Hello all!  Just for fun, I decided to post the first draft of a new story I'm working on, The Heart of the Wyrkind.  I hope you like it!  Please forgive any mistakes or weird grammar: like I said, this will need editing.  Please comment and tell me what you think!

Chapter 1

“Lloyden!” fifteen-year-old Wyreya called out the open door.  She stepped out of the cottage and smoothed her auburn hair behind her ear, worrying at the fact that her brother was late.  Wyreya knew that Lloyden couldn’t be counted on to keep perfect time while he was out working in the fields, but she still could never get over her fear that something would happen to him while she wasn’t there with him.  Today especially she had had the feeling that something evil was impending.   

            “Lloyden!” she called again, a half-second before her older brother jogged out from under the trees into the clearing that surrounded the cottage.  The late-afternoon sun flitted through the trees and glinted on his golden hair, and Wyreya forgot her worries about him as she paused to admire his handsome features.  Surely if they had lived in a more populated area Lloyden would have been married by now.  In a way she felt sorry that he was stuck here on a remote farm, taking care of her.  She wished she could make things better for him. 

            “What is it?” Lloyden asked as he ran up.

            “Supper is ready,” Wyreya replied, motioning inside.  “It’s been ready for a while.”

            “Well, I can’t always have fabulous timing,” Lloyden said with a smile.  His face grew serious as he stared into her eyes.  “You weren’t worried about me, were you?”

            Wyreya hung her head.  “Oh Lloyden,” she said.  “You’re all I have now.  If something happens to you…” her voice trailed off. 

            “You shouldn’t worry about me like that,” Lloyden said gently.  “You know there is nothing to worry about.” 

            “Yes,” Wyreya said, looking off into the distance.  “I wish Yis was still here.  Everything felt safer when he was here.” 

            “I know,” Lloyden agreed.  He put his hand on her shoulder and tried to shake her out of her melancholy mood.  “But as he said: it was the right time for him to go.  We’re practically grown up.  He said we didn’t need him to take care of us anymore.”  

            Wyreya smiled sadly at him, still thinking of the old man they had both loved so much. 

            Whe shooke herself and returned to the present.  “Well,” she said, “supper is ready.  We should eat some of it before it grows cold.”  She turned, and walked into the cottage, trying to ignore the feeling that something disastrous was about to occur. 

*   *   *   *   *   *   *

            “Why are you so tense?” Lloyden asked during dinner.  His sister still seemed a little on edge. 

            Wyreya sighed and put down her fork.  “I don’t know,” she said.  “I just feel like something bad is about to happen.  She rubbed the small bump in the middle of her forehead.  As far as she knew, she had had the bump since birth.  Mostly it wasn’t noticeable and she ignored it, but sometimes it would begin to pulse and hurt without warning.  It had begun to ache during the afternoon while she was cooking dinner, and the pain had continued to grow until now. 

            “Why do you feel that way?”  Lloyden asked. 

            “I don’t know!” Wyreya shouted, suddenly irritated.  The pain in her forehead had become almost unbearable.  She stood up, feeling that she needed to take action of some sort, all the while rubbing her forehead furiously. 

            Lloyden sat back, shocked.  Wyreya was almost never angry with him. 

            “We…we need to leave…now,” Wyreya said, beginning to pace.  She didn’t know what to do with the panic that was suddenly overwhelming her. 

            “Now?” Lloyden shook his head.  “Wyreya, you’re not thinking clearly.  You’re overreacting.” 

            “No!!!” Wyreya screamed.  “We need to leave now!!!” 

            From outside the cottage came the sound of something crashing through the underbrush, followed by a snort and a loud wail.  Wyreya and Lloyden both froze. 

            All of Wyreya’s irritation suddenly melted into fear.  “What is that?” she whispered.

            Lloyden did not reply, but instead rose and went to the window.

            As soon as he looked out he jumped back as if he had been stung.  “We need to leave now,” he whispered urgently as he sprung into action.  He dumped what remained of his dinner into a sack at his waist, and stick the sickle he had used that day into his belt.

            “What are you doing?” Wyreya asked.

            “Gather what you need to leave,” Lloyden said, not taking his eyes off what he was doing. 

            Wyreya still remained frozen.

            Lloyden looked up at her.  “Move!!!” he shouted. 

            Wyreya ran around in confusion, grabbing what she could.  An apple, a kitchen knife, a ring…until Lloyden grabbed her shoulder and began moving her towards the door. 

            “When I open the door,” he whispered, “run to the stable.  Don’t stop, and don’t look back.  Now!”

            He opened the door, and Wyreya ran, too terrified to do anything else. 

            When she was halfway to the stable, she heard a roar like nothing she had ever heard come from behind her.  Forgetting Lloyden’s warning, she stopped and looked over her shoulder. 

            Crashing into the clearing were a dozen creatures with human-like bodies, gray skin, and the heads of bulls.  One of them looked straight at her with his glowing red eyes and raised the thing he held in his hand, which Wyreya now saw was a spear.         

            Wyreya screamed. 

Copyright 2008 Cherise A. Do not reproduce at all without my express permission. If you like what I do, you can link to me instead.