IN DARKNESS

Here is the introduction to my new short story (or novelette, or novella - haven't set a word limit). If all goes well, I'll be telling you where you can read this in its entirety after it's published! :-)

Elli brushed the hair from her eyes and crouched deeper into the hollow of her father’s wing, seeking relief from the icy wind.


“Da, how much longer do we have to stay here?” she whimpered.

Her father hugged her tighter to his side. “Just a little longer, Doame’u. Just a little longer.”

Elli sighed. He had been saying that for three days. She shivered and tried not to think about her mother and what was keeping her. Instead she practiced training her ears to hear the sounds of the forest.

Beneath the raging of the wind, squirrels chattered in their den. Elli cocked her head, twisting her long, thin ears to better catch the sound. They were about fifteen lengths to her right and just lower than the branch where she and her father huddled, snug inside a tree hollow. She wrapped her arms around her torso, wishing she were still small enough to join them. But it had been a ten cycles since she was a nestling.

Her wings were still too small to hold her weight, but they were growing almost as quickly as the rest of her. Before long, she would be able to soar over the treetops with her parents. The thought brought a stab of doubt. Her mother had never been gone this long. What if something had happened to her?

She started to ask Da if they should go and look for her when his body went rigid. Elli clutched his arm, terror raking its claws through her heart.

“What is it, Da?”

“Hush,” he replied, as his eyes swept the trees around them.

Elli held her breath and listened. The squirrels were silent. All she heard was the wind. Then came the distinct rustle and thump of footsteps. The feathers on her wings stood erect as a chill pulsed through her body. The footsteps were too heavy to be her mother’s.

Voices murmured together. They did not speak Hada.

Da wrapped his arms around her waist. “Do not make a sound,” he whispered, and spread his dappled wings. They blended with the foliage as he leapt from the branch, drifting on the wind – away from the strangers.

He landed upon the ground, glanced back, and ushered her behind the broad trunk of an oak. Da knelt at her side, his strong, warm wing over her shoulders.

“Listen to me carefully, Ellivi’an.” His voice was soft, and edged with an emotion she’d never heard before.

“Da, I’m afraid.” She pressed against his side, arms encircling his neck. “Where is Mama?”

“I don’t know.” He turned Elli so they were face-to-face. “I must go and search for her. I need you to promise that you will wait here for my return.”

“But I want to come.”

“No! You must stay away from them.” His fingers dug into her arms, making her wince. Da had never grabbed her hard enough for it to hurt, and she felt tears stinging her eyes.

“From who, Da?” She sniffled, and wiped at the stupid, hot tears.

“Shh, Elli,” he murmured, cuddling her to his chest. “I didn’t mean to frighten you, Doame’u.” Wiping away the rest of her tears, he kissed her once on each cheek. “There are new creatures in the forest. They are dangerous and you must promise me that you will stay where I hide you until I return. It is very important. Will you promise me, Ellivi’an?”

Elli nodded. “I promise, Da.”

“Good.”

Her father took her hand and together they hurried away from the oak, deeper into the Undara Forest. Elli was breathing hard when they stopped beside a fern-encrusted stump. Da’s hands swept over the lumps of long-dead roots.

“There it is.” He turned and grinned at her as a section of the stump slid away, revealing a night-dark hollow. “Inside you go.”

“Can’t I come with you?”

“No, Elli.” Da took her hand. “Here, take this.”

She looked at the Anam stone in her palm. It had always fascinated her, but Da would never let her touch it. Her great-grandfather had created it when the magic of the Inefim had been stronger. None had been forged for over four hundred cycles.

“Da, I can’t.”

“Yes, you can, Ellivi’an.” His steady hands closed over her shaking ones. “But first I must tell you how to use it.”

Unable to speak, she nodded again, trying not to look as terrified as she felt.

“Hold it like this.” Da turned the stone so that the rune faced toward the sky. “But don’t squeeze it in your palm, just let it rest there. Now say; Edelsteen, leu’er ra kee.”

“Edelsteen, leu’er ra kee.” Elli almost shouted with delight as the Anam stone came to life in her hands, radiating a pale rose light.

“Well done, Elli.” Da leaned down and kissed her brow. “Inside now.” He gave her a gentle nudge and she started into the hollow. “There is plenty to eat. Your Mama kept it stocked well, just in case.”

“In case of what?” Elli asked, turning back to look at him.

But her father was already leaping into the sky. She thought she saw the gleam of a blade in his clenched fist as he banked left and started back the way they had come. Shuddering the dark worries away, Elli stepped into the stump and pushed the hidden door closed.

Shelves filled with earthenware water jugs, jars of vegetables, dried berries and sacks of grain lined the walls. Each one was labeled with the contents and the date upon which it had been stored. Elli ran her fingers over a jar label written in her mother’s looping hand and tried not to worry.

She noticed a linen sack wedged against the wall under one of the shelves. She wrestled it from the tight space and unfastened the tie. Elli’s eyes widened. It was the quilt Mama had sat up stitching each night for a long as she could remember. Standing, she pulled it from the bag, wrapping it around her as she did. The lily-sweet scent of her mother filled her lungs as she buried herself in the quilt’s softness. Snuggled in the precious quilt, Elli lay down and fell into the numbness of sleep as soon as her eyes closed.

Wind howled, buffeting her hair and wings. Elli hurried through the forest, sliding in and out of the sunlight slicing between the trees. Footsteps followed behind her, keeping pace, but she was not alarmed. She crouched at the edge of a still pond, waiting for the unseen creature to catch up. Just as a tousled head of brunette hair appeared over her shoulder, the water rippled and distorted the reflection. Elli turned to look the stranger in the face.

She awoke – just as she had every time the vision had invaded her sleep. Elli lay staring into the black. She hadn’t dreamt of the dark-haired stranger for seasons. Though she’d never seen its face, a part of her knew the creature meant no harm. Yet awakening from the dream always left her feeling hollow and edgy.

After what seemed like a very long time, she felt her body begin to relax. Elli curled into Mama’s quilt, pulling it over her head, and drifted into a dreamless sleep.