When a person is born, their energy is at its purest form. As they grow, the energy becomes less pure, but none the less, it grows with them.

Unfortunately, my energy never lost its purity. And as I grew, so did my spiritual energy. Except… it… grew differently. And that’s why as far back as I can remember, I have to relentlessly be on my guard. I must constantly watch for demons who would want to take my life so they would be able to drink upon the energy that I hold within me.

The light of the large moon outside the cracked window of the old mill shone brightly into the eyes of the young woman. Slowly opening her eyes, she gazed at the moon that was hiding behind the dirty glass. Sitting up, she took a few breaths before quietly pushing a twig out of the circle that surrounded her and tip toed over to the window. Silently placing her palm against the glass, she gazed out at the moon. The fog that blanketed the ground beneath the second-story window, hid all from view.

Something small stirred behind her catching her attention. Turning her head slightly, she gazed behind her and saw an orange cat stick its head from underneath the blanket she had been using a moment ago.

“Labatyd. What are you doing up.” The cat asked in a semi-demanding tone. Pulling itself free from the covers, he padded quietly over to her and hopped into the windowsill, gazing from her to the moon, his giant green orbs glinting with attentiveness, “Do we have to leave?”

“No.” Labatyd replied as she returned her gaze to the moon, “There’s a ring around the moon… I think something’s coming.”

The orange cat stretched, “Nonsense. It just means its going to rain tomorrow. Now scoot. Off to bed.” He ordered, his tail flicking in irritation.

Labatyd gazed down at him sadly, “I don’t think it means just rain father. I think something else is coming…”

Her father raised an eyebrow at her as his fur stood up. Never a good sign from him, it meant his temper was wearing thin. With a sigh, Labatyd quietly walked back over to her small pile of blankets and gazed up at the ceiling.

Hopping off the windowsill, the orange feline padded his way over into the circle of twigs and sat down inside. With his paw, he scooted the circle closed before hopping up onto Labatyd’s covered stomach and lying down in a ball, “Good night Laby.”

“Night father.” Labatyd replied quietly as she watched the moon. Her brows frowning together as the memories of her nightmare that had woken her came flooding back into her mind. With a quiet sigh, she dozed off.

By dawn, Labatyd and her father, Ered, were on the horse and were once more on the move. The thick fog held a chill as it crept along through the trees stretched out before them. Labatyd’s raven black hair hung loosely around her shoulders as her horse trotted silently through the forest.

Ered sat behind her grooming himself atop their bag of luggage.

“I’m seventeen today…” Labatyd quietly informed her father as she gazed out into the fog. The gloomy forecast had promised that the fog was to stay.

Ered’s head popped up, his green orbs shooting to rest on the back of her head, “What? Today? Today is your birthday?”

“Yes.” Labatyd smiled slightly as she nudged her heels against the horse causing it to jog.

The orange cat frowned and silently went back to grooming himself.

Labatyd choked a laugh, “Some existence I live. In my seventeen years of living, I am solely responsible for the downfall and destruction of an entire Kingdom… and I’ve never been kissed.”

Ered returned his gaze to his daughter, “Laby… that isn’t your fault.”

“What, not being kissed?” She asked in a sarcastic tone.

“No.” Ered carefully hopped off the luggage and onto the saddle before crawling up Labatyd’s back to hang over her shoulder, “The entire Kingdom thing. That wasn’t your fault.” When she didn’t gaze down at him he continued, “As for the boy thing...”

“You all ready gave me the speech about how Men are vial creatures who want nothing but to get into my pants. Thank you.” Labatyd frowned in mild irritation.

“Well, yes but… that’s not –“ Ered was silenced when Labatyd flicked the reigns in her hand and nudged the horse hard sending the creature into a fast paced run. Ered dug his claws into Labatyd’s shoulder catching her cloak and vest as he held on for his dear little life, “Why are we going so fast?!” He demanded loudly, his ears plastering against his head as he squinted through the wind.

Without an answer, Labatyd removed her feline father from her shoulder and placed him on the saddle in front of her as she picked up her bow and closed her eyes, listening to the sounds of the silent forest.

Ered grabbed the reigns with his front paws as Labatyd drew an arrow and set it quietly against her bow. He was well aware of her ability with a bow, and knew the frightening precision of her shot. Being part elf aided her tracking abilities, and when Labatyd drew her bow, Ered knew trouble was soon to show its face.

The only thing that could be heard was the heavy breathing of the horse, and the loud clacks of his hoofs against the riding path.

Ered yelped when he felt Labatyd grab him roughly and roll off the back of the horse. As they tumbled to the ground, Ered saw a large brown creature ram into the horse, toppling it to the ground as it sunk its teeth into the neck of the shocked animal.

Labatyd placed her father down gently as she aimed for the creature and shot it quickly with her arrow.

The arrow pierced through the mud covered fur causing the creature to growl through its bite before releasing the now mutilated animal. Turning its black eyes onto Labatyd, it bared it crimson colored fangs. Its large muscular arms shot out propelling it into a run. Labatyd silently grabbed a sharper arrow and placed it onto the bow. Kneeling into position, she aimed straight and fired as the creature made its final pounce. The arrow struck its target in the roof of the mouth and the creature was slain instantly.

