Chapter One.

I survey my surroundings. The trees look like tendrils of my big sister's dark hair standing on end. The ground is crunchy under my feet; I don't think I'm wearing any boots but I don't feel cold. Fog is rolling in from my right and my mother is standing at the tree line. She stares at me like a cold statue in the distance. I don't want to go to her; my mind repeats the same things over and over.

'Go to her.'

I take a step but something tells me to stop. She is my mother I tell myself. But something doesn't feel right. Something that I can't put my finger on. She beckons me and despite myself I take another step forward.

Reid opened his eyes. Another dream. He had been having them for awhile now; maybe about a week. And they were always the same. The boy sat up in his bed, the uneasy feeling that usually accompanied the dreams was thankfully absent this time. As he moved to check on his little sister the straw beneath his bed covers shifted and sent both him and the bedding to the floor. He would clean it up later; right now he had to make sure he hadn't woken up Kari.

"Big bwother? Are you alwedy up?"

"Yes. Go back to sleep Kari, little girls shouldn't be up this late," Reid walked to her beside and pulled her blankets up to her chin again.

"Wewe is Dowwy?"

He looked around for his sister's precious doll in the dark, even going as far as to crawl around on his hands and knees just to find it. He got a few splinters for his trouble but eventually found it without further incident.

"Thank you Weid!"

"Uh huh. Now back to sleep okay?"

The girl turned over with her doll clutched tightly in her arms and Reid was finally free to clean up the mess he had made. Maybe I will be able to go back to sleep afterwards he thought to himself. But he doubted that he would be able fall back into a peaceful slumber; he was usually forced to occupy his time with practicing his swordplay or staring idly at the stars.

Reid scooped the straw that had been scattered on the floor and stuffed it into the large sack the golden stalks had come from. He lay down in his bed and immediately realized that he was not going to be able to sleep. Besides, he didn't really want to have the same dream again so it didn't bother him all that much.

The boy got up again intent on going downstairs to the first floor.

"Where are you off to?" his sister Soli was walking towards him from the room she shared with their mother down the hall.

"I cannot sleep. I will go outside now I suppose."

"Remember to wear your heavy cloak, it is even colder at night," the young woman whispered.

Reid nodded even though he doubted she could see the gesture.

He moved to the side of the hallway; his sister liked to sit in their father's room sometimes and he assumed that was where she was headed now. She passed by him, the candle she held cast shadows on her face making her appear like a ghost floating by. Reid followed her until the end of the corridor then turned towards the stairs.

Their father had died just after Kari had been born. Reid didn't know the exact details but he had heard his sister and mother talking about it in hushed tones when they thought he hadn't been listening. His father had died a warrior's death; fighting off intruders, probably bandits that had been attacking their home. Both of his children had inherited his auburn hair but had dark brown eyes; something none of their relatives had themselves. Their father had been a proud man and had loved his children a lot but Reid didn't remember him. The person described to him didn't evoke any memories either. Kari had no memory of their life before their father had died; she had been too young obviously.

Either way Reid had inherited the only possession that was left of his deceased parent; the man's broadsword that had been passed down for generations.

The red haired boy tightened his grip around the hilt of the sword feeling the familiar carvings press into his hands through his gloves. He had stared at it many times in the hope that the heirloom would force him to remember something; anything, about his father. Nothing had come but he knew the designs off by heart. There were dragons with gaping mouths and scales had been painstakingly carved into the wood; in the place of eyes there were tiny red stones. Reid had traced the creature's forms many times and had tried to guess what kind of gems they were. But he usually got nothing more than a warm, tingling sensation in his fingertips and his hair stood on end as if he had just stepped into a thunder storm. Even now he wondered; how many battles had this sword seen with his father and his father before him?

He swung the sword with two hands even though the hilt was made for one strong arm. Reid was small for a child twelve summers old and could barely lift the weapon let alone swing despite the blade only being about 4 pounds. His father's armour had been lost but the boy didn't doubt that that instrument of warfare would probably be much too big for him as well.

"Don't worry yourself brother; father was unable to don armour until his sixteenth summer and even then he had a great amount of trouble moving around. You will grow into your adult attitude soon enough," Soli had told him once.

Reid hadn't asked how she had known such information but he had a feeling, even when he had been young that even if he had asked she would have lied to him. So for now he busied himself with practicing how to parry an attack effectively-though even his best efforts probably would not help him in battle. Despite that he would continue to practice; he wanted to make his father proud even if he wasn't around. And if an attack came the boy had hope that his efforts would not go to waste. He wanted to protect his family; Kari most of all.

Every burst of breath sent a puff of white smoke spiralling towards the lightening night sky. He was sweating from exertion but Reid wouldn't stop until he had gone through all of the paces of a proper sword training regime. His arms felt like blocks of wood which were simply nailed to a flimsy structure that was supposed to resemble a house. With every swing of the sword his upper body lurched forward or to the side; he just didn't have enough weight to counterbalance the mass of the sword. Had the boy been the type to quit when he was not doing well Reid would have walked inside, returned the broadsword to its scabbard and never looked upon the sword again.

