She could hear whispers, but somehow, she knew she was dreaming, even though everything felt so real. She was with the rest of her comrades, at the hall back at Inkrirdar, the place where they called home.
They were drinking and laughing around, playing games, and challenging each other to competitions. Everyone was here, Kenta, Mikael, Torin, and Kate. She did not notice the only missing member. She did not pay attention as she immersed herself in the joy of the company of her closest friends and comrades.
There were other people too, her other comrades that were fighting in the same cause. She was having fun, something that she hasn't felt for a long time. But when she saw something familiar figure at the back of the crowd, she stops and tries to get a closer look. When she couldn't see who it was, she walked towards the person, hoping to find out who it was.
Kenta was surprised when Mei had walked away, he chased after her. Mei began walking through the crowd, she was determined to find the person. There was a reason why the person seemed so familiar.
As she tries to catch up to the person, she realizes that she had reached the center of the hall. The person stopped walking when they reached the center, Mei looked at the person's back.
When the woman turns around, memories came flooding back into Mei. She remembers the betrayal of Sara, the sufferings that she went through because of her. She felt her rage boiling like a volcano as she reaches for her sword.
"You! How dare you come back here!"
Sara was standing in front of Mei, smiling at her. Seeing her smile, Mei felt even angrier. She pulls out her sword and was about to slash at Sara, but she was quickly disarmed by Kenta.
"What are you doing!?" Kenta was holding her sword, he turns to look at Sara with concern. "Are you okay, Sara?"
As if noticing the commotion, everyone in the hall stopped and witness the situation. The rest of her squad came to inquire about what had happened. Upon understanding the incident, they were surprised because Mei had never acted so rashly before. They were also concerned if Sara was hurt.
"Why are you guys helping her? She's a traitor!" Mei shouted angrily, pointing an accusing finger at Sara.
"What are you talking about? She is our comrade." Mikael leaped at Sara's defense.
"No! She was the reason for your death, and I couldn't do anything," Mei says as she cried, clutching her broken heart. Her cries were painful to hear, it sounded so lonely, like somehow who was badly hurt.
"What are you talking about? Aren't we here?" Mikael tried to comfort Mei.
"No! No, you're not! This is just a dream! You're already dead! And it's because of her!" Mei glared at Sara.
With renewed energy, she grabs the sword from Mikael and pulls it out, then she rushes to Sara. The rest of the squad wants to stop her, but she seemed to know their movement and avoided them. As she approaches Sara, she was still smiling as if she wasn't afraid. It was exactly like what had happened, Sara was always smiling, even when she broke her oath and betray her friends. This action made Mei even angrier, she roars as she slashes down on Sara.
The moment the blade touches Sara, it cuts through her without resistance and everything became air and vanishes.
'Come to me, my child.'
It was but a whisper that Mei heard, calling for her. The next moment, she opened her eyes, and she was back in reality. The first thing she felt was pain, it was like her whole body was on fire, hurting all over.
It hurts to even breathe normally, she could only take small breaths. She looked around and finds herself in an unfamiliar place, it was old. That was the first word that came into her mind that can be used to describe the place.
Someone had saved her, she was bandaged up and put to rest on a bed. It was not exactly comfortable, but it was something. Mei assumed that she was in a village hut, she had been in this kind of house before when she was younger. At least from what she remembered. It reminded her of her parents, even though the memories were murky. She could see blurred faces talking to her, she could feel the love that her parents were giving her. She smiled unconsciously at the scene playing in her mind.
The door opens abruptly, interrupting her flow of flashback. A child was looking at her, her blue eyes staring at her. She shows a bright and innocent smile at the sight of Mei looking at her. Then she runs off, shouting to other people that Mei was awake.
Mei was instantly on guard, but it wasn't like she could do anything in the form she was in. The young girl returns a moment later with an elderly person and a man that seem to be in his mid-thirties. They stood upon her, looking at her, the young girl was still smiling at her.
"Off you go." The man told the young girl, she turns around to leave, giving Mei one more glance, giggling, before she ran off.
The man took a chair from the side of the bed and placed it in front of the elderly woman which she sat down. The man stood beside the elderly woman and there was silence. Nobody spoke, merely observing.
The elderly woman had gray hair, she was using a walking cane to assist her in walking, her blue eyes were observing Mei. The man, on the other hand, had short brown hair, similar to the small girl just now, and they all share the same eye color.
