Book of The Lightborn: Rise

The Shivering Lands

He didn't wish to waste a moment. He wanted to step beyond the light's reach. Yet, uneasiness surged within him given that those promises were made. Looking back at his siblings, he saw fear on their faces, as well as glimmers of hope in their eyes.

There was no point in waiting, but for him, it was the first time leaving his home, with only this strand of light which followed him as a reminder of his birthplace. The thought of leaving like this, terrifying to him.

He took a glance back one last time, looked at the Link, and whispered a little prayer in his mind "Let me return successful, or doom may follow." Then, he stepped into the blizzard, his figure barely discernible after a few steps and lost within the storm after a few more, the strand of light following him slowly fading after his glow.

As he went further from the Link, a few changes took place. His glow was weaker; the hair still radiated stronger than the skin, but not as before. Also, the strand of light got dimmer as well, now barely visible to him, but he felt it just as strongly, allowing him to traverse the cold and be nourished through it.

Lastly, a strong feeling of loneliness engulfed him. Kilon, all his life until then, was surrounded by his countless siblings. Now he was all alone in the suffocating cold, winds and harsh snow. At times, the snow would form in clumps of ice and bruise his skin, small sparks getting out of the cuts, healing the bruises as quickly as he got them.

He yearned to go back home. These feelings were new to him; despite his wisdom and intelligence, they were limited to the Link and his siblings alone. Outside of his birthplace, he was like a kid lost amidst a jungle. Given that he was out there, and the Link was outside his vision, he had no choice but to keep on going.

And so, he spent his first sun, or two days, walking aimlessly in the Shivering Lands. Unbeknown to him, he was going south. During his first day outside, he had to struggle against the powerful winds, and snow that built all around him.

He was able to rest only when the blizzard ceased. Anyone, normally, would do it the other way, but these blizzards could easily last half a day or more, so he only stopped when they weren't active. When he did, he was able to see the sky and the lands around.

The sky was, at times, stuck between day and night, as the sun shone through a portion of the sky, while countless specks of light did in another, a sight only possible in these unforgiving lands.

The lands, when not obscured by blizzards, provided a sight akin to one in a desert. Only that, snow was everywhere instead of sand, dunes of snow here and there, as not even the sun's warmth was able to melt this frozen desert. Here and there, one may have witnessed some critter trying its best to find what little was there to find.

There were, what Kilon called, stormhawks. These animals usually had white feathers, but at times some gray ones could be seen with some stormhawks at the sides. They only hunted during blizzards and storms when tornadoes formed.

For Kilon, they were no threat, as they were usually solitary hunters and only preyed on small creatures. They would only form a flock if they deemed the prey that valuable.

Stormhawks could easily navigate tornadoes, their bodies bending with the wind when caught in one. At times, it was on purpose. They seized the opportunity to snatch caught animals away from a tornado, drag it to the edge of it while in air, drop the prey to its death, and eat it.

Some of their prey adapted through time to these tactics, like the horned rabbits, which developed stronger, more flexible hind legs, or the icicle turtles, which sleep buried in snow or ice to protect themselves from stormhawks' attacks.