Prologue - Fourteen Years Ago . . .

7th of Rain's Hand, 183 4E

Small feet patter against the soft ground behind me as I run away from my pursuer. I pant hard, trying to get to the nearest tree, and start slowing down due to exhaustion. My heart thumps madly, as though trying to break free from my chest. My thoughts race, mostly circulating around, 'He's going to get me.'

"You can't catch me Frey!" I yell over my shoulder. I realize that he's actually advancing on me, and that if I don't reach my tree soon enough, he's going to get me, and then it will be all over with.

This is another stressful game of tag.

I'm exhausted, and have barely been able to avoid my twin brother so far. If he tags me, I'm going to be too tired to chase him back, and the game will have to end. But our parents are out hunting, and so we will be bored if we stop playing around.

So this is why I'm running for a tree. I learned how to climb them before Frey, and have been faster at doing it since. He's a lot more cautious than me, which makes him slow. He's always spending time trying to figure out how to reach me without hurting himself. I just grab whatever I can reach after I know it will hold my weight.

I finally put on a burst of speed, and reach my target. I dart up the tree, and Frey skids to a halt underneath it. I finally start to catch my breath, while he shouts angrily at me.

"You know I can't do the tree thing! That's not fair!" I just breathlessly snicker and say, "I did say you couldn't catch me." That gets on his nerves, so he starts climbing. I tense, preparing to leap down.

He's way more cautious, which gives me enough time to catch my breath and leap to the ground before he reaches me. But I should probably start being more careful soon, because my recklessness is going to leave me with a broken arm or leg at some point.

Me being the carefree twin, start losing myself in my thoughts. Because of it, Frey gets closer to me without me noticing it. He then reaches out and grabs me, disrupting my daydreaming, and causing me to scream. I then leap down, before realizing what's actually going on, while Frey mockingly laughs at me.

"That's not funny! You know how dumb I can be sometimes!" I shout up to my brother. "Yeah? So? That means it's your fault if you get hurt!" he tells me. I open my mouth to say something else, but then realize he has a point.

He then slowly comes down, and I start daydreaming again, wondering what kind of food mother and father will bring back later.

"When do you think mother and father will come back?" he asks me, disturbing my thoughts. "I don't know. Maybe we should look for them," I absentmindedly answer, without caring how dumb that would be. We are only ten, so venturing out to find something would be extremely stupid.

We sit in silence for several minutes, but then I suddenly remember I'm supposed to be chasing my brother. He seems to have forgotten, so I grab his arm before he remembers.

He glares at me, and then says, "We really should be getting worried now. Mother and father have been away for way too long." I shrug, but then listening to the truth in his words, I begin feeling a small yet growing sense of dread. I then go to the small tent I share with my brother, and grab my journal to pass the time.

Just then, I hear a small rustling outside the tent.

I scramble outside, and see Frey also looking expectantly at the bushes where the noises came from. They suddenly stop for a second, but then I see Mother peek her head out, looking extremely distressed.

"Mother!" I yell, and start running towards her. She breathlessly catches me in a hug, but then I start getting more worried. She's shaking really bad, and looks like the world has just ended.

"Ma?" I hear my brother say, being more cautious, as always. "Is something wrong?" I step back, beginning to feel distressed too.

"Where's Pa?" I ask, trying to sound more bright than I feel. I may be ten years old, but I'm not a complete idiot. My parents have been careful to teach me about how dangerous the world is, so I'm worried something happened to father.

Mother takes in a shaky breath, and starts to speak, her voice cracking. "Your father . . . isn't coming back."

My heart practically stops.

My brother, the ever optimistic one, then starts whimpering. "Why? What happened to him?" he asks, struggling not to cry.

"Well, we were hunting like we said we would, and he had just spotted a sabre cat." Mother began speaking, standing up more straight, with hatred blazing in her eyes. "We both started sneaking towards it, so we could kill it and get some good food tonight. But neither of us noticed a wolf pack tracking us."

I gasp, and feel tears leaking out of my eyes. "They jumped on me, and the sabre cat heard them. It rushed at the nearest target, which happened to be your father, and it tore his throat open," Mother told us. "I was dealing with the wolves at the time, so I nearly got slaughtered too."

"I did manage to drag him back here, but I need to rest, so you should go say goodbye while you can," she tells us, before going to the tent. I watch her leaving, and notice several deep scratches on her back, and the fact that she's limping.

Shock starts setting in as my small mind processes what's just happened.

"What are we going to do, Freyja?" I hear my brother squeak out. I let out a shaky breath. "I don't know, Frey," I answer, trying to wrangle my emotions. "I don't know."

I slowly walk over to the bushes, with my brother trailing along behind me, and look at my father. His neck is a bloody mess, and his face looks drained of color, with his blank eyes staring at nothing. Dried blood is caked by his mouth, and I see a strange wound on his arm.

I kneel down next to him, and swear I won't let his life be wasted. Frey just looks at him with his scared eyes. I mentally promise that I will take care of him.

"I won't let you down, Pa," I quietly mumble.