Chapter 1: Rising Moon

Dawn would soon arrive on Dathomir.

The moon that loomed large enough to fill the horizon had reflected Domir's red glow back down to the planet for several hours, signaling the coming dawn. It cast a dim gloom across the surface as it pushed back the black and blue shimmer reflected from the stars that blanket the sky. Soon, the night's shadows would be replaced by the light of the bloody star itself. This is a time of change and of connection; when the ancient power emanates stronger than all other times. In those hours of transition the world was quiet; beast and being alike were still and listening as the essence shifted.

Except for one.

Roots and tangled vines crunched under the feet of the young Dathomirian as she worked her way through the twisted forest of Gave Thorn trees. Not long before she had awoken to find the comforting presence of her nearly constant companion was absent. The room had never before felt so empty. She stepped out onto the landing of her cliffside home just in time to catch a glimpse of her companion's shadow disappearing into the gnarled trees just beyond the village. Merrin had rushed down the terraces to ground the level, across the courtyard, past simmering blue pools, and plunged into the woods where the shadow had disappeared. She pushed through the trees, ducked under a Hydraatis pod, barely avoiding its thorns and lept over bleeding gut blooms breaking the silence of the dawn.

Connecting to the energy of Dathomir and summoning its ancient power had never been difficult for Merrin. For as long as he could remember she was able to reach into herself and bring forth that power as easily as she drew breath, but as the Nightsister trials approached even she became apprehensive. In only a few days all those who wished to become Nightsisters would have to demonstrate their proficiency before the elders and Mother Talzin herself.

For the first time since she began her training, nervousness rose in her gut and fluttered around like a school of burra fish at her teacher's words that they only had a few weeks left to prepare. She had looked around at her fellow sisters and saw that they too could not help but show their own apprehension. Some shifted their weight from one foot to the next, others grabbed at their arms or wrung their hands but one did not move.

Ilyana, however, with her complex braids of long silver hair spilling down her back almost to her knees, stood completely still. Usually quiet and detached, Ilyana rarely spoke but when she did she spoke softly and thoughtfully. Always careful to form her thoughts completely before committing them to words. Merrin had always admired that and saw it as a sign of strength and control that so many others lacked. At that moment, however, Ilyana was unable to hide the fear that washed over the angular features of her face, her chalky white skin somehow even more pale than usual..

And Merrin was drawn to her in that moment like never before. When her fellow Nightsisters-in-training were dismissed to practice and prepare, she immediately went to Ilyana and took her hand, cold and clammy against Merrin's warmth. Her touch pulled Ilyana out of her frightened state and she locked eyes with Merrin.

"Shall we practice together?" Merrin asked and Ilyana smiled.

The trials were only days away and the two Nightsisters had practiced endlessly. They stayed up all night in Merrin's room repeating incantations or they ran off into the marshes and gathered ingredients for potions and elixirs. More importantly, they had become nearly inseparable and Merrin knew exactly where Ilyana would go.

Merrin rushed through the trees and splashed through the marshes, waking the still sleeping birds and bane back spiders that Ilyana had passed undisturbed only minutes before. The spiders scurried away before her as she ran. The scent of the coming dawn rose sharp and fresh from the swamp. It invigorated her, feeding her fire, and propelled her forward.

Finally, Merrin slowed as she approached a cliff. Here the waters of the swamp began to move, to flow as they joined the shallow stream that wound its way toward the cliff. On the far side of the stream, she stooped under a natural archway of stone and pushed aside the tendrils of bleeding gut roots that reached across the opening. Beyond, Ilyana sat in a crescent shaped cave illuminated by the iridescent blue glow of coral that covered the stone walls.

"How do you do that?" asked Ilyana, her accent as soft and fluid as the waters that flowed through the marsh.

"Do what?" Merrin asked, catching her breath.

"Fly through the world like a storm. Fearless, powerful. The beasts flee from you by the sheer power of you."

Merrin smiled in admiration at the sight of Ilyana like a specter before her. One of the few Nightsisters who favored robes in shades of gray rather than the traditional reds, Ilyana seemed nearly incorporeal in the blue glow of the fire lichen. It reflected off her robes and her silver-white hair that wrapped over her shoulder and pooled in her lap.

"How do you do it?" Merrin asked in reply as she sat down across from Ilyana. Between them was a burned out fire surrounded by jars, mortars, and pestles from their practice, the perfecting of their skills. "How do you move through the world like a spirit, not disturbing the spiders, the birds or even the waters?"

Ilyana looked down at her hands and her long slender fingers. "That is nothing. If only I had your fire. I do not believe I will pass my trials on my own."

Merrin reached out and took Ilyana's soft, graceful hands in hers. The touch, as every time before, like electricity through their fingers, was the one thing that could draw Ilyana out of her despair. Ilyana looked up at Merrin and locked her ice-blue eyes with Merrin's deep brown.

"You do have the strength," Merrin said resolutely, "but if you need it, you can have my fire as well."

With that, green flames formed around their hands and ignited the long dead campfire between them.