Chapter ~ 2

Seventeen years after the Quietus war.

Rakia's POV

I took the bow and arrow from Arc's huge hands, fixing the arrow shaft in the nock.

Arc was the village bully. The big, egotistic and cocky jerk everyone hated. Even those around him never really liked him. They just pretended to, so he wouldn't taunt them like what he was doing to me right now. This was my time to put him in his place.

"Remember Rakia, you only get one shot," Arc said out loud, reminding me of the bet we just made. "Miss this one and you'll have to walk on cow poop... barefooted," he mocked and his friends joined him.

I didn't know what came over me. Riley and I were just passing by when we spotted Arc, challenging a bunch of teenagers on the archery field. No one had been able to get the bullseye except Arc. I guess that was what drew me here.

Taking my stance, I stood a few metres away from the target board. "Straighten your arm, Rakia," I heard Father's voice in my ear. "You don't want the arrow flying somewhere else. Hold it this way." He taught me everything I knew about archery. That was how I knew I wasn't going to be the one walking in manure, barefooted.

From the corner of my eye, I saw Riley nod, giving me the go ahead right before Arc shoved him. Ever since we were kids, Riley has always been my support. He backed me up all the time.

Shutting my left eye to get a better aim, I could hear Arc and his friends snickering and snorting behind me. I was about to tune them out, but their mockery gave me a brilliant idea.

Instead of aiming at the target board in front of me, I shifted to the target board on my right, displaying Arc's bullseye.

"What is she doing?" I heard the whispers but blocked them out. Pulling the string, I steadied my breathing, making sure my arms were relaxed just like Father taught me.

3... 2... 1... I released with a faint woosh.

The arrow zoomed straight towards the target board, joining Arc's arrow at the white bullseye. Slowly, Arc's arrow vacated the board, landing on the wet grass.

Loud cheers erupted from behind me and I turned to see an open-mouth Arc staring at the target in disbelief.

"Ha! Now you'll have to walk in your own cow poop." Riley siddled up to me with a ridiculous smirk.

Arc snapped out of his dumbfounded state, lunging towards us, but I didn't give him the chance. Swiftly, I aimed a second arrow at him. Everyone gasped.

He froze, putting his hands up. "Rakia... don't." Adams apple bobbing up and down, fear carved patterns on his features.

I couldn't resist smiling. He was afraid and I wasn't even planning to shoot. But just to mess with him a little, I released the arrow.

Arc let out a girl-ish scream, throwing himself to the side before the arrow landed a few feet away from where he previously stood.

Everyone burst into a hearty laugh, watching the bully's face turn red with a embarrassment.

"The bet is off, Arc," I announced. "You don't have to walk in the cow poop." With that, I took off his quiver and dropped it on the grass, along with the bow.

"C'mon, Rakia." Riley grabbed my arm and we both broke into a sprint back to the cluster of wooden houses that formed our village.

The annual procession had already began. People from all walks of life in Hartland trooped down the dirt road, following the royal carriage to the cemetery. Families carried mertle wreaths along with them to decorate the graves of their beloved ones. The size of each wreath could determine the social standing of that particular family.

The procession was a day set aside to honour those who lost their lives during the Quietus war. Quietus means death. My mother told me that so many people died that the ruler then, King Enoch, didn't have the guts to pronounce a counter attack on the Midlands. So he immediately asked the wizards of the Hartland Council to create an unbreakable magical boundary to separate Hartland from the Midlands. Since then, both kingdoms haven't experienced any wars or had any form of communication.

"So," Riley started as we walked through moving bodies. "What are we gonna do today? Milk run?"

"Nope," I responded. "Father and I took care of it yesterday. But we can head over to Old Fez's house. Maybe he has some new board games we could check out."

"Ooo and free apple cider," he chimed.

Riley was obessed with apple cider. He could drink gallons of it and never get tired of the taste. I, on the other hand, couldn't drink more than five cups without feeling nauseous.

"Yeah, that," I laughed. "Let's go."

