Chapter 1 - Niri Awakens
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The 12th day of September, in the 482nd year of the Third Age
I was born in a forest on a night with no moon.
I am the bastard daughter of Gwydion, King of Annwn, who fell defending his realm at the Siege of Arawyn Castle when I was twelve days old, and of his sorceress mistress Emlyn, who fled with me cradled in her arms through secret tunnels deep beneath the castle’s ramparts as Gwydion died.
I was raised by the wood sprites of the Black Forest of Cammachmore, who found me after an army of warrior mages assassinated my mother as she led them across the moorlands far from a hollowed-out log in the forest where I had been hidden.
I was schooled by the sprites in the ways of the forest and of the sacred power of the universe.
I could speak with the voices in the wind by my third year.
I cast my first spell when I was five and forty months of age.
By my eighth birthday, I had mastered the ancient sword art of Flannchadh and could cast from memory any spell in the first two volumes of the White Book of Magic.
Upon my coming of age, I swore a blood-oath before the Sprite Princess Wynifin to protect this and all other worlds from those who would cause them harm.
I have fought at the War of the Trees and the Battle of Stony Farm. Only I and four others survived the second siege at the ruins of Arawyn Castle. I have hunted with wolves under a blood moon and soared on the backs of eagles far beyond the Red Mountains to the west. I have passed through the shadow veil to the otherworld and returned unscathed. I have tasted the cruel sorrow of heartbreak and the hollow bitterness of revenge, and I have pledged upon my life to wreak vengeance upon those who slayed my parents.
I have been called by many names. Witch. Warrior. Sorceress. Some have called me saviour, others, murderer. In truth, these are all my names – for I am all these things and more. But for those who dare know it, my one true name is Niri Lekani. I am the last surviving heir to the throne of Annwn, uncrowned ruler of Arawyn, sorceress master of the five elements and warrior guardian of Qi.
This is my story.