so, first things first, disclaimer, i do not own the edge chronicles or the characters or the plot. one more thing, i don't usually write so i'm terrified of gem turning out to be a mary-sue, so if y'all notice anything let me know ^^

the first few chapters are kinda just to introduce her and give her a backstory

hope y'all enjoy, peace out! 3

In the Deepwoods, Maris held her two-year-old daughter Gem close as she sang, smoothing the black curls way from the child's forehead. The little girl hummed along as best as she was able. She smiled up at her mother in adoration.

"Again mummy! Sing again!" Gem's little voice warmed Maris's heart.

"If mummy sings again, will you fall asleep?" Maris asked playfully, holding her daughter's tiny, rosy hands. Gem giggled and nodded, climbing up onto her mother's lap.

"Mummy loves you very much, do you know that?" Maris whispered. She could feel Gem give a drowsy nod as she drifted off to sleep in her mother's arms.

Maris held her for a while longer. The child was the most precious thing she had. After losing her firstborn, Maris was determined never to let her little Gem slip away. Not like her son…

"Mistress Maris." Tweezel interrupted her thoughts. Maris looked up, grateful that he had. Her dear companion was holding something out to her with one of his spindly legs.

"A small token I made for the child." He explained, "It is not much, but I believe it is important for her to always have her name with her."

Maris took the small necklace. It was a small wooden pendant with Gem engraved of it in lovely, swooping letters.

"Oh my dearest friend, it's beautiful!" Maris exclaimed. She placed it around the neck of her sleeping child, over the scarf that she had made for her. The scarf… even that reminded her of her first child… of course that was her own fault. She had insisted upon making the designs identical. Maris pushed these thoughts from her mind and lay down, drifting off to sleep.

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When she woke, her daughter had vanished.

"Gem, sweetie! Where are you?" Maris called out. She turned in a circle. Was Gem being naughty? It was certainly not like her to do something like that.

"Gem? You must come back to mummy now! The game cannot last forever!" Still no answer. Gem had never pulled anything like this before!

"Gem, if you do not come out now, mummy will leave without you!" Maris called, certain that would get her daughter out of hiding. But there was only silence.

"Gem!? Gem, where are you!?" Maris's voice began to crack as panic rose in her throat. She scoured the underbrush all around her.

"Gem! GEM! GEM!" Her voice rose to a shriek. Where was her daughter!? Where was she!? Hadn't she done everything in her power to keep her close? Keep her out of harms way? Where was her Gem?

Then she found it.

Scratched into the earth was the message: "I have taken Gem. You will never see her again. This is how I curse you Maris Pallitax."

Maris sank to her knees, unable to comprehend the words. She wailed, sobbed, and begged the unseen foe to return her child to her. Yet nothing happened. No one answered her pleas.

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Some distance away, well out of sight and well out of earshot, the Gloamgloazer looked on with glee.

"You are no different from Quint, my dear Maris. I have cursed you as much as I have cursed him."

With those words it whisked away, holding a sleeping child in its talons.

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A frightened Gem woke up all alone under an ironwood tree. She called out for her mother. She cried again and again until her frantic screams became sobs of despair. The tiny child huddled at the foot of the tree and cried.

Her sobs could have attracted any number of creatures. It was good fortune that the first to respond was an old banderbear.