Gemoira

one

I wasn't sure what truly happened the day I lost my parents.

Only that I woke with a concussion, freezing cold and hundreds of miles from home.

My first day of independence had not come to me willingly.

A twelve-year-old girl should never have to face the fact that she will forever be alone and fend for herself. Especially when that human girl lives in a world full of creatures that are stronger and smarter than her.

Good job I got smarter.

Gemoira was a place of the supernatural. Predominantly split into four islands, each was inhabited by a different creature. It took hundreds of years for them to settle their differences and divide land, but today Gemoira was a place that appeared to be harmonious.

Growing up sheltered from it all, was easy to ignore the cracks in their societies.

First, there were the shifter creatures. Living to the east, each main species had their own land. The dragons lived to the north, in the snowy mountains of Cerulea. Beside them, the felines habituated Theran. Both species live in solitude, but I have heard from the gentlemen in the markets that they do help each other out.

Then there were the wolves; werewolves, lycanthrope, whatever they were. I have never seen a beast in person, never witnessed the terrifying, long clawed, pointed teeth, enormous dogs. They lived central to the shifter lands, occupying a large amount of forestland called Drolmuun. As daunting as it sounds, many humans lived nearby, the shifters offering 'protection' from demons and providing wooden homes.

Why? Oh, because the shifters, especially wolves, worship their own goddess, and this goddess supposedly bestowed them with soulmates. When the wolves discovered their mates could be human, they started to get a whole lot nicer to us. If you were not their mate, then you often ended up a worker, earning money to try and stay afloat in this damn rock ruled by paper. That, or you were never heard of again. I have seen what happens to humans that get caught in the wrong place at the wrong time, and being the lowest species, it wasn't hard to figure out where they end up. I could count on both hands the amount of humans I have seen as slaves or blood bags in just this past month.

Anyway, we were safe in the mountains. Safe from them all.

To the south of shifter land were the bear-shifters. Huge, large, furry and ever-so cuddly looking bears lived in a land called Auberon. I have never met a bear, but have frequently seen them in passing. They often visit the markets in Oudailia, the land of fae, which is kind of where I lived.

The fae were fickle creatures. There was a castled town where only the highest of fae lived, called Salkyr, and that was west of fae land. Fae, although easy to steal from, were very smart creatures. Dressed in the finest of fabrics and jewels, they exalted themselves. It explained the over-exuberant castles they lived in. What happened to a simple four walled home? Fae's had to have the best of everything, it is why they held most of the power in Gemoira. That, and their magic.

There were many types of fae, in all colours and strengths, but the high fae were a pretty pale blue, almost like ice on a blue-sky day. The high fae all lived in Salkyr and the head fae, Sofina, ruled most of the lands, and she was a woman of beauty. With unusually purple eyes, almost like lavender, she had white hair that reached her knees. I have seen her a few times when she would travel near to my village, mainly through crowded areas. I dare not get too close.

They were intelligent, ethereal looking creatures. Usually tall, they held their head with purpose. They loved new information, loved finding things out, but they also loved a joke. The fae were known as tricksters, the opposite of their elf cousins, who rarely came to the markets. The elf folk were also smart, but often lived in the woodland. They were very good at crafting things, but were regarded as a lower fae to the higher species; they did not possess the same amount of sparkly magic as the higher fae.