Ancient Whispers

Chapter III Acceptance

The wind blows my hair back, and I look at the sea from the hill we're standing on "It's so big, I can't see where it ends," Karaly says, she was too little the last time we saw the sea, I barely remember it as well. It's an endless blue that goes beyond the horizon "You can swim in it once we reach the village," I say, "It must be different from swimming in rivers," Karaly says as her eyes widen in wonder, we walk down the hill, and Karaly stops walking "Where's the village the goddesses spoke of?" Karaly asks looking at me "They said it'd be over a hill, near the sea. It should be around here," I say looking at the area around the sea "The sea must have swallowed it, that village was the only one with a port that could get you to the temple," Flieris says, i-it's gone? It's because we're destroying the temples, he destroyed the village to stop us...I fall to my knees, and I stare at the beach "Sister!? What's wrong?" Karaly asks "It's gone, the whole village was swallowed by the sea," I say.

Karaly walks closer to me "It was here before we started destroying the temples," I say, I want to protect her, and give us a life without worry. But how many families did I hurt? What if that would have happened to us? "It isn't your fault, this is simply another reason why they must be stopped, their disregard for your kind should be enough evidence for you to believe that what you're doing is right," Belefra says "It doesn't change what we did," I say tearing up.

I feel tears running down my face, and Karaly kneels next to my left. She hugs me, and I look at her "You didn't know, you're doing your best to help," Karaly says "I didn't mean for this to happen," I say sobbing "It's not your fault, please," Karaly says crying, I hug her, and I hear the wind howling "If you don't finish what we started, more people will get hurt. This is what they do, force your kind to do their bidding, and kill them when they please," Flieris says "There are only two left, after this you'll be free, and you can stay with her forever," Belefra says.

The air around me becomes warmer, and I wipe the tears off my face "I'm sorry for making you cry, you're right, all of you," I say lifting Karaly's head, I wipe the tears off her face, and I stand up "There's another way to reach the temple, I'll try to call for it. Walk along the coast, you can't stop moving or the machines will find you," Flieris says "We need to go, they told us to move along the coast," I say giving Karaly my left hand, she grabs it, and I help her up.

She's staring at my hair "What is it?" I ask "The flower looks good on you," Karaly says smiling, I touch the flower that's on my hair "Thank you, yours does too," I say smiling back at her, we walk down the hill, and we move along the coast "How far are we from home?" Karaly asks "Do you mean the village we were staying on?" I ask "No, our first home," Karaly says, my heart tightens, and my right hand starts to shake "I-I don't know, maybe further than we've ever been," I say,

I hope she doesn't remember our past, she deserves better. Karaly turns me to her, and grabs my right hand "What's wrong?" Karaly asks "I don't want you to think about our home...we're doing fine now," I say "I'm sorry, I don't remember like you, thank you for always taking care of me," Karaly says hugging me, Gaile told me to leave the past behind, but I can't help this feeling...I want to give her everything I couldn't when I was weaker.

I hug her back, and we keep walking along the coast. I hear waves hitting the rocks to our right, and I see large birds soaring above us "I've never seen those before," I say "They're seagulls! I read about them in a book," Karaly says "Where did you find a book like that?" I ask glaring at Karaly "I borrowed it from Helmali when we were staying at the village," Karaly says looking away from me, she means to say that she took it while he wasn't looking "What did I say about taking other's things?" I ask "I gave it back, I swear! I only wanted to learn more about animals," Karaly says looking down at the ground.