Children Of Frost (Book 1: Spirit Tales)

Chapter One- Winter and Lily

Looking into the frozen river, all she could do was stare. Brown hair covering her matching eyes, tears went down pale checks. She could believe, no, she wouldn't believe it. It had to be a trick, her mind playing games with her.

Part of her imagination, or even a nightmare. Either way, she was going to close her eyes and when she opened them, she would be looking at her snowy roof.

"Lily!" she shouted. Lily was too smart, so it had to be fake. Her little sister wouldn't do something this stupid, she valued her life too much. Walking on any river was life-threatening, and Lily wasn't a hunter. She didn't know this, to her and everyone else, ice was deadly.

She could only look at the hole, thinking about others who had gone out the same way. The same way she was going to. Ice was cracking at a fast rate, but she didn't move.

She let Lily die, neither Hunter or Dylan were going to be happy with her. Her safest bet was to join her sister. For her, it would be a lot safer then going back.

"Winter!" someone shouted. It wasn't Hunter or Dylan, no they wouldn't want to talk to her, let alone sound worried.

Turning around, she didn't get a chance to see who was calling her, the ice cracked under her feet, and she feel through.

--

"The hell?" Winter asked herself looking around her small house. It was just a dream, and now she had to face the person she thought was died. "This is turning out to be a great bell ringing."

She could only look at her roof. She had to get up, the bell was ringing, which meant that she would soon need to leave. She had been hunting since she was in her tenth cycle, the Seasonal Tribe was one of the five tribes left on this land, some tribes having around five hundred people. There were others, but they were either killed on sight or left alone, depending on what they were doing. There was enough land between each tribe that they weren't at war with each other, but she knew that tribe leaders would meet and lay out their borders and those borders would be taught to those who needed them.

"Winter!" a voice said from her 'door'. Only those who were married had wooden houses, and said wooden houses were usually passed down to the oldest son. Either from the father's or mother's side of the family, sometimes even both. However, Winter knew that in those cases the two oldest would get a wooden house, while any male younger then them would have a house built for them. "Come Win, I ran in front of Mummy and she won't be happy that your not out yet."

Winter only rolled her eyes as she finished getting dress and left her house, only to look into her little sisters brown eyes. "Lily, Lily. You know neither mother nor father are happy with me. Father might be happy if mother bore him a son, but their are only small favours in the world."

"Win, you know they love you."

"Let's leave the topic. How are you dearest sister?" Winter asked. She knew better then to argue with Lily, it did no favours for her in the long run, not with the way both her parents doted on the younger girl.

"I'm a bit scared."

"What is wrong?"

"Can I tell you something?" Lily asked looking around. She had lied, neither mother nor father were ready. She told them she would wait at Winter's to make sure she was up, so that they didn't have to wait for her. "Something that you can't tell mother or father."

"Lily, what in the heaven's is wrong?"

"You have to promise."

"You know I wouldn't tell them."

"Really?"

"I promise, walk the seasonal river if I lie," Winter told her, putting her hand over her heart, while other girl's in her cycle were becoming adults with their 'bleeding', she stayed the same. Her body not changing. "Now come on Lily, you have to tell me."