"I can't believe you want to be a fighter, sis," she spoke in her soft voice, it carrying over the breeze.

"It's required of me, but I have to do it," Sunnie replied, pushing a lock of her snow white hair out of her face, turning to face Mama again.

I watched this all in fascination. See, my name is Anlise LightShadow and I was born to Vinuss and Leggacy at their home outside of Shard. Mama called me Anlise because she said it was a pretty name which spoke of strength. Daddy gave me my middle name LightShadow because he said I was a light in the shadows of his life. I never knew what that meant until I was older.

Before I was born, Mama and Daddy adopted two other girls named Sunnie and Hadassah. They were twins who lost their parents in a fire. But they spoiled me something rotten and my sisters were the world to me.

Sunnie took a slash at Mama, practicing a maneuver, missing. The rapier cut into her armor and leg and Mama screamed, them fell to the ground.

"Mama!" I screamed, running to her. I knelt down on the ground, afraid to touch her leg. Sunnie jumped up and sprinted off toward the house, screaming for Hadassah. Moments later, she came running back, her arms full of bandages and little jars. She set them down quickly while I cried silent tears.

"Anlise, look at me," my sister said. I looked up. She was my hero and I would do anything for her.

"Hadassah has gone to the empath's guild, but we can't get Mama there to help her. We must cure her ourselves." She handed me a bottle. I squinted at it, but couldn't make out the words. Mama said I wasn't old enough to read yet. Instead, I opened it, and crushed flowers fell out in my hands.

Something came over me at that moment, and all of a sudden I knew what I was doing. It was like a treasure chest in my mind had suddenly been opened and all this knowledge came pouring in my brain.

I packed the wound with dried jadice flower while Sunnie watched on in amazement. Then I bandaged it and soon enough, it began to heal. That's how it started. I quickly became the family herbalist, growing all sorts of herbs in our garden and learning the properties of them. When Hadassah took trips away to far away places like Theren and Haven, I would take care of the family.

When I was 16, Mama and Daddy took me to Crossing for the first time and to the empath known as Annael. Annael slashed my arm, then healed it, saying I was now a member of the empath's guild, like my sister, Hadassah. I was nervous, but excited.

I travelled back to Shard and partook of my learning through the local guildmaster. One morning, about five years after I began my training, I was in a gweth conversation when a young man interjected his thoughts. We began arguing back and forth, and I was determined to show him up in person! Despite never have touching a bit of armor in my life, I marched up the Dragon's Spine to face him off.

What I found was the most breathtaking man I had met. His name was Roulan DeCharney and a warrior mage. We married two months after we met and spent the next two years in wedded bliss. We even had a child, Lydera. But Roulan's heart was not with mine and I knew I had to break the marriage for both of our goods. It nearly killed me, but I severed my ties with him, took Lydera and headed to Crossing.

My longing for Roulan was such that it drove me away on a long journey with our daughter. During the journey, Lydera took ill and died from diptheria, a foreign disease my guild had no knowledge of curing. I thought of ending it all then. I trudged to a cliff near the rented cottage I was staying in and looked out over the waters. I had neglected my favors to the gods. Perhaps one leap was all it took to put me out of my misery....

"I wouldn't do that if I was you, lady," a husky voice spoke behind me.

I turned around to see a man behind me. He introduced himself as Sonteu and he owned the cottage I rented. He took me back in and made me tea and forced me to tell him the entire story.

"Seems to me, Anlise, you need to discover who you are."

"I'm nobody," I told him. "My husband no longer loves me and my daughter is dead. My adopted son has his own life now. Who could I possibly be?"

Sonteu grabbed me and forced me to stand. Before I could scream in protest, he turned me around to the looking glass standing in the corner.

"Who do you see?" he asked me.

"I see nothing," I lied.

"Who do you see?" he asked me again, shaking me a little.

"I see me...a nobody."

"You're wrong, Anlise. You're an empath. This I know. You're an herbalist. This I know too, your talents are known throughout the lands. You're a gentle woman with a lot of love to give. You're a fighter and a wanderer. There is too much here to lose."

Sonteu whirled me around and gave me a passionate kiss. I hadn't felt anything like this since my husband and I parted ways...so perhaps that's how I ended up spending the next few months with him.

During the next two months, I spent time rediscovering myself. I got back into herbal lore, the reason I became an empath. And I was so happy with Sonteu, more happy than I had ever been. Until the day he got sick as well.

"Don't let this defeat you, Anlise," he told me, clutching my hand on his deathbed. "I've left you with a beautiful gift. Don't let it go to waste."

Little did I realize the gift he had given me. I returned to Crossing, full of sorrow for the man I loved. I seemed to be cursed when it came to men. Walking through the streets, I heard the screams of my best friend, Kerai and my sister, Sunnie, running up to greet me. It was the day I received my new position at the Mentor's Society I learned the news.

"You're pregnant!" a sister empath told me.

How could I be? I leaned against the post. How would I ever take care of a child on my own? Suddenly, a small, grimy hand tugged at my skirts. I looked down to see a child with a lost look in her eyes. She looked to be no more than six years old and was starving. I knelt down to her height.

Her name was Andeshanna and her parents had fought then abandoned her in Shard. Even though I knew single parenting would be a hard job, I adopted Andeshanna. Four months later, Nynnia helped me to bring my beautiful daughter, Misora, into the lands. Misora, a word meaning "beautiful sky", is the light of my life, and Andeshanna is the pure joy. Now I am happy and content with my life and look forward to dedicating the rest of it to my children, my herbal lore, and my work with the young through the mentor's society.