Broken Bond

“I thought I told you to stay away from that beast!” my father’s voice reaches across the quiet village as he slaps me making me fly out of the door and onto the ground. I, the old sorcerer's only child, hold the spot my father had hit as tears well up in my eyes but I resist, not wanting to give my father the satisfaction of seeing me cry. “How many times do I have to make it clear that those creatures have no place in this village?!” my father, Mage Carnold, thunders as his grey eyes glare down at me. A small crowd has already started to gather around the Mage’s compound with curious eyes and enlarging ears at the scene. In Elodira, a humble village with less than five hundred habitants, it is very easy for rumours to start. Everyone is bored from the same old farming life so the little chaos that erupts is magnified just for their entertainment. “Calm down, Carnold. Getting agitated won’t solve this issue.” My mother, Mariana, holds her husband’s arm, trying to calm him down. She didn’t outrightly agree with my recent rendezvous with the stranger but she wouldn’t want to kill her only child because of it. “I wonder where you got your stubbornness from! Always adamant on doing what pleases you alone. Haven’t I told you that the werewolves are bad news?” Mage Carnold hisses. “He is a good person!” I shout at my father. Even better than you, I wanted to add but I know nothing good will come out of that so I hold her tongue. “Raya!” my mother calls my name as she stares at me sternly. I can see she didn’t want the situation to escalate any further but I am as obstinate as my father and will not give up that easily. Not on him. “You brazen-” my father is about to reach out and hit me once more but my mother grabs him in time. “Run! Run, Raya!” my mother screams and I take the chance to pick myself up to run out of the house. “Run before he kills you, Raya! Run!” I can still hear my mother’s voice as I run down the street barefooted. Other villagers who are watching me run helter skelter start to rain insults down on me. “How could she be so gullible? Falling in love with a Lycan?” “She has always been a rebellious one. Pursuing arts even when her father had struggled to take her to the Mage Academy. No doubt she has gotten into trouble again.” They all say with a few more insensitive words. They are not even subtle with it, expressing themselves loud enough for me to hear and it could have torn my heart apart to see the entire village against me. But with the thought that I have a place to go now, I am not fazed by their harsh words. I hold onto the emblem he had given me tightly to her chest as I walk down the streets now. My light yellow frock blows with the wind while my blonde hair which had been tied in a ponytail is now scattered all over her head. I am sure I look pitiful. The Mage’s daughter who had fallen in love with a strange creature. But I am not dejected by my father’s apparent disagreement. It has always been this way. My father had always found one thing or another to comment on all her choices in life. Being his only child, he had painted a canvas of life that he wanted me to pursue. His daughter would attend the Mage Academy, come out as the top Mage and continue his legacy of sorcery. But I, being a high spirited person, yearned for something else. Much more adventurous and fun than the life my father had planned for me. I had always been exceptional at drawing and I wanted my career to be in line with my passion. I wanted to paint her heart out and drown in colors. When my father found out about my talent for something else other than what he had ordained for me, he tore all my drawings and burned them right in front of my eyes. I had cried so hard that day that my heart nearly failed to beat again. I had seen my entire life burn right in front of my eyes and I couldn’t do anything to stop it. The hatred I had for my father was augmented that day and all I wanted was to run away from him and the limited life the village could offer. The next day, my father packed my things and shipped me to the Mage Academy for my studies. I had been drawing secretly in my dorm there but I never let anyone find out about it. After my first year at the academy, I came back home and that was when I met someone who captured my whole heart. He was tall, and had dark hair and sparkling green eyes. It wasn’t even his looks that captivated me but his gentleness in the way he treated me and the care he showed. That was something I had never experienced in my life. He had come down to the village to attend the Arts Festival which took place yearly and I had snuck out that night too so I could witness the festival without my father knowing. It was there I met him and we connected instantly. He stayed in the village for a month after that because of me and I had seen him almost everyday. We did share a few moments of intimacy and it was the best thing I had ever done in my life so I had no regrets. He had to leave two days ago to return to his hometown but he had given me an emblem in case I wanted to find him. And I am going to do just that. I arrive at the cabin which is