Ocean Paradise
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“I know you can feel me,” said the voice inside her head. The woman looked up, squinting through tear-filled eyes as she saw the woman standing in front of her was not only a vision but also one that seemed so familiar.
“Who are you?” the woman asked with trepidation and awe both at once.
The apparition smiled at her, its expression warm and genuine. “Hello, my dear.” She stepped closer to the woman now, taking her hand. The woman’s heart started thumping harder against her chest, making it difficult for her to breathe. It wasn’t fear—it was something else entirely.
There were words in her mind, things she knew she should be saying, but they wouldn’t come out of her mouth. They didn’t need to; there was no way this woman could possibly hear them if she couldn’t even form a coherent thought.
“You’ve been hurt,” the woman said instead, looking down at where the apparition still held her hand.
“Yes,” the apparition replied softly, letting go of her hand before stepping forward again, pulling the woman into an embrace. “It was a nasty fall I took from a tree branch when I was a young girl… and then a long time ago on board ship. A terrible storm hit us… I’m sorry I haven’t been able to visit sooner, but—”
There was a loud bang and everything went dark for a moment. When the light returned, the apparition was gone.
When she came too, the apparition had vanished completely. The woman opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. All she felt was confusion and sadness. What happened? Was this a dream after all? If not, who were those other people she’d seen earlier? She tried to sit up, but pain shot through her head and made her cry out.
Her eyelids fluttered open slowly, revealing herself to be lying on the ground with many hands helping her stand.
“Are you all right?” someone asked, and she saw that she was surrounded by friends.
“Where am I?” she managed to ask. “What happened?” Her thoughts were still foggy and confused, but one thing stood out above all else.
“You’re safe!” said a man’s voice. Everyone in the circle of people around her laughed.
A few of their faces registered recognition for her, including that of the man who’d spoken.
“I know you… but how?”
“You used to see visions before,” another person said gently. “But this is different! You must have taken a bad fall from your horse. We brought you here straight away!”
She felt tears well up in her eyes and quickly wiped them away. “No, this isn’t happening. This can’t be real.”
“We’re going to take you to our doctor,” said the same man. “He’ll make sure you’re alright, just like we always do.”
As soon as she heard his soothing voice, the panic that threatened to overwhelm her disappeared altogether. She nodded, and he helped her stand up and guide her through the crowd until they reached the edge of the camp, where they could walk along the road together. The sun was setting, casting orange rays over the surrounding trees.
Once they arrived at the village’s center, they entered one of the many buildings. People greeted each other kindly while waiting outside for the others to bring in the woman they’d rescued. As soon as they entered the house, she found herself being handed off to a middle-aged woman who began examining her head wound.
“You fell from your horse?” asked the woman as she examined the cut on the back of her neck. “Is that what happened?”
“Yes,” she replied, her voice trembling. “I think so.”
The woman looked her over carefully. “You don’t seem hurt anywhere else.”
“That’s true,” she said, nodding vigorously. “I don’t remember much, but I do feel pretty sore. That’s probably why.”
“Well, let’s get some rest tonight. Then tomorrow you can tell us exactly what happened.” The woman smiled warmly at her. “Now drink some tea and get some sleep. Everything will be fine.”
The woman nodded again, grateful that this woman—this doctor—seemed to believe her. She allowed the woman to wrap a clean cloth around her head. “Thank you,” she whispered. “You saved my life today. Thank you so very much.”
***
“So, what did happen?” asked Kael once she was settled in bed in the little hut near their house. He and a couple of other men were sitting by her side, drinking tea and sharing jokes with one another. There was even a bowl full of dried meat nearby for everyone to snack on.
It seemed she was in for quite an ordeal after all. She hadn’t slept since she’d come home last night, so her mind was tired. She hoped her words would come out as clear and precise as they normally did.
“I was riding along the edge of a cliff, heading toward the village, and then…” Her voice trailed off. She wasn’t sure how to explain it any further. Why couldn’t she remember anything more specific than that?
“Why were you coming to the village?” he pressed her. She knew he was trying to help her, and that only added to her confusion. How was he supposed to believe her if she didn’t know exactly what had happened?
“I thought I might be able to find some information about my past there,” she answered vaguely, not wanting to share any more details with anyone except for the man who’d healed her wound, or perhaps her mother.
“Did you fall from your horse?” one of the men asked. She could hear the confusion in his voice as he leaned closer to her to get a better look at her injury.
“I’m not entirely sure,” she said softly.
Kael looked worried now, but he waited patiently for her to continue.
“I don’t understand how that could’ve possibly happened.” She shook her head emphatically. “My horse is perfectly trained and calm—nothing like yours, I can assure you.”
“Your horse was spooked by something?” the man asked, looking concerned. “It happens sometimes. Horses aren’t creatures of reason, like you and me. They’re much more instinctual. It doesn’t necessarily mean that they’re dangerous.”
Kael frowned and turned to his brother who’d been sitting quietly next to him. “Do you think you can track down her old horse? We should probably check and see if it’s hurt too.”
The man nodded. “Of course, I can. But it won’t be easy—I only know one way to go about it.”
“Which way do you usually travel?” Kael asked.
“I follow the river. That’s the quickest way between our village and the capital.” He stood up and took a few steps forward before turning to face Kael again. “It should lead you right to her.”
“Then I suppose we should be off,” said Kael with a nod.
“Where are you going?” asked the woman who’d taken care of her. “Are you leaving already?”
