Halfbred

Chapter 1 - The Mountain

I stand in the middle of an old, decaying forest. A rusted earthy smell stings my nose with each breath I take. A canopy of branches loom over me and I feel as if they will fall and crush me at any moment. It feels almost as if something is pushing over my whole body, keeping me in a small confined place. There are several paths leading off in different directions. They all look the same. I don't know if any will take me home. I'm afraid that I will be lost in this dreary wilderness forever.

    One by one the trees slowly disappear, making the paths nonexistent, and leaving the world around me empty, blackness. What if I don't ever find a way out, what if I never see any of the life I left behind ever again. I do not feel like myself; I feel different, strange. I turn to look for an escape out of this dreary space. I am shocked instead to see there are wings sprouting from my back. That can't be right. How can I have wings? They're white, feathered wings strong and thick. I am having trouble assimilating this fact. They make me feel a bit more safe though, almost as if I have some way of escape. I can use them to my advantage, to leave.

    Puzzled and still reeling from this discovery I look in the distance and see my house standing on thin air. Why is it standing on thin air? I just want everything to go back to normal the way it was before everything started to be dark and strange. I start to run toward my house, hoping that once I get there everything will go back to normal. In my fragile child like mind it seems as if it is the only safe place in the world at this very moment. Gradually it too disappears. I stand still, astounded, and then realize there is no ground beneath my feet; there is nothing; I am standing on blackness; no ground, no trees, all is nothingness. I feel empty, and lonely, as if nothing in the world could make me feel whole again. Then in the distance I hear a voice, a soft, urgent, haunting voice calling my name, “Elowyn! Help! Save us! He's awake now... please... we shall die without you. Help us!” the voice whispers in the darkness. It resounds through the emptiness and speaks again, “Please, you are the only one that can save us, Elowyn, we need you!” As the last word echoes through the darkness my eyes begin to open... it was all a dream... Or was it?

    I awaken and sit up, my long, black, silky hair draped around my body helping protect me from the cold air. It is always cold in the morning here in Montana because we open the windows to cool the house down after long hot summer days. I shiver, not only from the cold air around me but I still feel that lonely presence of my dream.

    A mixture of thoughts wash over me as the “dream's” details fade, although I know the memory will probably stay forever. I'm scared, confused, surprised, but most of all I feel an almost urgent need to help the owner of the small voice that called so plaintively to me. Could that really have been a dream? No, it couldn't have been a dream, it couldn’t… it felt so real; almost as if I were there, as if the voice was next to me calling my name. The emotion of the dream is so frightening, and dark. But what frightens me the most is the fact that the voice sounded so familiar.

    This fraught situation is almost enough to make me forget what today is... my birthday... today is my 13th birthday. Exactly one year ago today my parents and grandfather died in a vehicle accident. This day is my worst memory. My grandmother is the only one left now to care for me. I hope she forgets that it’s my birthday; I don’t like celebrating because this day brings so many painful memories. I loved my parents and my grandfather and I feel as if they died because of me. I feel as though it's all my fault, I wish I didn't have a birthday and they would still be here beside me. They went out to get me a gift, and now they’re gone. I get up and walk to my bedroom window and peek through the blind. The bright morning sun shines through. My eyes momentarily blur and then adjust to the light. It’s so beautiful. The water on the lake ripples as the geese glide majestically across it. The sun’s reflection shimmers and scatters across the water. The gentle light sifts down through the trees and the birds sing a sweet morning melody.