Lifa

Lifa was born on First day in The Seventh Moon to Josiar and Brielle. Josiar and Brielle were poor farmers living in Espennova, Prosperona. They were overjoyed to be welcoming their first child, a baby girl, into the world. They were surprised when they discovered how different their daughter was. There hadn't been a Chógan born in Espennova in years. They weren't sure what to do or what to expect. They decided that it didn't matter that she was born different. She was their daughter and they would raise her as if she was like any other child in Espennova.

Lifa's early childhood consisted of time spent outside under the sun running wild in the fields and woods around her house. At night she would snuggle up next to her father and mother while they read her stories. As she got older she spent more and more nights reading them stories and fewer nights listening to stories.

Espennova was a small town with few inhabitants and the ones that did exist were spread out so as to allow for plenty of room for them to perform their main occupation, farming. However, the neighbors began to talk about the young girl living in their midst whose wings were getting bigger everyday. In order to protect her, her parents decided it was time for her to stay inside and learn how to cook, clean and run a household. At first Lifa missed her freedom, but soon she came to enjoy cooking, tending the small garden of herbs her mother kept, and having free time to sit and read on her own.

When Lifa was 9 her parents had another child, a daughter, Nova. Lifa loved her little sister fiercely and spent a lot of her time helping to take care of her. A couple years later, Brielle and Josiar heard from a friend that the town wasn't happy having Lifa in their midst. They were afraid of her. They said that she was never one of them and never could be, she was Chógan. They wanted the family to send Lifa away. They believed that she belonged in Anglevia with others of her kind. At first the family resisted. They loved their daughter and they could not imagine sending her away alone to a strange place where they may never see her again.

One day, Brielle sent Lifa outside to get some herbs from the garden. When Lifa didn't come back in a few minutes Brielle went looking for her. She couldn't find Lifa anywhere. She yelled to her husband. They searched high and low for their daughter and couldn't find her. Finally, they heard their daughter yelling back to them, responding to her name. It sounded like it was coming from far away and above... they looked up. There she was on the roof. Slowly, they watched as she leaped lightly off the roof and floated down to stand beside them. She could fly. She had been teaching herself how to fly. That was the moment when Brielle and Josiar knew they needed to send their daughter to Anglevia. Lifa was special, she could fly. There were things that she could learn in Anglevia that they couldn't teach her plus she would be among people who understood her in a way that their neighbors didn't. They loved their daughter and wanted her to be happy. They wanted her to feel safe and loved but they knew they couldn't protect her forever from their people of the town. The other Chógan in Anglevia could.

And so they found a friend who was heading in the direction of Anglevia and paid him a small fee to take Lifa with him. The family parted on a sad note. Lifa wanted to stay with her family. Her mother was pregnant again and she wanted to help care for her new little brother or sister. She wanted to teach Nova to read, write, cook, and herb lore.

She didn't have a choice though. The trip to Anglevia was long but her parent's friend was kind to her. He made sure she ate and slept and kept her busy on their long rides. She was sad to arrive at her destination. At first she resisted the other Chógan. She was frightened by them. She had never seen another like her. And she missed her family. But the other Chógan were kind to her and patient. They remembered what it was like when they first arrived in Anglevia. Soon Lifa made friends. Her best friend was Alaen. They had arrived in Anglevia at the same time and so they bonded over their mutual fear and lonliness. Together they started their schooling to be future members of the King's Army. A couple years later, Naria arrived and the three became inseparable. They were the best students in Anglevia. Their teachers expected these three to go far.