I rolled over on my bed, fighting nightmares. That just started. Ever since I was forced to live in the Tarnn manor. Perhaps it is as a result of the proximity to the man on whose orders my family and my whole clan were slaughtered...
I decide sleeping was pointless and sat up, draping the nightgown tighter around me. I climbed out of bed, my feet touching the cold floor. Somehow, it calmed me. I padded to the front door and opened it, finding a cat curled up on the step, flicking its tail.
For whatever reason, I thought of my mother, who had been cat-phobic, and had transferred her phobia to Iria, eho resembled her in every single way. When we were younger, having just fled Hakorhi and still struggling to come to terms with our new identities, I remembered getting into fights with Iria every single day and punishing myself afterwards because it meant I hated my own mother, somehow.
The cat fled. I looked on after it had left, lost in my thoughts.
Had I really hated my mother? I struggled to remember events from my childhood-- and my mother was a somehow dominating shadow, looking down at me with displeasure, questioning my likes and dislikes, wondering why I could not be more like my sister.
Which was why I was distant from her and was close to Nana instead. Nana... who had not been in Clan Hakorhi at the time of the slaughter.
My heart raced with excitement. It was strange how I did not remember that all our clan folk could not be in one place at the same time. I wondered how many others were all also probably alive...somewhere.
Could some of them had returned to Hakorhi, unaware of the disaster that occurred. Could they have got over their painful surprise and somehow, manage the pain... continuing to live there? Could they have taken it upon themselves to bury the people, clear the wreckage, and perhaps...start a new life?
Of course it was when you were struggling with nightmares that you could have such wild thoughts. But I decided to visit Clan Hakorhi again. I could find emptiness and a lot of pain there.... but I could also find...
***
I set out that very night. It was time to make my own decisions and blow Iria if I ruined her master plan. My dagger was on my person, the one gifted me by Uncle Ruhzhan. My powder belt was also with me, and, putting on a cloak to withstand the cold, I skipped the rough part of the journey by teleporting out of Valencia.
There was an old pointer at the crossroads used by merchant carts. The arrow pointing north read Savitro Zhan; the one pointing south read Termuzin and with a funny jolt, I read on the arrow pointing west, for the first time in a long time, Hakorhi.
This pointer was invisible to the non-magic user eye. The myths surrounding the pointer, which I had heard when I was a little girl, came flooding back.
'The pointer shows only existing magic user clans,' my Nana had said.
Clan Hakorhi still existed? Or did it had to do with offspring from it still alive and breathing? In any case, I would not know if I didn't make an effort.
I started the hike westwards, over small hills and cobbles. The way going was rough. There were cart tracks on the ground. As I was wondering who could be carrying goods to Hakorhi, I heard a noise behind me.
"Hella late to be traveling alone, lady,"
The man drove a cart, which screeched to a halt beside me. He was dressed in the purple tunic of a Termuzin mage. Both eyes were fathomless--he was blind.
"Greetings, fellow mage,"
He flinched.
"Your voice--"
"Do you know me?"
"I heard that voice before. How you know I'm a mage?" He asked sharply.
"There was no other way you would sense my prescence," I replied.
"Heh heh. But you flatter me. I'm only a weak link. I stole this tunic from one naughty mage like that, so don't be deceived by my dressing,"
"Sir, I'm going to Hakorhi, can you take me?"
"What your business with Hakorhi-- and in the night too! Its haunted, girl. If you looking for a thriving magic user clan where you'll be welcomed, wherever you're from-- Termuzin is the place. We both know Savitro Zhan is too far away, and only a lucky mage will make it there without giving out on the way. There's a good girl, come with me to Termuzin. Even weak links are welcome. Our clan prince is a right friendly young man. Who knows, you could even become his wife-- I can sense your prowess. Me've been making a good life convincing everyone on this road NOT to go to Hakorhi,"
I got a lot of clues from his blabber.
"Sir. I really would like to go to Hakorhi, haunted or not,"
"Then come with me to Termuzin first. Our clan prince is leading a party there anyway. Some stubborn folk from Hakorhi who he welcomed with open arms still decided to flee- and we haven't heard from them since! Stupid folk, so adventurous! Anyway, our clan prince is still giving them a second chance-- and I'm betting the lot will be locked up for a while-- if they're not dead, that is. Girl, maybe you can join the search party for a chance to see Hakorhi. But not before you're coming with me to Termuzin. You'd need supplies, anyway. Hakorhi is still a good two days journey away--"
"Thanks for the information, sir. I'm going on," I interrupted loudly.
"To Hakorhi!! Girl, I'm telling you, it's not safe! It's haunted! You--"
I teleported. I would very much like to skip a two days journey. It drained my powers, but I determined that I would make it worth it.
.....
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