Chapter one
Yerekeva, Therna
Sometimes, our world ends up shattered like a mirror ball and falls down into tiny shattered pieces with sharp edges that could end a person in a matter of seconds. These shattered pieces could be swapped away and thrown away, or it could be turned into a sword to fight the coming disasters.
The only lesson worth learning is how to fight till the last breath is taken. It’s a lesson that Kalyn Aldea had to learn on her journey to the outer world that was far away from reach. She was holding into the horse’s smooth hair and it ran at its full speed causing some clouds of sands under its hooves.
She held into its hairs hiding in its neck as the wind was resisting their movement filling her mouth with grains of sands and it pushed the hood that was over her head down revealing her fresh black waves for a hair falling like delicate threads down her back.
“Only few feet left, you can do it,” she said as she rubbed her horse’s back trying to comfort it. She knew it must be exhausted. She took off from early dawn and it’s almost dusk in the Twisting Fields desert. Her eyes wondered to the bag she was holding so tight into. It was made from a snake’s skin that her mother had hunted for trying to eat her bird’s eggs. She folded it up at the edges and secured in that rectangular shape with strings of the same material. She watched her mother work so hard on it that her eyes teared up when she handed it to her the moment she told her she would run away. She had two other ones on her but one thing for sure, they didn’t have the same emotional value.
She could still see the tears in her mother’s eyes the moment she told her. She could clearly see them because they were craved in the back of her mind. Her mother, despite all the tears, never stopped her, in fact she helped her run away and swore to take care of her only son until it’s time for her to come back and she hoped that it would be safe enough then.
She rubbed her horse’s neck gently and placed a gentle kiss. She was thankful for it for carrying her that far without giving up yet.
“Only few feet left,” she kept repeating as she looked at the crumbled paper that she had fisted more times than she could possibly count. She opened it again from its miserable state and she did the calculations in her mind, the drawing lengths calculations, the number of feet and more as she took the final turn. It was a ninety degree turn and the horse kept running but at a slower rate obviously exhausted.
Her heart skipped a beat as she saw the lights coming from a far and she stopped. She got off the horse and started walking with it to the city. She walked with the horse and then a very strong neigh that she felt were mixed with fear broke free. She stared at her horse who raised its front legs in a sudden movement with wide eyes as she tried to locate the reason. She looked at the ground and her eyes widened once she saw a cobra. Her horse was raising its legs front in fear and its eyes widened as well. She knew that if it was not for her tight hold, the horse would have ran away.
“Calm down,” she said as she tried to hold her fear deep within and deny its existence. The snake was hissing and it started moving towards her. She bit her lips and traced it with her eyes. Her eyes wondered to the bag and back to the snake. She wondered if her mother had placed anything of use inside it. The snake moved closer and touched her legs making her scream but she soon got a grip. She closed her eyes shut as she didn’t wish to see how her end would be but apparently something else interested the snake. She had no idea what it was until she no longer felt its touch, this made her slowly open her eyes. She watched as the serpent left her and headed for her bag. Something seemed to get its attention as it went inside it. She used that chance and immediately got on her horse and took off. Her eyes wondered back to the bag. A tear escaped her eyes and she refused to dry it. That would be a great start. She decided to come back again and hopefully find it. She knew the chances were slim, almost none existent but she refused to believe that she lost it.
She ran with him as fast as possible and she only stopped few meters from the city and walked with her horse towards the huge iron gate and she realized that she reached her destination. Kalyn took a deep breath and walked inside letting her eyes wonder over the view ahead of her. She saw women on the ground selling different kinds of fruits in wooden boxes on the ground. She could see some ladies buying and some children running around. She saw them jumping on one leg racing one another, at least that was what she understood by the playful screams she recognized. It was definitely crowded.
“Watch out!” a man called over and over again. She only recognized it as it grew closer. She could hear the steps of a horse and she looked at hers and found it standing stern. She looked behind and saw a man running with his horse and she immediately took a side. He cursed her under his breath but she could clearly hear it. She wanted to argue but she was too tired and her horse didn’t seem any different. She also had to find somewhere to stay for the night before she searches for a small house. She took a deep breath and looked around.
“Young Lady!” a feminine voice called and she looked right next to her and she found her horse eating an apple. She realized how hungry it must be. “I apologize for that. I will buy some of your fruits.” She said and she could tell the lady was not really satisfied anyway. She got her a bag full and she paid with the little money she had on her and then started luring her horse away with the half eaten apple.
