Pertemis A Moon's Tale

Chapter XXVIII: Tale of the Mysterious Healer

Percy's POV

My vision was blurry. I couldn't tell it was day or night for my surroundings was quite dark, saved for the illumination of candle light on the wet walls. Before me was a thatched ceiling, but I couldn't make up its clear image for I was still disoriented. My ears were buzzing madly and before I could manage to sit up, a pair of hands forced me to lay down on a soft bed.

I couldn't tell her face clearly, but I could say she wore some sort of a mask. She leaned over me, forcing me down as she started sipping something into my mouth. It tasted bitter.

"Careful, you are too weak to do anything now" her voice was soft, but with the oozing noise at my ears, I couldn't make up much of what she said after.

The drugs took its effect and I fell into my internal slumber.

Lunar's POV

Grabbing the basket on the wall and swung it over my shoulder. I pulled out the knife and fitted it to my belt. I looked at the table and the potato I left on the fire overnight has turned cold. Dammit, look like I'll having an unpleasant lunch again. But I didn't mind that anymore, the herbs only spring at their best in the early morning, when the dews just started to form.

I almost forgot it if the sunlight didn't reflect the fabric of that cloth. It was a simple white cloth, smooth like silks but sparkles when moonlight shines upon it. I wrapped the cloth around my face, clipped it in place by the pin at the hair right above the tips of my ears. Glancing at my reflection on the mirror to ensure that the cloth has covered half of my face from the nose bridge down, so only my eyes were shown to others. I was instructed to only reveal my face to the one that I'm willing to mate with. I don't know why until this day, but I held on to that tradition. This cloth has been passed down for many generations in my family, only the eldest girl is bestowed upon this honour. The Arken family has been regarded as the line of shamans, which the female could communicate with the spirits and predict future. True enough my mother and grandmother could do tricks with moonlight, but I knew it wasn't any magic at all. Perhaps, it was this lack of belief that kept me from being able to communicate with any spirit. My mother said I looked just like the first shaman, but prettier. Having said that, I should be born with a special gift which was to talk to the spirits. But ever since I was younger until I have been given the cloth for I was the only child, I never once could feel the spirits around me, let alone predicting the future.

The onnly thing that I inherited from my family though was the ability to distinguish herbs and use them to cure diseases. The villagers thought we had magic that could cure people, but it simply was just knowledge of medicine that has been passed down for generations. Apparently, I am the best healer in the family tree.

I set out and took a breath of fresh air in the early morning before taking off to the forest. Being a shaman has its downfall though. Since we treated ourselves as a higher class than the rest of the villagers, shaman have to stay isolated in the mountains and only come out to get supplies. Even when I go down the village, no one would dare approach or talk to me because they think if they make me angry, I may put a curse on them.

My family has been living in this valley for so long now. It was said the first shaman discovered the valley when she fell down the mountain. Everyone thought the dark valley beneath the mountain ranges was filled with darkness and monsters. But it turned out to be a paradise in here. There was a forest of bamboos, merging with oaks and beeches in the far west. A large river rolled from the west mountains down across the valley, creating a series of waterfalls before it disappeared into the mountains on the east. Because the valley was surrounded by high mountains from all sides, not many people were able to come close to us. If there was any, it would be those that wanted to seek a prophecy. Generally, the shaman would come down the village through the secret cave that led through the mountains. When we are down in the village, we only help curing people but would not give out any prophecy. It is said the valley gave us our power. If we were to get away from it, we would not be able to communicate with the spirits anymore. I was glad for this because even now, I had not been able to see any future yet, let alone giving one. So far, no one has been seeking for a prophecy so it's considered a good thing.