The Inner Self: The Prophecy

by Raqurra Ishmar

  “Erm, thanks?”

  “Now that you’re here, we should continue on with our journey. We’ve lost enough time as it is,” Zavid cuts in. He stands up, dusting the leaves from his person as if he can’t believe he sullied himself by sleeping like this. I know that’s not the case, since they were tossed on the streets after the Ceremony. I’m assuming it was the Ceremony that Caylen was talking about that day.

  “Lost time? Why are we in a rush? I’m sure my family would understand. I mean, it’s not like they have any idea that you guys found me.”

  “Either way, we have no idea where we are and we need to move. First light just came and went. We have to cover as much ground as we can before night falls. And we can’t have you falling down or building another shelter.” I stand up and grab my bag from the floor. Titus snatches it from my hands, smiling at me as he hoists it over his shoulder. I roll my eyes at his antics, walking behind him to reach into my bag to retrieve a bottle of water. I grab a second bottle and toss it over to Caylen, who’s standing up as well. He easily catches it, unscrewing the cap and taking a long pull from the bottle. I do the same as I walk back in front of Titus. After I drink half of the bottle, I give the other half to him. He slowly wraps his lips over the opening of the bottle and tilts his head back. I never knew how sensual it could be for someone to swallow water.

  “Are you done ogling him?” Zavid snaps.

  “God, I’m glad I don’t have to deal with him anymore,” Sheya mutters.

  “Welcome back,” I reply dryly. “Enjoy your nap?”

  “I’m not sleeping. I’m focusing.”

  “On what?” I ask.

  “I’ll tell you when I have it figured out. I won’t be present until I do.” And they leave. Again. Great.

  “Yeah, I’m done. Let’s go.” I walk over to the makeshift door, smiling as I see Caylen pass Zavid the rest of his water. Titus reaches past me and pulls the door from the ground, and I quickly wish he didn’t. The harsh wind rushes into the shelter, blowing the fire out in its quest to freeze us to the bone.

  I step outside and my eyes immediately begin to water. It’s so damn bright out here! The light bounces off of the river and the snow and it feels like it’s blazing directly into my eyeballs. The snow is no longer falling, and that’s a small blessing. The guys file out of the shelter and stretch their muscles as if they were cooped up in a small box or something.

  “I, uh, have a problem,” I say to the air, not bothering to turn around and look at them.

  “What is it now?” Zavid snaps.

  “I have to piss,” I snap back. I storm into the woods, finding a secluded area to do my business before stomping back to find the boys converged at the back of the shelter. I shield my eyes from the light, annoyed with how bright it is. “What the hell? Why is it so damn bright?” I ask no one in particular.

  “It’s because there are two suns here, instead of one like Earth,” Caylen answers.

  Two fucking suns and it’s still this damn cold? I force myself to glance up at the sky, and sure enough, there are two suns. One looks like a normal sun but the one right next to it is much smaller and it’s purple.

  “Why is that one purple?”

  “We can do the history lesson as we move. Come on,” Zavid says. He walks into the trees and we follow closely behind him. I can’t help but smile as Titus reaches out and grabs my hand. We walk in silence until Caylen breaks it to, finally, answer my question.

  “The smaller one is purple because it is said to be the heart of the Ancestors. It used to be the same size as the yellow one.”

  “What happened to it?”

  “No one knows. It’s rumored that the Ancestors are moving further and further away from us, and with that, their blessings are coming few and far in between.” He holds a curtain of particular low hanging leaves out of my way before he continues his story. “The amount of Blessed has decreased exponentially. Outside of those that have already been Blessed, there are only about five or six chosen every year.”

  “How much of a difference is that from when it was thought to be a lot?”

  “There used to be as many as forty Blessed being chosen a year,” he answers.

  “Wow. And they all live in the same place?”

  “No,” Titus answers this time. I look over to him as he continues on with his explanation. “The Blessed can live for a very long time. Even with their high social status for simply being chosen, there is still a sort of hierarchy amongst them. Once they receive their Inner Self, they will go through a series of tests. Nothing too severe. It’s more of an assessment of sorts. It determines how strong that Blessed is and, incidentally, it will decide where they live.”

  “Why does the strength decide all of that?”

  “Because,” Caylen interjects. “The stronger the Blessed, the longer they will live. Think of it like population control. They know that the Blessed staying in the First Ring will live the longest, up to a thousand years, unless they’re killed. Which can only be done by another Blessed, mind you. Then-,”

  “Why can it be done by only another Blessed? I mean, I’m sure a bullet to the head would work wonders too,” I interrupt, not having the patience to wait till the end of his speech.

  “Well, yeah, I’m sure that would hurt them,” he laughs. “Only, we don’t have guns here. And anyways, I never said that we couldn’t injure a Blessed, we just can’t kill one. Something about them being protected by the Ancestors.”

  “But we could kill you, though?” I hesitantly ask. Titus squeezes my hand and I chance glancing towards him. His eyes are like a storm on the seas and I regret asking them that question.

  “Yes,” he answers, so low it was almost a growl. “And there are no laws or Ancestors around that will stop you, if you really wanted to.”

  “Well, I don’t want to,” I exclaim.

