Rykka (Beastborne: Book 1)

Prolouge: For Her

Song- To Build A Home, The Cinematic Orchestra

Lyrics: "I built a home for me, for you, until it disappeared from me, from you..."

Tears ran down the young mans face as he clutched the newborn to his chest. His wife was sleeping in the next room and he was careful not to wake her as he walked outside. They had been staying with her sister further down the mountain they called home but he hadn't seen the young woman in hours. He couldn't help but worry about on top of all other things rushing through his mind.

He hesitated to look down at the bundle in his arms but with every movement he felt the need to check on her grow. The baby made small noises against his chest but seemed content to be held for now. He looked down at her again and an cold dread ate at his stomach as he saw her gemstone eyes peering up at him. She was beautiful, part of him was delighted that she looked like her mother, but the other part of him was quick to remind him what they might mean.

Athanies hadn't said anything but he knew she was aware of the risks. Vaylia had fled the room as soon as she'd handed the baby over, sobs already racking her young form as she exited the room in a flurry. The odds were so low that none of them had considered the possibility as little more than a nightmarish worse case scenario. But now as his daughter stared up at him innocently he couldn't stop himself from thinking that had been a terrible mistake. He had no reason to fear his daughter. She was not his enemy. Still a voice in his mind whispered a truth he did not want to accept. If his daughter was marked then she would be little more than a beast.

The enemy was the outcome of his own decisions on her life. The enemy was what the world could shape if he failed to prepare her for it. More than that, his baby, the small creature wrapped in fur in his arms, had been born into a world that hated her. She'd been cursed by the gods themselves. He found himself walking with leaden limbs down the small hill of Vaylia's yard. The woman was hardly a teenager but had already been burned with the weight of her empty family property. Euros tried to make himself think about the estate in it's entirety as he walked further away from the house but his mind kept drifting back to the body in his arms.

His daughter squirmed only slightly, looking out into the night. He wondered if she could see, surely if he was right her vision was better now than the average civilians. He walked until he was confident he was out of ear shot of the house before turning down into the valley where he could hear the quick moving river churning below. He tried desperatly to grapple with the situation he had found himself in. He wasn't sure he was making the right decision anymore. He knew what would happen if he didn't.

He knew that from this moment on he would be living a life of complete solitude, afraid of the little clientele he'd worked hard to secure. The place he'd worked so hard to secure in life would surely be lost eventually. He was signing up for an early death and an uncertain demise. He and his wife would spend the rest of their lives in fear of not only their enemies but their own daughter. His mind was firm and he moved with a renewed speed. He had to do this before Athanies woke. He made it to the rivers edge and climbed carefully up the rocks that led the bank. His daughter was held tightly to his chest but he didn't look down to check on her once.

Finally, he stood and held her out in his arms, dangling her over the edge of the rock he stood on above the icy water below. Even in the summer the snow melts were hardly warmer than freezing. The baby didn't even cry, she just stared at him, almost like she understood. That made it worse, so much so he had to take a moment to shake with a sob as he held her over the river. His arm shook and even as the baby bobbed dangerously she was silent, just staring out from her swaddle, unable to move but content.

He had almost let go when a hand suddenly landed on his shoulder. He startled, almost dropping the baby but in the moment of panic he withdrew her to his chest. He looked over to see his wife watching him with sad eyes. "Are you sure?" She asked quietly. Her deep purple eyes were dark and broken as she looked down at their daughter in his arms. "She's beautiful." She murmured but she didn't reach out to hold her newborn baby no matter how much she wanted to. Euros stared at her for a few moment and then looked down at the child. "Yes. I can feel it, but if you want me to test her I can." He said.