Daughters of the Night

Prologue

Sarah hoped her baby girl didn't feel pain when she cut the lifeline between them. The thick vine protruded from her baby's belly and connected to Sarah's organ now resting on the ground. So this is childbirth, she thought to herself. Although Sarah had been successful in bearing a son only 20 years before, she felt as if this birth was her first.

The midwives who delivered babies in the village of Kerberos were silent in their practice. Sarah remembered that silence when Juriah was born. She remembered the disapproving glances from the older women dressed in blood hoods when she made any sound louder than soft moan. The pain was excruciating but internalizing that pain was beyond any torture Sarah had ever experienced. It was supposed to be a sacrifice.

Suffering produces children and any release of that suffering will carry that child away along with it, they had said. Sarah remembered being desperate for that release, to roar her pain into the darkness of that crowded room. Women of the village were allowed to watch just as they always did. They whispered amongst themselves, no doubt comparing experiences and ranking which woman had been the most obedient. Sarah remembered watching other women too, tied to beds with cloth stuffed in their mouth, drooling and groaning in pain.

So Sarah was silent when Juriah was born.

This time was different. Sarah was alone. It was daylight. She had found a patch of grass far from the village to deliver her daughter. And she screamed when the baby was born. She screamed so loud not just from the pain of childbirth but also to make up for all the times she did not scream when rage boiled her blood. Sarah's voice would be a blessing to her daughter.

Sarah was not surprised to hear a perfectly healthy baby girl cry into the grass of the meadow. When she picked the baby up, power flowed through her fingertips and into the soft skin of the child now nestled against her breast. Protect her, High One.

They waited. Sarah hoped her letter to Juriah had reached him in time. The blood that soaked the Earth was deepening in richness and color. It smelled of iron, just like the sheep that were slaughtered to welcome a new child into the village. I will be your sheep, Sarah thought.

She let the baby suck from her breast even in her weakened state. There would be no milk, but there would be comfort. Stay alive, she whispered. And did not know if her demand was for the baby or for herself.

Juriah arrived on horseback and cursed when he saw his mother settled up against the tree, a baby in her pale arms, and blood pooling around her naked hips.

"You cannot possibly believe this is the best solution, mother." Juriah's voice was accusing, but underneath Sarah could hear fear. The same fear that drove her from bed in the middle of the night to comfort her darling little boy scared of the shadows that danced through the halls of their home.

Sarah smiled in relief to see him standing there. "Listen to me. She is yours as I am now the earths."

Juriah had predicted such a tale from the contents of the letter his mother sent him. "The child belongs with father just as you do." But even as the words fell off his tongue and were carried to his mother in the Spring breeze, he knew she belonged to no one.

"She is a Daughter of the Night. What becomes of a Daughter beyond silent suffering and obedience?" Sarah's voice was faint but firm, unyielding in his interrogation.

Juriah wanted to rush to his mother's side so she didn't have to raise her head. The effort was taking a toll on her. "What do you want me to do? You know that when she comes of age, the village will demand she's placed in the pool along with all the other females."

"No." Sarah's eyes flickered. "She will fight to become a Warrior for the Elders. I can feel her strength. It is written."

"You are a mad woman to believe they'd let me present a female to the Elders during the Battle of Warriors. And even more mad to believe I'd actually do it."

"Train her. Send her into the ring. Place a helmet on her head. When she is declared Warrior, take off the helmet and watch the blood slowly drain from their miserable faces." Sarah was determined that this was the course of history. The words she spoke would be saved within the folds of time and released when her baby girl was of age.

Juriah imagined his father's rage. Flashes of leather snapped across his mind and seemed to bring the welts across his back to life. "Father will kill me."

"Your father will not be the one to kill you, Juriah." The words hung in the air like a promise, but Juriah was too horrified to ask what she meant. "Stay hidden just as you have the last 5 years and tell no one of the child until she is named Warrior by the Elders."

Juriah thought of his cabin hidden deeply in the woods but could not imagine raising a child there. "He will look for her when you come back with no child!"

But Sarah was adamant. "No. I will die here. You will take the child, and then set this meadow on fire. Your father will believe the child and I both died."

He shook his head, trying to will the tears away. "Mother let me take you home. Please."

Sarah smiled at her son one last time. "You are good, Juriah."

Juriah watched as his pale mother went limp and death took her place. The baby in Sarah's frail arms wailed as if it realized the lifeline to her mother had truly been cut forever.

Juriah approached slowly and deep hatred filled his body for the creature that killed his mother. It seeped within every bone of his body. But in that hatred, he gently picked up the child and lifted her to his chest. His lips brushed his mother's cheek for the last time, and he tasted the salt from her sweat. A reminder that she was made from the minerals of this earth and to this earth she would return.

Juriah would fulfill this promise. He would fulfill it because even though he sparked the flame that traveled and engulfed his mother's body, she had been burning for years. All the women were.

Juriah knew he was not the savior. But perhaps the bundle in his arms would be. 

Author's Note!

Thank you for choosing to read my story. Here are a few things I'd like to share before you read on:

[1] This book contains violence, torture, light gore, misogyny, death, drinking, classism, abuse and other disturbing elements. I will not put a warning before each chapter so please be mindful of this one. Also, let me know if I should add to this list. 

[2] The world in this book is completely made up. 

[3] I like to leave my character's physical traits up to you. You can imagine whatever race, body type, hair color and texture, eye color, masculine or feminine traits, etc. you want.

[4] Please let me know if I misrepresent a character.

[5] There are sexual scenes later in the book. If you are not old enough (you know who you are), please do not read! The scenes won't be overly graphic, but certain activities will be heavily implied.

[6] Do not copy my book. Period.

Comment anything else I should address here:)

Most of all, enjoy. This story idea has been brewing for ages, and I want you to have just as much fun reading as I did writing. I'm not going to lie, it starts off intense. But the magical world that is unveiled in the later chapters is well worth the wait (I hope). 

Updates are sporadic but never less than once a week. 

- Alaska