Spirit Animals | Damaged

Chapter 1 | A Girl Can Dream

A girl can dream. Right?

Amongst the dark, I felt a chill run down my back. I shivered and pulled the prickly blanket around my shoulders. Just as I started to drift off into sleep I heard a faint creak in the floorboard. I quietly sat up and took a step forward. I had trained myself to sneak around quickly but with agile. I had also trained myself to fight since I was 5 years old. I held my hands in fists in front of my chest in a fighting stance. I slowly creeped around the corner. Then I felt my shoulders slump in relief. It was just Wren.

Wren was my childhood friend. My dad died from a terrible disease when I was only 4. Then my mom disappeared. Ever since then I'd been on my own. Just like Rollan. The boy who'd summoned Essix. I admired him. Before my mom left she taught me several advanced fighting methods only masters knew. For she had fought with the Greencloaks even though she didn't have a spirit animal. To this day I don't know if she's alive, but I'm still considered an orphan to most.

Although I lived in a village, no one seems to care to give food to an orphan. Everyone is too worried about their own families. Every now and then Wren sneaks me a chunk of roll, but otherwise I go hungry for days before I can scavenge a meal. Even the berry bushes had stopped growing berries. I'd gotten used to it though. I'd learned to only trust few and to not expect much.

Wren always made me smile. When he noticed how tense I was he gave me a smirk. "What, were you afraid I was a murder." He laughed.

I rolled my eyes. "What're you doing up so late?" I mumbled crumpling back up into a ball. He glanced at my blanket then the floor. I had been staying in an abandoned shed the past few weeks. Hoping no one will find the shed and put it to use. I know he disapproved by the look on his face, but he chose not to argue.

"I couldn't fall asleep." He said placing his lantern on the floor. "Can you believe they are giving you a sip of nectar?" He said in disbelief. Actually I couldn't believe it. It still marveled me. A chance to summon a spirit animal. It's a great honor, but I knew not to get my hopes up. It was silly of me to even hope for a spirit animal. I was turning 14 in 2 weeks. If I didn't take the nectar soon I could develop bonding sickness.

"Wren, I'm tired. Can we talk tomorrow?" I said mid-yawn. It was the truth. But the yawn was a little exaggerated.

"Fine. But I'm waking you up at 6 am." He said standing up grabbing his lantern. I laid my head back down on the floor. I listened to the dirt and pebbles crunch when he took a step down the path.
Wren was heading back to his cottage.

He once tried to sneak me in, but his parents do not approve of an orphan in their home. He had many siblings. I met several of them. But they thought little of me.

I tried to drift of. But what Wren said got me thinking. What do I do then? After I drink the nectar. Sit on the dirt path and hope for some food.

I want to do something. Be something. I want people to know my name. I want to make an impact on Erdas. But how do I do that in a place like this?

I finally managed to fall asleep. I dreamt of fighting next to the four fallen with my spirit animal.

A girl can dream. Right?

Author:

Hey, I love the Spirit Animal series. Just to clear things up this is taken place after the 7 books in the first series. I plan to read the second series soon, but I haven't gotten to it yet. Please no spoilers.
I don't know if anyone is even reading this, but if you are leave a comment and let me know what you think.
This probably won't make sense unless you have read the Spirit Animals series. Olivia is a lot like Rollan in a way. This is my first book so I know it's nowhere near perfect. But I try. Sorry this chapter was so short. The next few will be longer.