Part One (other parts will be added at later dates)
Kyra, Bip, and Tyr sat around the great balefire—huddled closely to one another as they watched the exploding fireworks paint the night sky in a collage of flamboyant colors. Close friends from early childhood, it was only natural the adolescent trio would experience their first Sunsleep together.
But even among the bright explosions and raucous sounds of celebration, the pervasive presence of a dour and wrathful woman cut through the mirth. Kyra looked past the flickering flames, snaking her arms around Bip’s and Tyr’s “Who is that?” she inquires in an uneasy breath, watching the old and haggard woman argue with a tree.
“Why, that’s the one and only Kala Daemenos” Bip snorts, a look of disdain crossing his face.
“Daemenos? That’s an odd pyqsi family name. Sounds Qindred in origin, actually".
“Well. She never shuts up about how her family can be traced back to the Great Cataclysm”.
“Is that even possible?”.
“Doubt it. She claims a lot of things“.
Tyr shifts around uneasily, tightening his own grip around Kyra’s arm “Have you ever wondered why she doesn’t live with her family? I mean, her House rules over the neighboring suntree. What’s she doing wallowing in the mud over here?” he interjects.
Bip laughs “She’s loony that’s why. The woman thinks she’s some kind of witch.”
Tyr watched the meandering hag with fright and caution “Maybe she is. Some say she’s over a hundred years old. My mother told me tales of a kypiq woman so beautiful that kings fought over her hand in marriage. Which, to be honest, is kind of hard to believe in the first place. Not many of the other tribes find us attractive because, you know” he waves his hand from his head to his feet in reference to their height.
“Your mother says a—” Kyra begins to protest.
“Anyway,” Tyr continues with his voice raised a notch, cutting off Kyra’s interruption “she rejected every proposal—claiming she wished to dedicate her life to the Kinothian and her studies. That was until she met a scholarly hrothi prince, or so my mother tells me. Says she had already rejected his half-brother, the hrothi king’s proposal—and the insulted king had his own brother executed. In anger she used magic to flood his palace chambers with lava or something like that. Or turned him to stone? I don’t remember. Her family disowned her to prevent retaliation and she went into hiding…according to my mother” he nods before stoking the fire with a stick.
Bip scoffs at the outrageous tale “Right…Right…out in the open. With a kindome wide reputation for being the most delusional member of our dutree. Our resident crazy lady isn’t exactly in hiding” he leans forward, studying the distant woman’s leathery skin and gaunt features “and we’re not talking about a shining beacon of beauty here, either” his eyes narrow “Definitely not the woman in your mother’s tale”.
“Kindome wide reputation? I never heard of her or her family….and I’m the Thorn’s daughter” she quips before turning her gaze back to Tyr “What hasn’t your mother told you? Or any us? I mean, she spends all day writing creepy ‘children’ stories to teach them ‘morals’ and to listen to their parents.
“SO?!!” Tyr shoots back defensively
“SO she’s the same woman that told us if we ate meat, we’d transform into blood sucking monsters like her ‘cousin Empaw’. Is that even a real name?” Kyra rolls her eyes.
“Whatever” Tyr grumbled, falling silent again as he folded his arms over his chest.
A sudden draft caused the fire to crackle and sputter about wildly. Kyra shielded her eyes from the unhinged sparks, letting out an eep at the sight of the haggard woman materializing in front of them.
“What do we have here….. three rotten seeds? Erwan’vanna tells me you jest behind my back” her gaze flickers between the adolescent trio “Rotten, indeed” she rasps—pointing her cane directly in Bip’s direction “You reek of death”.
“Shut up, old hag!” he fumes, balling his fists as he glares with anger towards his friends who paled and became petrified with fear “Don’t listen to her”.
“……Who’s Erwan’vanna?” Kyra manages to ask barely above a whisper, swallowing hard.
“Her tree friend” Bip quips with a sardonic laughter.
“The spirit bound to the tree” the crone corrects.
The trio fall silent again as the crone seats herself on a log near the fire, clutching onto her cane. Tyr would reach out again for Kyra, his hand trembling as it squeezed the girl’s hand “Did…did…you see that? The fire died down as she sat” he whimpered, almost crying.
“Stop being a baby, Tyr. You’re going to scare Kyra”
“No need to fright, children. Why would an old and frail woman such as myself scare such rambunctious youth?” she croaks with a wicked and amused laughter. A look is given between Kyra and Bip “The girl you love is unsure. Unsteady…afraid…yet she still craves knowledge. I too, once shared that look. I will amend for your friend’s tears by sharing a tale with you. The truth behind the Sun’s sleep”.