Rising from the Ash

AMEN iii

The overwhelming satisfaction I got from using my powers made me strive to do more, and so I did. I did a major damage to the palace walls and crumbled their pillars. seeing the terror on their faces was intoxicating. I felt powerful, like I could do anything. Infact I could, do anything.

Then the prince rushed in, perhaps to attack me. I didn't give him time to act. He was the one who led the Ztafas on multiple building projects, backbreaking labour with just a little food at the end of the day. my anger towards him rose. it burned so hard that I decided to test to test another aspect of my powers. The silver sword he was holding irritated me even from a distance. Before this, silver didn't irritate me much, although it did. But now at this state, I finally understood why it was used to defeat the Ztafa of old. So I froze the prince but his sword was a bit resistant to my powers at first. But eventually, I was able to twist it.

When I froze him and his sword, I felt compelled to try and break his neck. Aré told me about how I can only use a single moonstone once for it gives the Ztafa unlimited access to the peak of their power for a short time. Afterwards, it's effect wears off and that Ztafa cannot conjure the moonstone's strength again, unless it touches another moonstone. As I felt my power continue to rise, and felt my connection to Óra getting stronger, I felt all of his bones, the bloodflow in his body and I wanted to break or stop something. It would have been so easy to kill him, infact, the temptation was overwhelming.

But I couldn't do it. I couldn't take his life nor any other soldier no matter how much I tried. I wasn't a killer and it took me till that moment to know. So instead, I used my powers to bend the gate and escaped. The longer I stayed, the longer I put my escape plan in jeopardy. One cannot be too careful around the Amadiran Army.

I prayed Zelda made it out on time for our plan was for I to cause the distraction while she scales the fence during the pandemonium. As soon as I stepped out of the gate, my connection with the moonstone severed. I felt all of those magic fade away and once again, I felt alone. Unless I grew my hair fast or found another moonstone, I was really exposed to trouble. I ran towards the place where Zelda and I had agreed to meet and there she was. I was so glad when I saw her. She held a sheathed long sword and a pair of knives she'd gotten from Aré. Until tonight, all of Aré's secret training didn't make any sense. He had known for a long time that I was destined to carry Óra's spirit after him, he was a telepath wasn't he? Perhaps that's why I had those weird dreams when I saw myself training with him on a cliff from where I could see the city of Haires. It all made sense now. I took the sword and prayered I remembered how to use it should the need arise. Zelda held on to the knives and we ran into the forest.

"What should we do Amen? Where should we go?" Zelda asked me after a while of silence. She expected me to know the answer to that, didn't she? of course she did. I was the 'carrier' wasn't I? I hadn't been outside the palace in sixteen years and I barely knew my left from my right. So I just said the first place I thought of.

"We will go to my father's house. We need a change of appearance if we want to make it out of the city alive".

How can I even get there? I don't remember the route. And what assurance did I have that Papa won't send me away if he saw me? Actually, I had no assurance. So I was going to avoid seeing him at all.

"What about our hair? Everyone will easily recognise what we are. We can't stay in this city nor any other city in this kingdom." Zelda said.

"We aren't. We'll leave for Haires as soon as we can. We just need disguises. We can blend in. Once we're in Haires, hopefully we will find the other moonstones, restore the powers of our kind and gain back our freedom."

"You make it sound so easy." Zelda said and looked at me. I smiled softly and hoped my optimism was enough to get us through whatever lay ahead of us.

"Let's go then."

Zelda said to me and we increased our pace.

As we headed for my home which I had no idea how to find, floods of thoughts ran through my head. What was I expecting? How would they react? Father would drfiniy try to send me back. His hatred for me was insatiable. Alora,my older sister paid me visits whenever she had a business with the palace. She was a seamstress and sometimes, she was told to make garments for royals. She was the one who told me of mama's death and she grieved of how I was suffering just because of my so called gifts. Alora could be my only hope. But how can I find her? She wasn't married yet, that was obvious but when I get to papa's house, how would I find her room? Should I knock on papa's door instead, my mission will be over before it even begins.

