Shattered Morning
By: AmySerenityRaye
The sky over the forest slowly began to lighten, transforming the horizon into a river of soft grays, blues, and lavenders. Peering out from behind pink-tinted cloud formations, the suns' early rays reflected on a mirror-smooth pond, creating myriads of colors, and turning the water to molten silk.
The gentle changing of light woke the elfin girl, Lita, sleeping peacefully under the sheltering trees beside the pond, and the rising suns watched as she rose and stretched, ridding herself of sleep's stiffness. Combing her fingers through her chestnut tresses, she carefully removed any knots and meticulously disentangled the leaves and flowering vines that grew there. Her thoughts gradually turned to her tree house and her pets. She hadn't been able to make it home the day before, so she had spent the night at the first safe place she could find; she figured that if she kept up a brisk pace, she could be romping with her Noceks, Syvhs, and Jaxyps by midmorning.
When Lita had removed all tangles and snarls from her hair, she picked her way down to the dew-cool pond and had cupped her delicate hand to drink when a piercing cry from a hunting Xurit shattered the early-morning stillness. She raised her head abruptly, crystal drops trickling from between her fingers, eyes and ears pricked forward in attention. Another screech sounded and she bounded off into the woods she knew better than herself.
Wind whistled past her delicately pointed ears and through her long mane, the pure ecstasy of rhythm and motion rising in her as she nimbly wove her way around leaf and branch. Close behind, the Xurit crashed through her beautiful forest, destroying everything in its path. The scent of rotten meat and sour breath rose in the young elf's nostrils as the catlike creature chased after her. She shuddered to think of the devastation it was leaving in its wake, but continued to run, deathly afraid of what would happen if the beast caught her.
As she neared the Kinari tree with the purple leaves, she dodged to the right and leapt into the air, grabbing the first branch of her favorite tree in the forest, a stately Lirrylen. Scrambling up the silvery trunk, Lita deftly bounded from limb to limb, as comfortable in the leafy boughs as she was on the ground.
The moment she was safely in her hiding place, the Xurit passed by the base of the tree, its patchwork coat a dingy brownish-green. The elfin girl sat perfectly still, not wanting to attract the creature's attention, for its kind were fearsome hunters and it could literally tear her to pieces in seconds.
Five minutes became half an hour as the Xurit continued to patrol the base of the tree. Eventually, Lita began to grow hungry and plucked one of the many indigo-colored fruits dangling within her reach. She closed her eyes in delight as the sticky-sweet flavor exploded in her mouth and juice trickled down her chin; she wiped it up with her hand, not wanting to lose a single drop of her syrupy treat. Raising the fruit to her mouth once more, she nearly dropped it as the Xurit caught the scent of an injured Watq deer and screamed its heart-stopping hunting call. Lita watched as it raced off into the undergrowth, long tail lashing at the thought of an easy meal.
At last! Now she could get back to her tree house and her pets. Looking up at the horizon, Lita realized that it was later than she thought; the suns had already finished their early-morning display and had begun their daily trek across the sky. Her poor Noceks, Syvhs, and Jaxyps must be starving as they would not have dared leave the tree house once they heard the Xurit's hunting call. The young elf picked a few more of the Lirrylen's indigo-colored fruits and stowed them in the woven pockets of her leafy dress, planning to give them as a peace offering to her pets. When the last of the fruits was tucked safely away, she clambered down the Lirrylen and trotted toward home, unimpressed with the outcome of the morning's rather boring events.