She continued walking and asking some women if they knew anywhere she could stay. She explained to them that she came from Stirada, and she was here to stay for a while. She told them she was looking for somewhere to stay at least for the night. It was all alright until she told them where she came from.
She knew the reason behind this. It is known for being the centre of crime. It was full of corruption and out of control. It was rogue. The royal family couldn’t even control it and failed to place a tight grip. It was far from the capital as it was a coastal city on Glacier sea that was pretty much known for its ice cold weather. It was also poor despite the amazing historical monuments in it. The ruling family was the worst in all Yerkeva.
It was all enough to turn her into a black-listed criminal even if she was not. She was growing aware of that by the horrific expressions on everyone’s face. She saw the lies of the family in their faces.
“We are the best!” they claimed.
“They all want to be like us. They are trying but they will never be able to because we are the best and we will always be on top.”
She had to find a place to stay though. She couldn’t give up yet. She was not up for sleeping outside at all. Her eyes were wondering left and right until it fell on a small paper on a small house.
‘To be sold!’ that was enough to spread a grin across her face. She found it. She found her new home. She lead her horse there and then she knocked on the door. There was no answer form the other side, however, she noticed as a little paper fell. Her horse traced it and was about to eat it, but she got it first. She gave the horse a glare and then said, “No, we don’t eat paper, we eat apple, August.”
She gave him half an apple and let him eat it as she read the words written on the paper. She could tell it was an address from its format, but she had no way of telling where to go. She was new around. She stopped a lady and asked her about it. However, she was not as lucky as she hoped, the script in her mind was thrown in the trash when the lady looked at her before looking the other side in utter disgust. She knew she looked messy. Her hair was full of sand grains and she probably smelt bad, but it was no excuse to treat her that way.
She took a deep breath and chose to ask an old woman. She was walking with a stick. She saw her struggling with the bags she was carrying and she offered help. The old woman seemed hesitant, but she agreed and let her help and she used her for support too.
Kalyn offered her horse to ride on their way there, but the woman was not shy to voice her thoughts aloud. Old people tend to believe their youth days were way better and she kept lecturing her on how reckless, untrustworthy and useless her generation was. She was not even shy to voice it aloud to her. She mentioned how unsafe it was to be around them. She didn’t try to speak and defend herself after the three times the old woman silenced her in.
She even wondered why she was helping her. Kalyn didn’t even try to correct her and tell her that she was not even in her twenties like she thought she was. Kalyn was in her thirties for god’s sake, she belonged to the generation right before the one she was mad about. She took her to her house and then she helped her with the bags and showed her the address she found.
She couldn’t have been happier when she learnt that the house she was looking for was right in front of this one. She thanked her. The old woman nodded in acknowledgement before she went in and closed the door locking it shut. Kalyn understood why after all of that.
Kalyn sighed and headed to her destination, she was hopeful that the owner was nothing like that lady. She couldn’t be so positive though because when she showed her the address the lady couldn’t stop talking about Mr. Avel Zvezdin. His name even sounded scary. She was not really looking forward but it was too late to search all over again. She took a deep breath and took the risk knocking on the door.
“Who’s there?” a tough masculine voice asked from the other side.
“Good evening, sir, I am here for the house,” she said. “I need to stay there for a while starting tonight.”
“The question was with a ‘who’,” he stated as he opened the door. “Who are you?” he asked.
Kalyn stared shocked as she replayed the conversation in her head and she felt utterly stupid. The question was with a who. It was never a why. She nodded as she tried to push past the embarrassment she had created and said, “I am Kalyn Aldea. I just arrived today from Stirada and I want to buy the house that I found this paper with your address in. I really need it cause I have no where to stay.”
“Stirada? That’s never a good sign,” he said and crossed his arms. “The answer is no.”
‘No! Stirada? That’s never a good sign.' She had heard this too many times. She was growing sick of it. She hated that her home city was known for having the highest crime rate in Yerkeva.
“That’s not fair that you judge someone by where they are from. Well, guess what? In Stirada, we also shame thieves and we also punish them. Oh, and if it’s really ‘Stirada? No’, then why am I even here when I could have just stolen it since that’s apparently a ticket pass, huh?” she snapped.
“What did I expect from a punch of people living their lives in the capital unaware of the hunger that strikes every winter and the smell of death in the streets of those who are homeless and weren’t lucky enough to be born here? What did I expect from people who live their lives in the beautiful capital that is cleaned daily and checked daily?” she added with so much disgust at some memories that played in her head and at those who refused to help her because of where she is from. She hated that. She couldn’t even describe how much she does. It was like a burning fire eating her up.