Fourteenth Year of the Restoration of King Touchstone I

Terrasyn walked up the steps, listening to her chattering friends talk incessantly. It was late fall, and the sounds of the Glacier were noisier today somehow. Perhaps it was the winter that excited them--the Clayr's predominant season was finally here.

"I don't think I could have waited another day for it," said Sinial. "I just couldn't wait to have it, with all those younger girls getting it before me."

They were talking of the Sight again. Terrasyn loved her friends, but she wished that they could talk, for a day at least, of something else.

Terrasyn had lived her entire life in the Glacier, but she was different than the rest. She didn't have the Sight yet, but that was fairly normal for someone her age. No, her difference was that she hated the regularity of the Glacier, the endless routine that led their lives. She was naturally a curious girl, but had enormous amounts of reserve. She could talk just as much as Sinial--that took effort--but only if she had to--if it were an act. She was the brightest Clayr of her age, but an onlooker would never know. She was quiet, always thinking.

"And so, when I got called, you know, it was almost as if I really were awakened in the literal sense of the term. It was so exhilarating, you know," Sinnal chattered.

Terrasyn missed Lirael. It wasn't as if she was physically gone, but she had not spoken a word to her former friends in months. She was quiet, ever so quiet, as if she were mute. Terrasyn had always understood Lirael, and Lirael had always understood Terrasyn. Their friendship was--had been--the strongest in the Glacier. It had not been talkative, but each girl was always there for one another. Sinnal had known Lirael too, but Lirael and Terrasyn would often be just together alone, speaking their deepest thoughts in very little words. However, these conversations could be the ones with the most depth.

Now, however, Lirael was as good as gone. Terrasyn inwardly sighed as Sinial kept prattling on.

Fighting--struggle--no…a slicing of air and--

Terrasyn woke with a start, breathing fast. Her hair framed her face messily, static crackling around her. After a short spell, she started to slow her breathing.

It had been the same dream again. Something about a…sword… or knife. She couldn't quite keep the threads of her dream from slipping out of the strainer of her mind. This dream had been reoccurring for the last week, and Terrasyn wasn't at all sure what it meant. Fighting? A battle perhaps? Her face remained expressionless as her room grew continually lighter, heralding a new day.

She glanced out the small, round window, gazing out over the side of the glacier. Terrasyn supposed she should just get up now and save the wake-up that every young Clayr got in the morning. She swung out of bed and crossed the room to her wardrobe, where she got out the blue tunic of the Sight-less Clayr. Terrasyn wasn't concerned about not having the sight yet; it would come when it would come. She belted her tunic with a black cord, and brushed her still static hair out of her face. She stepped back and observed herself in her mirror.

Staring back at her was a young girl, her hair light blonde and her skin the brown of the Clayr. However, she did not have blue eyes like the rest of her kind, but rather a green so vivid that they overtook the rest of her features. She was slender, but not overly so--just average. She straightened her tunic, which fell down to her knees, and tied some sandals on. Adjusting her belt, she turned away from the mirror. She did not think of herself of one of the prettier Clayr. She had no hopes to meet one of the traders that came and went downstairs. She wanted to work, and have a real job in the Glacier, but until she got the Sight, she was just another child among the throngs of blue.

She quietly opened the door of her room and slipped out. The cold of the stone floors bit through her sandals as she silently padded down the hall. She passed by the sleeping rooms, where most of her friends slept. She hesitated, but then decided to go down without them. It was quieter without them.

She emerged into the Lower Refectory. It was sleepily awakening from its nights sleep, and visitors were beginning to come in. Terrasyn hated it in the Lower Refectory. It was too noisy and boisterous. She would have liked to eat in the Upper Refectory, but only those who donned the white tunic could dine in there. She gazed around resignedly and chose a place to sit in a relatively calm corner.

The Refectory slowly came to life as Terrasyn watched: more guests bustling in, and more Clayr children sleepily blinking around. She had a certain affinity for children. They amused her, and she was so calm that she could soothe them with a touch of her hand. Many loud and raucous children would instantly transform into angels when she would approach.

"Terrasyn, right?" said a voice on her left. Startled, she looked around. It was one of the Clayr who had kitchen duty that week. Terrasyn nodded.

"Do you want anything? I've got some extra marzipan left over from the Upper Refectory, and…you looked lonely."

Terrasyn felt a surge of sadness and desire to talk to Lirael again.

"Yes, please," she croaked, her voice sore from days of no use. "I'd love to share some with you."

The girl looked oddly grateful. Perhaps she was just as lonely as Terrasyn felt. "I'm Nienna," she said, looking pleased. "Here, I'll get a piece for you." They ate the marzipan, which turned out to be very good, and enjoyed one another's company. They happened to be second cousins, but it was common in the Glacier to have many relatives.

"Erm, I've been meaning to ask you…" Nienna started.

"Yes?" said Terrasyn.

"I was wondering where Lirael had gone to. I mean, I was never her close friend or anything, but I was slightly worried about her when she missed the awakening last week," said Nienna.

"Lirael has…gone," murmured Terrasyn sadly.

"What?" said Nienna quickly.

"Not physically gone…but she is not here. She has…withdrawn. She will no longer talk to any one of us. I believe she is depressed about not having the Sight.'

"But you're the same age, and you don't have the Sight. I'm already fourteen, and I don't have it either. True, it's a little late, but we have plenty of time," said Nienna bemusedly. She had a blue tunic that looked a little overlarge, as if it were brand new.

"I'm fourteen as well," murmured Terrasyn.

"Your friend just got the Sight, right? Sinnas?"

"No, Sinial. She drives me crazy sometimes," said Terrasyn, sporting a half smile on her face.

They talked on pleasantly, enjoying the marzipan until the tin was empty.

"I enjoyed talking to you, Nienna," said Terrasyn, smiling softly. Nienna grinned in acquiescence, leaned in, and gave Terrasyn a warm hug.

"I'm off of kitchen duty tomorrow--d'you want to meet me down her tomorrow morning?"

"I'd like that," said Terrasyn, standing. Both girls had broadening smiles spreading across their faces as they hugged a goodbye.

Terrasyn headed out of the Lower Refectory, thinking that it wasn't going to be such a bad day after all.

End of Chapter One--hope you liked it! I will add the chapters as I write them!