  A small smile is all he graces me with before turning his attention back to the treacherous forest ahead of us. We’ve been walking for the better part of an hour, and I’m glad to realize that I’m handling the cold a lot better than I did yesterday. The trees are more spaced out on this side of the river and it makes it a lot easier to walk.

  “We know you don’t want to, Ren,” Caylen says. “But Sheya has made it clear that if they deem us as a threat, they won’t have a problem taking us out.”

  “What?” I exclaim to Sheya.

  A deep sigh comes from them before they answer. “I don’t have time for this. If they pose a threat to your life, I will kill them. End of discussion.”

  “You don’t get to decide that!”

  “That’s cute. This is my life, too. Or have you forgotten that I die when you die?”

  “Oh.”

  “Thought so. Bye.”

  “Well, I can’t stop them from doing something they feel so strongly about,” I shrug.

  The conversation doesn’t continue after that, and I kind of feel bad. I’m guessing that they thought that I was going to defend them and reassure them that that wouldn’t happen. But I can’t really do that. If Sheya thinks that they’re a risk to our safety, I’ll have to trust them.

  “Thanks.”

  “No problem,” I respond.

  The two suns move slowly through the sky and I’m afraid that we’re going to have to sleep outside under the stars tonight. At least the canopy of leaves shields us from most of the brightness, so my eyes haven’t been in pain this entire time. Instead, a new pain is starting to set in. And it starts with an ‘H’ and ends with ‘Ungry as fuck’.

  “Uh, so when are we going to stop for lunch, since we skipped breakfast?” I direct my question to the back of Zavid’s head, since it seems like he’s the one that makes all of the decisions.

  “Maybe in a few more hours,” he says, not bothering to turn around and talk to me.

  Well, shit, I can’t wait another minute, let alone a few more hours. I release Titus’ hand and wave him forward when he starts to stop. He quirks an eyebrow at
me, but he keeps walking without comment. I step behind him and reach into my backpack. Sheya said that we don’t have the power of premonition, but we have to have something for me to know that I’d need all of this stuff.

  “Ah ha!” I exclaim, holding up my treasure as if I didn’t know exactly where it was.

  “What’s that?” Caylen asks. Titus glances over his shoulder to try and get a look, but I’m too far behind him for him to see. I grab two more and close the bag back up. I hand each of the boys my delicious plastic wrapped treat, opting out of giving Zavid one since he’s so determined to keep moving.

  “It’s a honey bun! The big ones, too. Mom started buying the big ones when she realized how many small ones I would demolish in one sitting. Now, instead of eating six or seven of them, I only eat two or three.”

  “But isn’t that almost the same amount of honey buns?” Titus asks me, staring at the glazed goodness as if it’s a science experiment that he has yet to figure out.

  “Yup! But don’t tell Mom, she thought she had cracked the code or something,” I laugh. I unwrap my golden goodness and inhale the sweetness of the treat. I see the boys mimic my action, and a slight, irrational territorial feeling grips me for a second. I never share my honey buns.

  “Uh, Ren, why are you sneering at us?” Caylen asks, taking a few steps to the right to put more space between us.

  “Sorry. I just never share my honey buns. With anyone. I almost want to snatch them out of your hands,” I chuckle. Titus looks down at his honey bun and back to me. He holds it out as if he’s giving it back to me. I perk up, glad to be able to eat two of them. I greedily go to grab it out of his hands until he pulls my sweet angel out of my reach. Laughing, he takes a huge bite of my joy and happiness, and my mouth drops in pure anguish and shock.

  Caylen howls like a dying monkey and I cut my eyes over to him. He has one hand propped against a tree while the other one is braced against his knee. Laughter shakes his entire frame and his face is starting to turn red from it. “Lo-lo-look at your damn fa-face, Ren!” he howls. “You would’ve thought he just murdered your pet or something! Good one, Ti!”

  Huffing under my breath, I stomp away from the two jackasses. Call me crazy, but I didn’t find anything funny about what Titus just did.

  “Oh, come on, Renee,” Titus says from his place behind me. “How are you going to gift me the honey bun, and then be upset that I took it?”

  “Because I love them, you asshole.”

  “Well, now I love them, too. Caylen, you should try it. It’s not as fresh as forigs, but it is still good.”

  “What’s a ‘forig’?” I ask. I take a huge bite of my snack, a little sad that we don’t have a microwave to heat them up. Hell, I’d even take room temperature right now. Instead, it tastes like I took it right out of the freezer. It’s still good, but it could’ve been great.

  “It’s a treat made from the grass field of Kor. They grind the grass into dust and they create a bread from it, almost like the honey bun. During the making of the bread, they slowly add ingredients to it, creating such a rich and complex flavor. You can eat it by itself, or you can add the sap of the kieranella plant to it. It’s almost like the honey from Earth, but it has more of a subtle sweetness to it.”

  I’ve finished my entire honey bun during his long winded explanation, and I’m far from full. The pains have eased though, and I guess I should be okay with that. I slow down so that the boys can catch up to me. I shove the plastic in the side pocket of the backpack and I hold out my hand so that Caylen and Titus can give me theirs.

