4. I WILL REMEMBER

The shaman had just finished her isolation in the shrine for forty days and her child was picking herbs to make her food after staying that way without food but only water for those days. The shaman walked outside to see the clouds enveloping the evening sun and in a matter of minutes, the sun was enveloped in the cloud, making everywhere dark all of a sudden.

“This is an ominous sign. This is not good” she sighed as she panicked and ran to meet her child in the kitchen.

She grabbed her shoulders and turned her to look into her eyes. “You should prepare to flee this village as soon as possible. There are guests coming from the east and I can see that it will be deadly” she warned but the daughter just shrugged her hands off

“What are you talking about? I cannot leave if you are not leaving with me. Let’s receive the guests together” she declared adamantly

She snapped! “You should listen to your mother! This is not the time for jokes. What I am seeing is deadly and I don’t want you to witness something like this. I’m not sure of what will happen exactly but there will be so much blood” she explained quickly but her daughter didn’t even flinch

“Do you think I didn’t see that happening for days? I know something unpleasant is about to happen but if I run and leave you here, I will never forgive myself foe doing that so it’s either you get ready and we leave together or stay here together. The choice is yours” her daughter stated firmly

“I cannot leave my people. If I run away, who will guide them?” the shaman said trying to convince her daughter but she wouldn’t budge

“You should guide the people, I will guide you. If you will leave me alone now, the food will be ready in the next hour” the daughter told her and focused on what she was doing

“What a stubborn wench! I hope the gods will look upon us with pity” the woman sighed and gave up even though she couldn’t keep her eyes off the cloud.

The shaman, Arya, has been guiding the small town of Tor for more than forty years. She was given birth to in the descendants of the shaman family and is one of the most powerful shamans in her lineage but her only weakness was her daughter.

Her daughter Elora doesn’t gave the powers passed down to them. She is just like every other person. Although she knows everything about her family’s business, she cannot perform any rituals or rites like a shaman because she lacks power. Her mother tried to invoke the family’s power upon her, tried to transfer some of her own powers to her but none worked. She had to give up and sadly admit that she will be the last shaman of her family.

“The food is ready so come quickly before it gets cold” Elora, her daughter called out to her breaking through her thoughts

“I will be right in” she shouted in response and turned to go inside

They settled at the set table and Elora opened all the delicacies she had prepared. One thing she was excellent at was cooking. She was the best cook in the competition that was held by the village during the harvest ceremony and she has a sharp memory, she never forgets what she sees even though it’s once.

“You sure made a lot. My daughter is the best after all” Arya wowed at the various dishes and Elora smiled in return

“You should fill up all the spaces you left empty all these while. I know how hungry you will be by now” she lectured and motioned for her mother to eat

“You are right, I am really hungry just like you have said” Arya admitted and picked up the spoon to eat

They both ate the food silently and when they were done, she took the dishes to the kitchen, washed them and went to find her mother outside of the house where she sat there looking at the moon and praying to it.

She watched her from behind and felt sad that she couldn’t do anything as the child of a shaman. She had always wanted to relieve her mother of her duties but since she was powerless, she can do nothing like that. She slowly approached her mother and stood beside her rubbing her palms together, praying silently to the moon to please give her powers so she could at least help her mother out but she didn’t pray for long before she stopped, maybe because she knew it was a futile effort.

She went ot sit on the small bench outside and waited for the mother to finish prayer. Her mother finally joined her and they both talked about various things that happened while she was in isolation.

“I am sorry I don’t have powers to relieve you. I really feel sorry. You should be resting by now but you can’t because of your weak daughter” she said slowly, hanging her head low but the mother took her hand lovingly before telling her to look at her

“Elora, I believe you are not powerless, your powers are hidden deep inside of you waiting for the right time. I’m very fine and okay. I can still continue the duties so don’t worry I will be by your side to find the key to your powers. You will get to use them one day” Arya assured her and she burst into tears

She had always been teased of being powerless and just a weakling because she gets tired easily, is fragile and can’t even walk for long. The only thing she’s energetic about is cooking. She can cook all day but any other thing is a no for her

“I am sorry mother. I’m really sorry for everything” she sobbed continuously and Arya pulled her into a hug.

