Dark eyes scanned the horizon as the sun set slowly over the mountains, casting deep, reaching shadows over the land. The slim, lithe body was framed by the glowing light of the dying sun, pale hands shading the jet-black eyes from the blaze. Long tendrils of ivory white hair whipped in the cooling breeze as the sentinel gazed out over Hyrule. Dusk was approaching on quiet feet. Beside the figure stood a supple young girl, her golden hair tied back with a thin black ribbon.
"Watcher Aeyrie, night is drawing near. We should begin our rounds," the girl said softly, her words doing nothing to stir her companion from the vantage point.
"The land is calling me. Something began this day, something irreversible. And something has ended this dusk. A life has died with the sun." The Watcher's voice was empty and hard, the words emotionless as the tumbled from the cold white lips.
"What do you mean, Watcher?" the young girl asked anxiously, her voice wavering.
"You are young, Tamari. You will learn to hear the earth beneath your feet. After you have fed it with the blood of demons, you will hear the earth too."
Tamari fell silent as she and the Watcher turned and mounted their horses, black as the impending night as nearly as silent. Tamari's hands trembled as she gripped the reins. Aeyrie was a powerful seer, and her skills surpassed those of any others in the Clan. The fearsome words spoken as they stood on the ridge echoed in her young mind as Tamari tried hard to gather her courage. It was the first time she had ever been on a night patrol without a Clan elder at her side, and though Aeyrie was strong and experienced, it was little comfort to the girl. Since she was a child, she had seen the mysterious Watcher striding about the tent village, her movements crisp and sharp as if she were a spry young girl, but in truth, nobody knew how old Aeyrie was. Some whispered that she had been created at the beginning of Time, born from the blood of the goddesses and taught by the demons she killed. Others disregarded these rumors of Watcher Aeyrie's mystical past, but none could deny that she was ageless in the truest sense of the word.
Tamari's thoughts were interrupted suddenly when she sensed Aeyrie's attention shift from the darkening landscape to Tamari herself.
"You are young. Tell me, why are you here?" the Watcher asked, turning her dark gaze on Tamari.
The girl shivered beneath those cold, unseeing eyes, dark despite their blindness.
"I-I am of age now, it is my duty to join the ranks of the Apprentices," Tamari stammered, her voice wavering nervously.
"I do not mean that. When I say here, I mean in the Clan, one of us. We are the Silent Ones, the Secret Ones. None know of our existence but those in our Clan, those born to our People. But you were not born to our People. You are an Outsider. You are a child of summer days and blue skies, not bloody nights and watchful eyes. Why do you forsake your birthright, your claim to happiness?" The words didn't seem to come from the Watcher's mouth so much as materialize from the cool night air.
Tamari rode in silence, her mind both awed and thoughtful. That was the most she'd ever heard the Watcher say, and to think that those precious words were directed to her! Tamari's mouth went dry and her throat closed up.
"I...ahem..." Tamari flushed. "I am an orphan. I don't know who my parents are, or where they were from, or why they left me. All I know is that I was an unwanted child. Artisan Eyriopa took me in after she found me in the woods, and all I have known is the way of the People. I am used to the night now, though not so much the blood."
There was silence for a moment, filled only by the gentle whisper of the night and the almost imperceptible thumping of their horses' hooves on the soft grass. Tamari heard Aeyrie draw in a breath to speak, but it was exhaled a moment later. They rode on in silence.
"You are a promising child. Do not let the blood become a part of you. Do not lose yourself."
Tamari felt a shiver race up her spine and settle on the base of her neck.
"What do you mean?" she whispered softly.
For the first time, Watcher Aeyrie's eyes rested completely on Tamari, and she could feel the force of the thoughts settle on her as well. The dark, empty pools seemed to suck in the feeble moonlight, creating two silver flecks in the very centers, like the stars in the vast night sky.
"You are one of us. We are a cursed people, and we are not so very different from the demons we kill. There is a bloodlust among us, even among those like you, who were not born one of us. The bloodlust is strong, its pull is very tempting, but if you succumb, you may never find your way back. Even if you do, you may never be completely whole again." The words fell flat on Tamari's ears, and suddenly she realized why Watcher Aeyrie was blind.
"Why do you care about what happens to me?" Tamari demanded suddenly, her fear drowning out all sense of respect.
"Because I have seen you. I have seen you more truly without eyes than anyone ever will. And you will be strong, Tamari, and you will feel the pull, and if you give in, you will die. If you die, so shall we all, for I have seen you in my visions. You will play a great role in this drama that we act out, and when the blood spills, it will be real, and it will be for your soul that you will fight. The body is but an earthly vessel."
Suddenly there was a rustle in the darkness. Another. The sound multiplied and soon the noises had surrounded the two riders. Tamari felt the panic welling up in her stomach as she turned her horse about, searching fruitlessly in the dark for a glimpse of their ambushers. A scream scratched at her throat but she fought it down, trying to keep her grip on the animal beneath her as it reared and shifted. A cold smooth hand rested on her shoulder, and for a moment she nearly did scream. Suddenly she heard a voice, like an echo on the wind, cautioning her to be still. Don't move, and you will survive, the voice ordered. Tamari obeyed.
There was a ringing of metal and Tamari saw the flash of a sword in the weak starlight. The moon was hiding behind a veil of clouds as the menacing growls and hisses were replaced by the sound of bones crunching and pained shrieks. A clawing hand reached up and grasped Tamari's arm, followed by a vicious snarling face that was distorted with rage and pain and illuminated by sudden moonlight.
"Come here, my little precious!" the monstrous beast hissed, blood and foam dripping from its gaping maw.
Tamari screamed and fumbled for her blade, her green eyes wide with panic and her breath coming in short gasps. A dark shadow blotted out the moon and loomed over the two for a moment before the creature let out a shriek of pain and hatred and disappeared from sight. The claw still clutched Tamari's arm, but she could see that it ended in a bloody stump. There was silence. Watcher Aeyrie spoke a single word of magic and a small ball of light appeared before her, showing a scene of such carnage and gore that Tamari promptly leaned over her saddle and retched, her stomach emptying itself of the day's food.
"Come. The night is just begun." Watcher Aeyrie turned her horse around and began to ride off, leaving Tamari with her horse, her light, and her shame.
"Watcher Aeyrie," Tamari began, turning her horse to follow.
"There will be other nights. There will be other horrors. You are young."
Tamari was glad for the darkness now as she felt her face flush with embarrassment at Aeyrie's cheerless comfort. She longed fiercely to prove herself to this strange being that rode before her. She wanted to show the Watcher that she was more than just a child playing at sentinel.
"I—" the words refused to come out.
"It is good that there is no love for blood in you." The Watcher's voice held the slightest hint of gentleness to it, and it was this faint compassion that made Tamari shut her mouth and gaze curiously at the dark shape ahead of her.
"Thank you, Watcher Aeyrie," she whispered, her head bowed with respect and her hands steady once more. She thought she sensed a smile on the Watcher's lips.