Blood Rain — Chapter 2

Shili reached out. Her tiny fingers stretched toward her mother as the woman receded. A Kotai warrior's strong hands pulled Shili away. Mother stood still for a long moment as the distance widened between them. The woman's eyes showed regret rather than sorrow.

Shili’s own eyes showed only terror. She did not know where the warrior would take her. If she had a voice, she would have screamed just then. But there was only the pleading in her eyes, a pleading that her mother did not heed.

The early morning was so cold away from her mother’s side. The warrior who carried her toward the far end of the clanhold, toward the tree line and far from the Kotai totem, could have been anyone. She knew none of her fellow clansmen. There had been only mother, occasionally the clan chief. Even at the tender age of only four summers, Shili knew that she was different, that the clan folk avoided her. She was tiny, even for her age. Her hair and skin lacked any color at all, as pale and white as the Cree stone that formed the clan totem. And she never made a sound. Not a cry, not a whisper.

The warrior held her, not unkindly, as he walked. But he said nothing. He made no attempt to explain the poor child’s fate. He would not even know if she could understand his words.

Shili wiped a small arm over the tears in her eyes. She turned to see where she was being taken. The last low building nestled at the edge of the Kotai lands. Dense jungle engulfed the world beyond it.

As the warrior approached, a door at the front of the building creaked open to reveal a withered form.

The tears in Shili’s eyes began to glitter at the sight of the woman. She had never seen her before. An ancient figure, with hair and skin as pale as Shili’s own. The woman stood stooped in the doorway, but even at full height she would have been a slight figure at best.

Something tickled at the back of Shili’s mind as she watched a smile light the old woman's face. Her lips did not move and yet Shili knew this woman had spoken to her. There were no words. There was only that look, a look that seemed to hold more than words would have been able to.

The Kotai carver knew Shili by name. The child could feel this as surely as she suddenly knew the old woman. Her own face broke into an answering smile. Her tears lay forgotten on her cheeks. Even with her look, Shili knew she was answering this woman’s unspoken greeting. There was softness between them, an understanding that, in only a moment, had surpassed anything Shili’s distant mother had ever been able to muster.

“I’m so happy you have come,” the carver’s eyes said clearly. “We have so much to accomplish together, you and I.”