As with many individuals born under unnatural circumstances, Xaih's birth and upbringing were no easy task. Before she was brought into the picture, Ayla and Erik, her parents, lived happily with their two-year old, Kaie, in a small village deep within the forest. Outsiders would often pass through, unaware of the village's existence prior, and dubbed it an oasis to travelers. The villagers welcomed their presence, hiding their dark secret.

The village disappears from public view every December, surrounded by a thick, gray fog that deters travelers from entering. From the depths of this fog enters the God watching over them, providing their endless supply of resources and their seemingly endless longevity, and he is the reason for their happiness. They call him the Benevolent one.

He likes to appear to mortals in their shape, but his eyes and wide mouth instill the fear in their eyes as he marches on the prowl. Colored crimson, his eyes scan the crowd until he finds the sole individual that will provide another prosperous year, and in return he gains another soul to do his bidding.

The Benevolent one was not immortal, but his relationship with the village offered him protection from those who seek to kill him. Age, however, is still an important number for him, and it was unfortunate that this particular December he needed a woman to provide him an heir. As he scanned the crowd for the woman to take up the honor, his eyes fell upon Ayla and her family. Needless to say, Ayla was the chosen.

The beginning of that January brought the most beautiful bloom of flowers the village had seen. Their crops offered twice the amount of yield than in previous years, and the villagers even looked suspiciously younger. The only family, however, to be sullen in all of this glory was Ayla's family. Her sacrifice went much further than previous years, but now Erik and Kaie were without a mother, and a child spawned not of love, nor even of hatred, but of necessity. What made matters worse? They were unable to hold her, to show her physical affection, because her flesh was too hot. Erik kept careful watch of her and her interactions with Kaie, for their safety and Arela's.

As the years passed, Arela's fate became clear to her sister and father. She held powers given to her by the Benevolent one: she was able to control the elements, oftentimes causing envy to spread like wildfire among the villagers. They praised the Benevolent one their entire lives, yet she was the one to gain his power, to gain recognition? The mob of villagers fell for their illogical envy; as Arela grew older, their words of hatred began to turn into threats of violence, and then to physical beatings. "Stay strong," her father would tell her. "Become angry, and you will only prove them right. Remain calm, and they will eventually tire out."

Her father's words of wisdom lasted only so long. The threats she received went further than them harming her, but also harming her family. Fear for her family's safety overwhelmed her as they surrounded her and her home. She lost control. A storm rained upon them, and lightning flew from her hands. She would never forget their screams, or the look of fear in her sister's eyes.

Those villagers who survived, the ones who once loved her family, cursed Arela's name. Xaih, they called her, a black spot on their lives.

That was the night she left. She was the reason for fear, and she could never face her family again. It was the last night she called herself Arela, undeserving of the name. She would own her past, own her heritage, and continue through life as the cursed one, Xaih.