We walked through the courtyard to my mother's grave. I held the pair of dove earrings in my left hand and raised it up to the sky. It was nearing dusk as the pair of earrings glisten in the remaining sunlight.
Our General walked next to me and I couldn't help but to admire his resolve. Not all teachers are good teachers. Mr Lemmon was a prime example of that. He was no where to be seen after the duel. He was the new recruit's teacher not our General and yet it was our General who stayed.
This was a world where he was forced to be in and yet his taken it in strides. He has a smile on him even though the challenges that laid ahead would be difficult and the goal to find a way for his students to be sent back home, damn well impossible.
Faron is the only one we know off that has the capabilities to do such a feat, after all he was the person who created the summoning circle. All we have to do is to get him on our side…
"What do you think of the girl?" The General spoke after a few minutes of walking silently. "Fina, was it?"
"Uh…. What did you say? Sorry, I wasn't paying attention…" I shook my head to clear my mind.
"What do you think of Fina?" He asked with a sly smile.
"I… I… don't know what to think…" I mumbled.
"What do you mean?"
"General, you have witnessed my personality before I changed… I am a prince who have slept with a lot of women… I treated all those women badly… I'm afraid…" I could barely make my words sound coherent as my mind reminded me of who I used to be.
"Tell me, the man that you are now, what are your feelings towards Fina?"
"I don't know what I'm feeling, this is all new to me… I guess I felt warmth from her and I just don't mean heat… she has this presence that took all the worries inside of me and casted them away. She's clumsy as you saw yet energetic and full of life. She was the first woman who was not afraid of me… though I bet if I told her about my past, she'll run far away from me."
"Well it's too far to say since we only met her today, maybe when you meet her for the second time, you'll have an answer to the last part."
"I wouldn't be offended if she did."
"Don't worry too much about it, just take one moment at a time."
Take one moment at a time…
"Thanks for the advice." I said and he gave me a nod.
We walked in silence through the training grounds and I felt a lump in my chest. I knew my old self was horrible and my mind kept going back to the night where I first met the general. He saved his student from me and not only that but also gave me a second chance. He's a really good person and a teacher.
I looked over and without thinking, I blurted something out that had been on my mind since that day.
"Do you resent me?" I asked and he turned his head.
"Do I resent you?" He asked in confusion.
"What I did to your student…"
"The old you, yes. The new you, no."
"But… I… I…"
"It's all in the past, so lets leave it there. Leave your old self behind and embrace the new you. The new you who, in a moment, might just gained something important."
"Something important?" I asked not sure what he meant by that.
"True love. You said it yourself, the old you who had hooked up with many girls, had never once viewed them as potential love but what I saw at the jewellery shop, the way you acted, was something new for you."
"Yes, your right. I have never acted the same way in front of the others, as I did with Fina…"
"Well there ya go. And besides the granny likes you, so be true to the new you."
"I see… oh we're here." I was so engrossed with the conversation that we nearly walked right pass my mother's grave.
Her grave was located in a secluded place within the kingdom. No one is allowed to be here but me and father.
There were flowers of all types scattered around with a small stream that ran across the area and ended up into a small pond. Trees surrounded the area, encasing it, it was like her little sanctuary.
The grave itself was a statue of her and a plaque underneath that said, 'Queen Ralmia Daloris, Beloved wife, Beloved Mother.'
Around her grave was littered with trinkets, I placed over the years. Most of them came from granny's jewellery shop. Amongst the sea of trinkets was a small vase that held a single flower.
It was pristine white and glistened under the descending sun. Even in complete darkness, the flower glowed like an ethereal beacon. It's the only flower here that I was drawn to.
The placed the dove earrings with the other trinkets.
"Is that the snow flower?" The general asked in awe.
"Yes. My mother brought this flower with her when she left her tribe. It's the only reminder of home for her."
"It's beautiful."
"Yes and magical too."
"Magical?"
"It is said that a single petal from the flower is powerful enough to cure most illnesses, boost magical affinity and prolong life."
"Can it cure heart disease?" The general blurted out and it took me a second to register what he was saying.
"I don't know…"
"It can." A voice that sounded a lot like granny came from behind me. "You're talking about Dryaonia aren't you?"
I turned around to see granny and Fina standing at the entrance of the enclosure.
"Yes." The general said as he turned around around as well.
"That's the only heart disease it can cure and whoever has said heart disease must consume the flower within a year of the disease's cycle or it's magical properties won't work."
"I see."
"General, who has the disease," I asked out of concern. There is in no way the general would have knowledge of such disease and the cure for it if there was no one who has it.
"She doesn't have it right now… but she will in the near future. Her name is Rona, vice captain of the Silver Hawks."
"How do you know this?" I demanded.
"One of my student's memory journal told me…"
"Memory journal? That's some powerful memory magic." The granny voiced in awe.
"Why would one of your students have a memory journal about the vice captain of the Silver Hawks?"I asked curiously.
"Because in the future, he is her husband."
