BURTHR (Birth) The Inheritance Cycle

Chapter 1

All ancient language will be bolded.

~

Xelena and Thaylor were alone.

Well, to say they were completely alone would be a lie - the forest and all of its inhabitants surrounded her, the forest just as alive as they were.

The Spine was not exactly a homely place to the average human, but Xelena and Thaylor were not humans.

Xelena closed her eyes, breathing in and out. Around her, she sensed the minds of creatures big and small - from the young ants to the enormous bears who lived in the Spine. She struggled to walk alongside her mother, her six-year-old legs were short and useless against her mother's long strides.

"Mom?" She spoke softly.

Thaylor merely flicked her pointed ears in response.

"What bothers you, daughter?"

"When will we sleep?" She asked, tired from the long day of traversing aimlessly through the deep forest.

"Soon, my tiny warrior." Xelena found herself smiling as she saw her mother smile warmly.

They walked for nearly half an hour before they came back to the tiny hut they called home. Xelena felt comforted as she saw the place she felt safest. Leaves, twigs, and branches wove together into four small walls, massive leaves draping over them to create a roof. Thaylor had spent days singing the little shelter from the trees; she refused to cut down a tree just so she could have a roof above her head.

And so, they sat by the fire, as they had done every night for six years. Xelena would sit in her mother's lap while Thaylor braided her hair and told her every story she knew, from the biggest battles of the elves, to the most fantastical fairy tale.

And Xelena was happy. She was happy sitting under the trees and the stars, sheilded from the dangers of the outside world. She was safe here, as her mother told her.

She hoped that this would last forever, that she could stay here with her mother, beneath the trees and the stars forever.

But alas, fate had other plans.

Pronunciations - 

Xelena - Zee lee nuh

Thaylor - Th ay lore