Screams blossomed in the tiny room as finally after twleve hours of hard labor, a baby appeared. Sighs of relief escaped the mother as her tired eyes laid sight of the  precious gift from the goddess Laylá, Another child was yet again bestowed on her. 

Finally, a girl. She thought. I can finally keep a child to myself, until she of the age to wed. What joy! 

However, her hopes were crushed when she heard one of the maiden ladies scream. She reached forward, worry clouding her expression and panic reaching her eyes. 

“What?” She asked. “What has happened?”

The three ladies turned to her with masked horror on their face, and one even wiped a tear from their eyes. 

“My lady,” One of the maidens stated. 

She raised a eyebrow, as terrier twisted it’s way to her gut and crawled up her spine, she could feel the urge to vomit upon her throat, but she reframed as there were more important matters at hand. 

“What has happened? Is my child deformed?” She questioned. 

“No,” The head maiden replied. 

“Then what?” She shouted, and then repeated in a calmer tone; since she was of course addressing a maiden of the Surya’s temple. 

“She is to be the sacrifice.” The second maiden whispered. 

“Our prayers have been answered.” The third maiden declared. 

“W-what?” She stuttered. Then she shook her head as reality set in. “No,” She breathed. 

The head maiden turned to her. “I’m sorry, but he has chosen her.” 

“No!” She screamed. “Give me my child! She will not be devoured by that beast, who everyone considers a god! I don’t care who he has chosen, give me my child! Give her to me now!” 

The head maiden shook her head. “It is a honor to be chosen by Surya. For he is the one who brings the light.”

She stared at the head maiden as she felt tears running down her cheek. “No, it is not. He will eat my child when she of sixteen winters. He will kill her, so you all can live. No, my poor baby. She will die and it’s all your fault.” 

The second maiden shook her head. “We do not decided on the sacrifice. Surya does, my lady.”

She shook her head and pointed to her daughter. “Get out, and take her with you. I no longer want a daughter who will die in sixteen winters.” 

“But,” The third maiden pressed. “You haven’t named her.” 

“Let my husband do it.” Was all she she said as she turned on her shoulder and closed her eyes. The wetness trailing down her cheek at the thought of finally being blessed with a daughter, only for her to be ripped away from her arms. She sighed. 

She could hear the outraged gasps of the women, and she did not care. She knew it was a dishonor for a child to be named by their father. The mother was the bringer of the child in their culture and therefore she was the bringer of the name. If the mother decided not to name the child, then the mother did not see the child as hers; which meant she was disowning the one she had birthed. This meant she has just disowned her own daughter. 

I will not become close to a child that can never be mines, after all, she belongs to Surya now. That was her last thought as she fell into the darkness of sleep. 

 Hey, guys there will be some words that I made up, that’s apart of the story. At the end of the chapter I will add the words, define them and tell the history behind them. :) 

1| Sun’s Shadow 

Suna was a beautiful name. The name was meant for a extremely beautiful maiden that Surya had blessed; since the name was the female counterpart of his, only few were ever bestowed with Suna as their birth name. However, as beautiful as the name was, and how amazing the meaning of the name being, Suna did not like her name. Sure having a name that meant, “The most beautiful star of the sun,” was pretty exciting, but the reason why she was named Suna was not exciting at all. 

Her name was a consistent reminder that not only did her mother chose not to name her, but her father had given her the name she currently bears. It also had not helped that many teased her whenever they thought she was not listening about her family situation, and she would also overhear them talk also about her role as their, “savior.” Everyone knew who she was, and what the word savior meant to the Calinä people. What the words truly meant was that she would be a meal to their sun god Surya, and soon he would devours her. 

This arrangement had been set for thousands of years since the Calinä people escaped the Jlinäà people in the past. They made a arrange for Suna to not only protect them from the Jlinäà people because they did not want to be slaves to them anymore, but to also bring them sunlight like he did with the Jlinäà. 

The agreement with Suna is that a pure maiden of sixteen will be given to him every one hundred years, with food offered to him every three months in return for his sunlight and protection. 

It just so happened the pure maiden this time was Suna. She bore the mark of the sun on her right arm. It was like a tattoo, brightly orange with a sun and black twist across it in a strangely exotic circle. It was a sight to see for most, but to Suna it was a curse. A terrible reminder of what her fate was in sixteen more seasons. 

Suna, was not like other children because she was their savior. She could not do what other children could do. She could not learn to farm, hunt, ride the horses, sew, cook like other women because she was far to valuable to learn certain things. In all reality this truly meant, “You are going to die in when you are sixteen winters, there’s no point in teaching you anything when you won’t live long enough to use it.” 

