Something Wild (Child of the Winter Moon Book 1)

50: Uma

Juray made camp several miles away from Crow's Perch. It had taken a little bit to settle Uma down to where he would go to sleep, but he was currently snoring and mumbling nonsense in his sleep. Juray watched the creature for a bit, focusing on the magic that was coming off him. She couldn't pinpoint now any more than when she first met Uma what kind of magic it was. She quietly opened her pack and removed the book Yennefer had given her.

"Yen, would you mind answering a question?" Juray asked as she and Yennefer left the sorceress' room to head to King Bran's wake.

"Hmm?"

"What do you know about Children of the Winter Moon?"

Yennefer looked at Juray. "And what interest would they be of you?"

"I've been hearing about them." Juray hoped Yennefer couldn't see through her lie. "Just curious."

"Mhm."

"What?"

"You've just now heard of them?"

"No, they just seem to be coming up more frequently lately."

"Don't know why. They don't exist. At least not anymore."

"How come?"

"People kill what they fear or don't understand. Children of the Winter Moon are no exception."

"Like Witchers and Sorceresses, hmm?"

Yennefer snorted a laugh. "Similar."

"What did people have to fear from these children?"

"Power."

"Power?"

"These children were special, destined to become powerful mages with natural talent. They were feared because they could use their chaos by instinct, use the world around them to channel it. My mentor said they could rule the world if they so desired."

"So they were hunted down and killed?"

"Nothing so simple. See, Juray, even they feared their own power. At least, the ones who survived to have a conduent moment." Yennefer looked at Juray. "A Conduent moment is—"

"When a mage displays his or her affinity to magic," Juray answered. "I'm aware of what it is. I'm going to take a wild guess and say superstition prevented these children from reaching that point."

"It would be a fairly accurate guess. Children of the Winter Moon were marked by their snowy white hair and cold blue eyes. Many were thought to be cursed because of that and left to die by their simpleton parents or outright murdered by the villagers. Much like girls with the Curse of the Black Sun. I sometimes wonder what those children would have become, if they would indeed become as powerful as my mentor said they would be."

"None ascended? Of the ones that had conduent moments?"

"As I said, they feared their own power. Some killed themselves by pushing too much of their chaos through themselves. Others were indeed tracked down by the Church of the Eternal Fire and executed. My mentor told me of one that had embraced his power. He was the reason Children of the Winter Moon were feared so much."