CHAPTER I

Home, Sweet Home

Octobre 29, 5599

 

Maidawn awoke with a start, hearing a noise outside of her bedroom window. She ran her right hand through her short, strawberry blonde hair. Her amber-colored eyes sparkled as she yawned, and then she stretched all the way down to her toes, curling them tightly together. She’d spent her entire life living in the welcorg village and in all that time, she’d never seen another human. She was considered one of the welcorg pack.

Tomorrow she would be turning sixteen years old. She smiled at this and snuggled back down into her blankets, enjoying the warmth her body created while under them. She thought of her family and closed her eyes. Her surrogate father, Angustus, had always been there for her, and his wife, Betishine, had treated Maidawn as one of her own pups.

Maidawn thought about her life with the welcorgs in their village of Whails. Growing up in the Sherran Hills with the welcorgs had been wonderful, although she wished that she could’ve met a human at least once. She had no idea what one even looked like, besides herself. She’d seen herself in the reflection of pools of water and was always shocked, as she thought of herself as a welcorg, but knew she wasn’t truly one of them.

She sat up in bed and looked outside the circular hole in the wall that served as her window. Maidawn saw her brother, a welcorg named Zift, practicing battle techniques with his friends. She admired the size and strength of Zift, as he was one of the largest in the village. Descending from a breed of dogs called Welsh Corgis, he stood nearly fourteen hands high, and was covered in tan, red, and white fur. His four long legs were muscular and powerful. His pawhands ended in clawed fingers that he could grasp weapons with. He wore armor on his back, neck, and stomach, while he used both his sharp teeth and front legs to attack his opponents, often rearing up on his two back legs.

Zift jumped high into the air and came down upon the back of his friend, Paws. He clamped his teeth onto the back of Paws’ neck and twisted his head, until Paws fell to the ground. Grabbing a knife from the sheath near his belly, Zift quickly moved it up to his friend’s throat.

He stood over his best friend, growling, with his teeth clamped onto Paws and shook him, just a little.

Paws, grimacing a little with the pain said, “Okay, okay. I give. I give. You can let go now.”

Zift released his hold, reared back while sheathing his knife, and howled to the heavens.

Maidawn smiled as she admired her brother’s prowess. Zift was by far the most gifted of the young welcorg warriors, and Angustus had trained him well. She sat back on her bed and remembered a time when she was five years old and had asked her father about the welcorgs.

Angustus had looked at the young Maidawn and smiled. He loved to tell the story of his people, the welcorgs of the Sherran Hills. He stoked the fire and then sat down to tell the tale.

“A long, long time ago, in a world vastly different than it is now, there were many types of dogs. Dogs, in those days, were fairly smart, but couldn’t speak like we do now,” Angustus said. He lowered his voice almost to a whisper, “Here’s something you will find truly remarkable. All dogs were once owned by humans.”

Maidawn frowned at this.

“Oh, don’t worry, little one,” Angustus said, looking into her eyes, “they were loved by their owners. Dogs were once called ‘man’s best friend.’ As I was saying, there were many types of dogs back then. There were large dogs, though not as big as we are now, of course.”

At this, Angustus hopped up and pranced proudly around the room performing a small dance and then howled once. He danced a few more steps, froze, and then looked sheepishly at Maidawn.

Maidawn giggled and clapped her hands together. She loved her father so much.

“Oops, sorry . . . forgot where I was. Hm, let’s see,” said Angustus as he sat down and looked at Maidawn. “There were even tiny little dogs no bigger than your head.”

Maidawn laughed out loud. Who could ever believe that any dog that small would be worth anything at all? Why, they wouldn’t last one night out in the forest. What good would a dog like that be to anyone? They would end up being a meal for some creature, or become smooshed beneath some larger animal’s foot. Useless, that’s what a dog that small would be. Just useless.

