The Faith

Chapter 4 -Steps to Dignity, Stairway to Destiny

Picture on the side is Nova age 7

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"Why do the High Council want me dead?" Shea's thoughts tumbled past her lips before she could stop them.

Desari sighed; she had been expecting the question to pop up at some point, but was still unsure how to answer it. How can you tell someone why they are being hunted when you don't know yourself? Being an assassin, Desari never really thought about why she killed her contracts, all she knew was a job needed to be done and someone had to do it. There was no time for 'whos' and whys', because a name would mean an attachment and attachments lead to emotions. No. Emotion leads to loss and Desari had had too much of that.

The raven haired woman sat perched on the window seat next to Shea, deep in thought. Curious as to what had her so entranced, Shea quietly slipped into her mind...

235 years ago -

No one ever played with Desari except for one; Nova. No other outcasts ever even spoke a word to her, not after the first day of training; all the children in Maestra Florence's class were weak compared to Desari. They were outside by the lake, the crisp autumn wind swirled the amber and gold leaves around the muddy ground, the morning sun still low in the sky, casting reddish-orange hues through the needles of pine-cones. The fresh, clean scent of the pine trees lingered in the air and the sound of children's laughter rang out a clear melody beside the tranquil lake.

All the children were here to learn the rules of Crow-ball; it was a free-for-all game where an oblong ball was placed afloat in the middle of the lake, the children would swim over to the ball, take it and swim to the small island in the north section of the lake. Once they reached the destination they would 'crow' as loud as they could, a signal so the other players would know someone has the ball. Then all the remaining players would surround the small, round island and the player with the ball has to defend the island using force to push the other members of the game back into the water. The person with the ball had to defend the fort successfully for seven minutes. If someone overthrew the player with the ball they would then 'crow' so the other players knew someone else was defender, the seven minutes would then restart until someone held the fort successfully for the whole seven minutes.

Maestra Florence blew the shrill whistle and all the children waded into the crystal water, giggling whilst pushing each other over. Desari was at the far right hand end of the horizontal line, concentration set deep in her brow as she tried to determine the best route to get to the ball. All the other children were now swimming towards the ball while Desari stood motionless.

Seeing Desari still not moving, Maestra Florence called her name. Not getting a response, Maestra walked over and put her hand on the raven-haired girls shoulder.

"Go Desari, don't be afraid of the water."

Looking up Desari frowned at the Auburn haired teacher. She wasn't afraid of the water, she was giving herself a challenge by allowing the other children a head start.

"Forgive me Maestra. I was just giving the other children a fair chance." She grinned at the teacher before swan-diving into the chilly water.

The other children had just made the quarter mark in the lake, one more quarter and they would reach the ball. Under the water Desari could just make out the shape of legs, but within four breast-strokes she had halved the distance between them. Maestra Florence stood observing from the start position at the edge of the lake, her mouth wide open. Her raven student had been in the water for no more than ten seconds and already she was at the head of the group.

Gripping the oblong ball tightly under her left arm, Desari threw her head back and 'crowed', pride in her achievement accenting every note. Taking off at full speed in the direction of the island Desari decided to see how far her competitors had gotten. Sixteen children lagged behind, only just reaching the half way point with sour expressions on their faces. Laughing gleefully Desari turned back around and was about to start swimming again when something yanked her beneath the surface. Kicking and thrashing did nothing to get rid of the grip around her ankle. Looking around for the unknown foe Desari spotted a white haired boy. His big amber eyes held amusement and he waved at her under the water with his free hand. His smile was infectious and Desari smiled back at him, just as he let go of her ankle. They both broke the surface and looked at each other.