Through Flame

Part 1

Uny raced along the edge of the forest, her bare, nimble feet easily dodged the exposed roots and rocks as she went. She had been gone all morning, and it was now midday, the sun sat directly above her as she padded along the edge of the forest, its rays warming the grass and underbrush. Her bare feet were almost black from their exposure to the soil, not just from her morning outing; she had not worn shoes for months now. She came from a poor family, only her relatives were her sister and papa. They struggled to survive, her papa working the fields of some of the landowners in ViLac city. His work often left him gone from their home for weeks, especially during harvest season.

Uny watched her feet as she ran; they were small, smaller than other girls her age, as was most of her. Where most of the other girls in the village had begun to sprout into womanhood, Uny remained tiny in every way. Her sister, Samantha, a year her younger, had already developed small breasts, and Samantha’s natural beauty already turned the heads of even some of the married men of the village. Uny was being forgotten, by her friends and by boys; all interest that was once on her shifted quickly and dramatically to her sister. Even with Samantha’s natural beauty, suitors were few and far between because of the small dowry. Their papa hoped for at least one of his daughters to marry; but the dowry from that marriage would be the only he could afford. The other sister who did not marry would most likely become a spinster; at least, that is what the other girls told Uny and Samantha. 

The village she lived in was very near the coast of the Black Ocean in the country of Ralquar. Uny was a Dashar, the race that inhabited most of Ralquar; known for their slender figures and graceful ways. Most of Ralquar was covered in a dense forest, the trees in the country were ancient in age and many were massive in size. The most ancient of trees were named. Many of the cities sprang up around the most ancient and largest of trees, the Dashar believing that the ancient trees were the signs of great spiritual and holy energies in the land. Uny’s village was small though, and was not centered around a spirit tree; it was closest to the spirit tree in the city of ViLac, and many times their family made the pilgrimage to ViLac to partake in the holy rituals and rights of the Dashar people. Uny’s trek had taken her along the northern edge of Ralquar, much of the land ended in a steep cliff with a straight drop into the Black Ocean. The forest that covered most of the country ended with the cliff, and Uny found herself in forest on her left, and on her right, the seemingly unending water of the Black Ocean.

She had been in a melancholy mood, mostly full of self-pity as she lamented her slow development of her womanly curves. She was by no means ugly, but her plainness along with her stick-like figure, had weighed on her mind more and more the past few months as she watched her sister blossom. It didn’t help that all the clothing her family could afford was the plainest of dresses; coarse brown cloth with few pockets made up her dresses. She wore one now, patched in many places with mismatching colored fabrics; the hem in tatters from swishing along the ground. On her small chest she wore a rough spun chemise. Her appearance was far from the noble Dashars in the cities she had caught glimpses of during the holy days; their robes and dresses flowing with the most vibrant of colors and fabrics.

Uny traveled until the forest finally gave way to grassland as she still trailed along the coastline of Ralquar. She had gone further north than she ever had gone before; rarely had she the courage to leave her village more than a few leagues, but with her father gone to ViLac, she couldn’t face Samantha alone; she didn’t want to let her own emotions get the best of her and cause her to lash out without justification at her sister. The grassland was much different from the forest home she knew; the sky was clear of any clouds, and the familiar shadows from the trees were completely gone; leaving her feeling extremely exposed. Despite the lack of familiarity and protection the trees provided, Uny felt a freedom of space she never had in the forest. Nothing stopped her from seeing a great distance, no trees blocked her view; one of greatest loves she had was to stare across the Black Ocean because it was novel for her to see such a distance without trees in the way. She was elated with the grassland. Hills rolled lazily along the land, small in height, and not very steep; Uny loved cresting one small hillock to see more sprawling out before her.