Angustus continued, “A large rock fell from the sky, struck Kepler, caused great devastation to this world, and both people and animals started to change . . . to mutate. This was called the Century of Creation. For a hundred years, almost everyone and everything started changing. Some of these changes were good, like the elves and dwarves being born. But some of them weren’t, like the creation of the blorcs and goblins. Chelt would never be the same again.”

“Oh, no,” Maidawn said rocking backward on her bottom. She came forward again and said, “What happened next?”

“Most of the creatures that now inhabit these lands were born at this time. Back then, there were a lot of species that came into being that no longer live today, unable to adapt to what they’d become. Only two species of dog survived: the bloclabs and the welcorgs. The bloclabs are small black dogs . . . well, smaller than us, that’s. Even though they are small in size, they have become quite adept at using magic and are extremely intelligent. There are rumors that they live far to the west beyond the Latibule Forest. I’ve never met one, never having traveled far from Whails, but I’d like to someday.”

Maidawn picked up her small, black stuffed animal and stared at it. Her mother had made it for her when she was just a baby, and it was always with the young girl. It didn’t really look like anything in particular, at least no animal Maidawn had ever seen. She hugged it to her chest, as it was her most treasured belonging. This, she decided, is what a bloclab looked like. I want to meet one too, she thought.

“Welsh Corgis,” Angustus continued, “were herders and loved to chase things. They were a very playful dog and loved by all, as they were extremely cute. Our ancestors were short, with stumpy little legs but fairly long bodies. As the centuries passed, we evolved out of our dwarfish bodies as our legs lengthened and our torsos elongated and thickened. Over the first thousand years after the change began, we continued to increase in size and mass. As we grew, our legs became more powerful, and our paws grew fingers that we could retract when we run. Our teeth also grew in length for fighting, and our ears increased in height, helping us hear great distances. Paralleling the increase in size, our intelligence also evolved, and we began to speak like we do now. These changes enabled us to become the most ferocious warriors on four legs on the planet!”

Angustus puffed out his chest in pride, held his breath, wiggled his eyebrows, and then coughed a little as he lost his breath.

Maidawn looked at Angustus with wide eyes, and then laughed. She rolled around on the floor raising her eyebrows up and down, like her father.

Suddenly, she stopped and sat up, a serious look on her face. “Why do I look so different from you?” she inquired.

Angustus had always dreaded this question, but didn’t want to lie to his only daughter.

“One night, while I was scouting the Tenebrous Forest for slime trolls, I saw a flash of light in the sky. The light actually came out of the mouth of a cave that was a short distance up the face of a cliff. I climbed up the cliff and found you lying on the floor. You looked at me and I knew that from that point on, I would always protect you. I brought you home, and you’ve lived with us in Whails ever since.”

“What was I doing in there all by myself?”

Angustus squirmed a little and said softly, “You weren’t by yourself. Your mother was there. You were the only one alive.”

Maidawn got up and leaned against her father, crying softly into his thick fur. Angustus put one arm around the young girl and held her until she stopped crying. She sat down again and asked, “So then, if I’m not a welcorg, what am I? A bloclab?”

Angustus barked in laughter. “No, my dear, you are a human,” he replied.

Maidawn looked down at her fingernails. Quietly, she asked, “Does that mean that I own you?”

Angustus stared at her with a serious look in his eyes and growled, “No one owns us.”

The young girl looked up and smiled. “Good! I didn’t want to own you,” she said as she laughed.

Angustus stood up, laughing as well, amazed at her quick change of emotions. He gave her a big, slobbery kiss on her right cheek, which made Maidawn laugh even more. Zift came charging into the room and jumped on top of Maidawn and starting licking her all over her face, which made them all roll around on the floor in glee. Betishine walked in from the kitchen to see what was going on and leaned against the doorway smiling. She truly loved her family, her entire family.

