining amount of those with the gift in recent years. Honestly, I had tuned out long ago, though the fact that their father was actually home for once was intriguing in and of itself.

Even though I had been friends with Firyna for as long as I could remember, and their mother, Merina, like a second mother to me, I didn't know their father very well at all. He would only come home for maybe 3-6 months each year before taking off again, doing whatever it was that he did. Some years he wouldn't return at all.

Although strange to me, it was apparently a common thing for their kind, so I never really questioned it all that much.

A troubled wince startled me out of my thoughts, and I turned my attention back to my friend, noticing a thin line of sweat glistening on their forehead in the dim light. Their expression was tight as they mumbled something I couldn't quite hear.

They began shaking with sobs as they murmured a soft "I'm sorry… I'm so sorry…"

My eyes widened in surprise. "Fi? What're you talking about? You have nothing to be sorry for."

Loosening the surrounding layers, I moved closer to get a better look at them.

"Fi? Are you awake?" I nudged them, but they didn't respond.

"They can't all be…" they whispered, choking on their own sobs.

It was all I could do to watch helplessly as their sobs increased, until out of nowhere, they shot up, sending me jolting backwards at the suddenness of it.

"Ha-ARGHHH"

Whatever they were about to shout was cut off with a scream as they gripped their head in pain.

The door flew open as their parents rushed in, wide-eyed and panicking. "Firyna!" Merina gasped, rushing to their bedside.

Their father's expression seemed to calm at the sight of them as he scoffed, "And you doubted they would awaken to the gift."

She sent him a glare that could kill, grumbling a frustrated "Not helping Deran!" before turning her attention back to her child.

"Fira, sweetie, it's going to be okay," she assured them softly. Distantly, I wondered if Firyna could even hear a word she said.

Deran walked over, kneeling down next to me as I looked on at the scene in shock, unsure how to comprehend what was going on.

He ruffled my hair with a smile. "Don't you worry about 'em, kid. This was going to happen sooner or later."

"They're…awakening to the gift? Is that what it looks like when someone does?" I asked.

"Guess you've never seen it before, huh," he murmured, settling down on the ground beside me.

He sighed, "Once upon a time, everyone had the gift. Wasn't so much of a 'gift' back then," he huffed a laugh, "but it came to be called as such as it began steadily decreasing with each generation. When Merina and I were young, around a fifth of our number awoke to it. I didn't, but Merina did. I'm sure you've heard what they say about her line."

I nodded. "They're…attuned to Hydaelyn, right?"

"Something like that. Each child in Merina's family has been blessed with it, and they were one of the strongest in it amongst their peers. There is only a handful of families still in existence that can say the same. Those families were the last Hydaelyn spoke to directly, around 100 years or so ago."

"That diamond flower tattoo on their noses is their family's symbol for a reason after all," he laughed. "They're the only ones in this village left with the gift. It would've been a pretty big deal if Firyna never awoke to it, which is why Merina was worried; what with the extreme decline in recent years and all. It's something of a thing of pride in her family."

I nodded in understanding. "What did Hydaelyn say?"

He scratched his head in thought, "Hmm, let's see… Merina's grandmother was the one who heard it, I believe. Her mother was only young. If I remember correctly, it was something about…"

"'My children, thou hast grown strong over the past decades. Strong enough to care for yourselves without the guidance of one such as I. Thus, shall I continue to watch over thee and thine from afar, until such time as the darkness poses a threat to humanity once more,'" she chimed in. "That's what she said to them–more or less anyway. No one's heard from her since, which is probably for the best."

Deran hummed in agreement. "People speculate that the drastic decrease in those with the gift can be attributed to Hydaelyn's decision to retreat to the shadows when we were capable enough by ourselves. Perhaps that is the case, perhaps not, but the fact remains that all it's done is make the general population feel as if we're losing ourselves." he sighed.

"Z-Zez…" A faint whisper of the name Firyna had taken to calling me by perked my ears, drawing my attention back towards them. My tail swished back and forth with anxiety as I gazed upon them, hoping they were finally awake.

Their eyes fluttered open slightly as they reached out a hand towards me.

"Fi!"

I quickly moved back to their side as their mother let them down from her lap and back onto the blankets.

They looked up at me with as much of a smile as they could muster in their groggy state. "Zez…" they whispered as my grip on their hand tightened. "You silly boy…" they laughed airily. "I told you…the city was real. I saw it…just now."

Their smile faded slightly as their eyes closed, their body lulling them back to sleep from the exhaustion. "I'm gonna take you there one day…so I can show you how pretty it is. Then you can see…all my friends…"

They grew quiet, supposedly having fallen asleep, as I stared down at them in confusion. Beside me, I noticed their mother's eyes grow wide. "What?" she whispered.

"There's no way they could have seen…" Deran trailed off, sounding just as shocked as his partner.

"The city of dreams…" Merina murmured. "But that's impossible; no one's seen it in over 400 years. It's supposed to be a fairy tale."

That was the night it all began: the beginning of her mission to fulfil an impossible promise based on some half-remembered nightmare and a grudge against a primal.

It was a dream that would steal away from us the sun, and leave naught behind but everlasting darkness.

A mistake that would lead to the loss of the Thirteenth's first and only Warrior of Light, Firyna.