Chapter 1

The soil was warm beneath my toes as I walked from my hut on the edge of the forest. The sun was powerful during the summer in Farlsemeadow meaning we had full harvests and plenty of livestock to keep us going though even the harshest of winters. Luckily, we were the only tribe inhabiting the far eastern hills so land wasn't scarce. This was most likely due to our dangerous reputation.

"Mother Acidos!" I called out, running up to the village centre. The woman stood, hair cut close to her head, hands clasped together in front of her. Turning, her cold gaze landed upon me.

"Child?" She spoke dismissively. The woman had little respect for the youths of the tribe which sadly included my 16 year old self. It didn't help that I didn't have the best track record for behaving. Occasionally things went missing and I happened to know exactly where those items lay.

"Where are we in the light cycle?" I asked once I had stopped in front of her.

"Learn, and you may find out yourself, can you not see the sun?"

"No you don't understand Mother Acidos, I mean what day is it?"

"Again child, learn!"

I sighed in annoyance, why did I stand by that woman when all she did was disrespect me.

"You should know better than to anger Mother Acidos, especially after last time Zenith." The words that passed my friends' lips stung almost as much as the consequences of the last time that he referred to. I turned, my eyes meeting his own. They were somewhere between blue and brown, I could never place the colour for as long as I had known him. And that was all of my life.

"I don't mean to annoy her, she just has a very irritable face."

"She's the reason this tribe hasn't fallen apart into a war."

"Sure sure…"

There was tension between us, Vito looked away, rocking back and forth on his feet.

"So you're heading out to the royal grounds tomorrow?"

I perked up, smiling at him and answering "Depends what day it is."

"You don't know what day it is!?"

"I never learnt the sky cycle, figured i would always have someone around to tell me."

"Well it's Thursday today, does that help? It's the 20th… assuming you even know what month it is."

"Shut up pleas- 20th?"

"Yes, the 20th…"

"Oh god I'm going to be cremated!"

I immediately turned, running at full speed back to my hut. I heard him follow me with shouts but I couldn't care less. I needed to be by the western fence by the time the sun reached the top of the central tower.

Barging into my hut, I heard the wooden door crack slightly. It's not like I would be needing it anymore anyway. I didn't own many items but I hardly knew where they were in my room. I dropped to my knees, pulling the crates out from under my bed just as Vito entered the hut.

"You're leaving today aren't you!"

"Yes, but only if I can pack within 5 minutes!"

"Why- What do you need?"

Pulling clothes out of a crate I chucked them at him. He fumbled with them as I ordered him to put them in the bag on the back of my door.

"Right done" he said with an exhausted look on his face.

I looked at the sky and it was starting to turn a crimson red colour. " damm I need to leave" I had to be there by sunrise and it was a long journey. " You mean we?" he snapped. " you're not coming though you told me that it was stupid." " Yes, well people change their mind. I am coming and have already packed. He looked puzzled and opened his mouth to speak " I erm.. well i'm not leaving today though i'm leaving tomorrow, as im a boy and i'll be in a different group.

"Well at least i'll have some company" i said whilst walking out the door. I stepped onto the soft grass and began to walk. I didn't really say goodbye, it never really crossed my mind that you had to. My heart was pounding with excitement. Now was the time that i could show my amazing fighting skills, well and my beautiful sword. It was given to me as a gift on my 16th birthday in preparation for the army. It had a long blade with a golden handle in the shape of an eagle's head. I was told it was my fathers but he'd died a long time ago so that meant nothing to me. People always say that you should love your family. That rule doesn't apply to me because I was brought here when I was born with no knowledge of my family. Why should I care about them?

My mind continued to ponder when I could see it. A tall grey mossy tower lay up ahead, I still had a long way to go but it was something. I continued walking and hummed the tribe song to myself.