CHRONICLES OF AADYA

Episode Ten

ALISDAIR

"W-werewolves?" He stuttered. "You- you mean- you mean you're a werewolf? Is that even a thing? I have never heard of such" He trailed off. His heart was pounding so fast and just as I thought he collapsed to the ground. I sighed before moving to pick his already pale flesh up and start to head back to where I had left Bellamy.

Bellamy wasn't at the location when I got back, though our things were so I just presumed he hasn't gone far. I laid the young boy down near a tree flank and just watched as he sleeps, his body looked tense even while asleep, I must have indeed woken up much fear in him. Fate has entrusted him with me, and I will do my best to make him feel safe again. I can only pray he is relieved of his fear by the time he wakes up, I hope so.

It wasn't long when Bellamy returned with some dried woods, he glanced at me and then at the sleeping Gunnar, even so, he didn't bother to say anything and proceeded to create a fire. It was quiet when he was done but not unnecessarily, I suppose we needed some solitude to reflect on something, but then again, I have never seen him behave in this manner and that made me wish I knew what he was thinking. I wanted to ask about his healing process but currently, I just can't convey myself to do so.

I wasn't able to sleep throughout the night as I just mulled over everything that had taken place so far. I wasn't sure if Bellamy was asleep, he hasn't moved from his spot since he rested his back against the tree trunk. I turned to look at Gunnar the minute the young lad let out a whimper. "No... no" I just watched as he battles with his own dream hoping it wasn't about me.

"No... no" He kept whimpering "Stop!" He finally stopped and then progressively he opened his eyes. He laid there for a while, I guess trying to differentiate between reality and the nightmare. I took my eyes away from him as he turned to look in my direction, wishing he won't panic or run.

I soon brought my gaze back to him as he adjusted himself. Fear crossed his face the moment his eyes fell on me, but then it slowly faded though I could still detect the slight glimpse of uneasiness in him. "I sleep like that too," I told him. My low bass voice was laced with concern. I looked at him to see that he was now calmer and that I was thankful.

"It doesn't look like you sleep at all" He mumbled.

"Makes for fewer nightmares. Except for the one about your sister. What about yours?" I asked him calmly not to trigger any fright.

He seemed to be thinking over it for a while "There was a field sufficed with warriors ... My sister was burning. I was too helpless to stop any of it" He tells me as sadness clouds his features and somehow surged through my body.

"Did she survive?"

He was silent for some passing moment "I wish I knew. If only I saw the end" He said sadly. I didn't say a word and neither did he, it was like we were both reflecting on a better way to bring in our next expressions. I picked up a stick by my side and began to fiddle with it, glancing at the boy through the corner of my eyes as I waited for his utterance.

"I... need to understand some things. Who are you and what do you want from my sister? And how is it you know my sister? I want to know the truth" Though there seems to be some amount of fear in his voice, I was again pleased to know that he was making much effort to control those fear.

"She has been in my dream ever since I was ten, it's been over a decade now, and all I want is to understand my fate with her. That's why I'm searching to find her" I told him.

"That's impossible"

"I would also doubt too"

"How can you go out in search of someone you have never met?"

"Because I have to. It's my duty" I said wholeheartedly. He just solely stared at me, hunting for something in my expression.

"Gunnar" I called and his mind was instantly brought back to me. "Remember well what I am now going to talk about. You may not have any idea about me or Bellamy or even our home, but we do exist. We're human with the power to shapeshift into a wolf whenever we want, and this ability makes us more stronger than other human beings" I watched him carefully, trying to know if what I was saying make any sense to him. "I am a question that has never been posed before, and that's why I have to find the answer, Gunnar. It's only that your sister is the key to any possibility of ever finding one, and I will not stop searching until I find her. She has become a part of me"

He wasn't saying anything and I know he must be trying to grasp the information he had just come to learn of. "I wanted to say, I made a mistake. It was unfair to have kept you in the dark. I just didn't know how to explain things to you. I wasn't sure where to start as the whole thing was complicated even to me" I said and watched as he pursed his lips. His face skin glowing as the flame in our center reflects on them. I threw the tiny stick into the fire and watched as it gradually got consumed by the flame.

I glanced at Bellamy as he arched slightly before the boy's low voice came again. "I know I'm just a boy and I may not understand the entire circumstances surrounding these, but I am relieved you're determined to find her at all cost" He pulled on the fur he was wrapped in to cover him more.

"And Gunnar, what you did was very brave," I told him "Not running away" I added when his eyes seemed to drop in slight puzzlement. He hummed with a nod after learning where my words had come from.

"I have never seen your likeness before nor have I heard of its kind"

"Well, that's because none of my likenesses would walk on this side of the world. Bellamy and I may be the first to have ever come this far from our home"

"And that's because of Aadya?"

"Yes, because of Aadya" I was startled at how my lips curved at the thought. "Did she ever have anyone she sort of like? I mean, someone she would prefer to marry other than the one chosen by your father?" I found myself asking.

I was glad he didn't look up at me after my question as his gaze was focused down on the fur he was twitching "Never one. Though if there was, our father would never accept her word over his word" Things were becoming wired as a part of me was pleased to know she had no interest in someone.

"So her opinion doesn't count for anything?"

"I'm afraid it counts for very little as far as our father was concerned. That's the way it was. I have no idea why he loathed her so greatly. She was utterly the recipient of his cruelty... She was his black sheep" I wish I also understood why he had loathed her so much. It was dubious for a child to be singled out and unloved by their father, to be detested in such a way that their word means nothing to him. I hope I can make amend for every pain she had undergone.

"You should rest. It will only take your uncle two days to reach your father and relate what took place, so we'd be taking off once it's dawn" His eyes were questioning as they stare back at me. "Yeah, I didn't kill him," I said to clear his confusion. "You wouldn't want that," I told him and watched as his face lightened.

"He's better than our father"

*****

AADYA

I've heard a lot of people talk about illusions and how strong some of them can be, which makes me question who produced the illusion I've experienced. Was everything an illusion, or were some things actually real? This has been my thoughts since I left the place.

For about half a day I continued my journey until I reached a small town and decided to use the opportunity to fetch some bread that will sustain me during the next few days, perhaps I do assist with labor and consented with some coins in return as I had none on me. I eventually found my way to an old man who was busy clearing out a ranch all by himself, probably that of a cattle concerning the way it was built.

"It will be cleared faster" I try persuading the old man since he had rejected my offer. "I promise won't hinder you... Or perhaps I can clear it alone" I added being a bit desperate for his approval since I won't be needing to go more into the village If I secure this.

He observed me for a while in a manner I can't put a word to. "Fine. Be down before sundown, if you get to finish, then you can have your money. Now get to work"

"Thank you," I said bowing numerously to the man who appeared to be unsettled by my gesture. Quickly I took off to grab the bucket he was using and emptied it before picking up where he left off, I was familiar with the labor so it probably won't take much time for me to be done. Again I went to empty the bucket and returned to find a young boy by the ranch, but his gaze was centralized on me in a bizarre manner.

His eyes followed as I walked past him to the ranch. "You quite look like the demon girl the clergyman want. You have the same red hair" I could feel my heartbeats quicken to his words, I just needed to somehow prove I wasn't the same person.

I inhaled "You've mistaken my appearance, young one," I told him nonchalantly trying to disguise the anxiety that is rising instantaneously in me with each second that passes.

"Grandfather has sent for the clergyman servant" He revealed. I struggled to conceal my shock as the terror in me mounted with every step before I got sight of the men approaching from a distance, and I began to battle with the fear that was about to unman me.