Storm Sisters

Chapter One

~1~

    It was the beginning of spring and new life was starting to emerge. As the snows melted, pockets of green pushed their way through, followed by budding flowers and swarming insects. It wasn't long before the hills of the village were vibrant once more.

This was Aura's favorite time of year. She awoke early in he morning just to witness the rising sun bring light into the sky. "Audra wake up," she pleaded, "you're going to miss it."

"I don't care," Audra whined as she pulled her blankets over her face, "Go bother Aelia."

Aelia was already awake though, she never really slept much for it was difficult to stay asleep with the nagging pains that shot through her feet all night.

"How about it Aelia...do you want to come to shackle rock with me today?"

Aelia thought about it for a moment, eager to say yes, but instead she rolled away, "You know that I can't."

    "Sure you can...lets try—I'm sure we could think of someway to help you climb up the rock face, it really isn't so difficult and—"

"I said no." Aelia cut her off before she could finish her thought.

"Oh... alright then—Ill go by myself."

    Most of the village was still asleep at this time; aside from a few stray goats and chickens clunking about, the road was all hers. Sometimes she enjoyed solitude more then she enjoyed the company of people. It was a good time to reflect on her thoughts with the clarity of silence.

    By the time she reached the base of the rock-face, dawn had already began to brighten the features of the rocks with a subtle blue hue, which was just enough for her to find the necessary ridges for climbing. She worked her way up, rock by rock until she arrived the top. In a way, the challenge of the climb made the destination that much more satisfying.

    She had arrived just in time, as the sun was barely starting to peak-out over the surface of the lake, setting fire to the sky in faded reds and purple hues, which where reflected in duplicate off the lake's glassy and rippled surface.

    A thick fog still lingered in the air above the water and Aura reached out in-front of her to feel it, not with her skin, but feel it with another part of herself, a deeper sensation. It was a strange notion that she had always had, the ability to feel the energy between mist and rain, it was as though she could imagine all the invisible connecting points between the droplets and will them to change, although she had never actually willed them to move, but it was still a sense she had always gotten but never told anyone else about it, not even her sisters.

    On this particular day, the girls were turning ten and in their village's custom that meant they were becoming women. Something felt different inside her she thought, like maybe she could actually move the mist if she concentrated hard enough.

    With her hand still extended in-front of her, she closed her eyes and focused with all her strength on those imaginary connections. In the darkness of her mind there was a swirling of light, strange green light, and then suddenly there was a sharp flash of an image, it was an on object like a shield, and the image became intensely hot, the heat traveled from her head, down into her chest to the place where her pendant hung around her neck.

    "What was that?" she said aloud to herself.

Although the image had gone now, she could still feel the warm energy throughout her body. She examined her pendant containing the fragment of a red leaf that was crystallized like glass; it was the same as it had always been—one of the three pieces that she and her sisters carried with them since their births. When she had asked Abicus where it came from, he simply told her that it was piece of their mother, who had died before they had ever met her.