A Nagas tale

A forests grief

'

'I took over Dad's role as the watcher of this forest. My mother has been grieving my father's untimely death and our tribe's curse. She is refusing to eat and there is I have exhausted all my resources to help heal her broken heart. I asked my friend from the bear tribe to help me find a wife. This barrier remained the only safe place for my mother and me. I risked my life each time I would go to reseal the wards around the area. After months of waiting, they brought me a snake woman who seemed terrified of me. I could not refuse her seeing as my choices were limited. Although, I am still only 40 I needed to produce a child even if just one so they would take over if I were to die. Today my mother's body gave up after six months of struggling. These days it feels like torture watching my mother wither under my care. My wife has birthed a set of twins a fragile little girl and a boy. I have given them the names of Thoren and Theodora. The date is July 28th, today marks the day My wife and daughter both passed. My wife must have lost her mind if she thought leaving the barrier would be safe. My daughter was just 15 and her life was cut short by barbaric government pigs. I will have to start training my son and teach him the ways of our people.'  I close the book reading yet again how my great grandfather had to sacrifice his life to protect the location of the ancestor's cave. I take a deep breath not very happy with the horrible string of deaths in my family. I lift my eyes to Yyvonne and Kogen who are bickering over what they would take to the trip overseas. I look at the notebook Grandpa gave me made with my great grandfather's skin. I open the cover seeing there are already dates marked down and events. 'this book will record everything for me with my Aura.' I look at the date marked 'May 20th this marks the union of the ally tribe of Bears with our Naga tribe.' The ink used I'm sure Grandpa wrote it down for me. I looked at the others after I was given the book. "Audrey, have you packed your things?" I look at Kogen and turn to my small bag stuffed with three sets of clothes underwear and my notebooks. "How are you going to wear only that for a month!?" I look at Kogen who grabs my bag. "Hm, Come with me." He grabs my arm and leads me into our room. He pulls out a different bag "I meant to give this to you before we went to the lake." I look at the new bag seeing it's larger than the one I have. "This way you can pack some more clothes and carry your book with you." He offers. I hug the bag happy for the thoughtful gift. "Thank you," I whisper as he turns to my closet and starts pulling out some clothes. "it's the 28th, we have till tonight to get to Yuri's city." he huffs. I look at my clothes and start putting them away. 'it's July 28th, this is..' I stop turning to the calendar on our wall. 'it's the day Grandpa's mom and sister died.' I quickly stuff my clothes into the bag and put my extra things into the bag. "I need to go." I quickly get up and rush out of the room with my old bag. I run into the dining room and pick up all three of the books Grandpa gave me. I put them into the bag and quickly ran to the back door. "Audrey? where are you going?" Kogen follows me out. "I Need to go give Grandpa the books back before we leave!" I shout as I run out of the back gate. I find Grandpa's aura at the top of the mountain. I feel Dad's aura there too the closer I get. I learned from Kogen how to use my aura to boost my speed while running. I slip as I get to the spot where Grandpa and Dad are. I grab a nearby tree and bump my shoulder. "Audrey?" They are both shocked to see me there. I look at Grandpa seeing his tear-stained face. Dad was also crying making my heart sink. I walk over to them to the many gravestones in the area. I look at them seeing the family that clawed at life just for me to be here. I walk over to Grandpa and Dad I turn to the gravestone they stood at. I recognized the name 'Theodora.' but the name 'Lauren.' was unfamiliar. "This is my mother's and my sister's grave," Grandpa tells me. I crouch feeling how heavy the area suddenly got. 'This mountain remains a resting ground for my children.' I hear the ancestor morn. I try my best not to cry as I think of how heart-reaching it must feel. 

Audrey seemed like she was in a hurry with how fast she left the house. I decided to help her pack her clothes and get everything ready to leave. Yyvonne hands me her bag as we pack it into the wagon that would take us to Zeras. The forest's aura suddenly vanishes and the animals fall silent. I turn my eyes to the mountain where I can feel all three of the Nagas. This event is a normal thing every year on this date. I look at the village people who fell silent "Why does this happen?" Yyvonne asks. I look at her understanding her curiosity. "The forest is morning those Naga that have died to protect it," I answer. Yyvonne turns to the mountain before letting out a sad "Oh." 'It must have been that.' I sit on the wagon waiting for them to finish their morning. 'sometimes it's hard not to believe in the legend of the Ancestor.' I look at the village as they wait as well. After a few minutes, the birds start chirping again followed by any cicadas in the area. The forest's aura starts slowly spreading around once more and the people start going about their day again. I finished packing the wagon and told Yyvonne to wait in the wagon. I understand I may not have a right to be around such a sacred event. I stop a few feet from them seeing a large grave sight. "Hi Grandma, Aunt Theodora, you have no idea who I am huh?" Audrey's voice is shaky. "I am your granddaughter and niece," She introduces herself. "My name is Audrey," she takes a deep breath. "She's already married mother." The elder speaks up. Audrey nods "Yeah, I am the best husband one would ask for." she answers.  I flinch seeing the elder look at me. He waves me over with a sad smile. I walk up to the grave sight. "This is Audrey's husband, a capable young man If I do say so." He chuckles. I turn to the gravestones and bow my head as if I am meeting a living being. "This young man is the reason we have been freed of the confines of the barrier." He states. 'what?' His statement caught me off guard. "This has been a better family reunion." He chuckles. I watch Audrey as she wipes her face and nods "I hope we can come and visit some more." She giggles. I feel like I am invading such a sacred moment. Audrey stands up and takes a deep breath "I wish I got to meet you two in person." she whispers before turning to me. She smiles at me and walks over "This is Kogen, my husband." she introduces my name to the stones. I did not want to hurry her as she started chatting with the stones some more. I watched over the three as they talked and lit some incense. I look up at the skies 'We should leave soon.' I look at Audrey as she stands up again. "We should get going," she whispers pulling out the two books her grandpa had given her to read. "I came to give these to you since we are leaving for a month," she explains. The elder and her father nod "We heard from Olivia that you are going overseas with Yyvonne." the elder agrees. "Hm if you go now I think you should have enough time to catch the ship out." He tells her. She nods "Yeah, I will be back so you two need to take care of yourselves." she smiles. "I will be back soon!" she turns to the gravestones before waving bye to her family. I lead her back towards the wagon. I feel heavy with the weight of understanding how tragic her tribe is. "Grandpa said you helped free us from the barrier," she states. I peek over at her curious about what she had read in those books. "For so long after the Government took over the area, they killed my tribe," she whispers. "They acted like tyrants if they got their hands on any woman." she sighs. "for over forty thousand years my family had to hide away since the tribe was so small." she scoffs. "The government was sent to protect the tribe and the cave and yet, they played a large part in our near extinction," she murmurs "The bear tribe was the only tribe that helped them out, they brought them food and helped them get wives." she sighs. "We are in such debt with the bear tribe." she chuckles. I stop before getting to the wagon. I turn to Audrey seeing her give me a great big grin. "then some demon child and his mother killed the leaders of the government that controlled the area. His mother offered my grandfather free roam of his territory and protection." She takes my hand. "I didn't do that for his sake." I answer to which she nods walking closer "For him or not, you helped our tribe so much by restoring the balance between the government and our tribe." she hugs me rubbing her face on my clothes. I can feel her arms tremble slightly. 'She sees me as some savior.' I rest my hand on her back. 'but, savior I am not.' I turn to Yyvonne who is chatting away with the driver. 'I did as my rage wanted, I killed as my lust demanded.' I look at Audrey. "We should get going." I rub her back. She nods "Yeah, we will be late if we wait any more." she steps back wiping her face of the newest tears.