Maidawn lay in bed smiling at the pleasant memory. She threw the blankets back, swung her legs over the edge of the bed, and stood up. Stretching again, she walked over to the chair where she always hung he clothes for the next day. She quickly dressed in an old pair of tight-fitting leather pants, a shirt, and a leather vest. She slipped her boots on and left her room, looking for her mother. She found Betishine in the kitchen making breakfast.

“Good morning, Mother.”

Betishine, knowing her daughter was always very hungry first thing in the morning, turned around and handed Maidawn a piping hot dewshine pie. “Here, dear, this one’s for you.”

Maidawn greedily took the pie, sat down at the table, and took a hasty bite. Steam came out of her mouth as she made an O with her lips and breathed outward. “Hot, hot, hot,” she said, trying not to burn her tongue and the roof of her mouth.

“Thank you, mother,” she said as she blew on the pie for a minute, and then took another steaming bite before it cooled down too much, as dewshine pies taste best right out of the oven. This was her favorite breakfast. The pie was filled with mountain dew berries and covered with a thin, flaky crust that was sprinkled with sugar. She finished the pie, wiped the green berry juice off of her chin, and patted her stomach as if she’d never tasted anything so scrumptious. She stood up and placed the dirty pie tin in the sink.

While her mother was busy washing dishes, Maidawn snatched another pie, thinking her mother hadn’t seen her, and scurried outside. She heard Betishine call out, “That one was for you, too.”

Maidawn smiled as she shut the door behind her and walked over toward her brother. Nothing gave her more pleasure than watching Zift train with his friends. She sat down on a hanging swing her father had built for her on the porch and laughed at their antics as she began to eat the second dewshine pie. More than anything, she wished that she could join the young welcorgs, but knew she couldn’t stand up to their bared teeth and sharp weapons, at least not unprotected. She hoped for some armor for her birthday so she could join Zift in his daily training regimen. The other issue she had was that her swords were ones that Angustus had carved out of wood from a couple of strong asp tree branches. What she needed, and dreamed of, were metal swords. She knew Zift could snap one of her wooden swords in two if he caught one in his teeth and chomped down.

Finishing the second dewshine pie, Maidawn stood up, dropped the dirty pie tin on the swing, brushed her hands on her pants legs, turned back to the doorway and shouted, “Mother, I’m going to take a walk into the hills.”

“Be careful, dear,” Betishine replied from the kitchen window.

“I will.”

“Don’t be gone too long.”

“I won’t.”

Maidawn grabbed the long, thin leather bag that hung outside the kitchen door and headed out of the village. She followed the trail through the sparse ash trees that she had created just by walking over the same ground twice a day for years until she reached the crown of a small hill that had but one large asp tree on it. She’d been coming here almost every day, barring extremely bad weather, for many years to be by herself. This is where she meditated, under that single tree, turning her thoughts inward and focusing on the strange power she felt inside of her. She’d first noticed it three years ago when she was meditating on her thirteenth birthday. She didn’t know what it was, but she sensed that it was important.

After half an hour of meditation, Maidawn did what she’d done a thousand times before. She stood up, reached for the bag that she’d hung on a broken branch, and withdrew the two wooden swords. Moving away from the tree to the top of the hill, she held both swords slightly aloft, and then Maidawn began to practice with the wooden weapons. She started off slowly, letting her muscles warm up. Her moves were smooth and strong, but also held a certain graceful nature that no male could ever hope to match.

Soon, Maidawn’s blades weaved a shield in front of her that would’ve been almost impossible for another to penetrate. She then struck out with a thrust and quickly brought it back in. A lunge followed, then a feint, double thrust, and parry. On and on Maidawn practiced, until sweat ran into her eyes and dripped off of her nose. Finally, she collapsed on the ground, panting under the tree, exhausted from her long workout.

Looking up through the branches at the yellow clouds floating past, she let her eyes go unfocused and just laid there. Snapping her eyes back into focus, she wondered why the sky was blue-green in color. She looked toward, but not directly at, the larger of the two suns, Brumel, which appeared as a yellow globe in the sky. Revolving around Brumel was a much smaller bluish-white sun named Pasq. Streaks of light could be seen passing between the two suns, as if Pasq was sucking the fire away from Brumel.