located in the woods. It is a deserted place that I had cleaned up with my friend a few years ago and it has been our hideout ever since. “Raya! Raya!” I hear him calling my name and I run out of the cabin. “Jayke.” I cry before running to hug him. Jayke has been my best friend since forever. Growing up in the village where there were hardly any children, we had gotten close and have been inseparable since then. Jayke belonged to the Blacksmith family and he is on his training to become one himself. He hated the tradition of one family following the same career as much as I did but he wasn’t brave enough to go against his father like I was. “What happened to you?” Jayke pulls away as he looks down at me. “My father’s anger finally got out of hand so I ran away from home.” I sniff as I clean off my tears. “You what? Raya, I thought we talked about this. You can’t just run away from home without a plan.” Jayke tells me with the tone he always uses each time I do something drastic. Even though he had been the only supportive one with my relationship with the Lycan, he still didn’t want me to get kicked out of the village because of my decision to be with the one I love. “But I do have a plan.” I hold the emblem and show it to him. “He gave me this to find him so I will do that. I will leave this village and never come back here.” “Raya.” Jayke’s voice falters a bit at my determination. “Jayke, you need to help me with this.” I grab his hands as I plead. “Please, you have to help me get to him.” “But Raya-” “I will die without him, Jayke! And you do not want me to die, right?” I say, knowing my friend’s soft spot is always me. Jayke remains silent for some minutes before he pulls his hands away from me. My face falls as I see I have lost my only hope. Jayke reaches down and takes off his dirty boots before placing my soiled feet into the footwear. “Head over to the gates of the village. I will get you our old car from the garage.” He looks up at me with a small wistful smile. I can see that even though he doesn’t want me to leave him all alone here, he will do anything just to see me happy. Like he has always done. ***** “Run, Raya! Run!” Jayke screams from behind me as he holds off the villagers who are trying to stop me from leaving the village. “Go. Go!” I press down on the pedals for the car to move faster and I look back to see Jayke fighting off the men who are trying to get to me. Tears wells up in my eyes as I see my only friend getting beat up because of me but I have already gone too far now to stop here. I promise to make it up to you one day, Jayke. As I get past the borders, I get into a town which is filled with lots of people dressed in the latest clothes and luxurious accessories.It is noisy and very lively. I deduce it is Tarayn, the closest town to my village. I have never been here before but I had heard enough descriptions to know this is the town. I park the car close to the market and start to ask people around by showing them the emblem and fortunately, most of them recognize it and direct me to the house. For modest traders to know the emblem, he must be from an influential family. I continue to drive up the hill where they had informed me of the mansion I will find at the end.. Getting closer, I see flags of the same purple symbol I am holding in my hand which brings a smile to my face. It is an image of a golden snake wrapped around a sword. As I get closer to the gates, I can see an enormous Castle located at the end of the hill. It is so big that I am sure it can contain the entire population of my village and even more. My eyes widen in mesmerization. I had guessed he was wealthy but I had never imagined his house to be as big as this. “Halt!!” a loud voice stops me from going any closer and I see about six guards standing in front of the gates, all dressed in black and white suits. “Who have you come to seek, girl?” one of the guards scowled. I turn off the engine of the car and get down to show them the emblem in my hand. “I came to find the young master of this residence. Mr Havier.” I say confidently. I am his woman, they will surely let me in. A second pass before all the guards start to laugh out loud. “You want to meet who?” “Mr Havier!” they all laugh at me and I clench my fists, not understanding how I became the center of mockery. “What exactly is entertaining about this? I demand to see him.” I grit my teeth at them. “Listen here, Missy, we have seen a lot of cases like you. Love lost puppies running after our young master, and to make it worse, you’re even human. It’s best you leave now before the Luna hears of this.” a guard tells me. “Leave? But I said I need to see him. Let me know Raya is here, he will come looking for me. Just tell him Raya is here.” I beg now, not wanting to leave after all I had gone through just to get here. “I said leave now!” the bodyguard is about to push me when a hand reaches out to stop him. “Y-Young Master.” the guard’s voice trembles as he looks up at the blazing green eyes of the tall man standing in front of him. I smile widely as I look at the man I had fought the whole world for. He was finally here. My Havier.