"What is your name, girl?"
The elderly woman spoke, breaking the awkward silence that envelops the room. The woman was staring at Mei, observing her expression and actions. Mei stares back, pondering if she should respond.
"My name is Mei." After a moment of thinking, she said when she decided it should be fine since they had saved her.
"Hmm... why were you injured?"
"... I was involved in a –" Mei started coughing as her mouth was too dried.
The elderly woman looked at the man, the man seemed to understand, and he went to fetch a cup of water. He helped Mei to sit up straight and feed her the water slowly.
"Let me guess, you had a battle of life and death, then you fell onto the river."
"How did you –" Mei wanted to ask her how she knows but was cut short.
"My name is Margrave Joscelyn, but you can just call me Margrave, and this is Yeoman. He is the chief of our village. I am a –"
"A prophet. I can pretty much guess that." Mei interrupted. "Since you knew what happened to me without needing me to tell you."
Margrave smile at Mei, it was the first expression that she had shown Mei since she entered the room. They had purposely remained expressionless when they came into the room. "I see you have some knowledge of us prophets."
"Not really, I just happened to read about you, and heard stories about you."
"Very well, we shall not disturb you for long, since Aisha came shouting, telling us that you've awoken, we had come to check on you." Margrave paused, "And since now we are acquainted with one another, we shall leave you to your rest."
Mei said nothing, she watched them left. She was wondering how the village looked like. Another person came in not long later, which he introduced himself as Bayard, the doctor of the village.
He came to have a look at Mei and give her a briefing on her injuries. Based on the information provided by the doctor, she had wounds all over her body, but it was not the most serious. The wound on her leg was the most serious, she was surprised because she remembered that she was hit in the body as well. Bayard explained that she was lucky as the arrow was blocked by a totem and it had saved her life, but the wound on her leg might not heal completely in the future.
Regardless, she was lucky to have survived the river with all the wounds on her body. The river was not to be trifled with, even when you have a healthy body. The treacherous stream could drown most people, even if you know how to swim. Some stones could have crushed the person caught in the stream.
* * *
The next few days passed in a haze, Mei was only able to lie on the bed and wait for the time to pass. She was not able to do anything but constantly dream.
It was at least a week later that Mei was able to get off the bed and walk. Her body still ached at the movement, but it was not as bad as it was initially. At least she could move around, albeit slowly. She finally got her wish to get out of bed, she was about to die of boredom. The company of Aisha had helped a little.
Now that she was out of bed, she could finally see how the village looked like. As she walked out of the hut, she realized that the village was located deep within the woods, the surrounding area was filled with the forest.
It felt tranquil and peaceful.
There were multiple houses span out over the area, people were walking around, but as Mei appeared, those who noticed her began to stare at her as they walked past. Bayard stood behind her, to ensure that she won't hurt herself when she moved around.
Aisha was tugging at her clothes, ushering her to follow. Aisha was exceedingly excited to show Mei around the village. Bayard had told her that the elder and the village chief wished to meet her once she has seen the rest of the village.
The villagers tended to themselves, and according to Bayard, they seldom go out to town for trading. They have everything they need in the village itself. It was completely self-sufficient. The things they need were mostly for entertainment purposes only or rare goods.
"Don't you have other patients to attend to?" Mei asked as she walks towards the village's main courthouse.
"You are the only patient I have for now," Bayard explained. "We don't often have people that need tending."
Mei merely nods in response. She would have to rest here, in the village, until she is fully healed. Once she has fully recovered, she would embark on a journey. She would have to return to Inkrirdar first to inform the others if they are still alive. Her next objective was to find Sara and exact revenge for her betrayal.
For now, she had to slowly make her way to the town hall. As Mei walked towards the town hall, she was told some things about the village.
The village was old, the villagers had lived here for many generations, because of the terrain and the fact they were deep in the woods, they were not easily found by invaders or other people.
Based on the information that Mei pieced together, the house that she stayed in currently belonged to a man named Wilton Brightwight. He was out on a journey, so they decided to put her in his house. Another thing that Mei noticed was the house was quite a distance away from the main quarters of the village, it also looked much simpler and more insignificant when compared to other houses.
Mei noticed there were guard towers at the main entrance of the village, though it was camouflaged almost seamlessly. There were people standing guard, with assorted weaponry. Some of the men even wore armors.