As we troded down the dirt road, leading to Old Fez's house, someone yelled, "Riiiley!" and we both turned around.

Pushing her hair out of her face, Riley's mother waved at me and gestured for her son to come join her and the rest of her family. "C'mon, we'll miss the procession!"

Riley sighed, "I was hoping she wouldn't look for me."

A day like this was important for Riley's family because his grandfather was a valiant army commander during the Quietus war. He died protecting Hartland and his family made it a point every year to pay their respects. Riley thought it was annoying because he had been doing it for the past seventeen years and felt he had outgrown the tradition. Unfortunately, his mother did not share the same view.

"Riiley!" she yelled again and he growled as a response.

"Stop being an animal and go!" I punched him playfully.

"What about the free apple cider?" He frowned.

"We can go another time," I said.

"Fine," he mumbled as he trapped me in a hug. "Happy Birthday, though. I'll make sure we return early so we can come to your house to celebrate."

I smiled and ruffled his blond hair. "Sure. But no pine cake this time."

He grinned, remembering the prank from last year. "I can't promise that." He ran to join his family in the procession.

Every year, I felt like my birthday was a reminder of death and all the bad things that happened years ago, so I never wanted to celebrate. Because of that, my parents stopped taking part in the procession.

Mother stayed at home, baking treats whilst Father and I played lots of games. We live on the outskirts of the village so no one really noticed that we didn't take part in the procession. This year, Father had a few errands to run in the market and I decided to spend the day with Riley. But now that he was gone, I made my way home. Mother and Father owned a small dairy farm. Milking cows and harvesting eggs were chores I did everyday.

I unlocked the fence gate and entered the farm, walking across the wide green pasture of grass to the farmhouse. The cows were out grazing, mooing out loud and frequently swishing their tails. Mother must have let them out.

When I got to the farmhouse, Mother had a visitor on the front porch. She was quite tall, pale skinned and had a few grey strands in her dark hair.

Like a flash, a recent memory of her clicked in my head. Father and I had caught her several times, snooping around the house. So why was she here, speaking to Mother in hushed tones?

Both of them hadn't seen me and I couldn't hear what they were saying. I crept quietly to the house and hid behind a water tank on the leftside of porch. I knew eavesdropping wasn't a good habit to pick up. But being a teenager, eavesdropping was my life.

"The girl isn't yours, Trina!" the tall woman spat. "I know you can't bear children of your own!"

I gasped and my ears perked up, listening with rapt attention.

"So prove it then, Olga!" Mother snapped back. "Prove it and I'll hand her over to you."

The tall woman was quiet.

"Just as I thought. You've been saying that for the past two years and you have nothing to prove!" Mother threw her hands about.

"That girl isn't a normal Hartland child! Very soon, she's going to develop abilities that you can't keep hidden!" the tall woman growled.

My eyebrows scrunched up in confusion. What on earth were they talking about? And who was this girl with the strange abilities?

"Hey, Raki!"

I nearly pushed the empty water tank down out of fright. Why would someone sneak up on me like that? Turning around, Father stared at me, eyebrows furrowed in confusion with a crate of eggs in his hands. "What are you doing back here?"

"N-n-nothing. Just....errmm." I racked my head for a suitable excuse."...taking a pebble out of my boot!"

I made an attempt to take my left boot off whilst standing on my right but it seemed he was buying my excuse because he still stared at me strangely.

Mother and the tall woman had already noticed us and stopped talking.

"Ronald, Rakia, welcome home." Mother smiled.

Father put the crate on the side of the short staircase leading to the porch. "Olga." He feigned a smile. "I didn't expect to see you here with the procession going on."

"Oh, she came by to deliver a message and was just about to leave. Right Olga?" Mother shot her a devious grin.

Olga gave Mother a nasty glare before responding, "Yes. I was just about to leave." As she stepped down the staircase, her dark brown eyes at me, like she was analysing the nature of my face. I cringed under her intense glare.

What is she staring at? Hasn't she seen a black girl before?

Once she was on solid ground, she said, "Happy Birthday, Araknee." Then she left.