Chapter 43 Chapter 41
Chapter 43 Chapter 41
“Arise and check the hour.”
Marina.
I was seated once again in the grass. Waiting for my friend to appear.
Another dream, another moment of dreadful silence.
If she was done with revealing things to me, why do I still appear in these dreams?
The flowing river nearby lapped against the soil and rocks from what I could hear. Crickets made a quite deafening noise today.
It was almost sunset and the night would befall me soon.
Where was my guide?
This time around, I decided to make a move. Head towards anywhere. Maybe there was a clue around and I needed to find it.
But where do I start?
The first thing that called out to me was the river. Somehow, I had gotten mud stuck on my feet and palms while I tried getting up. Washing it off did not seem like a bad idea.
It made me realize I was barefooted. Which was new.
I followed the sound and you would not believe who I saw seated by the river in her signature black dress.
“You didn’t show up the last time.” I said, as I approached the water and stepped into its shallow banks.
“I did.” Came her reply. Her gaze was fixed on two pebbles she held and fiddled around with in her hands. Not sparing me a glance but also not acting startled like she had not been expecting me.
“No you didn’t. I waited for you and you never showed up.”
“You did not look for me. I was here.” Her gaze turned to mine. Her long hair almost covers half of her facial features.
“By the river?”
“Yes.”
“Why didn’t you just show yourself? You know I know nothing about this realm.” She really did not expect me to go about wandering in a strange land.
There was no reply to what I had asked, only a deafening silence. I stole the chance to wash my feet and hands. Then splashed some water on my face.
We both drowned ourselves in the silence. Neither of us saying a word. I decided to join her where she was seated and admired the pebbles she held.
Two shiny white and grey pieces.
“What is your name?” I finally broke the silence. This was our fourth meeting and I did not know her name. It felt like a bad trait on my end.
“I told you to call me a friend.”
“A friend is not a name.”
She thought for a moment before responding. “Garla.”
I nodded. Allowing the name to sink in. “My mom had a friend named Garla once. She visited on two occasions but after my mother fell ill, we never saw her friend again.”
Even though I was little, I recalled how much we tried to reconnect them by trying to find her. It was almost like she had disappeared from the surface of the earth. We wanted my mother to hang around friends, hoping that it would somehow aid her healing.
That was when we realized my mother actually had no friends. Besides Garla, whom we never saw again, every other person was merely an acquaintance.
“Interesting.” Was all she said to the statement I had made before diverting the topic, “Marina, you’re about to play with fate.”
I almost doubted that I had heard her properly. “Huh?”
“That was why I ignored you the last time. You’re about to play with fate.”
“How?” I was confused.
“That is for you to find out. I am not permitted to say.” She stands to her feet and toss the pebbles into the air, causing them to land with two splashes in the water. “We have somewhere to be. We must hurry.”
And in a second, she went from maintaining silence, to sprinting in the opposite direction. I hobbled after her and yelled a “wait for me!” Which she blatantly ignored.
If I am not mistaken, my words caused her to hasten her steps.
We walked through the woods and came out at Aspena’s market center. The memory of the witch being dragged through the space and eventually beheaded flashed through my mind and a shiver coursed through my soul.
“Good to see the history stays with you. Remember that when you want to twist the branches of fate.” Garla said but it did nothing to slow down her pace.
“Could you at least give me a hint about what I’m doing to fate?” Intentionally dragging out my last word.
She did not answer that. In fact, I would have been more surprised if she did.
The villagers ignored us. I believed they also could not see us. Like the last time, the market looked familiar yet different.
The landmarks were the same but the stalls and shop owners were completely different from the recent ones. We got closer to the shack which would have been Madam Mongolia’s fashionere today. Her hairstylist Neighbors store sign was replaced by a sign I could almost recognize.
Mystics by Caraven.
“What year is this?” Because last I checked, Madam Mongolia was the first to move into this area before her neighbors and she did that about twenty years ago. But before then, the land was bare and empty. For the King to allocate it to her, it clearly belonged to no one for at least fifty years according to Aspenian legislation.
Caraven having a store next to where Madam Mongolia’s should be, meant he had abandoned the land for about fifty years before it was allocated to her.
Meaning he had left the area about seventy years ago.
Caraven did not look to be in his seventh decade, when I had met him.
“Long ago. Why do you ask?” Garla responded.
“How long ago?”
“Long ago.”
It was not an answer but it definitely affirmed what I had been thinking. “I know the man who owns this shop.” Pointing at the weapon store.
She followed the gaze of my hands. “Knew him. He’s dead now. And it’s not the man you know that owns this shop. Probably his great great grandfather or longer than that.”
Excuse me?
“Caraven is dead?”
“The one you know? Yes.”
“When? When did he die? And that’s only my first question. Great great grandfather? What year is this? Where are we going?”
“You ask too many questions. It would make sense to you with time. For now, just follow me. In silence as well.”
I would have probably bombarded her with more questions had she not almost sprinted away.
Smart choice.
Anyway, we walked towards a smaller village that I had no idea existed in Aspena. Probably it actually ceased to exist or I had just not gone far enough to discover it.
Then again, during my hunt for a well paying job, I should have at least heard of this town.
Garla walked with determination towards a certain home. Nightfall had caught up with us now and we were managing the early stages of our night vision for sight.
“Shh. The window.” Placing her index finger on her lips and pointing at a window that had its curtains wide open.
She walked towards it and peeked in. I mimicked her steps.
And in there, stood a woman with a knife in her hand, firmly holding a teenage girl by the wrist and turned her palm towards herself.
The woman looked familiar. I was not sure if it was the face or the aura but she definitely felt like a face I had seen before.
“She looks familiar.” I whispered. Trying to to conjure a memory I was not so sure of.
“She should.” That was the only reply she gave me, then pointed to the window again.
I guess it was very necessary that I watched.
Seconds into my concentration, the familiar woman sliced her palm open with the knife and did the same to the teenage girl, who willfully held back her wince but could not hide the facial expression.
The woman cradled the teenager’s bleeding palm in her uncut hand, and placed her own bleeding hand over it.
“Of my desire I give you my soul. Of my will I give you my blood. Of my choice, I give you my life, take this part of me and be whole. May the gods approve of this trade.” She recited and mixed their bloods together. The sight caused a sudden fever in me.
“Is this a ritual?” It had to be.
“Some would call it so.” Garla watched the sight in awe. Like she was witnessing a miracle. “I am not supposed to divulge anything to you, but I would reveal as much warning as I can before you unknowingly jeopardize centuries of waiting. Learn to not divulge all your knowledge. Your enemies could be waiting to use it.”
I could have asked her what she meant by that. I wanted to.
But before I could, I was back in the palace. On my new bed. Staring at the ceiling.
“I never asked her if there was a code for this dream.” Maybe there was none.
Maybe.
I did notice the fever from my dream, lingered on my physical body.