Chapter 2

They say I was born at the darkest hour of winter's night. The wind was howling , shaking trees and tearing their branches off, bringing snow and cold. Not a single star could be seen in the sky. Great clouds covered the white moon. Everything was pitch black. The air held a metalic smell.

They say the storm lasted for three days.

After 8 hours of pain, a tired woman held a baby wrapped in a rough blanket in her arms. A soft smile was illuminating the mother's face. The baby herself was quiet now, nestled in a warm embrace.

There was a sound of a door cracking open. A tall man came quietly, surrounded by shadows. When he came closer to the light a single candle provided, his dark hair and deep ocean eyes could be seen. He crouched near the woman, kissed her forehead tenderly, his eyes, sparkling with pure joy, never left the baby's face. When the man gently touched the girl's cheek, she opened her eyes and golden irises pierced the room.

They say that moment the raging storm stopped, only the snow was falling from the heavy clouds.

My parents named me Eira that night twenty years ago.

**

12 hours previous the evens in 'The Forest'

I am standing with my older brother Keenan in the quiet, already green forest, a bow in my hand, daggers on my hips. Gentle breeze blows a few dark brown hair strands off my face. I should make a better job braiding them. Keenan crouches and inspects footprints left by a deer. ''It's close'', he whispers and we slowly turn and go west.

After a minute, my eyes catch a movement on my left. I glue my back to the tree trunk, take an arrow and nock it on my bow. I fix my eyes on the prey, peacefully grazing early spring grass. Pulling the bow string back, I slowly take a deep breath. The animal is beautiful, unknowing. Time stops for a second. I don't really want to do this. I don't want to kill it. I release.

The death is instant. The deer falls to the ground, cracking twigs and old leaves beneath it. Keenan gives me a reassuring smile. ''Nice shot, ladybug.'' I release the breath I was holding and slowly go to the animal. It's small, still thin after the harsh winter.

''Yeah, let's get it back home'' I say, looking at my brother, smiling softly at the nickname he's given to me when I was a toddler. Keenan comes to the animal and lifts it easily on his shoulder. I furrow my brows.

If only I could follow the animal tracks as well as Keenan can, I could go hunting alone and bring animals home myself and my brother wouldn't need to come with me. Not that I don't enjoy his company, but I know he could do a lot of work back home. However, I am shit in tracking and also, there's no chance to me to travel all the way back home and carry a deer myself. So Keenan comes with me.

We then turn to go back. Keenan, as always, starts to whistle some stupid tone and I chuckle, finally starting to relax. I like hunting, I like the process of finding and animal, though Keenan is way better at this than I am. I like the quietness of the forest, the power my old bow and arrows hold. I like that I can provide food for my family. But every time I'm about to release the killing blow, my heart aches for the life I am about to take away.

I release the arrow nonetheless.

We walk back, the forest getting sparser as we come closer to the village. My ears catch voices, sounds of children playing, a smell of smoke coming from the chimneys reaches my nose. My brother lets a sigh. I know he doesn't like the life of a village. I know he dreams about the city, the life of wealth. But for now, we are both stuck here. We have a mother to take care of. And she would never leave this god's forgotten place.

We reach the main crossroad and as always, I turn left and Keenan goes right. He gives me a soft smile and ruffles my hair playfully, then heads to the butcher to sell the deer's antlers and skin to get some money. I, on the other hand, go straight home.

The cabins of the village are small, made from logs of pinewood. We get pretty rough winters here, so big houses would be inconvenient. I run my fingers trough my hair, searching for little twigs or leaves stuck in them from the foliage of the forest, but I find none. As I stroll down the main street, I meet some of the villagers and greet them, nodding my head.

Finally I reach my house, just as same as all the others here. I press the cold metal doorknob and go inside. Instantly, I am greeted with warmth and soft smell of herbs. I close my eyes for a second and enjoy the feeling of home. Then I put down my bow and arrows, pull off my father's dark brown leather jacket and hang it on the wall. I take off my shoes and go straight to the sink to wash my hands and face.

''Hey baby'' my mother's voice reaches me. I turn around and see her sticking her head from the kitchen. ''How the forest was today?'' She never says a word hunt. She really doesn't like her kids running around the woods hunting, but boy we all know we need to eat. And we don't have enough money to always buy it from the store.

''Uh'' I reply, drying my face with a towel. ''Still wet after the storm. Was easy to find animal tracks. We'll have venison today''. I smile at her once beautiful face, framed with loose strands of her blonde hair. In just one year, my mother looks like she got older by ten. Wrinkles cross her forehead, bags under her eyes say she didn't get a decent sleep in a while. Her skin clings to her cheekbones as if forcefully stretched. She has been like this for a while now. ''I'll fetch some vegetables, then'' is all she says and goes outside.