Kael turned and looked at the woman, whose name she still didn’t know yet, and smiled apologetically. “I’m sorry, I need to go track down my sister’s horse. Otherwise, we’ll never find out how she got injured.”
He left without waiting for a response.
“I hope everything’s alright with him,” said the woman. She seemed anxious as well, as she glanced at Kael every so often. “Maybe you should try to get some rest now. I promise I’ll wake you when my husband comes back.”
She walked toward her bed and pulled the sheets up tightly. Then she sat on the edge and held out a hand toward the girl.
“Come here,” she said softly. After a moment of hesitation, the girl slowly walked over to where she was sitting and sat down beside her.
“How are you feeling?” the woman asked gently. She reached out and touched the girl’s forehead. “Does your head hurt at all?”
The young woman shrugged her shoulders, not quite trusting herself to speak.
The woman nodded. “That’s good. You’ve suffered quite an ordeal, so you should rest while you can. Tomorrow you’ll have a lot to tell us.”
For the first time since she woke up, the girl felt safe—even though she still had no idea what was going on. She just wanted someone to listen and understand how badly she needed to talk to them about what had happened to her. She wanted to feel close to someone again, as she had been for most of her life, but she didn’t think that was possible anymore.
***
They traveled through the forest in silence after that. Kael stayed in front of the two women, watching intently as they led him deeper into the woods. He tried not to think about what had happened the night before, focusing instead on the task at hand.
There was nothing he could do for Anya right now, not until he found out exactly what had happened to her, so he concentrated his attention on following the river upstream. The trail would lead him directly to her old horse; he was sure of it. At least he hoped so. He couldn’t bear to think about anything else.
After hours of hiking along a narrow path lined with dense foliage, they came across the body of a dead deer that lay motionless on the ground ahead of them. Its hind legs were bent awkwardly at an odd angle, its fur was matted with blood, and it hadn’t moved in quite some time.
Without saying a word, he signaled for both women to stay where they were and knelt down beside the animal. As carefully as he could, he examined it, trying to figure out why it had died. There were deep lacerations on its forelegs, which meant that it must have fallen from a great height. Perhaps it’d stumbled and landed hard against a tree, which caused it to break one of its legs?
His mind kept jumping between ideas, none of which made any sense to him. Had she been pushed from behind? Maybe someone attacked her when she was too distracted by the horse to pay attention to her surroundings?
But who would attack her in broad daylight? And why wouldn’t they wait until dark when she’d be even less able to defend herself? If they thought her weak, surely they would’ve waited to strike.
He sighed. His thoughts had circled around and around themselves endlessly for hours, but still, no answers had come to him. There was still no evidence as to what had happened, and it was beginning to bother him.
What bothered him even more than his lack of understanding was the fact that he couldn’t shake the nagging feeling that he might not be doing enough. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to help Anya, or that he didn’t care about her, but rather that there were other people who needed his help more urgently.
In particular, he kept thinking about the woman who’d helped him yesterday in the woods and the little girl who’d been attacked by the wolves. Was either of them safe? He couldn’t be sure.
And then there was the problem of his friends, as well as the rest of the city itself. They were all facing a terrible threat and needed his protection, but he knew he’d fail them if he didn’t focus on the matter at hand: finding Anya.
As much as he hated to admit it, it was probably best if he focused only on the task at hand and ignore the rest of the problems for now. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have nearly enough energy to save everyone when he finally found her.
Carefully he got up from the deer carcass and turned back toward the two women, signaling them to follow. He had to make sure he gave them plenty of time to prepare a trap for whatever he was about to uncover.
He led the way once again along the path that snaked through the trees, keeping a careful watch out for signs that something unusual was going on nearby. He noticed the way their shadows moved across the ground, the sound of the wind moving through the branches above him, and the smell of fresh soil that hung in the air.
All these things added to his already heightened senses, giving him an extra edge.
After several minutes, he stopped abruptly and pointed to a small clearing in front of him. The two women followed his gaze and quickly knelt down next to him. A few feet away from where they stood was another dead deer carcass, this one lying on its side, half-covered by leaves. The animal’s chest was caved in, suggesting that someone had used a large rock to smash open its rib cage.
Kael stepped forward quietly and examined the corpse again. He could see the marks in the dirt where something heavy had been dragged over it a long time ago. Someone had clearly been searching for something underneath the leaves and twigs that now covered it; perhaps even hunting for it? Or had they simply come upon the remains by chance?
A strange sensation crawled over him. He felt like he should know what was under there. Like he ought to remember. Something tugged at his memory… but what? It wasn’t coming to him.
“Anya!” he whispered, reaching out with his magic as though he could somehow pluck the answer from his head. “Did you kill this deer?”
The two women looked at each other, confused, before turning back to him, their faces pale. “Yes,” said Anya nervously. “It was me.”
“How did you do it?” he asked, looking closely at the carcass.
She shrugged. “I picked up a big rock and threw it…”
“You mean the same way you killed that wolf earlier today?” Kael interrupted.
“What are you talking about?” Anya frowned.
“There’s nothing wrong with using rocks as weapons—in fact, it’s often the most effective way to dispatch animals. But I can’t see how you could’ve killed a beast like that without killing yourself in the process. You’re much too frail and small to wield a rock so hard that it could break ribs. So… who hit the wolf for you? Where did you learn such a skill?”
He saw the fear in her eyes. She knew exactly what he was asking her.
“My father taught me,” she confessed.
The End