They don't seem to be an ordinary village, a normal village wouldn't have so many trained men that are ready for combat. Something was off about this village, but if they won't be getting in her way for revenge, then she won't care about them. Everyone has a secret.
She reached the courthouse after some time, when she enters the place, there was a long table in the middle of the room. At the end sat the prophetess Margrave, and other people were sitting on the right side of the table. The left side of the table has only two chairs and it was left empty, most probably for her.
"Ahh... Mei, you have arrived." Margrave smiles warmly at Mei as she greeted her. She motions Mei to take a seat on the place prepared for her.
Mei sat down on the chair as requested, she observed the people on the opposite side. The man sitting closest to Margrave was Yeoman, the chief of the village. She could not identify the rest of the people. Bayard took a seat beside Mei.
"Now, no need to pay attention to the rest, they just wanted to meet you in person," Margrave said as if sensing Mei's curiosity.
Aisha had left her once she arrived at the destination, Aisha went off to play with her friends. Yeoman and four other persons were gawking at Mei like a hawk. It made Mei uncomfortable, so she decided to stare back at them.
"Very well, since you have now seen her as you wanted, leave us some privacy."
The other four persons look at Yeoman who nods in agreement. They got up and left without saying anything. Mei looked at Margrave as she waited, there was a reason why she was summoned here.
"How about we go for a short walk, a good way to clear our mind." Margrave stood up and walked away, she motioned for Mei to followed her.
Mei sighed as she stood up and followed her, her leg hurt as she moved. She stole a glance at Yeoman as she walks towards the prophetess, the man was still sitting on the chair, sipping on his tea.
When Mei turns back to look at Margrave, the old woman had already left the room. She was surprised that Margrave can move surprisingly fast for an old woman, it took Mei some time and effort to catch up.
At the back of the town hall was a small garden, it was filled with beautiful flowers and plants. Mei was in awe of the place the moment she steps foot in it, it felt very nice to be in this kind of calm environment. It somehow reminded her of her past when she was young, there was a garden where she often visited with Kenta.
"Why are you standing there? Come sit with the old lady." The old woman was sitting on a bench in the middle. She was patting on the space beside her.
Mei wipes off her teary eyes and walks to Margrave, sitting beside her. Margrave took Mei's hand and holds it in one hand while tapping her hand with another. Mei looks at her strangely, she had no idea what Margrave was trying to do.
"What are you doing?"
"Hush, girl. Just listen for now." Another few tap on the palm. "I know you have been through a lot, that you have lost a lot."
Mei instantly put her guard up when she heard that, and Margrave merely laughs at her action.
"How did you know?" Mei asked in a low voice, her voice seemed about to crack.
"I am old, but not incapable." Margrave paused. "And I am a prophet, of course I know many things. Like the reason why you are here, how you are destined to wash ashore the river next to our village." She sighs. It was the first time Mei heard her sigh since she arrived in the village. "You don't have to keep all the feelings pent up inside, just let it out, girl."
Hearing what she said made Mei teary, the next moment, it was like unscrewing the tap water as Mei began crying and sobbing. She cried to her heart desire, letting all the emotions out, the loss of her closest friends and comrades.
Almost every night she dreamed of them, of the same scene where she was pitiful and unable to help. She could only watch them die, and she has to keep watching them die again and again in the dream.
The tears flowed without stopping, her cries sounded so pitiful, people walking outside the town hall could hear the cries and it made them felt heartache and sad, it made them sympathize with the person crying, and they thought about what the person has gone through to cry like that.
Bayard who were waiting with Yeoman heard the cry, he recognized the voice, and he shakes his head, he pitied the girl. Yeoman looked at the direction where the sound came from and merely shakes his head.
After what seemed minutes, Mei had to force herself to stop crying because she feared she might go on without stopping. She felt better after crying it out loud, she wiped the excess tears off her eyes using her hand, and she looks at Margrave.
The old woman comforted her like a mother would a child. She looks at Mei. "You are destined for great things, but your path is treacherous and perilous. Be strong, in heart and mind. When there is an opportunity for power, seize it, but remember, don't lose yourself to it." She sighs again. "My time is almost up, but your life is only just beginning." Margrave tousle Mei's hair slowly, while this happened, Mei felt warmth in her heart.
Mei did not what to say. And Margrave continued. "Take a break in the village. Know some people, they are all very friendly. Speak to Yeoman if you need anything, he is a good man. You can always trust him."