Keravel's Travels (Book One?)

The Finding

As the last light of the Corinth Sun was slipping away, Amoar lay patiently waiting in her bed for the soft sounds of sleep overtaking her parents. Her bag was already packed and ready, stashed in the thick under her sill.
Not much longer, she kept telling herself. Don't rush, it must be certain.
She couldn't afford to be caught. Not again.
The curfew was very strict. No one was supposed to be out after dusk. It had been a law since Turns long past. A law laid out long before the 'Raising'.

"As the first sun makes its way down, everyone must be in their homes. Anyone caught out after the second sun reaches the horizon shall be punished according to his/her record and age."

Record being first and age only taken into account after.
This would be her sixth time out after Corinth had ended it's arc. As an adult she would have been sentenced to death on the third account. But for every 3 Turns under-the-age a person was, the sentence was lessened. She would be 12 Turns, tomorrow. This would be her last chance...

A mutter from through the wall, pulled her from her thoughts. Her father had just dozed off, with his customary breathy prayer. It was time.
Quickly, but silently, she rolled from the bed, carefully tied her hair up and back to keep it from catching on anything as she made her escape, and slipped on her best pair of walking shoes.  She had already dressed in a pair of her father's modified work pant and a tight fitting dress split from hem to hip to tuck neatly into both legs. The only other things she needed were outside.
Moving to the window, she held her breath and listened raptly as she slipped it open.
The lack of change in soft rhythmic snores from next door, gave her too much courage. She flung herself out the window, only to remember, too late, that this wasn't the only catch. Realizing her mistake, she dropped completely flat as soon as her feet touched down.

For a long time, she held her position, waiting.
Waiting for the phew-thuck of the Watchers' paralysis dart. She had no desire to lay unable to move for the time it took them to collect her again...

She lay for a few tortuous moments while her heartbeat settled and cautiously collected herself on her feet. Looking out towards the closest of the looming Watch towers in the distance, she started off towards them at a quick but steady pace. She remained crouched down as low as possible until she reached the shadow below the base.

Peeking carefully up at the platform on the top she saw... Only one Watcher? Strange. Normally there were 2...

As he was looking back towards the village... Taking it as a sign of good luck for her, she looped around the base and began her journey on into the darkness.

She did not reach the Spire on this day...  A score of strides from the jagged walls around the behemoth structure, Amoar began noticing a strange shimmering in the sky. Later she would learn that this was the ripple of the barrier that encompassed the villages.
She became mesmerized and stared up at the strangeness for many moments. As she watched, it seemed that the shimmering became more aggressive and sporadic. The chaos stilled for a heartbeat and then a dazzling explosion of light erupted above the Spire of Doom.
Amoar shrieked and tossed her head as the light seared her eyes and left her temporarily blind. Her sight was just returning when a gust of powerful wind knocked her off her feet and a terrific thunderclap sounded.

Waking sometime later with a terrible headache and pained, shaky legs, Amoar stood and tried in vain to clear her head. Failing that, she looked around for the cause of the horrendous crash that had knocked her unconscious. About sixty paces from where she stood there was an enormous trench furrowed into the ground.

Ever curious, Amoar followed the excavated earth... At the end was a crater the same width as the small hut she lived in, and nearly as deep as the hut was high. Even more curious than the strange occurrence of this huge pothole was what it contained: a small child.

At first Amoar believed the being to be as human as she, but when she began the decent into the ravine, she noticed that it had an extra appendage. The being was suckling on a limb that extended from behind it!
Now enraptured with intrigue, she rushed headlong the rest of the way down the slope and picked up the humanoid being. Turning it over she realized two things: it was a boy, and he had a tail.
The child was of a slightly darker shade than she, and had a tail that spanned three hands. He had a face that any mother would love and a smile that made him look like he was up to no good. His eyes were of a vibrant sterling silver and the little hair he had was a light shade of the same.

Looking down at this odd child, Amoar decided she would raise him. Fashioning a carrier out of her bag, she secured the little one and headed back home.