⋆༺𓆩Chapter Two𓆪༻
⋆༺𓆩Nazira Ansar𓆪༻⋆137Please respect copyright.PENANABznUyY2CC0
137Please respect copyright.PENANALC2g1Dggj1
137Please respect copyright.PENANAm2WQwM99bH
137Please respect copyright.PENANAaaDwewx7e9
Three days before the destruction of the Aspey Mortal villages-
137Please respect copyright.PENANAwWtlcRpPNM
137Please respect copyright.PENANA8eaAv7gSSE
"Come on—" Cyra laughed across the lake, powerfully stroking through the water.
137Please respect copyright.PENANAkBm5zN0YCh
I struggle to mimic her, my arms flailing beneath the surface, splashing water all around before I break through the surface, gasping for air. Hair clinging to my face, my hands frustratingly push the strands back behind my ear and out of my eyes, narrowed and irked as she glances over at me.
137Please respect copyright.PENANAaaBFTPltsc
"Oh Gods, you're hopeless."
137Please respect copyright.PENANAQ9rKDczvP3
"You're a monster," I muttered. Water is dripping down my back.
137Please respect copyright.PENANAPz4VKMTBjA
She grins.
137Please respect copyright.PENANAxCK7rT6IIT
I frown.
137Please respect copyright.PENANAJJNJ5VVlj8
Valoel Lake is usually bustling with other kids for a swim or for food, but with the sun only setting now, it was barren, and besides, the people who think of coming here are often too wary of it to do so. I've never ventured beyond the village, nor has Cyra. Our maps end at the rushing stream, a boundary none of us have dared to cross.
137Please respect copyright.PENANA6ldoUeuBUl
The stories and warnings from our elders have been enough to keep us contained since childhood. Yet, whispers of what lies beyond have always sparked our curiosity.
137Please respect copyright.PENANANDAjrdP11T
Some believe it's an empty wasteland; others think it's a haven... or a burning hell that is waiting before them. And despite the rather strong warning, some dare to leave. Their bones tend to wash up the stream soon after.
137Please respect copyright.PENANA9CDHdoxj5R
Our father was one of them.
137Please respect copyright.PENANAMAE1PRdKWe
A late night in his study turned into weeks, and soon enough he was consumed by it. Knowledge was a dangerous thing, something he craved so very much it turned into an obsession for stories woven from lies and heretics consuming his soul until the man, once my father, was gone—living in the cursed pages he so worshiped.
137Please respect copyright.PENANAjEB6WCnjly
So, like all great and terrible ballads go, he left and paid his debt to us with his death.
137Please respect copyright.PENANA6bjxFVuswJ
"Go again." She said, "You can't drown this young after all; it would be quite boring being an only child so soon."
137Please respect copyright.PENANAO7OP00HqRK
She pushes me deeper into the waters, laughing as I gasp, kicking around the cool waters…
137Please respect copyright.PENANAGsc0RLX2K8
The south stream was vital, acting as a barrier across the land; the freezing waters and high mountains only helped us more.
137Please respect copyright.PENANA0kyuD3BmRT
Some say it's been there for centuries, some millennia; stories and myths of ancient Aspye were never documented, and the old souls who told their own stories no doubt passed on for generations, only decayed and withered with time. leaving the human need for deception to corrupt them or get rid of them altogether. Scrolls were never made, and thus neither was our history.
137Please respect copyright.PENANAb6bTQvNxMm
Records were new, and academies were newer; however, only monarchs could study in them, and higher nobles could if they were lucky—or unlucky—enough to find their way into the palace through titles, power, bravery, or their own stupidity.
137Please respect copyright.PENANAo5KOwy3O5I
Either way, knight or commoner, queen or servant, the courts were treacherous to all who entered, which only made people all the more curious about the palace of the merciless king, murderer of King Jarrah, his brother, and killer of the queen Elara, the wife he was promised.
137Please respect copyright.PENANASAePjuatlk
But word of mouth is easily corrupted. This was most likely no different.
137Please respect copyright.PENANA9rUaXbs5Ul
As the sun begins its descent, painting the lake in vivid hues of orange and red, a gasp escapes me. As I push through the cool water, taking in the peace before the storm after a while...
137Please respect copyright.PENANAIR6QFc6UBT
137Please respect copyright.PENANABLh6gA0TkV
I dragged myself onto shore, my eyes narrowed. "Never—" I pant "Again."
137Please respect copyright.PENANAKCoSvIVyIL
She pulls me up. "Never again... Okay, maybe every fortnight until I'm certain, but—"
137Please respect copyright.PENANAT6XLP1MvWH
"We should head back," I said, shouldering my basket laden with berries and bread. "It'll be sundown soon, and the last thing we need is to be out here after dark.
137Please respect copyright.PENANAJDyASeVOhC
Hunters were usually out after dark, and it wouldn't be the first time a person was mistaken for a beast worth hunting in the woods. And with the prince's coronation falling on this solstice, there was no doubt that all animals that were spotted here would be slain for a feast.
137Please respect copyright.PENANA9B03lAMSwP
Our family had one court gown, decades old and probably just as worn... But if I never had any use for it, she could at least wear it.
137Please respect copyright.PENANAeAb3POnYNo
I owed her that much.
137Please respect copyright.PENANA2R4qHMLEID
I sigh, folding up the picnic blankets. "I'll make you a deal... The day you turn...17...I'll bring you"
137Please respect copyright.PENANApm0Tm3OCW1
Her eyes lit up before a frown overtook them. "I'll be dead by then!" She complained, kicking a rock in the lake only for it to sink beneath the currents.
137Please respect copyright.PENANAi7bHCN7cf6
But I only laugh, picking a berry from the basket and throwing it at the back of her head; she groans, her eyes shifting back to mine before I tread down the gravel path, laughter seeming to shake the trees as she sprints after me with malice.
137Please respect copyright.PENANALRK34o5wwN
"Nazira!"
137Please respect copyright.PENANAulbuB6FaF9
And maybe—
137Please respect copyright.PENANAFdvWX9PNhX
Things could be better for her—for us.
137Please respect copyright.PENANA56ounEsAta
Just this once.
⋆༺𓆩𓆪༻⋆
Our village is hidden deep in the forest, a secret from the rest of the world. A sanctuary we’ve never left and a refuge against something we’ll never know. But surprisingly, I found peace in it. Cyra never did—and that frightened me more than I could ever admit, more than my soul would ever utter, even under the dark cover of the night I so very clung to.
As the sun set, we walked through the gravel, weaving between the tall pines; the last golden rays filtered through the branches, casting flickering patterns onto the dirt path.
By the time we reached the outskirts of Kritia, the sky was scattered with stars.
Home.
⋆༺𓆩𓆪༻⋆137Please respect copyright.PENANANq4kPb67Al
137Please respect copyright.PENANAFYHGKEUPh6
137Please respect copyright.PENANAHm92EjiPjw
137Please respect copyright.PENANAibP6myvKzk
137Please respect copyright.PENANAEUsqOyyVAq
137Please respect copyright.PENANAlCAWuwsI6F
137Please respect copyright.PENANAVG0MZ8Rj39