There was always a story being told when I was growing up. That tale could have been passed on for years or across thousands of miles, and it could have happened to a stranger or a loved one. I have heard many stories and it’s unlikely you could even acquaint with me a yarn I have not heard. But there was one that had eluded me for many years, and it wouldn’t be until I was of age that the story would make its way whispering back to me. Even then, it would take me many years before I fully understood its significance to my past and I.


It started off as any fairytale would and I recalled my hesitance to take it seriously.

‘Once upon a time, in a land filled with magic and mystery, of prophecy and fate, lived a witch and warlock who were very much in love. However the witch was of the Moon clan, who opposed the warlock and his background, and tried to separate the lovers. It seemed as if their luck had taken a turn for the better when the wise woman foresaw a great prophecy; so great was it that it received all the clan’s attention and the forbidden couple fled safely into the night. However, their lack of interest for the prophecy became their undoing.

A man will rise, hand-in-hand with death,
born in secrecy to ash and breath,
In two decades time and the sealing of a bargain,
He will bring about bloodshed of the brethren

While the pair fled, the Moon clan elders called to the other tribe leaders and told them of the foretelling; it had sounded too much like that of a warning for them to be at ease. Sure enough, one of the prophets from a neighboring tribe had visions of blood and death not too long after the clan had received their prophecy. The leaders came together tried to understand the words, but it was to no avail. One hunter from the Moon clan pointed out that the names of the couple matched words in the prophecy; ‘ash’ stood for Manna, the witch from the Moon clan, and the ‘breath’ stood for Zephyr, the wandering warlock. Immediately search parties were sent out for the missing couple, but they were nowhere to be found.

Years later, Manna and Zephyr, who were still deeply in love, decided to have a child. With much joy, twins were born unexpectedly and the pair named them Hovan and Hoya. Hovan had hair like soot, and for what little future insight that Manna had, she read that his path was one paved for heroes. Hoya instead had frost white hair like the flower buds of a nearby dogbane plant, one Zephyr had used for a concoction to help Manna in her childbirth. His future path was shrouded in clouds that the woman could not push aside despite her many attempts; nonetheless, the couple agreed that they would love both their sons equally.

Seven years passed happily and in a dream-like state, before it shattered abruptly one blistering summer’s night. The couple awoke to their boys screams of fear as hooded and masked figures stood over them. They were all forced outside, under a full moon as the ringleader stepped forward from the crowd and removed his metal mask, revealing himself as the Moon clan’s chief. The warlock leader explained to them the dangers the prophecy predicted and informed them with much regret that the clan’s wise woman saw Hovan’s future; she saw much further then Manna and witnessed blood and horror. The boy would have to die. Manna screamed and cried, begging for her child’s life on her knees in the dirt. However the man told her that she too would be killed so the boy would not die alone; no witch or warlock was allowed to abandon their clan without the proper ceremony and regulations, and if they did so, it was punishable by death. Zephyr tried to fight them as they dragged his lover and child away, but it was to no avail. The mother and boy disappeared and Moon clan trickled away into the darkness. Many hours passed before the defeated man could move, or even wanted to move. Some say he died in that clearing next to his remaining child, his heart having broken beyond repair at the sudden loss of his love and favored boy. Others claim he managed to get to his feet and left the Asarleri Lands with his son. One thing is certain; no members of the family were ever heard from again.”