Okay, so since my post for the Wattpad Block Party has already gone live, technically speaking, this isn't a preview. But hey, this features a future very important character in Legacy! Tell me if you guys aren't excited. I dare you.

Anyway, enjoy!

******

For a moment, Maya wondered why she had dared to venture into the Cave. It was a deep, never ending abyss of darkness. It writhed and twisted, ready to swallow you whole.

Then she remembered that her family's honour was at stake. She had to prove to the Elders that she wasn't a malai. Someone who dabbled in the ways of the outside, worshipping multiple gods instead of just the two creators.

Her torchlight flickered dangerously. She stood at the mouth of the Cave, staring it down, trying to will the courage to enter it.

She took her first step.

Then another, and another, and another. Gravel crunched beneath her feet; the skitter of the creatures dwelling within sent chills snaking up her spine. There was only her and her torchlight to fight the shadows.

She gulped. In and out, in and out, Maya told herself. Just hurry to the back and get out before any syaits can catch you.

An unholy shriek pierced the air.

Maya gritted her teeth and descended deeper into the Cave. The ends of her leggings trailed against the ground. Amma would go crazy washing them. That is, assuming Amma would ever have the opportunity to do so again.

Time passed, the slow fall of a leaf. Maya felt like she was hardly making any progress at all, but she had to forge on. The struthi, the gods-blessed flowers only grew at the end of the Cave. She had to take it to prove that her visions weren't a result of dabbling in the Others' magic.

Maya reached a crossroads after a good amount of walking. She frowned. The Elders hadn't mentioned this at all. Was this another test? Surely the struthi could only be found down either of the passages. Question was, which one?

Left, a small voice, barely noticeable, breezed against her mind.

Maya wanted to ignore the voice. It didn't speak again, but that one word echoed silently in her ears, over and over, an insistent pounding which wouldn't shake its presence from her. It was the voice that had led her to so much trouble in the first place.

In the end, she went left.

As she ventured farther, guttural growls reached her ears. She grudgingly admitted that this was probably the right way to go. Struthis attracted small animals, and small animals attracted predators. No one knew what kind of predators lurked here, exactly; it had always been too dark to see anything, and witnesses' accounts had always varied drastically. What mattered was these predators sounded dangerous.

Perhaps the syaits weren't the real threat she had to look out for.

Maya veered down a right corner. The passage continued, showing no signs of ending. She suddenly felt weary. Her feet throbbed, and her arm was trembling from holding up the torch for so long. Maya wanted to sit down, curl up on the ground and give up. This was pointless. Even if she did get the struthi, what then? Her family's name was stained forever; everyone would remember the malai daughter of Arbaas ilyi Alaktar. No one would care that she was only seven years old; they would sentence her to the same fate as a full-grown man.

Despair washed over her. All she saw was the darkness, and her one pathetic torch against it. She realised that as much as she wanted to, she could never foresee the future, just like how she couldn't see the ground before her.

Something whispered from behind.

She cast a look over her shoulder. Mist had appeared out of nowhere, coalescing and filling up the cavern. It seemed to be making its way...towards her. Maya broke out into a cold sweat.

"Don't ever show your weaknesses, not in front of the syaits," her father had said before she'd left for the Cave. "They are creatures of darkness; they feed off negativity. Having any sign of vulnerability is as good as a death curse."

Gods.

Maya ran.

She didn't dare to look behind her. The soles of her sandals started to peel off—it was getting old anyway—but she ignored the blisters and scrapes her bare skin made against tough rocks. All Maya knew was that she had to run away fast. Otherwise her soul would be taken, which was much, much worse than dying.

Maya didn't notice that the mists had gathered before her until she slammed into it.

It was like running straight into a wall of soft bedrolls—it didn't hurt, but all the same it threw her backwards. Maya lost her balance and fell face up. The torch rolled out of her hand.

Panic bloomed in her. She fought to control her breathing. Being the youngest of seven siblings, she always had to comply with her older brothers and sisters, adapt to the situation. She was always forced to survive. Abba and Amma fed and clothed her, but she couldn't expect much more from them.

Now though, Maya couldn't think of a way to survive this situation. The mist was slowly taking shape. She saw large, bat-like wings, a long feathered neck and a head of a serpent. She saw fear, she saw terror.

She saw death.

******

Aaaaaand that's about it! It's just a snippet, after all. For the rest of the post, be sure to check out my Wattpad Block Party post!