I was born during The Great Migration. As I grew, my mother, M'war, taught me the skills I would need to survive...hunting, running, roaming and healing, among others. I, along with my father, Kharm, felt all I needed were warrior skills, that a true Prydaen just needed courage, hunting skills and sharp claws. I felt that a Prydaen male did not need to learn healing....that was for the weak. Little did I realize that I would need those skills sooner than I expected.

It wasn't long before my parents and I wandered the eastern lands looking for the right place to call our new home. Someplace where there were not many inhabitants from other races and plentiful critters to hunt. A forest not far from a Hub would be best. I was twelve summers old, no longer a kit, but not quite mature. We were exploring the area around Shard, and ended up, one day, in the Whispering Woods. It was a warm sunny day, with a cool breeze blowing. The scent of forest creatures was in the air, and I was hungry. I was looking for some prey for lunch when Kharm suddenly grabbed me and threw me into a large, overgrown, taffelberry bush.

I had no idea what was going on. I was just about to hiss in anger at my father when I saw them. Coming through the woods were three Adan'f Warriors and two Adan'f Mages. I had never seen an Adan'f before. The Warriors had greenish-black scales and slitted red eyes set deep in their skull. Forked tongues shot out of mouths with triple rows of pointed teeth. Their tail was tipped with a gleaming talon, and their three fingered hands held heavy weapons. The mages looked just like the Warriors except their scales were reddish-black and their eyes were yellow. Kharm and M'war stood next to each other, proud, defiant and ready to fight. I was just about to jump from the taffelberry bush and join my parents, when one of the Mages raised his hand and said a magical phrase. I felt a blast of pain in my head, like an explosion in my brain. The world around me dimmed, then darkened and everything went black.

I awoke. It was dusk. I was still in the taffelberry bush. Everything was quiet. I shook my head to clear my mind. Big mistake. The pain that shot behind my eyes made me nauseous. Slowly, I pried myself out of the taffleberry bush. Then I saw. There lying on the ground in front of me were my parents. I ran to M'war. She barely breathed. Blood soaked her beautiful fur. There were gashes all over her body. Her neck was slit and her stomach cut open. I screamed. Looking over at Kharm, I saw that his head was split open and his mane lay matted with blood. I screamed again. I roared in anger, looking around for the warriors and mages so I could kill them, slit their throats and gut them, but they were gone. There was nothing I could do for Kharm, he was dead, but M'war still held onto life. I worked quickly to tend the wounds on her neck and stomach. The bandages I applied to her wounds quickly soaked through and were useless. I ripped off my shirt and cut it into more bandages. I worked well into the night tending my mother's wounds. My untrained efforts were fruitless. She died in my arms as the sun rose the next day.

I cried as I erected the platforms for the traditional Prydaen sky-burial for my parents. I laid their bodies to rest and sang The Wheel Song to bid their spirits farewell and safe journey, knowing that Tenemlor would watch over them and that they would one day return in the bodies of newborn kits.

"Demrris told us before he left
A promise of a life beyond our deaths.
The Great Old One must have known
That the world is too wide for one life alone."

"So though this soul goes to Tenemlor
Soon it shall return to us once more,
Passing from her blessed home,
Back to the plains with us it will roam."

"And wander the forests and drink down the wind
And sing this song with us again.
And when the wheel has turned once more,
It will hear this song, as it did before."

"Hear us, hear us, hurry along,
Take your rest, but don't stay long.
For leaves fall to ground and nourish the tree
The leaves come back, and so shall we!"

Now I was alone. Had we known of the Eastern religions, this concept of healing and raising the dead back to life and of Favors, my parents would still be with me today. But we knew of it, not. Had I studied my lessons of healing M'war might still be alive. If only I had paid more attention to my lessons on healing. If only I was a healer....if only I could heal.

I wandered the land, alone. I was always referred to as "the scrawny cat-kid" where ever I went. I did whatever it took to survive. It was some time later that I ended up in The Crossing. I was walking through a residential area near a fountain, when I saw a woman through a wrought iron fence. She looked at me and smiled. I walked up to the fence and pushed my face up to the bars and looked within. It was Annael Ebeshalek. She beckoned to me. She stood in a beautiful garden...the garden of the Empath Guild. I went into the garden and she told me about what it means to be an Empath.

It was then that I realized that I could be a healer. I realized that even though I lost my parents, I could help others. I came to understand that being an Empath was my calling in life, even thought it wasn't the way of the warrior, even though few Prydaen ever chose this path. It was a great scrifice for me to make, but it was one I felt I had to make. I chose this path. I am now an Empath. A Prydaen Empath.