Aqua Jewel

Chapter 2 - The Globe of Tarahabi

Not even the bad weather could bring my spirits down. The sky was gray and cloudy. It was cold and a bit windy, and it had rained the night before. The rain had collected in large puddles that were scattered everywhere. The dirt road was now a mud road.

The miserable day had kept everyone inside, so no one was there to greet me, or to wish me luck, but the smile my mother had given me was still glued to my face.

I'm sure I looked stupid wearing my big smile and fancy dress, as I skipped down the mud road towards my school, but that didn't matter to me. I came to a puddle on the side of the road that was clear enough for me to see my reflection in it. If I say so myself, I thought I looked rather beautiful. My hair was straighter than usual, and my dress flattered my skin, but the thing that stood out was my new necklace. My eyes were a slightly different shade of blue from it – unlike my mother's – but it still sparkled like a midnight star. The jewel, I now realized, was the same color as the ocean. It looked like a drop of water about to fall from the silver chain around my neck. It really was something.

Suddenly, I felt a hand on my shoulder. I gasped in surprise and turned around, expecting to see Mira, my best friend from school. Instead of Mira's smiling young face, however, I saw an old one, with dark brown eyes, curly gray hair and wrinkles. Bya was the oldest and wisest member of our village. She was the village Seer, the one with the rare talent of seeing into the future. Bya's eyes were normally small and friendly, but today they were wide open and full of fear. It was for this reason that my smile did not return to my face when I saw her.

Bya wasted no time in telling me what was on her mind, pausing to take deep breaths after every few words, as if she'd just run the length of our village.

"Miss Foote! ... " breath " ... I have seen that ... " breath " ... you are in great danger! ... " breath ... breath " ... you must beware! ... " breath "... the enemies are stronger together." Then she stared into my eyes, hoping for a sign that I had understood. She did not find it, because I had been confused ever since she had placed her hand on my shoulder. That was the thing with Bya. The poor woman tried to tell us about danger, or good fortune, but no one ever seemed to understand. If the village didn't love her so much, we probably would have asked King Trub, the ruler of Mencia, for a different Seer.

After a few seconds, Bya gave up trying to make me understand. She sighed and stared into space, lost in thought. I wasn't sure if I should continue on my way. Before I could decide, Bya looked back at me. She seemed to be surprised that I was still there.

"Well, go on then," she said.

I decided to walk the rest of the way to my school. All the cheerfulness had drained from my body, replaced with anger at not being able to understand Bya's prediction, as well as worries, for she had told me I was in danger – from what? – and confusion, for nothing that had just happened made any sense. I now felt miserable.

I started kicking around a rock that I found on the road. It gave me something to look at; something to do until I eventually got to school. My school was one of the oldest buildings in my village. It was made out of bricks that had turned brown and started crumbling over the years. Some people said that it had been built even before the Great War of Laze - which had happened more than two hundred years ago. I went inside and found my classmates standing around in the front entrance. All the other children seemed to be already in class. Was I really that late? I glanced up at the tiny clock above the double doors leading outside. Ten o'clock, it read. Nope, I was right on time. Then my stomach dropped when I remembered that the clock was seven minutes behind.