The Firstlings

The First Daughter

She had the most beautiful dream.

Not a dream of anything tangible or one of Mother’s teachings. It was a dream of sound.

A dream of song.

Sonorous sounds rippling throughout an infinite space. Connected, but never touching. They sang and they danced, and she could feel it. The sounds were at play; they were in unison, a synchronized harmony, and she wished to be a part of that great whole.

So, she sang back.

She sang with all of her heart and soul, feeling the ripples leave her body to dance with the others. She could feel herself in harmony. Then Mother’s call came like a bell, crushing the dream and waking her for the first time.

She opened her eyes to Elder Brother trying to comfort them and ushering them to care for Mother’s needs. The sight of Mother horrified her, and she cried out with the others, unable to hold back her tears. She would do everything she could to make her whole again. She helped her sisters comb Mother’s fur to soothe her weary body and fill her belly. Tirelessly, they worked, gathering mushrooms and small animals, but Mother wasn’t getting better. Elder Brother gave them instructions and taught them something he called the Truths. He showed them the nodes within one another and even inside Mother. Through it all, she could only think of her dream.

Though she was awake now, the Song never left her.

She hummed and danced within her heart and soul, her mind absorbed in the sonorous sounds. When she looked at the nodes of her siblings and within herself, her heart missed a beat, and her breath caught in her throat.

They were singing too!

When Elder Brother spoke of his truths, she had not understood, but seeing the nodes singing, she saw these truths. The Song within each of them danced and rippled at play with one another. The node within her responded, and her heart beat with each ripple, and her soul hummed with each beat. Resonating within the harmony around her, she felt something inside her come to life.

A truth was born into the world.

[Songstress]

“Your voice resonates with those around you. All will hear your Song.”

Markings appeared in her vision, but she was unable to understand their meaning. Elder Brother had told them about the markings and the little he had learned. Reaching out her delicate fingers, she attempted to touch the markings, causing them to vanish. Searching deep within herself, she could tell that her node had gotten brighter, its song more sonorous.

She stood beside Mother, feeling a glow inside her growing and trembling, to be set free. She thought of Mother and all she had done for them, and the glow grew brighter and stirred. It moved up her body and built in her chest as she opened her mouth and sang. She sang to her heart's content as the song and power were building within her.

A song for the world...

A song for Mother.

When the song was finished, she fell to the ground, gasping for breath. Sweat beaded down her face as she tried to calm her racing heart, looking up in surprise to see Mother’s core glowing. It was as if it were singing back, and she had a loving look in her eyes. The aura spreading from Mother washed down to her, spreading its love and power, and a new set of markings appeared.

[The First Daughter]

“You have been blessed by Mother.”

She swiped away the markings and looked around the Cavern to see her siblings staring at her. The looks on their faces, nodes trembling as if to join her in song at any moment, told her how they felt. They had loved it as much as Mother, and she beamed with joy. It made her happy to have shared something with her siblings.

She lay back, resting against Mother, and drifted into slumber, a faint smile still on her face.

She woke with a start.

Elder Brother was yelling through the cavern, alerting them all that the time had come. The humans were attacking. They cowered around Mother as some of her siblings rushed into the tunnels to help defend the Nest. They sat and listened to the sounds of battle echoing through the cavern, a look of fear in their eyes. Knowing they would do anything to protect Mother, even if it meant their death.

After waiting for what felt like an eternity, her siblings returned, running for their lives. Arrows and fire spewed from the human lines, chasing her siblings, some even falling victim to their power. She could see some of her siblings being carried and sensed the ripples in her body as their Bonds were broken. They had been taken from the world.

Cold fear gripped her heart but also hardened her resolve.

As she started to run forward to help her siblings, she felt Mother moving beside her. Startled, she jumped back and bore witness to Mother’s might and fury as she stood tall and roared. The Cavern itself shook and rumbled from that roar. It shook large stones from the ceiling, and the air rippled in its wake, but then came the aura.

Mother’s powerful aura came down on the humans like a wall of power.

Unstoppable and terrifying.

Then she looked in fright as a large human came forward from the crowd and lunged at Mother, a green aura surrounding his blade. When he swung that terrible blade, Mother’s screams tore through the cavern. She and her siblings cried out and wept at the sight of Mother being harmed. Hope consumed their thoughts as Elder Brother rushed forward to attack the man, and they held their breath.

But their hopes were dashed when he sidestepped and struck Elder Brother to the ground, raising his sword high. The pale aura shot to the sky as he began to sweep the blade downward. They saw Mother dart forward, knocking her brother back, and then watched in horror as that mighty blade descended.

And Mother fell.

She cried out as pain tore through her body, and it felt as if she was being torn apart from the inside. As she tried her hardest to hold herself together, she saw Elder Brother fall to the ground, and she knew that all was lost. As turmoil took hold and her soul was fluttering, she heard a sharp yell. It was Second Brother, and he was urging his siblings to the back of the Cavern.

Remembering the escape tunnel that Mother had shown them, she began to fight and clear her head. Recovering from the soul damage, with tears still streaming down her face, and choking back sobs, she rushed to her brother’s side. As they fell back, her siblings attempted to make a wall and harass the humans so they could escape. When the last of them had made it to the tunnel entrance, she turned to see her siblings having trouble breaking away from the human lines.

She dashed forward, power welling inside her as she fell into the song and let it build into a crescendo. Right as she reached the front, she let the power rise into her throat and released it in a roar of defiance. A pure wave of sound and power rolled forward and slammed into the humans, knocking them back and leaving many disoriented. They broke away and fell back, entering the tunnel, and she watched as her siblings turned back and began hacking at the ceiling.

When the tunnel collapsed, they fell back, breathing heavily. They were safe at last, for now.

Traveling onward, they found a small cavern and took shelter to rest their weary bodies and tired hearts.

Fearing for tomorrow.