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Chapter 8: Day Conquers Night
Leeli was not sure what woke her so early. The rays of dawn had barely begun to kiss the dark sky, and the birds had not yet begun their songs. All other creatures and her family seemed to be asleep, yet Leeli thought she had heard or felt something stirring. It almost seemed like the mysterious connection she had with her brothers and uncle had been triggered for a split second. But I was asleep, not playing my whistleharp, she pondered as she eased her blanket off and unbuttoned her tent flap.
Trying not to disturb Sara, she crawled outside onto the cool, dewy grass. Poking her crutch into the springy ground, she hoisted herself to her feet. As the sun's rays began to peek over the horizon and beam through the forest canopy, more of her surroundings became visible. What she had thought to be a sturdy tree last night was actually a pillar from another epoch, clothed with curling vines. The longer Leeli looked, the more pillars she noticed, and they seemed to be arranged in a circular pattern. A sweeft perching on one of them chirped the first notes of its morning song, and was gradually joined by a chorus of hundreds of others.
Full to bursting with curiosity, Leeli slowly ventured closer to the pillar, drawn in by the beauty of the birdsong. As she drew near, she was able to see what the pillars guarded. Rather than a ruined building, a pool of pure, turquoise water flashed and sparked with the light of the sunrise in the center, and a creature unlike any she had seen or heard of before stood by its edge. The kind-eyed beast somehow appeared wisened and youthful at the same time. Timeless, but as full of life as a new sprout.
However, it was not this majestic creature that drew Leeli's gaze or brought her hands to her mouth to cover an insuppressible squeal of delight, but rather who stood in the Well beside it.
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