Children of Winter's Sleep

Chapter One

       Cold air bit at my neck and my hair fell into my eyes. I tugged at my small bag's single strap. The moon's blue light cast upon me and the town of Rheaedith.

       I glanced to my left. The long, flowy dress of the Keeper drifted down the steps from above. She had an icy presence that left everyone frozen in her wake. She was the reason this was happening to me. I gripped my wrist behind my back.

       "Rigel, honey," a sobbing, motherly voice whispered. "I love you so much."

       A calmer, deeper voice returned with, "I love you too."

       I dug my nails into my wrist harder and my eyes burned a little. My mother's disappointment in me must've overcome her. This proved to be true when she didn't bother to show up and talk to me one last time before I would be tossed into the forest like trash.

       "I have to go now, okay?" the calm voice said.

       I turned slightly to my right. Rigel stood with his arms wrapped around his mother and sister and father. He and his mother shared their brown hair, but his sister and father's aged more to red. They were a Jahori family, one of the only ones Rheaedith. The rest of the townsfolk and me too were Fanged and Pale Eyed. To put it simply, the Fanged and Pale Eyed were in fact, fanged and had pale eyes.

       I looked forward again, into the almost never-ending woods. Rigel approached and stood next to me. Eyeing him from the side, I could see his face was forcefully just as stony as mine. This was unlike him. He'd always seemed happy-go-lucky, but now, he looked like a different person.

       He caught me staring and his face softened. I averted my eyes as they began to sting more. Without looking at me, Rigel reached his hand to my wrist and unlatched my grip. A fiery, stinging sensation cracked at the skin. He ran his cool fingers over the cuts I made.

       "Turn to the Eternal Altar."

       The voice caught me off guard. We did as we were told and turned around. The "Eternal Altar" is just a fancy name given by the Keeper to a long overly decorated table with magickal candles on them. There was a candle for every resident in town. The flames on each could never be blown out; not by wind or the breath of any person other than the Keeper.

       "You have betrayed Rheaedith and now you will pay the price." The Keeper said as she stood, her dress giving off the impression of floating. She lifted my eternal candle to her lips, the flame wavering. With a single breath, the flame was wiped out.

       Something laid heavy in my chest and my head felt light. The Keeper did the same for Rigel's. Once the flame disappeared, I saw him lean onto his back foot. Fogginess took over his eyes until he blinked it away.

       "You no longer have any attachment to Rheaedith. You have forced us to live on, removing your names from our heads and acting as if you were never there. Rigel Jahori with honor, Kota Simaraud without, you are hereby exiled to the forest of Fox."

       I pursed my lips hard. I never liked the Keeper. She seemed incapable of any human emotion and flaunted that trait whenever she could. This occurred to me when her own sister was exiled. The Keeper was cold and harsher during that exile than any other I could remember. Yeah, of course, I had only witnessed, like, 3, but still. She also came up with this 'honor' thing. She thought Rigel wasn't as bad as me I guess, and that he could've been, but he wasn't. Rigel was allowed a bigger bag than me. I honestly couldn't care less because we planned to stick together. It benefitted both of us that the Keeper had this rule.

       The townsfolk surrounding us shifted uncomfortably with the Keeper's words. Feelings of sympathy for our parents and for us, the two 16 year-olds venturing out into the forest to probably starve or freeze to death. We pulled our packs tightly.