The Night Rider

Chapter 64

I jerk awake as soon as I feel a pain on my cheek. My eyes shoot open and look into the red eyes of Novak. Confused, I search around me for where I am and what happened. Slowly I come up, Novak supporting me with his hands around my waist. 'Is Rafiki awake?' Dazed, I look around me. Further away Rafiki lies lifeless in the grass. Chea and Nuri are standing over the girl.

I try to run to Rafiki but it's more like stumbling. Novak tries to grab me but I am ahead of him. I fall to my knees as soon as I am standing next to Rafiki. I want to put my hand on her wrist, but Chea stops me. She doesn't say anything, just looks. Her eyes express different emotions, surprise and suspicion. 'Why have we been unconscious for ten minutes and you for hours?'.

I did not realise how out of this world I was until Chea said this. 'No idea,' I lie to my best friend. She silently lets go of my hand. I put my hand on Rafiki's wrist, and the next moment her eyes shoot open. Rafiki seems to be gasping for breath. She looks around confused, just as confused as I was when my eyes opened. Her eyes shoot from her mother, to Chea, to me.

'You all right?'. Nuri is the first to ask her daughter something. Rafiki's eyes are enlarged to the point where I wonder what she has seen or felt. 'Christiaan'. I jerk as soon as I hear that name from Rafiki's mouth. It is so soft and so full of pain that this can no longer be a coincidence. She looks deep into my eyes, she seems to be searching for something. My mouth is full of teeth and I have no idea what to say.

Her eyes shoot from me to Chea. 'Is Aishat still alive?'. Again, I am surprised. Even Chea, who is never at a loss for words, doesn't know what to say. 'I don't know,' she mutters. Her eyes are stricken, confused. Finally, Rafiki's eyes go to her mother. I expect an anger and swearing but nothing is further from the truth. 'I get it'. Even Nuri seems surprised.

'How did you come up with this?'. I couldn't hold the words in any longer. Rafiki seems to want to get up so I help her up, supporting her hands. Her white dress is dirty from the mud and wet from the water. She straightens the wet fabric as far as she can. She stands up and looks at all three of us, 'I have seen your lives played out before my eyes'. Why hadn't I come up with this myself? Of course she sees that as she is connected to our lives.

'Did you see everything?', Nuri asks. Slowly Rafiki nods. All three of us don't have a history that makes you very happy, it must be a lot to take in. 'Anyone want a sandwich?'.
We all turn round, confused. Novak has a habit of making the stupidest suggestions at the wrong times. The man stands with a bag in one hand and a sandwich in the other. Chea bursts out laughing slightly, while Nuri, Rafiki and I stare at him in estrangement.

'Wrong moment?' His smile turns into a confused expression. There's only one person who can make such a suggestion at a time like this and that's Novak. I don't really know whether to be happy with his light-hearted proposal or angry. Rafiki is the one who walks up to him and grabs a sandwich from his hands. 'No.' The next moment, she takes a bite of the sandwich. A small smile appears on my face. I walk over to Novak and take a sandwich from his bag. He smiles small as we seem to pick up life again. The words Rafiki uttered rage in my head, not knowing what or if I should do anything with them.

I look around me, searching for something to distract my mind. Noa has sat down on the grass and is staring lifelessly ahead. I walk over to him and sit down next to him. 'Are you all right?', I ask him. I haven't spoken to him since the incident this morning.

He picks up a twig from the ground and starts picking at it. 'Yeah,' he mumbles. 'She'll come around'. I try to reassure him but it doesn't seem to work. Noa shrugs nonchalantly, but his sadness can be read in his posture. I sit next to him in the grass for a while, silent. The others are having a conversation about something that I cannot and will not follow. I am alone with my thoughts and that is fine.

The spell seems to have worked, Rafiki is connected to us. It is a strange thought that she has seen everything I have gone through. It makes me think about my own life and past. Fair is fair, I have not experienced the best of times. However dark some periods were, I also have good memories. The time I roamed the world with Novak, my flying hours on my nazu and the good people from my past.

Novak takes a seat in the grass next to me and Noa. 'Well done, boy'. He taps Noa on the shoulder and smiles contentedly. Noa nods but doesn't look up. He throws the twig in front of him. 'Why did you get so angry this morning?' I still wonder if Noa knows what a blood tie is. The question is directed at Novak, so I keep quiet. Novak looks around, looking for Rafiki who is standing metres away.

'You know what a blood tie is?' To my surprise, Noa nods, aware of his action. 'Your blood bond goes even further than just your blood, it's also in your soul. You stay here, Rafiki's soul is moved. This does not mean that the bond disappears. You will continue to feel each other and be in contact, although Rafiki probably does not realise this. I don't dare say for sure but there is a chance that because of this Rafiki will never be able to have a real relationship with anyone, she will always have you at the back of her mind'.

Novak is right, there is a chance that Rafiki will never be able to love in a relationship. It is a miracle to God that both Novak and I have ever had another love. Yet Novak always remained in the back of my mind, like a parasite that never disappears. The older she gets, the stronger that bond will become again and she will realise it more. Novak now says something I didn't know either.

'What do you mean the older she gets?', I ask this time. Novak pulls his legs in and wraps his hands around them. 'I was thinking about the time when Nuri was young. She was bound to that fish and was too weak to fight it. Her body may have been almost human, but her soul was not. The older she got, the more powerful. Rafiki will not regain her magic. But she is bound to you in such a way that her memories must come back somewhere, even if it is not her own then it is yours'.