Chapter 1. The Tale
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A woman soared above the dusky clouds. Her wings created shadows on the land below. Her hand reached towards her bulging stomach, trying to settle the unsettling babe inside her.
Giving out occasional grunts, she continued flying in pain.
Finding a place to give birth deemed difficult as the skies above were not preferably a good choice.
She would've chose a house inhabited by the sons and daughters of men. But she had recognized the small peaceful village down below. Rudark.
If anyone saw her, she would be killed mercilessly, along with the child.
The sky is darkening too. Yes. Peaceful. Just what she would require. No. Something her child would require.
Suddenly she gave out a small cry of pain.
The woman immediately flew down and rushed to a small ditch that was made to dunk compost.
Definitely not hygienic but that's the only option. People seeing a being like her would cause extreme mayhem. Best to lay low.
She laid a long cloth underneath her and gave out raspy breaths of pain, when she felt the strong kick. She spotted a long thick branch nearby, picked it up and placed it on her mouth to bite down the outrageous pain.
She closed her eyes and murmured under her breath 'Oh lords of Almeria. Help thy descendant. Thy child. Let this old fool's offspring rise from the womb'.
Shutting her eyes and biting down on the stick, she pushed. Her extreme attempts making her weak. 'Oh lords!!!' she mumbled. She pushed. And pushed. Her wild cries successfully muffled.
Her nose started to bleed. Her wings quivering.
She gripped the dirt and compost for support. For a second she stopped pushing, looked up the sky and gave two heavy breaths and pushed.
she felt her womb contract and finally releasing the bawling babe.
She jumped and pulled the child to the warmth of her bosom and wings.
It was exceptionally dark but the new mother was able to see her daughter peacefully in slumber.
'The lords have granted me a beautiful daughter' she said while she rocked the babe and hummed a low lullaby.
She sighed in melancholy, when she remembered her true goal of her coming.
She lifted her wings and flew above the ditch. Ahh fresh air at last.
The illuminating lantern of the sky welcomed the child with its full glow. The sprinkled dust of the dark twinkling in joy. The wind blowing off the heaviness of the mother's pain.
The mother kept on. She walked to the village.
It was midnight.
All beings of the village sleeping peacefully. While the lands far away were at war.
She kept forward. Her eyes set on a small house with cows and horses, watched her in silence. The little child gurgled in her arms. 'Almost there my child' she whispered.
She kept her ears at the door of the house and listened. A peaceful house indeed.
She laid her wrapped up child in blankets, on the floor and knocked the door sharply several times.
She heard noices from inside.
'Someone is outside' said a woman's voice. 'Its bloody midnight' grunted a man, 'Hurry. Open the door before the children wake up'.
She heard distant footsteps. She backed away.
Lifting up her wings yet again. She looked at her child for the last time, smiled with tears rolling down her cold cheeks and took off to the skies.
And now the clouds consumed her.
......
A girl placed her glass down after downing a liquid dark tonic. Her face twisting is disgust.
'How does it taste Aerona?' asked the girl near her.
'Tastes like depression and bad choice' Aerona said while continuing, 'And yes that's what I dreamt last night'
'Unbelievable. Aerona do you expect us to believe that rubbish anytime soon..?' asked a young lad while drinking down a tankard himself.
'Hah. She thought we'd believe it' the girl said.
Aerona pushed back her dark locks of wavy hair and said 'That is why I had said it was a dream. Dreams, my dear dumb poppets, are figments of our imagination'.
'But certain times dreams do come true' said the girl while getting up.
'Certain dreams yes. But not impossible ones' said the lad helping Aerona up too.
'Yes' sighed Aerona. The dream had surprisingly started to haunt her. She expected it to vanish from her thoughts but it was like a sickness that refuses to go away.
- Writer