But he was not. He would continue to practice as his forefathers had. Even though his limbs were shaking because he was so tired, even though he wanted to quit more than anything, even though he it was so cold that his sweat was freezing as it rolled down his face-he would keep going.

"You appear rather tired my son," his mother remarked while they were eating a simple breakfast of bread and a small cup of tasteless broth.

"I was unable to sleep."

"He woke me up!" Kari exclaimed with her mouth full.

"You are usually awake around that time anyway Kari," Soli said with a humourless smile.

"No, it was my fault. Can you ever forgive me my dear sister?" Reid stood then bent on one knee as he had often seen knights in the service of the Queen do.

"Of couwse! You may wise Siw Weid!" she grinned a toothless smile.

He did as she asked and returned to his meal. She will probably want to come along hunting with me today he thought. But he rarely allowed her to. Not only was the weather terrible but there were not many 'nice' animals left in the forest at this time of year, and if there was he would have to kill them which would definitely not get any applause from his sister.

"What are you planning for today son?" the older woman pulled his empty dishes out from in front of him.

"I do not know mother."

A lie. And a boldfaced one as well. His mother did not like him going out alone and certainly not to the woods. Reid rarely heeded her warnings however, if the decisions were left to his mother nothing would be accomplished. Their house was situated on the outskirts of Chalen City and no merchants would come to one lone lodging just so the residents could buy a few vegetables and perhaps some rabbit for stew. The only way the family could obtain any sort of meat was to hunt it themselves. Reid was the only man in the household and as such was expected to protect the house, hunt for food and do any physical labour around the yard. Kari and Soli helped sometimes but they were mostly inside cooking or other things that women were expected to do. A tradition which his little sister disliked immensely.

"Can you mend the fence?" his mother carried the pile of dishes into the kitchen.

"Yes."

Reid had been asked to patch the hole in the fence many a time now but he never got around to actually doing any work. The wolves would just break through the rotting wood again and the boy didn't exactly fancy doing such backbreaking work more than 2 times a month. So the fence was still broken from a couple of nights ago. Reid couldn't really understand why the stupid animals kept coming back; there was nothing for them to eat as the family didn't even own any livestock. Perhaps Kari is leaving food out for them…he mused as the red head opened the door to the wood shack.

The inside of the tiny structure was cluttered with tools, fire wood and old furniture that the boy hadn't gotten around to chopping up yet. There was a leak in the roof that allowed a steady stream of water entrance into the shack after a storm had finished. He would have to fix that too. Eventually.

Reid stepped over the puddle of frozen water to reach his toolkit and tripped over a misplaced log in his haste. Something beneath a pile of lumber and old materials for upholstery caught his eye. The boy ignored the thing for now; it probably wasn't all that important anyway and his mother would start yelling for him to hurry if he stayed too long.

"Weid! Weid! Awe we going to the woods today?" Kari yelled across the yard.

The little girl ran towards him her long red pigtails flying behind her like a banner. She was wearing her brown breeches and the blue shirt that Reid had given her under an oversized cape that used to be Soli's. Their mother could only sew for one size and it was definitely not the size of any of her children. But their clothing lasted a long time in any case.

"Weid, awe we?"

She was grinning at him with shining eyes and clasped hands.

Reid put down his homemade hammer and wiped his brow with the back of his hand even though he just felt the bumps where his perspiration had frozen.

"You know mother does not like us going into the woods Kari."

"We could go anyway! Mama is silly, woofies are nice!" she jumped up and down, to emphasize her point apparently.

Woofies? I knew she was feeding those wolves!

He put his hands on her shoulders and looked her in the eye, "Kari, we have to be good and listen to mother. If she does not want us to go to the woods we should not. And those wolves are dangerous; they could hurt you so I do not want you to feed them anymore okay?"

She was pouting as he said it but nodded slowly when he was finished, "so Weid is not going to the woods even though he has his bow and awwows out?"

He had been caught but the boy didn't let on that she was right on target. Instead he nodded and sent her back to the house to wait for him; the wolves had a nasty habit of showing up while he was in the middle of trying to keep him out. His sister didn't look too happy with him but did as she was asked anyway. She still complained that she didn't want to make scarves though.

By the time he was finished fixing the fence it was midday but still as dreary as ever. Winter is Sarnai was not any colder than the other seasons seeing as there was no summer, spring or autumn to compare temperatures with. Reid had read books about other places in Jule though, that had summer and some even had summer all year. He would travel there with Kari once he was old enough to leave home. Maybe there will be people there…the boy thought.

The people of Sarnai, where Chalen City was situated, were not the type one could have a conversation with and were about as cold as the weather. Reid didn't really have any friends his age and he knew Kari didn't, his sister had their older sister though. The boy was like a wolf among sheep in a sense, being the only one in the vicinity who was male. Maybe he would ask his mother why she had chosen to build their house so far from the city limits; it wasn't really fair for Kari to have no one to play with.

"People are cruel Reid. Especially people in the city, they do not accept anyone different from themselves," his mother responded when he asked.

"But mother…we are not that different."

She patted his head like she had when he was a child before the boy could pull away from the gesture.

"Of course not dear. They just cannot see that."

