Lin Na inhaled a shaky breath, thinking back to the day the imperial army invaded her village in the Hun Nan province - and she solemnly watched the rain drizzled.
" After the attack,my mother, my brother and I struggled to get to the other side of the forest - where most of our people have set up camps and shelter. But by the time we get there, it was too late - and we were almost caught. If it wasn't for my abilities."
She remembered gripping her mother tight, shielding her from the soldiers. She remembered watching her wail in despair, because she couldn't do anything except to watch her people get either dragged away or killed.
" She always told me, to run. To never fight, but to always run. Even if I knew that it was all going to catch up with me someday, I kept running. I ran, and I ran. We ran, and we ended up safe and alive, with a promise that a boat will take us away to the west. That we will be safe there."
Erik was silently watching her from across the chair, and she swallowed a lump in her throat - trying to stop her voice from quivering.
" Little did I know, was that promise was for only one of us. Only one of us can go, and the rest of us has to stay. We never had much money, and when the war struck,we barely had enough to feed ourselves. The only thing keeping us alive was the fear of death."
Images of her salvaging food and water arose from the corners of her mind, and she shook them off - fearing that it would break her composure.
" My mother erased the possibility of her leaving us alone there,and my brother was barely a child. The only option was me. She begged me to take it, to leave her behind while I start a new life."
She shook her head," I couldn't do it. Yet, she insisted. With the troops on our tails, I had no choice but to leave. Until today, I haven't seen them. It has been more than 20 years.Yet I know they're alive, the only thing they managed to send me are postcards. Other than that, I have to pray to the gods to protect them, because if I can't then who can?"
Lin Na fished out a folded paper inside her pocket, and she unfolded them. It was crinkled and crumpled on the edges, yet she showed him.
Erik took it, carefully holding it as if it might crumble within his fingers. There was a poorly taken picture of an elderly woman, holding hands with what seemed to be her son- Lin Na's brother, who was most likely a teenager by this time. Their faces looked forlorn, as if they were grieving.
There was a scribbled note beside it, but Erik couldn't read it - not only because the handwritting seemed rushed, but half of them were in mandarin.
