Seventeen year-old Kiera is half-Rae, half-witch and was raised in isolation in the forests because her father was banished from the Rae and her mother feared by humans. She spends her days in a world of magic, at one with everything around her. Wit...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
2045 - Many, many light years away from Earth
The warmth of life pulsed and flowed from the planet they had sensed from afar. Their hunger quickened.
Josie tossed her ball high into the air. It fell a little to the left of where she had expected and her brother was quick enough to catch it. She frowned slightly at him wondering why he was always getting in the way when she wanted to play alone.
It had been great being an only child, for an entire ten years before he came along. Oh, she liked him well enough. Liked him better when he was just a baby and he was happy just to be held and rocked. Now he was three and was always getting into things. Her things.
He smiled up at her and his dimples showed. Her exasperation vanished as she rolled her eyes up at the bright purple moon. "Come on you," she picked him up and tossed him over her shoulder. Noel squealed in delight, as he always did.
Her parents would be home within an hour or so as they usually returned shortly after Nefta, the purple moon, rose.
Her teacher had spoken of astronomy today. No one in her class believed that there were planets with just one moon. The three moons of purple, green and gold marked time and governed life on their planet. How boring would it be to live on a planet with only one! But then Ms. Snue had also said there were planets with many more than three.
Josie did not particularly care about those other planets. She did care that the food the housekeeper was cooking smelled delicious. She also cared about whether her mother would let her wear the blue-green dress tomorrow so she could impress Josh.
"Josh and Josie," she sighed. Was it not a combination fated from birth?
The hunger...oh...the hunger.....
Mother needed to be convinced to speak to Josh's parents to arrange a betrothal. That was her plan - and she was sticking to it. She tossed Noel into the air a little so that he laughed some more. She loved him so much! But felt sorry for him sometimes. It must be sad to be male.
Women did all the really cool and important things. They had the best jobs and got to choose their husbands at an early enough age so that the boys could receive the appropriate training. As the daughter of a Senator, Josie was entitled to following in her mother's footsteps. It meant, however, that the male she chose would have to undergo special training.
He would be taught politics and how to read people; he would be taught survival skills and how to protect her at all times. He would be taught to be a man like her father. She smiled as she thought of Josh in that role.
She admired and respected the relationship her parents had. Her father spent almost every minute with her mother and they were both very happy. Sometimes the men chosen were not so lucky. It usually stemmed from choosing too late. Some other female who was not yet entitled to choose may have snared his love and attention, dooming them both to a life of regret.
It had been long. Too long since they last fed.
The door opened and her parents came in. She rushed to meet her golden-haired mother before seeking her father's attention. The family adjourned to the dining room where the housekeeper set down bowls of steaming hot stew. They held hands and gave thanks to the creator. Thanks for the sun and the three moons, the one land and the wonderful sea with its many tides that created so much of the life that sustained them.
Finally, it was time. They reached out with their collective mind and tugged at the light that drew them across galaxies.
Josie glanced up just before the end of the prayer as a bright light filled the room. It was not purple, green or gold. White and almost-blinding it was searing in its intensity...
She felt her limbs grow heavy and her thoughts seemed to drift away on their own.
So good to feed. So strong and beautiful was the life on this harmonious planet.
It seemed she saw a ship, giant and monstrous in that light that was brighter than the glowing sun.
And then she knew no more...
'That was good,' they acknowledged, already turning their gaze outwards for the next meal.
A planet that had once teemed with life and that appeared green from space, was now a dull grey.