He nodded but inside the boy was rather confused. Hadn't it been his mother who had told him to never believe that he was strange or not quite the same as everyone else? And hadn't it been his mother that told him that his dreams didn't mean anything even though several had come true already?

A sigh escaped the woman's lips as she screamed,

"You do not see it either. You just cannot accept it. He was always like that too. He never listened to a word I said!"

Reid turned on his heel and bounded upstairs to his room. Kari was sitting on the floor playing with her dolls when he grabbed her by the arm.

"Come on Kari, we are going to go for a walk okay?"

"To the woods?" she grinned.

"I guess so. We have to go find something for dinner right?"

The girl nodded, "wight!"

He made sure that she wore her heavy cloak and more than one layer of clothing; the temperature was even lower in the forest.

Reid pulled his white wool hat over his messy hair. He could barely see because of the clumps of his own hair which obscured most of his eyes but he would need to be warm if he and Kari were to stay out hunting for awhile. The boy would try to get them both past their mother without the woman stopping them, but he didn't know if that was possible considering his mother would be waiting for him in the sitting room. He didn't know why she was suddenly acting the way she was but he wasn't about to allow Kari to see their mother in such a state.

The two siblings tiptoed down the stairs in the hopes that the hysterical woman would take no notice of them. But she did.

She leapt up from the chair she was resting in and grabbed Reid's arm and yanked him forward like a rag doll. The boy lost his footing and fell to his knees but the woman hauled him to his feet again, her nails digging into his clothing. She stared at him with wild eyes, her hair was dishevelled and he could tell she had been crying.

"Mama, let go of Weid!" Kari started to run towards them.

Reid shook his head, stopping the girl in her tracks, "Could you go get me my bow Kari? I think I left it near the woodshed."

Large brown eyes stared at him for a moment as his sister contemplated whether or not she would listen to him. But after a second she bounded off towards the door like a jack rabbit. She was smart enough to know that he didn't want her to come back into the house.

"Mother, what is it that you are trying to achieve?" he asked the woman.

She let out a dry cackle and tightened her grip on his arm, "Raj, you're going away. To a place where nobody has to deal with you anymore! That's where they put children like you."

Reid tried to back away and get her to let him go but he only succeeded in making her angrier.

"You always were such a nuisance. You never wanted to play with the other children and you never talked to me, your own mother! Well now...well now you can sit there all alone. Just like you want!"

Her arms suddenly fell to her sides and Reid wasted no time in going the way of demons. He ran off on shaking legs out the front door and to the yard. Kari was waiting for him.

"Weid! I got youw bow!"

The boy nodded and took the hunting tool from her. He slung the wooden bow over his shoulder. The little girl didn't ask what was wrong with their mother; she had probably already worked it out for herself. Their mother was going mad. Or perhaps she always had been.

"Come on, let's go Kari."

They entered the forest and were immediately enveloped by the darkness. The trees were completely barren but they were all so close to the other that any light that could have trickled through was completely blocked out. The cold weather was magnified by ten as soon as they stepped into the woods. Even though he had anticipated the sudden change of temperature Reid still shivered. Kari slipped her gloved hand into his as they slowly navigated the snow covered terrain but when he looked down to inquire why she had done it she suddenly became very interested in the trees.

The siblings crouched behind a clump of sparsely decorated bushes. The few leaves that still clung stubbornly to the branches of the foliage danced in the harsh blast of frigid air.

A dun coloured rabbit nibbled at a few shoots of green grass poking through the carpet of white snow. Reid quietly strung his bow and pulled an arrow from the quiver at his hip. The feather at the end of his broad head arrow made a soft slapping noise as it brushed across the palm of the boy's hand. But the animal continued to eat, oblivious to the fate which would befall it in less than two minutes.

Reid pulled the bowstring back after nocking the arrow. He readied himself to release when the rabbit shot off further into the forest. Something is around... and it is not Kari and I the boy realized.

Low rumbling emanated from the murky darkness of the forest. Reid lowered his bow and put a hand on Kari's shoulder.

"Stay still," he whispered.

The growling continued and was accompanied by the outline of an animal. A wolf. As the enlarged canine moved closer the boy could make out the faint glow of yellow eyes and glinting white teeth. He slid his hand towards the scabbard which held his dagger. Nothing. His knife wasn't there. If they stayed in one spot the wolf could miss them as they hid in the bushes, but that was about as likely as gold falling from the sky.

The canine moved ever closer, globs of saliva dripped from the fangs onto the snow. The body lurched forward unsteadily. It has rabies…if we just stay here it could charge. I cannot allow Kari to be injured! Reid pulled his sister off her feet and pointed to a tree behind them.

"Stay here Kari. I will protect you."

He took a deep breath and stepped out from the cover of the bushes. The wolf snarled at him, white foam flew from its fangs. Reid's hands were shaking but he couldn't allow the animal to sense his fear.

Teeth snapped shut and the canine was leaping forward. Reid braced himself for the attack. A flash of blue and gold streaked in front of him and a yelp cut through the air like a knife through butter.

The boy looked up; a blonde man dressed in royal blue garb.

"Revelin, Kari, thank the Goddesses you are unharmed!"