'oh heavens! I wish I'm a telepath!'

We continued to walk fast for we knew there would be a hunt for us already. We had no time to waste. Finally, I saw something familiar, a path in the forest leading towards the road. It triggered a memory from my childhood and I saw mama and I walking this path. Without saying anything to Zelda, I took the path and just like I saw, got to a road. I heaved a sigh and tried to remember something else, I took the opposite route for it felt familiar. Zelda just followed like I knew what I was doing. Perhaps she had that faith in me, the so called vessel of Óra. Perhaps she thought I'd always find a solution to everything. Perhaps this was even a crazy dream and I would wake up to my post in the kitchen in the morning.

Goosebumps found their way to my skin as I suddenly stood a few feet away from papa's house. I just found a house I haven't been to in sixteen years.

"This is it." I told Zelda. She nodded with the same firmness as earlier. It was like she knew I would find it. But now, the real test had come. How could I find Alora? Whatever intuition had gotten me here, I prayed it wouldn't abandon me now. I walked towards the house and scaled the fence with Zelda. We headed for the main building and when we were close enough, I stopped and thought hard. I saw several windows and narrowed down my search. I saw what looked like papa's room and I knew I had to avoid that at all cost. I saw other rooms, perhaps they belonged to my siblings. Then I saw through a window, a room with various fabrics. I knew that was Alora's room. I headed for it and prayed I was right. On getting to the window, I knocked faintly. There was no reply. I knocked again and I heard her move on the bed.

Alora's listened closely to hear what would come next. Although thievery was rare in Amadiran, one had to be careful and I didn't blame her. She put on the lamp and stood up.

"Who's there?" She asked.

"Alora it is I, Amen. Please open up." I told her.

"Amen?". Alora rushed to the window and opened up. She looked around as Zelda and I went in.

"What is going on? What are you doing here? How are you out of the palace?" Alora asked. She was tensed up and I could see it.

"Alora, we escaped." I said

"How? That's near impossible."

"I used magic." Her eyes became wide but I continued.

"I came for your help.we need clothes, for we have a mission. I came to you because I know I can trust you."

"This is risky you know. They can have us all killed." Alora said

"I know. But I need your help. Please Alora." I pleaded.

She looked at us for some seconds and then sighed. She walked towards her box and brought out two dresses and two hats. She gave us a pair each and when we had stripped off our palace clothes, she collected them inside a trash bag. Zelda and I stood up to leave. I was grateful for what she did.

"You know, the people's getting tired of this slavery. No Ztafa has been born in twenty years. We're beginning to realise that it was our fear of the royals that made us give up our loved ones and not our fear of what the Ztafas could do. That family have been tyrants and they're worse than the evil they claim they contain. So whatever you're doing, I hope you succeed. Be careful out there Amen."

Alora hugged me tightly and tapped Zelda's shoulder. I fought back the urge to cry as I disengaged from Alora and jumped out of the window. As Zelda and I ran towards Haires, I couldn't hold back my tears. I cried and stopped. Then I wiped my tears and tried focusing on the task ahead.

It was midnight and when we had found a perfect hideout, Zelda and I closed our eyes to sleep. Before I slept off, I looked and saw Haires, just as I saw in my dreams with Aré. I smiled for I knew I was in the right track.

Soon I drifted into sleep and suddenly, I saw the Phoenix breathe out flames of different colours like it did earlier. The fire unity was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen. The Phoenix looked at me and breathed the fire at me. I closed my eyes to shield my face from the heat but all I felt was calm. Standing before me was Aré. He wore a white robe and when I looked closely, there were others like him wearing white robes. These were the vessels of the past. I reached out to join them but a barrier pushed me back. I felt a hand on my shoulder and turned and saw a woman standing before me. She was like the sun, beautiful and elegant with yellow eyes and a fire tattoo on her forehead. She took my hand and led me away from the vessels. As I returned back to my world, the strange reality dawned on me. Aré was dead!"