The Night Rider

Chapter 13

Rafiki

As soon as my feet touch the grass I let my eyes glide through the forest.  The only people, except for my mother, who I didn't want to see, just looked me in the eye.  I let a sigh slide over my lips.  My hand glides over the scales of Riviri.  I think deeply, but my thoughts seem like an endless maze where there is no exit.

Right now I have two cards to choose from.  One is to find my home in the Andes forever, and further, never to return to the castle and choose an existence that doesn't even seem the worst to me.  I would choose for the safety of Riviri and leave everyone behind who is dear to me.

The other card is to return to the castle and pretend the incident of just never happened, avoid Celeste and my father as much as possible and hope that this blows away like the clouds.  However, I know this will not be an option, which will turn out the way I hope it will.  The moment I walk through the castle doors the interrogations will start.

I hope to be able to look at my two cards for a while, but fate plagues me.  My father's red dragon appears from behind the trees.  In a moment my heart seems to stop, my breath seems to be taken away and the blood seems to run out of my veins.  The first reaction I have is the only one that comes to mind.

I jump on Reviri's saddle and want to command him to find his way to the clouds, but it's different.  'stamatíste'.  The sounds come from the mouth of Celeste jumping from the red dragon at the height of the trees.  She lands on her feet and bends her knees, a technique I know better than anyone.

'pigaíno'.  I try to command Reviri to take off, but he seems to be restrained by Celeste's hand.  Rudderless I sit in the saddle and look at the woman walking quietly in my direction on her black heels.  At first glance there is nothing strange about the woman until I look into her eyes.

They are not her normal brown color but dark black, as deep as the scales protecting Reviri.  Once again my breath has been taken away from me.  I thought I was the only one with those eyes, that look and that language.  I thought I was the only one of my kind but I was wrong.  The myth is true, and stands before me.

Celeste stops in front of Reviri and seems hypnotized by the animal.  She reaches out her hand and lets her fingers slide over the scales.  Together with my father we follow her movement in silence.  My father and I cross our eyes.  The look he carries in his eyes is one that I find difficult to place.  It is different, different from the way he looks at my mother.

As soon as I turn my eyes back on Celeste, hers is looking at me.  They have their normal brown color back.  'He's beautiful,' are the first words that leave her mouth.  At that moment I want to ask her the shirt off her body, answer the millions of questions in my head and above all clarity.

'I thought I'd never see them again.  When I heard that the last Nazu had been killed, my world, my purpose and the only hope I had left broke.  He was mine.' The pain can be seen in her eyes.  Tears would be shed if she still had them.  She looks at me even though she knows that her eyes release her emotions.

My father lets himself slide from the red dragon and walks in our direction.  I can imagine that the man has many more questions than I have, yet he keeps his mouth shut and listens.  He stops next to Celeste and looks at Reviri.  Still sitting in the saddle, despite my urge to flee, I have too many unanswered questions to go.

'I think it's time to tell you guys something.' Celeste sighs and seems to be gathering courage.  She doubts but then starts a long story.  'My father was a tyrant, a madman and a murderer.  The man lived in a deep pit of black among the dreaded creatures this world possesses.  As if it were a fairy tale where good and evil existed, he was the deepest point of evil.'

'He wanted the power to get humans out of the world, all he needed were the four lifelines that give power to our world.  The lines that run through the ground and converge in the Andes.  The guardians of the lines, the Night Riders, were his target.  But he didn't know his daughter was one of them.  I always fought with myself or that it would help if I had told him, but after he cursed Elien the question was answered'.

I don't know much about Elien, just the standart.  I know that the man has fled a lot in his life and that Chea needs to keep him as he is now.  'For me, too, the first dead Nazu was a shock, something no one ever thought could happen.  But I did have the knowledge of whoever did it.  Maybe I was the guard and had a lot of strength, I wasn't powerful enough to fight my father on my own.'

She swallows and takes a breath.  'I knew the other Riders but I was never told my ancestry, that was better at the time.  We tried everything we could to stop him but the poison had already affected the water before we knew it.  I can't tell you what fights took place before the end was really near'

'When the fifth Nazu was shot in a big fight, I had no choice.  I flew to the Andes and with a huge pain in my heart, which I still carry, I leaved my Nazu.  It was the only way I would give him a chance and disappear into nothingness myself, the bloodline had to be maintained' again the pain is not to miss her eyes.

'I disappeared among the people, dyed my hair and threw away my costume.  I lived many lives where I met Chea, my father was defeated and many enemies passed by.  I have seen many people come and go and stories begin and end.  For the past 150 years, my job has always been to meet and guide my successor' she keeps quiet and looks deep at me.  'The moment I held you I already knew it, Rafiki that's you'.