Chapter 1: And so it begins
Xiliana picked her way through the dark woods. It was late, and she wanted to get home – not to her parents; she had never known them – but to Katie and John, the couple who had adopted her.
Xiliana sighed as she thought of her adopted parents, a sad look in her her emerald-green eyes. They weren't exactly the nicest people around – she knew perfectly well that they had never wanted a child, as they told her so frequently. There had been no one in the town to take her in, and John had owed someone in the town board a large favour, and besides, they received a reasonable amount of money each month for taking care of her until she turned eighteen – which was only a few weeks away. Xiliana stopped for a moment at the forest's edge, the breeze stirring the leaves on the ground and her long, flaming red hair, looking out into the darkness. What would become of her after that? She knew perfectly well that Katie and John would not have her in their house any longer than they had to.
Not wanting to go home quite yet, Xiliana sat down on a log, not caring whether her clothes got wet or dirty – they were old hand-me-downs anyway, all that her adopted parents were prepared to give her. They'll do, Katie had said, harshly, one day when Xiliana had asked, timidly, why she never got any new clothes like the other girls at school. They'll do for you.
Xiliana reached for the locket she always carried round her neck, opening it as she had done countless times before, to read, by the moonlight shining through the trees, the word written inside it: Xiliana. Tears stung her bright-green eyes as she ran her finger slowly over the word carved on the golden locket. Xiliana. The only thing she had from her parents, her real parents. Why had they left her at the edge of the forest that day, almost eighteen years ago, with nothing but this locket, the thing that gave her her name? What sort of people had they been? The locket was fine, one of the most wonderfully crafted pieces of jewellery she had ever seen ... they must have been rich, to give their child such a thing. But why had they not wanted her?
She sighed again, brushing a lock of her red hair behind her ears. Her ears ... they were one of the many things that caused her to be "that weird girl" that no one had ever wanted to play with, or be friends with – they were not round, the way everyone else's ears were, but came to a fine point. "Like something out of one of those damned fantasy movies!" her adopted father occasionally spat; they made her wear her hair long and untied, to hide her ears. Not that she minded – when she was younger, she had been picked on constantly for her ears. They were not something she liked to show.
But despite covering her ears, Xiliana had never made any friends – the shy girl in the corner, in her worn and torn old clothes, with her pointed ears, bright red hair, and shockingly green eyes, had always been the one the new kids learned quickly not to be seen with.
Xiliana glanced at her watch, starting. It was late ... she should be getting home. Her foster parents would be terribly angry with her if she was late home for dinner, they always were. "Be home by eight, or there'll be trouble!" Katie had snapped after her, as she had left the house earlier that day. And Xiliana was careful always to be home at the right time, or there was trouble. But the time between the end of school and evening was the only time she could be at her favourite place – the library. She loved to immerse herself in books; all kinds of books, the longer the better. Xiliana loved to read.
But she would have to hurry now, or she wouldn't get home in time. Putting the locket away under her clothes, Xiliana got up from the log, but hesitated as she realised where she was. This was the very spot she had been found, nearly eighteen years ago. And there – there was the small hollow in the ground where they had found a baby lying, naked except for the locket. That was the spot where her parents had left her.
Crouching down, Xiliana knelt on the ground. Her clothes were dirty and torn anyway. Getting her locket out again, she held it in her hand, staring at the spot where she had been found. She was almost eighteen now, almost an adult. This spot marked the beginning of her childhood. She had sometimes dreamt that her parents, her real parents, would come back for her one day, but she was old enough now to know that that was never going to happen. Maybe it was best to put it behind her, to leave the locket and forget about it. Slowly, she reached out her hand over the hollow, and dropped the locket on the ground. It seemed almost to drop in slow-motion, the moonlight glinting off the fine, golden chain, the "clink" as it hit the ground seeming to echo all around her.
Xiliana stared at it for a moment, her green eyes sorrowful, before slowly getting to her feet again, turning to leave the woods, to leave the locket and with it, her dream of a better future, forever. She took a few steps before hesitating again, glancing back at the spot where she had left her locket. Her eyes widened.
The locket was gone. And in its place, the ground was glowing – literally glowing, not as if the sun was shining on it, but more, brighter, like it was the sun, or as if the sun was shining out from under it. Xiliana turned, her eyes wide with shock and fear, unsure of what to do. What was happening? What had she done? Slowly, she moved towards the spot again, blinking in the bright light that emanated from it. Almost instinctively, she crouched down, reaching out her hand to touch the glowing ground.
She gasped. She felt as if her ears would split as the deafening sound of rushing wind surrounded her, her red hair whipping around her as she was caught in a hurricane. Everything was spinning, and she closed her eyes to try and steady herself and brace herself against the howling wind.
All of a sudden, everything went quiet – the bright light that had surrounded her went out as suddenly as it had begun, and Xiliana carefully opened her eyes ...