Disclaimer: Xanth is property to Piers Anthony, though the idea for my character is my idea.

Centaur Exile

Edith was a normal Centaur filly of Centaur Isle. She lived with her dam Chisa and her sire Chim. She had no brothers or sisters, but had plenty of other Centaur playmates. She had the regular Centaur lessons. She knew that having a talent was considered taboo, but never worried about having one.

She had once heard of a Centaur named Chill who was exiled from Centaur Isle for having the talent of freezing water. Though that seemed like it could be a useful talent she didn't quite understand why he had to be exiled.

One particularly clear day she was at the beach with Chag. He showed much interest in her and she being fifteen liked the attention. She glanced around the beach and spotted some drift wood. That was best used when one wanted to make boat because it never sank. The sky was blue and had very few clouds in it. No chance of rain any time soon. She loved the color of the sky, so blue and peaceful.

"Your hair! It's turned blue!" Chag yelled. Edith looked at her hair and he was right. It was blue. In fact it matched the sky too. Then she noticed that not only was her hair/mane turned blue but her tail was too.

"You've got a talent!" Chag yelled and dashed off.

Then it registered. she had a talent. She'd have to leave Centaur Isle. She'd probably never see her dam and sire again.

Later that day the Centaur elders confirmed she had a talent and would have to leave the next morning. She could tell that her parents were disappointed. The next morning she used a raft and crossed the sea to the southern tip of Xanth. Though the Centaurs exiled her unjustly, they didn't leave her without means of survival. She had a pack with three days of food, a dagger, a bow and a quiver with fifteen arrows.

The first day of her exile she decided to travel north, she didn't have a plan of action yet, but she hoped she would come up with one soon. By nightfall, she had traveled a far distance and needed rest. She constructed a enclosure of brush and slept warily of any lurking monsters of the night.

Edith was startled awake by a loud CRACK. She bolted out of the enclosure, but quickly came to her senses. It was just the crack of dawn. She went back and picked up her supplies. It'd be very unwise to leave them, they were her only hope of survival.

She continued trotted until she came to a path. It seemed well used and she decided to would be safe to use. Farther up the path she encountered a large metal, golden star.

"Hello, I'm Edith," she greeted politely.

The star shuddered and it grew an arm. The star lunged at her. It would've grabbed her with it's newly grown arm if she hadn't dashed down the path. Her equine section was good at running fast.

But to her horror, the star was following her. She was running down the path when something grabbed her and pulled her into the nearby bushes. She tried to scream but her capture covered her mouth with their hand.

"Shhh!" Her capture whispered. She fell silent. The star zoomed by an instant later, not stopping. It hadn't seen her.

Her capture uncovered her mouth and led her out of the bushes. She turned and saw that it was another Centaur. More specifically, a male Centaur with very white hair.

"Thanks you for saving me!" She said.

He smiled, "No problem."

"What was that thing?" She asked. He led her a ways down the path and then down a side path.

"That was the long arm of the law. It's very pun-itive. If it caught you it would pun-ish you," he said. Clearly it wasn't a very safe pun.

Edith got curious. "Who are you?"

"Oh. I'm Chill Centaur, and you are?"

Chill! He was the Centaur she had heard of. he would surely understand what she was going through. "I'm Edith. I was exiled from Centaur Isle."

"You were exiled too? What's your talent?" he asked.

She hadn't thought about her talent since she had started her traveling started. "I can change the color of my hair and tail."

She concentrated and her hair/mane and tail turned white, matching Chill's.

"Not a very good talent though," she said sadly. If she was going to be exiled from her family, at least she could've had a decent talent.

"It's not too bad. Can you turn your hair a different color then your tail?" He asked.

Edith mused over it for half a moment. "I don't know. I've never really tried."

Which was true. Just now, was the second time she had used her talent.

"Well, you'll never know until you try," he said smiling.

Edith concentrated on making her hair pitch black and her tail light purple. When she looked her hair was black and her tail was purple. she had done it!

"I wonder. See if you can try to make a pattern, like checkers," he suggested.

Again she concentrated and when she looked her hair was black and red checkered. Her tail was still purple. She returned both to their original brown/reddish color.

"See. It's not that bad a talent," Chill said. She had to agree. It did seem fun, but she was still sad that she probably never see her sire or dam again.

Chill noticed that she was depressed and tried to comfort her. "It'll be alright. You'll survive."

Edith noticed that they had reached a small glade with a Centaur house in the middle of it. A female Centaur with dark red hair came out of it and waved.

"Edith this Char, Char this Edith. she exiled from Centaur Isle," Chill said introducing them.

Char smiled. "You two must be hungry, I just fixed a nice meal. You're welcome to stay the night or as long as you like."

Edith was very grateful and accepted. They ate nicely cooked snap-dragon meat. It turned out that Char's talent was to set anything she touched on fire. It was definitely useful.

During the night a night mare visited her with a bad dream. In it, her sire and dam looked down at her with disgust. They hated her for having a talent. In the dream she tried to explain that it wasn't her fault but they didn't listen.

She woke and found that it was late morning.

Char greeted her with a breakfast composed of fruit. "You're welcome to stay with as long as you like."

Edith had though it over and decided that she had to visit the Good Magician's Castle to ask him what she should do. She told Char and Chill and agreed that that was a wise decision. They gave her a map, more arrows, more food and a fire stone to cook her food.

She headed out, her adventure beginning.

The End

Well, what did you think? Next Edith meets up with Artemis the Demoness and sets aside her quest for the magician to stop an evil human stealing souls with the help of Demoness Mentia.