The introduction of Morrigan
The sun was bright and high as Morrigan stepped from her tiny little abode. It’s walls stood thanks to hard packed mud and clay which she had spent hours slopping and mixing with hay. The roof was a collection of deer skins which she had worked hard to treat into leather. It stretched across the top of her clumpy walls fine enough. It would soon be dry and sturdy as she needed. She liked being here, in her own place, away from people. It was quiet, peaceful.
Morrigan stretched her arms high above her head, craning her neck to and fro to release any remaining sleep from herself. Her bright red hair was knotted and covered in dirt from the work she had put into her hut. She smiled at the thought of washing, her soft freckled face welcoming the warm sunlight. Hopefully the sun would stay for a few days.
Skipping her way down into the barren lands that seemed to surround, she headed east towards the stream. Her knife slung against her waist in case she may find something tasty to catch for dinner. Morrigan knew these lands like the back of her hand. Though her people may be new to these lands, she was raised running across these grounds. To the west was the cliffs, her father had warned her many times to avoid that place as best as one could. Those who ventured beyond the cliffs were bound to suffer a terrible fate. What type of fate she knew naught, not that that mattered much to her.
“With fields of gold and seas of green the shepherd slaughters the lamb.” That ghastly voice entered her head again. Morrigan slapped one hand upon her ear several times and gave her head a shake. She began humming a loud tune as if to drown out the voice.
“The lamb shall die and chaos arrive, death to those above.” Morrigan had heard this voice for as long as she could remember. As a child she would often speak on the matter to others, unknowing that that would be the beginning of the end for her and her father. She knew the words this voice spoke very well yet it still unnerved her every time she heard it.
The voice grew louder as if knowing that it was being ignored “The cursed one lives, the lamb dies, the shepherd lost and the wolf is king!!” Morrigan dropped, her butt resting on her heels, hands over her ears and now singing as loud as she could. She hated this damn voice, she hated the things it said and the way it made people view her. She hated that it was the reason for her isolation.
Welcoming quiet crept into her mind once again and she let her singing die down. She really needed to get over this somehow.
“Father” Morrigan started, her small self on the shoulders of her father, “Why is it that I hear the voice? I’ve tried speaking back to it but… it never says anything in response.”
“My little Morri, you are not yet six years of age yet the weight of this falls on your shoulders. One day, when you are old enough to understand all that I have to say on it, I will tell you. But, that is not today. The most I can tell you is that the voice is your key. It will be of great importance one day.”
“This damn memory again. What use is it to me at this point when you’ve left me all alone, father.” Morrigan dug her fingers into the soft earth in frustration before shaking her head clear of all these depressing thoughts. “You won’t get me down today when the sun is shining just for me!” Morrigan sprung upright and began her skipping once more while letting her cares fall with each prance.
Eastern, western, northern and southern. Morrigan painted a map in her head of the locations in each direction as she wrung the water from her hair. To the east of her hut was her water and food source. To the west of her hut was the cliffs, she had been told their name long ago but could not call it forward now. If need be she could forage for food in the woodland before the cliffs. North of her hut was the lands of man where the camps and forts stood. Not too long ago those same forts, camps and farms were part of her as well. To the south… What is to the south? Morrigan had never journeyed far south of where she had made her small abode with her father.
“An adventure for tomorrow, I’d say!” She told herself with a smirk as she stood, washed and refreshed. “But for now, let’s gather some food. Maybe I can catch a deer.”
Dressed and ready for her new task Morrigan set out into the woods that surrounded her creek. Her footsteps unheard as she weaved through the trees following whatever tracks she could pick up. Up ahead she spotted a fawn and her young doe, no buck in sight. She crept past the deer at a distance. Surely the buck was nearby.