So instead the only thing she actually learned to do was read and write because this way she would not be a idiot, and would actually be able to kept herself entertained by reading, and writing. Many in her village thought her even learning that much was a blessing since they thought she had no use for learning such things when she was to destined to leave her people very young. 

As a child currently of twelve, she had no friends. Many people only approached her with fake request of friendships to see what they could get out of their friendship with her. After all, being the friend of the savior could make your rank raise higher because the savior was above all, even the head chief of their people, and since Suna was the daughter of the daylïa which was the second highest rank person in the village her position had already been a high one before she had been born. Her rank was even higher now that she belonged to Surya as his future meal. 

In this way, she could never escape Surya. She was always in his shadow no matter what, everything she did related to him and for that she did not like him. She hated him with every fiber of her being, if it had not been for him; she would be living a amazing life as a dayliä daughter.

Suna shook her head trying to clear all those thoughts from her mind. She continued her path through the forest. Her  shoes sinking into the mud and hitting against twigs, still she continued. She needed to be free for awhile and to do that she had to sneak out into the forest to her happy place. 

“Suna!” A male voice called out. One she         recognize all to well. Her older brother Sasho was calling out to her. 

She looked down at herself seeing her black dressed caked in mud, she sighed. She knew if she went she wouldn’t be left alone for awhile. The reason being was because her village saw this was as her new attempt to escape her fate. Which wasn’t exactly true, there was nowhere she could go. She couldn’t ride or defend herself, she wouldn’t last very long out in the wild, and she suspected that was why her fellow village members never taught her anything. 

Nonetheless, she needed to hide from her brother. If he was to take her back she would be forced to serve Surya statue because she was his maiden. She needed free from Surya because that’s all everyone always talked about. Surya this, Surya that. She was sick of it. 

“Suna!” Sasho called out again. “I know you can hear me, come out now so I can take you home. Father is furious about you skipping the Surya event. If you come out we can still make it in time for the second half, which can take away some of father anger towards you.” 

“Well, Surya can kiss rocks for all I care, and father can be angry all he wants too. He’s not the one who will die soon.” She mumbled to herself, and forced herself to walk faster through the trees so her brother would not catch sigh of her.

A swift chuckle was heard in the breeze, and Suna turned her head trying to figure out where exactly had the noise come from. 

Who laughed? Was it Sasho? She wondered to herself, but when she turned her head back and forward all she saw was the brown and green of the trees. There was no one in sight. She shook her head trying to clear her thoughts. 

My nerves are getting to me now, I must not let go back. Going back will only make this situation worst, I need my personal time. 

Suna continued on her path until she finally made it to the cliff edge. Her one and only happy place. The cliff edge was of course a cliff that hung above a sea of crystal blue waters. The sun beat down upon her and with a sigh, Suna rested her head down on the ground and stared at the yellow-orange ball of light. 

“Surya,” She asked the sun. “Why did you pick me?”

You will just have to find out. A husky voice replied to her inside her head. One that was not female like her own, but very male like. Suna shot her from her spot and looked around. 

She shook her head for the second time that day. “I officially have dropped to many marbles. I am hearing things.” 

She sighed and continued to stare at the sun. 

“I really do hate you.” She told it staring at the blazing light with a pure hated in her eyes. 

I know. The same male voice replied in her head and then continued. However, this hate shall pass. 

Suna rubbed her eyes and jumped up. A feeling bubbling inside her stomach that caused goosebumps to stretch onto her skin. She shaky took a breath and then shook her head once more.

“I lack sleep.” She told herself, “Let me return, the Surya festival should be over as of now. After all, I am afraid if I don’t sleep, I will start to hear voices like the insane.” 

Suna turned on her heels heading back to the village not realizing the sun glowed on her the entire way back. 

_____________________

Jilnäà- People located in the western continent. Known for their cruelty, they kept the Calinä and Deliœ people slaves for thousands of years before the Calinä escaped them. 

Calinä- People once belonging to the western continent until the Jlinäà took almost complete control of the continent. They were the Jlinäà slaves for over ten thousand years before escaping to the central continent where they currently reside. They are protected by Surya, and because of this the Jlinäà was never able to reclaim them as slaves again. 

Delioe- People also belong to the western continent, they are mixed breeds of the Calinä and Lolõ people. They were a independent group of people before the Jlinäà took over. They are still currently slaves to the Jlinäà people. 

Lolõ- The only people from the western continent that is free of Jlinäà rule. They are known for their cruelty if messed with, however if left alone they are a peaceful people. The Jlinäà did not try to conquer them because the Lolõ people have the protection of the gods, and are a warrior race of people. 

Dayliä- Is the second rank in a village society. They are usually related to the chief, giving them the position of a noble, and they hold the second highest power in their village. The position is mostly held by male and inherited, but if a female can prove she can be the dayliä then she will be given the title instead.