Maidawn sat up and drank some water that she’d brought with her. She looked in her bag and laughed at the sandwich her mom had packed. As she ate, she leaned back against the tree and looked up through the branches again, this time at the asp. A couple of the branches bent down to caress her cheek and she smiled. She could understand what this tree was thinking and feeling. Silently, the two held a short, but meaningful, conversation.

As she talked with the as tree, she grew tired. It was a nice day, so  she figured a nap was in order.

Last nap when I’m fifteen, she thought as sleep overtook her.

Maidawn woke hours later, packed away her wooden swords and water pouch, and started down the trail back to Whails. She took the long way home, enjoying the late afternoon.

As she entered the village, Zift ran up to Maidawn and said, “Tomorrow is your sixteenth birthday. Are you excited?”

Maidawn looked at him and shrugged. “It’s just another birthday,” she said as she continued walking toward their house. “It’s no big deal,” she said aloud trying not to show any emotion outward, but inside she was thrilled. For some reason, she just didn’t want to show her brother how excited she was.

Zift watched her walk away from him, tilted his head slightly to the right, a confused look on his face. He always loved his birthdays, having recently celebrated his eleventh. Who doesn’t love their birthday? he wondered. Turning around, Zift headed back toward Paws, who was waiting for him so they could continue practicing their fighting skills.

Wrecker came bounding out of the house and jumped up into Maidawn’s arms. He was only a little over a year old and not very big yet, weighing only about forty-five pounds. Maidawn grunted with the effort, as he was getting heavier every day.

“Maida, play?” Wrecker asked.

Maidawn, who was still a little tired from her workout, sighed fondly. She knew Wrecker would continue to ask her over and over, for hours if need be, until she played with him.

“Sure,” she said.

She bent over, dropped Wrecker to the ground, walked over to their cottage, and hung her leather bag on the peg outside the kitchen door. Turning around, she made her way to a grassy area and lay down on her back with her hands and feet straight up in the air, but with her knees slightly bent.

Wrecker backed up, yipped once with excitement, and started running toward her. At the last moment, he leapt into the air and landed with his chest on Maidawn’s feet. She grabbed his front pawhands, kicked up with her feet, and released his pawhands as Wrecker flipped over her head, turning two somersaults in the air before he landed on all fours.

Laughing, Wrecker tore around her, lined up for a second leap and started running toward Maidawn again, barking wildly. Leap, grab, flip, land, laugh, bark wildly. Over and over, Wrecker flipped through the air until Maidawn finally said, “Okay, okay . . . that’s enough.”

“Ah, o’tah.” Wrecker said, and then turned around and tore off into the house.

Maidawn stood up and brushed off her back. Smiling, she walked to the house and entered through the kitchen door.

Betishine turned away from the stove. “Did you have a nice walk, dear?”

“Yes, Mother. I always enjoy the hills greatly.” This was her usual answer.

“Tomorrow is your birthday,” Betishine said while looking into the stone oven. “Is there anything you wanted to do?”

Maidawn thought for a second and replied, “Not really.” She sat down on the only chair in the room. Welcorgs didn’t need chairs so the only one in the kitchen belonged to her. “It’s just another birthday. It really doesn’t mean anything,” she said, all the while hoping that it really did.

“Well, I’ve always enjoyed my birthdays and the gifts I receive,” Betishine said as she looked in the oven and poked the cooking bread with a spoon.

“I have everything I need,” Maidawn said. “A loving family and a happy home is the only gift I require.”

“No one ever has everything they need, dear. Now go gather up the family. It’s almost time for supper.”

Five minutes later, Maidawn sat down to supper with her family. It was a supper like every other supper she’d ever had there. Little did she know that this was going to be the last normal supper she shared with her family for a very long time.