CHAPTER 1 - The Dream

Kairi stood atop a rocky precipice above a deep ravine, looking out over the surrounding landscape, which still had snow drifts dusting any exposed areas. The afternoon sun left a pleasant warmth on the back of her neck, and she felt the tension in her shoulders loosen somewhat as she inhaled the cold spring air. She shifted the bow and pack on her shoulders absentmindedly and sighed. No luck again today. 

She had been on a hunt for the last three days, and had nothing to show for it. All of the animals in the forest seemed unnaturally quiet of late, and the store of preserved meat her family had was low after a long winter. The forest had had a peculiar feel to it since the spring thaw began, as if the world was holding its breath, waiting. It made Kairi uneasy.

She turned back down the path and headed off towards her house, shaking her shoulders a little to try and dispel the mood that had gripped her. She took a slight detour off the path to check the traps she had laid on the first day of her hunt, and was pleasantly surprised to find two large rabbits. Kairi knelt down softly beside the traps and gently picked up the creatures, bowing her head for a moment to give thanks before tying them to her belt and returning home.

***

Her father, Dartel, greeted her at the door with a smile and a hug, but frowned when Kairi handed over the rabbits, shaking her head sadly.

Dartel sighed, “Ah well, that’s something at least.”

“I don’t understand it, it’s never been this bad before.” Kairi hung her bow and cloak at the door, and took off her boots to dry by the door.

“It’s been a hard winter.” Dartel said, shrugging.

“But there’s always something. I didn’t even find any deer tracks at all!”

Dartel looked worried, but said nothing.

Kairi followed him into the small kitchen, where her brother, Ryn, was sitting on the rug in front of the hearth, sewing a patch onto a pair of trousers. He looked up and smiled at her warmly. “Don’t worry, Ri, we’ll manage. We’ve got enough to last, and Farmer Grey has promised me some chickens in return for the work I did for him last season.” He chuckled, a knowing look in his eyes, “You’re still the best hunter around, Ri.”

Kairi laughed, her mood lightening slightly, but she couldn’t shake off the feeling that something was wrong. Run seemed to sense her unease and frowned.

“You okay, Kairi?”

Kairi shrugged, “I don’t know. Something feels—,” she struggled, lost for words. “Something feels off. There’s something wrong.”

Run stood up and put a hand on her shoulder, “I’m sure it’s nothing Kairi. You’ll see, the season’s just been a hard one that’s all. We’ve all felt it.”

Kairi nodded and smiled, although she knew it was more than that. She set about helping her father prepare the evening meal, trying not to let her mood affect her father and brother.

***

When the sky was dark and their plates cleaned, Kairi headed to bed early. As she lay underneath her quilt she saw the moonlight creeping in through the window and was overcome by a sense of nostalgia. Wrapping her quilt around her shoulders, she went over to the window and sat in the glow of the moonlight, feeling oddly comforted. She had always loved the moon—her mother had always said she was night child, that she had always been mesmerised by its glow. How she missed her mother. It had been nearly 10 years since she had died, and although her father and Ryn were wonderful, Kairi missed her mother’s soft gentleness and smile.

Kairi sat lost in her thoughts until a cloud passed over the moon, bringing her back to herself. Kairi shivered, returning to her bed, and a fitful sleep overtook her.

***

Her heart pounded as she ran through the dark forest, long, curly hair streaming out behind her. It appeared black in the heavy darkness until an occasional moonbeam fought its way through the thick cover of trees, revealing it as reddish. Coming to a fork, she hesitated for a moment, her brilliant gold eyes frantically darting to and fro, searching for a place to hide. She shivered as the tendrils of fog touched her bare skin. Continuing on, she tried desperately to keep the basket in her hands from hitting anything, or from spilling its precious cargo. At a slight rustling she looked frantically over her shoulder, panic rising in her throat as she caught a flash of colour through the dark cover of the trees.

She sprawled forward on the hard ground near the edge of the forest as her foot caught on a gnarled root protruding from the base of a towering tree. She bit back a cry as her knee scraped the ground, the basket flying from her grasp. The woman looked up, realising that there was nowhere else to go. The basket had landed with a dull thud on the edge of a ravine, and in the fog it was impossible to determine how deep it was. The woman held her breath as a thin, high-pitched wail floated from within the folds of cloth lining the basket. Two chubby legs rose out of it, kicking the air, and the woman's bright eyes grew wide as the basket wobbled. She struggled, fighting exhaustion, to get to her feet as a tiny hand emerged from the folds of cloth, searching for something to hold, but finding only air. The basket wavered and finally tipped over the edge of the ravine, the uncomprehending wail fading into the silence of the night. With a strangled sob the woman fell to her knees, struggling to see the basket through the heavy fog, her hand reaching out futilely into the dark ravine. She seemed to be whispering something, her lips moving frantically until what little strength she had remaining left her, and she collapsed, sobbing into the dirt.

When she was seized from behind by two pairs of strong arms she had no strength to struggle. Her eyes were wide, her hair hung over her pointed ears in dirty strands, damp from the dew. Tears streamed down her dirt-stained cheeks as she was dragged away mercilessly. A heart-wrenching, agonising cry could be heard echoing throughout the dark stillness of the night, broken only by steady sobs, until finally the woman could cry no more. Looking up through tearstained eyes at the billions of stars in the night sky, she whispered hoarsely, "Remember."