Rolling out of the way of the heavy body as it fell, Labatyd scooped up her father and quietly stood. With her hand on her dagger, she approached the creature and gave it a gentle prod with her foot. It remained still and she leaned down to inspect it.

Lifting its floppy goat like ear, she traced its small horns atop its head, “My best guess for its sudden attack was it was either protecting its young or defending its territory…” Labatyd informed her father in a slightly bored manner. Standing, she placed the tip of her bow on gashes along the creatures back, “Judging by this, there was a fight with something as equally as large, and by the spacing of the cuts…” She turned her gaze to the creature’s front claws, “I’m guessing it’s the same species.”

Ered stepped forward and gazed at the monster, “The coat looks too damaged to sell.”

“We couldn’t stay to skin it anyways.” Labatyd frowned as she quickly shouldered her bow. Placing her foot on the creature’s back, she removed her arrows and wiped them on the damp grass before putting them away. Turning on her heel, she quickly walked over to the fallen horse and removed her bag from the shredded saddle.

“You’re too calm about these sorts of things Laby…” Ered gazed at the monstrous creature for another moment before rushing after her, ‘Happy Seventeenth Birthday Laby.’

By horse, the next town was half a day’s journey. By foot, Labatyd and her father had managed to stumble into the gates as the sun was sinking into the mountains in the far west that late afternoon. The town was adequate sized, and its walls that barricaded it were tall to keep out the strange creatures that Labatyd and Ered had come in contact with earlier. Labatyd noted the certain areas held deep scratch marks similar to the ones on the creature’s back. Quietly walking through the town, she noted the guards stationed at the entrance and continued on her way. They had enough to spend the night inside tonight, and Labatyd could tell by the sudden change of temperature that it would start raining soon.

Stopping only to ask for directions, they located the inn as a slight drizzle began to fall.

Ered paused and let out a semi-frustrated groan when he saw a man standing outside shaking his head at a young couple. After they left, Labatyd approached the man.

“Pardon me sir, but do you have room available still?” Labatyd asked politely.

“I’m sorry lass, but I don’t…” With a frown, he scratched his bearded chin and gazed up at the sky, “It sure looks like a nice bit of rain is going to fall. My best bet to find a place to stay is the church.”

A small shine picked up in Labatyd’s eyes, “A church? Could you please tell me where it is?”

With a small smile the man pointed down the street, “Straight that way, you can see the roof from here.”

Labatyd glanced over her shoulder and spotted the steeple peeking out from behind the fog. Thanking him with a smile she hurried down the darkening streets as the drizzle turned into a gentle rain.

Ered ran quietly behind her as lightning rumbled in the distance. His fur stuck against his thin frame causing him to shiver in the breeze. He didn’t like getting wet.

When they rushed up the stairs leading to the medium sized church, Labatyd quietly opened the door and gazed inside the well lit interior. Stepping inside Labatyd bowed her head in respect to a statue overlooking the seats. Noting the stained glass windows that lined the walls of the church, she turned around quickly to face a tired looking elderly man in cloaks.

“My dear child, do you need a place to sleep tonight?” He asked quietly.

Labatyd nodded and scooped up Ered, clutching the shivering cat to her damp cloak, “It’s all right if he stays with me, right? He’s traveled so far with me…” She whispered so as not to wake the other occupants sleeping on the benches.

The father smiled warmly, “I don’t have a problem with him staying as long as he keeps his claws off of the seats.” With a slight chuckle he placed his arm around Labatyd’s shoulders and led her further towards the warmth of the church and away from the cold draft of air coming from the doors, “If you need blankets we can supply you with them.”

“Thank you father, but I have my own blanket… I do have a small request; do you have any candles you could spare?” She asked quietly as he walked her towards a section that looked warm and was away from others.

Gently taking his arm off of Labatyd and nodded quietly and left to go fetch them.

Quietly, Labatyd unpacked her blanket and used the end of it to dry off Ered, who purred quietly. As she finished folding the blanket over, the father returned with a hand full of candles.

Thanking him, she took the candles and wished him a good night before quietly crawling into bed. With wide eyes, she watched the others drift off to sleep as lightning struck a bit closer. Rain panged the windows loudly as Labatyd placed the candles around her in a circle using the small archway she had made her bed under as part of the circle. With a quiet sigh, she curled up under her blankets and gazed quietly at the floor. Looking up at the ceiling, her eyes fell upon a man sleeping sitting up. His cloak pulled over his face, but the curve of his mouth held a slight frown, and by the way he sat and by the texture of his skin, Labatyd guessed the man was not much older then her. Tearing her gaze from him, she watched the rain hammer against the windows before drifting off to sleep.

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A/N: For those of you reading this, I just want to thank you for taking the time to do so. Yes, I'm going to continue writing this don't worry (I'm not abandoning you if you like it!) If you don't like it, I still want to thank you for reading it.

Any questions that weren't answered in this chapter (Which are a tons) are going to be answered in the upcoming chapters.

Yes. Labatyd's father is a cat. And no, she isn't half-cat half-elf. She's half-elf half-human. But that's all I'm saying. You'll have to read more to find out!

Also, if you have any questions/comments (nice ones please) don't be afraid to use that review button! Reviews make me smile!