The Tribes of K'haren - Completed

Chapter 2

Nume jumped. She quickly turned around to see where the voice had come from but there was no one to be seen. 'Hello?' she carefully asked.

'Close your eyes.' the voice ordered. Nume hesitated. She looked around again but she still couldn't see anybody. Then she looked at the pond again. She could see tiny waves emerging from the centre. Unknowingly, Nume blinked and when she opened her eyes again, she jumped backwards.

A woman hovered about a foot above the water. The woman looked like a phraio but her skin was blue and her eyes were completely white. She had a sharp nose and her ears were very tight to her head, from where long black curly hair flew over her shoulders down to her waist.

'Who are you?' Nume asked with a shaking voice.

'I'm the one who waited long enough.' the woman replied. 'And you are the one who will listen to my warning.'

Nume didn't know what to say.

'You have come here for a reason, haven't you?' the woman asked.

'Yes, but...' Nume stumbled.

'Of course you have. People don't go to places for no reason at all...' the woman said and smiled. 'Now, you are the chosen one.'

'I'm what?!'

'The chosen one. I've chosen you. Since you're already here, you can do me a favour, can't you?' the woman explained impatiently.

'The chosen one?' Nume asked again.

'Yes...' the woman said with a sigh. 'I don't really have much of a choice so I must choose you, you see?'

'So you choose me just because I'm here?'

'Exactly.'

'Can I send someone else then?'

'I haven't even told you what this is about and you already want to back away? Oh come on, you look like you don't want to go back where you've come from... I think you're just perfect. Your mind is screaming, you want out, want something new, away from what you already know. I can hear your thoughts...' the woman came closer without even moving a foot, still hovering above the pond. 'There's a man all over your mind, you like him, but not like that, no, you are afraid of losing the friend you have in him.'

'Stop it, that's private!' Nume heard herself shouting. The woman stopped coming closer and smiled again.

'You are indeed the right one. Now listen to me, I have a prophecy to foretell and you must listen very carefully for there is no one else to help you remember.' the woman paused to make sure Nume was listening. 'There is a race in K'haren, a race that terrorizes all others, a race that takes but never gives, a race that doesn't even know how much it hurts the whole world around it. Somebody must stop them, show them how to be better or bring them down for good. That somebody is you now, for you are the only one who knows. But you must gather an army to fulfil this quest, an army that must not know about this prophecy. For if you tell anybody, faith will change and you may lose, so be sure not to tell anybody, not even your closest friends. You will make them follow you, make them trust you and lead them to victory, but tell them and they will suffer.'

Nume was startled. But before she could say anything, the woman disappeared into thin air. 'Go now, go and save us all...' she heard the voice once more. Nume blinked and stumbled backwards, she then turned around and started running. After just a few steps, she turned around to look back but the pond had disappeared already. Despite being very confused and uncertain, Nume felt no fear. Hope filled her heart and she now knew what to do. First of all, she had to find the way back out of the forest again.