A young girl sat, shivering in the growing darkness. The land around her was open and desolate for many miles, and the likelihood that she had any chance of being found this night was slim, indeed. The little town, now empty, was near the edge of Arceria. A voice floated into the young girl's mind. It's dangerous, in the land of the Arcerians, Elesarian. Don't fly near there, little one.
The image of a woman, deep sadness in her eyes, appeared with the voice. Elesarian had to think before she could put a name with the face. Mother. She couldn't remember why her mother would be sad, but it had something to do with the whispers in the town, about her. What had they called her? Broke? Broken? The whispers were mean, cruel, and the other children taunted Elesarian. They called her a half-breed. The winged half-breed. Her mother always stood up for her, always protected her. She'd kept her safe, always muttering that they mustn't know she wore Sapphire as a birthright. That she should stay away from others.
Her mother wasn't here now. No one was here. They'd left her. At least, she thought they had left her. That could be the only answer for them being gone and her still being there. It had been two dawns since the small girl had seen another person. Well, no matter what Mother had said, her only choice was Arceria. Elesarian looked resolutely in that direction, spread her wings, and took to the sky.
She flew into the wilderness, snow expanses zooming by underneath. A feeling of exhilaration filled her as she dove, then rose, using a little bit of craft to keep herself steady. Flying was a joy; she was born to fly. She almost never was allowed to fly. She was the only one in the village who could fly; the only one who had wings. Even mother didn't have wings. Flying had become her solace, the one thing she could do that no one else could follow her. She would fly off, usually in the night, and flying allowed her to think, to be alone for once.
However, after an hour of flying, she began to tire. She lost altitude, and even as she fought to keep herself upright, the flight became a steady downward glide. When her stamina gave out, she tumbled down from the sky, horror-filled. *Help!* She sent out, wildly, on a sapphire thread. The ground loomed, and the last thing she remembered was white.