CHRONICLES OF AADYA

Episode Eight

AADYA

I was somewhere else, floating around in the dark. No sun or moon. All I can really do is search for the light, my way. It's mundane, but not agonizing, though, just a bit lengthy.

The concept of time just blurs into the distance and slowly fades away, but then... "Wake up" there was a voice that made my mind go numb, it was... It was a simple promise I have been given, one that I have forgotten. Suddenly I woke up with a horrible, deafening ringing in my ears that then vanished just as quickly as it has started as if it had been swept away. I could, however, still feel a slight ache in my head. As calmly as my body permitted, I sat up massaging my temple, and that's when my eyes traveled my surrounding. My breath sized for a split second as I took in my surroundings. What in the gods name happened here?

Here I am in the middle of nowhere. Slowly, I got to my feet and began turning gradually to look around me. I could feel my breathing suddenly sprinting. It turned out that in some manner the forest had come in contact with flame, such that the entire woodland was reduced to ashes in my line of sight. And that I doubt my own existence.

My garment had minor damage, although I could remember it happened when the fire first reached me during my execution. The discomfort in my foot made me realize I had suffered a few minor burns on both feet, but that was all. And from the look of things, it had probably already been a few days. How can time seem to have passed so quickly and yet not at all?

What happened on the day I was put to death is a mystery even to myself. I had believed that was the end of me, I never imagined I had such will in me. But that was all I had, the resolve to live.

Being barefoot, I began finding my way to the nearest village, hoping to find one before nightfall, where I could find another garment, footwear, and perhaps some food to eat.

It took me till dusk to reach what can hardly be described as a village that had a few tents made out of tree bark, a particular one to be exact.

"What happened to you, my child?" I suddenly whirled around to confront an elderly woman. "Who are you?" Her voice was calm although she appeared to be analyzing my appearance as she questioned me.

"Aadya Evandro" I replied hoping not to be bothered with another question.

"You don't smell like Evandro" I was about to respond but then she cut me off, saying "Please don't trouble yourself, my child. Your lengthy stroll must have left you exhausted. Come, follow me" She urged. I walked behind her into a tent as she signaled with her hand.

"Here, eat up" She encouraged as she handed me a soup bowl while I sat in a corner of the room.

"Thank you," I said barely audible before she moved to grab something by the wall.

"I will draw you a bath, child"

"No, ma'am, you don't have to. Just show me where, and I'll go there myself" I instantly declined. It is bad-mannered to allow her to draw me a bath, and I wasn't taught to do so.

"If you insist, child. Eat now so your legs can be cared for. I can see you got quite a few burns there" She was being incredibly kind. So kind to me that it reminded me that I had forgotten what motherly love was like. I simply nod to her words and then she stepped out of the tent.

I was nearly done with my meal when I sensed a presence by the entrance and slowly I turned to look in the direction. I barely fully laid my eyes on what appeared to be a young girl before she sprinted and dashed out of my view. Though she wore a curious look. I quickly drank the last of the soup from the plate and followed, only that she was nowhere in sight. I sighed as I stood watching the others kids that settled around a fire, everything seemed solely peaceful here, the forest, the air. If only I had had such harmony...

"Are you done, child?" I was cut off from my thoughts by the elderly woman who had welcomed me to her home.

"Yes, and thank you for the meal"

"Now come so you can be cleaned up" I nodded and followed behind.

I now look more like a human after being cleaned up and changed into the clothing that was given to me. It was when I settled down that the young girl from earlier walked into the room, she looks negligibly younger than Gunnar. Gunnar. I hope he is doing well, I miss him.

She sat on a lower stool in front of me placing the plate she had come in with by the corner. "She will help you with your burns," the old woman told me "She is a healer" She added. I turn and locked eyes with the girl, she wasn't curious anymore, although her blank expression was hard to apprehend so I just nod. I wasn't a healer but I know some of the plants she had mixed and now carefully applying them to the burn areas.

"How did you get the burn, child?"

I felt the rush of my blood at her question "It's complicated" I responded dismissively.

"Are you trying to find your way home?" It was the first time I heard her speak, it was just as calm as the woman, although I could feel the concern in her tone. "Where's your home?"

"I had, once. But not anymore" I let out the bitter truth. I have been pondering about it throughout my journey here and now I felt so alone as I finally accepted the reality. No one said another word and I was thankful for that.

It wasn't long before she was done applying and began to clear the plates she had used. "Thank you," I said and she just smiled and then exits the room.

"You look troubled, child"

I don't know what came over me but it appears I am just taking in my current circumstances. I am no longer the child of Evandro nor some sold maid, I am a witch, one who isn't even proficient in casting spells. This whole time, I have worked to conceal the truth that I was born with a spark, it was in my blood and irrevocably curved to my bones, one which my mother believed would lead to my demise. She never told me why. I don't know if you've ever experienced the feeling that, that you don't even know who you are.

I found myself opening up to her my very own deepest emotions. "I don't know who I am anymore" I finally let out and that's when I felt my vision slightly clouded, I could feel the heat radiating from my skin as I struggled to keep from breaking altogether.

"Well, whatever you may be passing through, just know It isn't more than you. You only need time to know who you are, my dear, talk to people who understand you"

"The only person who did was my mother and she was the same person who wanted me to hide what I am. And now it had been outed and I don't know what to do or where to go" I sniffed trying to hold back my tears.

"Dear child, no one is given a task greater than them, and unless you start to claim your fate, it'll eat you alive. You're in a far better position of finding who you truly are than you realize, your role in this world. Only you are capable of finding your true self"

"But the issue is that I have no idea where to begin" My last words came out more of a whisper, I just wish I knew what I am meant to do.

"Even more reason to find one. Pursue this course, and you will know" She encouraged. I just stared at her and then nod not knowing what to say.

"You should get your rest now, you have come a long way, child"

"For these and more, I thank you" I thanked her softly.

After she left the room, I lay down watching the night sky through the small window of the tent, it lacked the appearance of the goddess which is the moon and I closed my eyes, I hope tomorrow comes a better day. My mother did say I just need to close my eyes and wish for whatever I wanted and it will come through, but that were the hopeful words of a gentler time. All I want is a chance. With the chance to understand who I am, I have the feeling that there's more that I am. I know it. All that matters to me now is discovering myself.

"...wake up, go... find Zoyidel. Find Zoyidel" A voice in my head kept saying over and over and suddenly "Wake up!" And my eyes snapped open, the morning sunlight made me realize that I had slept for long, although the environment I had wakened up to was not what I had foreseen.

I instantly sprang up to my feet and kept turning around in search of the tents and people I had come upon last night but all I could see was the endless woods. It was like none of last night had existed only that I did still have the set of new clothing I had switched to, footwear and a hood. And it surprised me that my burns were all gone. I don't know which version of these is real anymore, but the one clear quest I have now is finding who Aadya Evandro is.

It looked as though my destiny had already been carved into stone before I was even conceived, I just need to find the beginning. With the hope that things could become clearer, I set out heading further into west in search of a place named Zoyidel. The dance has begun.