***

"Remember." The word echoed through Kairi's head as she sat straight up from her bed, shivering and drenched with sweat. Her breathing was heavy and fast, as if she herself had been running through the forest, and her braid had come partly undone, leaving her hair messily hanging over her face in ringlets. The moonlight cast an eerie glow throughout the small room, and she could see again the woman's tear-stained face and her wide, glistening, gold eyes as she clutched at the darkness that had enveloped the small child. 

She must have made some noise, because she heard footfalls outside her door and very soon the door was thrown open.  Wincing at the sudden light that streamed into the room she put her hand up to her face, surprised to discover that her cheeks were wet with tears. She choked back a sob as Ryn, came to sit down beside her, depositing the lantern at her bedside. "Are you alright, Ri?" She used the corner of her blanket to wipe her eyes and looked up, nodding. Her eyes widened as Ryn’s face contorted into a look of horror and fear.

"Kairi, are you alright? Why were you screaming—" Her father burst into the room, but froze as he caught the look on Ryn's face. Kairi gulped and fought to control the new tears that were now flowing freely, afraid to ask what she had done to frighten her older brother.

"Ryn?" Dartel said in a low voice.

"Look—look at her eyes!" he whispered in horror. Kairi turned towards her father, confused and frightened, suppressing sobs. As she lifted her eyes to meet her father’s he gasped in alarm and took a step backwards, away from her.

"What—what is it? What's wrong with my eyes?" she said between sobs. Her father reached over towards the dresser and groped for a looking glass, never once taking his horrified eyes away from hers. His fingers closed around the ornate silver handle of the hand mirror. As he thrust it toward her it was obvious he was keeping as far away from her as possible.

She hiccupped and turned the mirror towards her, expecting to see some horrific disfigurement, however, the only difference was that looking out from beneath her curly red-gold hair, her eyes, which had once been a pale blue, were now a brilliant gold. Her thoughts flashed to the mysterious, gold-eyed woman running through the moonlit forest. Confused she looked up at her father, wincing as he looked away before their eyes met. "What—what does it mean? Why are my eyes—why are they—?"

"It means, that you’re not truly my daughter," Dartel scowled, still not meeting her eyes.

"Wha—?" Kairi began.

Dartel shook his head, still scowling, and Ryn spoke softly, “Gold eyes are the mark of a Mage, Kairi, surely you remember the stories.”

"A Mage? But Mother—."

"A Mage can only be born of two pureblood parents. Mother wasn’t a Mage, nor has any Mage crossed our borders in centuries." Ryn frowned, looking pensive.

"Mages are extinct!" Kairi exclaimed, looking back and forth between Ryn and her father, almost pleading, “Aren’t they?”

Neither of them spoke, and the heavy silence stretched until Kairi could take it no more.

"But, you— you were there when mother carried me! You were there when I was born!" She paused and looked frantically at Ryn and her father. Neither spoke, but Dartel’s frown deepened. "Weren't you?" Something from her dream tugged at the back of her mind and she struggled to discern what it was, but it eluded her.

"No. Father and I were helping to fight off the bandits in Middron for almost a full year. We just assumed you’d been conceived just before we had left. We never even knew mother was with child," Ryn said miserably. Kairi stared, unable to comprehend what she was hearing.

"But—." She looked desperately between her father and Ryn, willing someone to say something.

After another moment of awkward silence, Kairi's father mumbled something and backed out of the room, stumbling as though drunk. Kairi looked to her brother, aware of the great effort he was making to meet her eyes, but thankful all the same. "Ryn, what’s happening to me?" She sniffed.

He hesitated, "I don’t know, honestly, Ri." He looked down at his hands, which he had clasped tightly in his lap. 

Kairi gulped, and dared to ask the question that had been gnawing at her mind. "If I'm not your kin, then who am I?"

Ryn shook his head, shrugging, and they sat in silence for a few more moments. “What were you yelling about before, anyway?" He had visibly relaxed, perhaps coming to the conclusion that she was still the same Kairi, yet his shoulders remained hunched and tense, his brow furrowed.

"It was so real," Kairi shook her head.

"What?"

"My dream. Only it didn't seem like a dream." She frowned.

"What do you mean?"

"It was—real. More like a memory." She looked up at Ryn, her mind reeling. 

"A vision?"

Kairi shrugged, replaying what she could remember of the dream over in her mind. I wonder who she was. She seems so familiar, somehow. And her eyes...

"Who?" Ryn raised an eyebrow.

"What?" Kairi turned sharply to Ryn.

"Who were you just talking about?”

Kairi went rigid. "How did you hear that?"

"What are you talking about? You were speaking out loud." Ryn took her by the shoulders and searched her face. "Ri, are you sure you're feeling alright?"

Kairi shook her head. She got up from her bed and walked over to the small window, her hair shimmering in the moonlight streaming through. 

"Ri?" She turned around. Ryn looked at her, concern etched in his face. “Try to get some sleep. We’ll figure it out in the morning.”

She smiled weakly, glad to know that he, at least, would not forsake her. Kairi sat down on the windowsill, gazing out over the moonlit field. A wolf howled in the distance, and Kairi felt strangely comforted by it. She realised after a moment that she was shivering, despite the warmth of the room. Her ears began to tingle, and she absentmindedly rubbed them. 

Kairi gazed up at the full moon, wondering in the silence of the crickets, lost in thought, not even noticing when her brother put a blanket around her shoulders and slipped out of the room. 

A word rose unbidden to her lips, and she whispered it aloud in the heavy silence as it reverberated about her mind. “Remember.”

Remember.