"I want to see the two." The granny said suddenly. "But first I want to greet your mother. Fina dear, can you hand over the case to me?"
"Of course, grandma."
She handed granny a small wooden case. Granny took the case and walked to my mother's grave. She place the case down onto the ground and knelt on her knees.
Granny opened the box and took something out from the box. She then took the item and pierced the ground with it. When I looked closely at it, it looked like a stake. It had faces carved into it.
"It's a totem stake."
I turned my head to see Fina was standing next to me.
"Totem stake?"
"Yes, it's a stake given by nature to our tribe. We are the protectors of nature and nature provides our tribe with it's resources. Even though I've lived here all my life, grandma taught me everything about our tribe, it's traditions and culture. Our tribes lives through my grandmother but it also lives through us. You and me are the last two descendants of our tribe. Not only that but you are the chief's daughter's son. I am the granddaughter of the handmaiden that took care of your grandfather and mother. It's fate, don't you think?"
"Fate… I guess so… but aren't you afraid of me?"
"Afraid of you? Well you are the prince and I have heard rumours of your past."
"I see, so you are…" I felt by heart beat thumped loudly in my chest. This was it, she's going to reject me.
"But you don't seem like the person you were before."
I looked into her eyes and she gave me a soft smile.
"Quiet you two, I'm trying to concentrate!"
Granny had her hands out and started to say something but I couldn't understand any of it.
"She's speaking to the spirits," Fina whispered to me. "Look, they're appearing."
I looked closely and surrounding granny was little blue orbs that moved in no particular order.
"They're beautiful." I turned my head to Fina and to my surprise, she was watching me the whole time.
"What's wrong?" I asked her.
"N-n-nothing…" she averted her eyes from me.
"Silly girl, come over here and greet your future mother-in-law."
"Grandma!"
Fina rushed over and knelt beside her grandmother.
"Little prince and Mr Huang, both of you should come over too."
General and I walked over and I knelt next to Fina.
I got into the same posture as granny and held my hands in the same hand gesture as her. She had her hands out and her head raised high as if she was looking at the sky.
"Repeat after me, Lacdom macon vesa!"
We all repeated the same words as she did.
"Lacdom macon Veda!"
"Spirits of the world, I pray you watch over us, guide our young generation to a brighter future!"
As soon as she said that, the totem stake lit up and resonated with the snow flower. Once it was over, granny got up and bowed to my mother.
"Until my last dying breath, I promise I will watch over them as I did for you. Their fate has now been intertwined, our tribe may prosper once more."
Once she gave my mother a final goodbye, she turned and walked out of the sanctuary.
We followed right behind her. Once we exited the sanctuary, I saw granny gestured to one of my knights who came over carrying a large case.
She asked the knight to lay the case down in front of me and then she opened it in front of me.
"This belonged to your grandfather."
Inside the case was a weapon I've never seen before. It looked like a long staff with cravings of animals all over it. There were also words etched down the staff.
"This is a staff given to our ancestors by nature. It has been passed down from generation to generation of our chiefs. As the heir of the Daloris tribe, this staff is now yours. The chief, your grandfather asked me to keep this staff safe until the day, his daughter's child is old enough to lead our tribe back from the ruins. It was his last dying wish."
"I see."
"You'll do great. I will be right beside you all the way. We're connected now, as if I've waited all my life for this day, the day I met my chief." Fina said with a smile. She knelt down and picked up the staff and then presented the staff to me. As I took the staff from her, she leaned up and kissed my cheek.
I was stunned on the spot as my heart raced but the power within the staff that bursted out pulled me out of my trance. The power rose up and formed into an image of a snake and the snake in a split second strike it's fangs at me.
"Declare your self to the staff. Announce that you are now the new head of the Daloris tribe!" Granny shouted.
I felt my mouth move on it's own as if I was not the one in control of it at this moment.
"I, Marlos Sepetum by my family's rights is now the new head of the Daloris tribe. I will serve nature and protect my people."
The snake rose high up and then strikes it's fangs into me. I felt my heart pulsate loudly in my head as my whole body ignited into flames. I wanted to scream but no sound came out of my mouth.
As if the flames had burned my body for an eternity, the burning sensation finally stopped and felt a surge of power within my body. I looked down at myself in hopes that I hadn't lost anything and thankfully I still have everything still accounted for.
"Come knights! Take your captain back to his room. I don't think he can move for tonight. Fina dear, go with your new chief and take good care of him."
"Yes grandma."
I looked to Fina and her face turned instantly red when our eyes met. I could tell that her eyes wanted to avert my gaze but her eyes still locked with mine. I tried to move my legs but they wouldn't budge. I felt hands gripped my arms and I swerve my head to see Grayson was on my right and Loc was on my left. They both lifted my arms and draped them around the necks and hoisted me off the ground.
They both then carried me away. I turned my head around and saw that Fina was following right behind us, her face still bright red but she had a smile on her face.
In my mind, I wondered what granny meant by 'taking good care of me?'