Mestra Galerunner would’ve never thought she’d be a mother. As a young elven girl, she flitted about the Asrana Forest after running away from home, getting into trouble, and causing her elders endless grief. As an adult, she learned the ways of the assassin, choosing to exist as a solitary being and elude companionship. And then one day, on a stormy night, she found Pil and everything changed.

Pil had sprung out of the woods frightened and weeping. Her parents had been killed and she was alone. As eight-year-old Pil surged into her arms something happened to Mestra that she never thought would happen: she felt love. An unconditional love that surged through her very soul in a way that she imagined mothers felt when they saw their newborns for the first time.

That had been a year ago today. Now she was sitting beneath the stars on the balcony of a fancy apartment in the lush kingdom Morami located in the land Toldan. Out here, there were no mountains or roaring seas, just a vast savannah that spread as far as the eye could see in every direction. In Toldan, the sky seemed expansive, its darkness covered in a map of twinkling stars like fine diamonds.

Not a single one of the Ten Lands of Adalor had skies as mesmerizing as Toldan’s sky. And that is why Mestra was sitting in a plush chair with the softest pillows, covered in a blanket of irresistibly soft velvet, and her feet propped up on an equally soft ottoman.

Nine-year-old Pil was lying on her lap, her interest in the constellations having long evaporated into a deep sleep. As Mestra sat there admiring the brilliance of the constellations–the Warrior Goddess Hartha, the Roaring Lion, the Galloping Gazelle–she could feel Pil breathing against her.

She seemed so small in Mestra’s arms; like a warm bundle of purity that Galerunner adored more than life itself. She stroked her dark hair, smiling as she listened to her breathing against her.

Her breaths were tiny but full of life. There were many times when Pil’s sleep was not so peaceful as the haunting memories of the past returned to afflict her. But tonight, there were no nightmares to wake her or disturb her slumber. She was at peace in Mestra’s arms, soaking up the kind of rest Mestra hadn’t experienced in centuries.

“I love you, my daughter,” she whispered, delicately pinching her daughter’s slightly plump cheek. 

She then tipped her head back to once again gaze at the stars, basking in the comfort of the pillows surrounding her, and after a few minutes, she fell into a deep slumber.

You can discover more about these characters in my first short novel, PIL, which is available on Amazon and Kindle. Just click the link here.

I thank you for reading and I hope you have a tremendous day.