They went in to retire for the night and was already asleep when a strong wind blew from the east. Arya flew up immediately and tapped Elora who was snoring hard beside her multiple times to wake her up.

“Wake up Elora! We have to flee. This is an emergency” she called out and the daughter struggled to sit up after rubbing her eyes multiple times to keep them open

“Why are we fleeing in the middle of the night? Is there a war or something?” she asked confused about her mother’s tone of urgency

“A war is coming, a war that no one will survive. We have to run as soon as possible” Arya replied, pulling her to her feet.

They packed some of their clothes and tied it in a small bag, got out of the house to flee but the mother told her to wait before running into the shrine. By the time she was back, she clipped a small necklace with a fishbone pendant on Elora’s neck and placed her hands on it to cast a spell. Immediately. The necklace disappeared to Elora’s amazement.

With a shaky breath, she asked “What was that?”

“This necklace will guide you always and protect you. It can never be stolen from you because no one can see it but it will become visible every full moon and its energy will be so heavy. You must protect it at all cost on those days, because there will be people who will surely come to take it away when it becomes visible to them” she explained to her daughter who kept nodding even though she was not sure about what her mother was talking about.

They began to run towards the exit of the city but they were met with loud noises. There were sounds of horse hooves, bright fires were approaching at a very fast speed, and the marching of legs were heavy. They turned to run back but before they knew it, the forces had walked in on them and they began to seek cover.

The village was filled with cries as people ran up and own to seek refuge. Houses went up in flames and people were captures, those who resisted were killed and before anyone could blink, the soldiers had taken over the small town.

Elora and Arya were hiding under a small shed which protected them from the soldiers who already marched on but a dried leaf of the shed’s covering landed on Elora’s nose and made her sneeze loudly. They heard someone stop for a while but the person began to approach the shed after few seconds. Arya quickly clasped her hand to cast a spell on the shed but she was too late, the shed was opened and one of the soldiers brought a light to make their faces visible.

“You little wenches thought you could hide right?” Beta Loras growled and pulled them out immediately, throwing them on the ground

He was about to leave with the soldiers but lurked aroun when he smelt that people were still around. He was still trying to trace the scent when Elora sneezed and that made it easy for him.

“We are just people who are happy in our small town. We did nothing to deserve this. I assure you that you will be punished by the heavens, don’t you sleep soundly because you will be fed to the dogs” Arya cursed at Beta Loras who was furious as he remembered Leia’s words on the night she was to be executed

“You little witches always find your way to annoy me. You should take responsibilities for your curses” he replied and pulled out a sword to slash them but Arya covered Elora and got slashed instead

“Mother!” Elora screamed in horror as her mother collapsed into her laps. She looked up with her eyes red with fury, she didn’t care about anything at that moment.

“You should follow your dear mother” Beta Loras continued and turned to slash her but he was stopped by Prince Jaqen who came back to find him when he observed that he wasn’t following them.

“Are you going to kill at the slaves now? What do you think you are doing?” he lashed, cutting through his action

“She deserves to die! Her mother cursed me, how dare she?” Beta Loras fumed with his sword raised up in the air

“Since when do you believe in curses? You should let go of your raging blood thirst and throw her into the midst of the slaves instead. We have to greet father with evidences, don’t you think so?” Jaqen tackled him and he had no choice but to drop his sword.

“Take her with the slaves” Beta Loras commanded and turned back to join Jaqen who already turned his horse to ride away

“Can I please bury my mother? She doesn’t deserve to be in the open like this. She needs to at least get buried” Elora begged with tears and Jaqen stopped his horse to look back

“Do we look like we have that time? Will you move now or I should let the Beta have your head rolling on the floor alongside your mother? How annoying!” he growled at her and the lightning struck the sky at that time to reveal his face

“I will make sure to remember your face, just so you know” Elora muttered as she managed to stand up and follow the soldiers with tears streaming down her face.