2

~Akara

Staring blankly at the unfamiliar face in front of me, I try not to panic that I’ve spent two weeks unconscious under their roof.

"So you're telling me you don't remember anything about the Azure Province?" I’m asked. I shake my head, squeezing my eyes shut as I rake back through the fog that’s concealing my memories. Each time I do so, I come back with nothing more than an ache between my temples.

"No, I'm from the Jade Province,” I tell the man. He’s Meredith, the woman who woke me earlier’s husband. He’s a healer, named Alex, having walked in moments ago with a wicker basket full of a variety of produce and herbs.

"What happened before you went unconscious,” Meredith asks, twisting a loose strand of hair around her finger as she examines me apprehensively.

"I can hardly remember," I admit. "I just know I need to get back to my family."

Family. Mother and father. They are here, I know that much. I can picture their home in my mind, as fuzzy as it may appear. I'm not sure why they are in the Emerald Province, but it means a lot has transpired since my last memory. And for some unknown reason, something took my memories away.

"Maybe you should wait a day or two, until your strength comes back," Alex says kindly. Meredith and Alex are salt of the earth people, who clearly live a simple, humble life. I feel guilty stumbling into it, albeit unintentionally.

"I don't have much time," I say. I have no evidence of that, but everything feels as though it's inclosing in on me.

"Do you have a name? Do you remember it, I mean?" Meredith asks.

At least there is one thing I'm certain of. "Yes. I'm Akara."

"We are glad we found you, Akara," Alex exclaims. Both him and Meredith seem to wince at the memory of discovering me, causing me to shiver. "You were badly battered when we found you."

Did someone do that to me, or did I do it to myself? So much is dark in my mind...Perhaps someone hit me hard enough in the head to give me memory loss, leaving me with no way of finding out who did it, or who exactly I am forgetting. I can tell there is something I've missed, perhaps even years worth of memories, due to the dark, chasm-like feeling that has opened up in my chest.

"I don't remember being beaten," I admit, looking down at my open palms. They are stained dark green, like I've been crawling across grass, or maybe a forest floor. Deep bruises litter my arms, along with a myriad of small cuts. A large cut must be underneath the bandage wrapped around my bicep, a bite of pain accompanying any movement of that arm.

"Where are you family? In the Jade Province?" Meredith asks. I look toward the window, through the gap in the curtain. All I can see is a verdant green meadow that rolls for miles.

I shake my head. "No, actually I think I remember being told they are here, in the Emerald Province."

"Wonderful. We will track them down for you," Alex assures me.

For the next hour, I recall as much information about their whereabouts that I can. I have brief glimpses of walking toward their home, accompanied by someone. Eventually Alex is able to tell me the town, and that it isn't too far from here, before both him and Alex leave me to rest.

Not that I can find much...Nightmares haunt me.

Nightmares of being kidnapped, meeting an enigmatic hunter with unspoken abilities. A King, a rebellion. These nightmares assault me so viciously, so vividly, I wake in the night in a sweat, gasping in panic.

These aren't nightmares, they are memories.

Marek, Tai and Vaia...I drank from the river, watched Evolet die while I survived. I remember dead bodies, having been discarded like I was one of them. And yet nothing about the weeks past that time where I made it from the Jade Province to the Azure Province comes back to me.

I don't sleep for the rest of the night, staring blankly at the ceiling while I let each memory slide into it's relevant place, until I can recite everything and it makes sense.

I have a lot to figure out.

There is a chance I'm become a Tani, considering I drank from the river and survived. Tai is likely dead, or still in Vaia's clutches. Marek could be dead too, or who knows where.

And none of them will know I'm alive.

The moment I could glimpse the sun peeking over the horizon, I started to dress, ignoring the protest of my sore limbs and injured skin. I need to get back to my family, let them know I'm alive. And then I need to find Marek, and Tai...

Even if Tai is a monster. That is, if Evolet's reaction on our deathbeds were to be believed.

"Akara...We have a carriage to take you to your parents," Alex exclaims as I emerge from my room, already having breakfast prepared for me. I waste no time digging in. As much as I appreciate this couple, I need to get out of here. No more time can be wasted.

"Thank you for being so kind to me," I say, swallowing the thick oatmeal.

Meredith opens the curtains, letting in the mellow morning light. "Come back any time you need us, okay?"

The carriage of theirs is small, but it suffices fine as I make my way out from their rural property out toward my parents town. My eyes are glued out the window as we pass through it, until the entrance to their driveway becomes apparent. Had Marek not brought me here all those weeks ago, I would have no chance in this Province.

Thanking the carriage driver, I hop out, rushing to their door. I don't bother knocking, barging straight into their living area, to see father reading on the couch, mother beside him.

Father's book falls discarded to the floor as he gets to his feet. "Akara, what happened to you?"

I realise I probably look insane. I'm bandaged in areas, wearing Meredith's clothing, which is a little too big on me after I spent weeks walking through the forest, likely not eating very much. I didn't even bother brushing my hair when I woke up.

"I drank from the river and I survived," I blurt out.

"You're not dead...How is that possible?" Mother gasps. Father approaches me, reaching out to touch my skin, as if he's convinced he's dreaming. When he realises I'm here, he envelops me in a hug that nearly crushes my ribs.

"I don't know, but I need to find Marek," I exclaim, passing from father's arms to mothers. She clutches me, her entire body shaking beneath my hands.

"We haven't heard from either Tai or Marek," father admits.

I sit, finally able to relax being around familiar faces. If Marek is alive, he isn't going to think I am. And considering he's a prolific hunter, and presuming he has gone back to that lifestyle, tracking him down isn't going to be easy.

"They think I'm dead," I whisper. I should be, in reality. Evolet must be, unless she managed an escape like I did. I must have fallen unconscious after drinking from the river, and Vaia assumed I was dead, and dumped me with the rest of her failed trial subjects.

"You need to rest," mother insists, biting her nails as she looks over at me. "If you survived, you may be transitioning in a Tani."

"No, that's not possible. Vaia was making a potion so people could survive drinking from the river, so maybe it just happened to work," I say with a shrug, although I'm not sure how true that is.

The only difference I feel is in the horrid taste in the back of my throat, the slight throbbing between my temples that still hasn't gone away, and the ache in my bones.

Father sits beside me. "You will need to be monitored."

"Dad, I'm okay," I assure him, although I can't force much confidence into my tone.

"Should you be trying to contact Tai?" Mother asks uncomfortably. I can tell they aren't fond of Tai, considering that the only reason I'm in this mess is because of him. I'm not sure if I'm fond of him either...At least not for now.

"No...I need to find Marek first," I dismiss. He will have the skills to help me with whatever is going on inside me, considering he's a Tani himself.

"That might be hard," father mutters, glancing up at my mother. "I think he returned to the Azure Province."

I sigh through my nose. "Then that's where I'm going...To find him."