Their words hung with me through the night. A prophecy, or a myth. About my sister? About me? or us both? It felt like I had a four pieced puzzle where only two would fit at a time. No matter how I twisted or turned the pieces, they refused to reveal the picture. I knew there had been an old prophesy or fable about me, or rather the first female to be born after what was considered the lands curse. A curse working to wipe the entire shifter generation out, only allowing boys to be born here.
From the little I had heard, me being here should have lifted that curse, but so long it hasn't. I've been here for years now, but still, the only female born here is Maya's little girl. The perfect little twins, a boy, and a girl. They were so welcomed, so loved and the sight of a newborn female brought hope. Could this be the beginning of better times? The beginning of an era where kidnapping young girls from earth would turn to a dark spot on the history sheets. A dark tale of a dysfunctional land in distress. But as time went by, it became clear nothing had changed. Little Astrid was a miracle, but not the miracle everyone else hoped she would be.
With stiff muscles and heavy limbs I pushed forward. Forcing myself to move through the night. Careful and quietly putting more and more distance between me and the other group. My eyes swiped the forest, my hearing picked up small animals rustling through the bushes, but my mind was not there. Over and over again, the fay guard's words swirled inside my head, desperately trying to make them make sense. Force words together, adding new ones to create a sentence I could make sense of. But nothing. I've never heard of a prophecy involving sisters, or even two human girls. I didn't even know much about the so-called prophecy about me.
As the sun set, spreading light and warmth, I decided to take a break. I found a secluded little spot by a little river and filled up my leather canteen. Slowly night and early morning turned to a warm summer's day. Birds chirped around me, and a couple of squirrels ran up and down a tree nearby. Fish waked in the calm pits of the river by the banks. A calm and beautiful summer morning and before I knew It, I dozed off. Running all night had taken its toll.
A light and restless dream, swaddling me into darkness. The dream took me down memory lane, and pained me with my last meeting with my mother. The moment I realized she was dead, realized she never hated me but also learned I had a sister. The moment and day the rest of my life changed. Since that day I've been searching for my little sister, feeling an incredible deep desire to locate her. Stress pushed me forward in an almost desperate and frantic search, and for a second, I saw myself as Amon must have seen me in the last couple of years.
My dream faded, ended without an end as bright light glimmered through my eyelids. Nothing had changed in the peaceful little spot I had found, bright with sunlight, birds and animals living their own lives. I opened my eyes to an incredible picturesque view, the prettiest summer painting of all time, and still an overwhelming sensation of shame washed over me. But like the dream, the sensation disappeared with the summer warmth and bright colors.
Small yellow, red, orange, and even blue flowers elegantly danced with the soft breeze and my stare landed on a little shadow. Right behind my feet, a shadow slowly grew longer as the sun moved. Tilting one of my feet to the side revealed a little collection of stones that cast a shadow. Shadows are a strange phenome, like a tiny drop of evil expected and accepted in-between the bright and good. A sneak-peak into the world beneath us, but at the same time it wasn't. All creatures could be both good and evil, I know some of the elders still believe the shadow represents the evil within the creature or object casting it.
Groaning like a dying animal I stretched out, the daily torture of forcing limbs out of sleep kind of grunts. Somehow, I ended up in a sitting position and was now rubbing sleep out of my eyes. Either I am losing my mind, or I am way more exhausted, and sleep deprived than I ever thought. Shadows, darkness, and nonsense whispering in my head. Like it would help, I rubbed my eyes even harder. Blinking slowly, I started nodding to myself; yes tired. I need to take better care of myself going forward. I am no good walking around like a zombie. Waving my hands around like a lunatic. No. I needed to keep up the distance between me and the fay king, but I also needed to rest now and then. Without Drifta's presence, there is only so much my body can take.
I am weaker and slower now, and I still feel that little aching spot in my heart. A pulsating fresh wound, a piece missing. With a huff, I tossed my backpack over my shoulder. With my mouth and fist stuffed with dried meat sticks ala Maya style, I started walking. Ahead of me waited a thick and wild jungle of a forest. With steep hills, ditches, rivers, and huge stones covered in slippery mosslike undergrowth. A more hostile and impossible terrain was hard to even dream off. This alone could take days! But for once, traveling alone was an advantage!
It took me all day to walk through the desert like forest and to Maura Forest. Looking into the unwelcoming jungle now, I am glad I decided to take small naps and stops throughout the day. I wouldn't survive ten steps in their inn that state I was earlier! I've heard stories, and tales about this place, but it is my first time seeing it. Back home, when I read books about magical jungles and the deepest corners the amazon, this was exactly what I pictured in my head. Tropical, foreign, and wild. Like the ice river, beautiful and deadly.
This time I am better prepared. No stupid moves, no cutting corner risking my own life. With my head held high, I took long, slow steps into the wilderness. Each step took me closer to the dense air and glooming light. Warm and bright sunlight that warmed my back, disappeared as the forest closed behind me.
"Bold move wolf girl! Stepping right into the forbidden like that!"
Her voice made my heart bounce up my throat while I did a complete turn-around while jumping up in shock. I have no idea how I did it, but here I stand. Her stunning face lit up with a cocky smile as I stuttered. In the middle of nowhere, deep in a book perfect jungle; I stood face to face with Nida. Nidhog, the ancient creature Loke introduced me to.