  “You were right, Ti,” Caylen says. “It was really good. Thanks, Ren, you didn’t have to share with us.”

  “It was the right thing to do,” I answer through clenched teeth.

  “No, really. You didn’t have to. We don’t feel hunger like that. We probably won’t start to feel hunger pains for another day or so. But once they hit, they hurt like a bitch. Which is why we try to limit the amount of time we go through meals.”

  “So you’re saying,” I spit out. “That I wasted my honey buns on you weirdos?” I screech.

  “Ah, don’t be like that!” he says, throwing his arm over my shoulder as I try to storm off again. “It means a lot to us that you were even thinking about us like that.”

  “Yeah, whatever,” I mutter.

  Titus reaches his big hand over to cup my cheek, turning my face until I face him. He leans forward and presses his cold lips to mine. “Thank you,” he murmurs against my lips.

  “You’re welcome,” I breathe. He straightens up with a smile, tossing a shit eating smirk over at Caylen.

  “Oh ok, that’s how we’re going to do this?” he asks.

  “Do what?” I ask while giving him a quizzical look.

  “Oh, nothing,” Titus murmurs.

  “We’re coming up to a road,” Zavid says. “If we follow this, we should find a village.”

  “Thank fuck,” I say.

  “We’ll have plenty of time for that,” Caylen responds.

  “Huh?”

  “Oh, nothing. Come on. Let’s get up there before he has an aneurysm.”

  Hell, Zavid wouldn’t be the only one.

  21

  Zavid

  I stomp out onto the road, glad to be free of the forest. The road is no bigger than a single lane back on Earth, but most are like this on Relvaria. If we were to continue west, we’d enter the forest again, and I have no desire to do that. There are hanje tracks in the snow, so someone must have traveled this road today.

  “The tracks are going north, there’s a 50/50 chance that if we follow them, we’ll be moving closer to a village or further away from one,” I finally say.

  “Either way, we’ll be heading somewhere. If we continue going through the forest, we could be walking further away from civilization,” Renee says from her crouch near the closet hoof prints. The suns bounce off her brown skin, making it seem like she’s glowing from within. Her midnight black hair shines in a way that it never did on Earth.

  “Girl’s got a point,” Caylen says from beside her. I clench my jaw in frustration when she glances up at him as if he had just said the most amazing shit in the world. The way her eyes light up at him pisses me off.

  “Fine,” I snap. I follow the tracks north at a slower pace; wanting to be closer to the group now that we’re out in the open. Out here is the perfect place to be ambushed by thieves and bandits, and I refuse to go down like that.

  “What made these tracks,” her curious voice says. I want to increase my pace so that I can put more space between us, because just the sound of her sweet, yet sultry, voice has my jeans tightening around my groin.

  “A hanje,” Caylen answers, ever-so-eager to please her. “And before you ask what a hanje is, it’s like a mixture of a horse and a bison, I guess. I mean, that’s the closest thing I can think of. It has ears, horns and fur like the bison, but everything else looks like a horse.”

  “I bet it’s hideous,” she laughs out loud and I increase my pace just a little. I’m sure ten feet won’t make much of a difference if we’re attacked.

  “When they’re young, they’re actually really cute. But I guess you can say that about a lot of things,” he laughs with her. If there was ever a time that I hated how outgoing and personable my brother was, this would be one of those times.

  I hope they know what they’re doing. No matter how great she smells, or how soft her skin is, we have a job to do and we can’t let anything stop us. Dad is depending on us, and I won’t put anyone above saving my family.

  Titus’ little display this morning has me a little concerned about where his head is at. I’ve never seen him act that way with anyone. And let’s not get started with his little prank with the honey bun. Yeah, I noticed the whole thing. It’s not about the fact that she didn’t give me one, or that she didn’t even really share her water with me this morning, it’s about the way she’s affecting my brothers.

  Caylen is kno
wn to form attachments pretty fast, so I’m not too worried about him, because as quick as he forms them, he gets over them just as fast. But, Titus doesn’t form bonds with anyone. It took him forever to let me and Caylen in, and even longer for him to trust Dad.

  Dad being held as a prisoner for something that we did eats me up every second of every day. The King is a sadistic bastard, and he’s killed people for far less than our crime. Do I think that he’s just going to let us walk away once we hand Renee over? Hell no. I don’t even know if Dad is still alive right now. But I’ll never forgive myself if I never try. Do I feel like shit for what we’re about to do to her? Of course. But I have to do whatever I can for my family.

  Caylen’s words from our fight rings through my head, and I know that he’s right. If the Prophecy is to be believed, then Renee is the reincarnated soul of the almost Priestess, Ren. Almost two centuries ago, the King murdered Ren and Priestess Jan, her mother. No one knows why, or how, but the Ancestors were not happy with the King’s actions. That’s why it’s fabled that the Ancestors are withdrawing their favor. The only way to save Relvaria is if the Priestess dethrones the King and takes his place as the ruler.

  The only problem is that there hasn’t been another Priestess born since Ren.

  Until Renee.

  So, yeah, I’m willing to take a chance and sacrifice the redemption of Relvaria for one Unblessed man, but Relvaria didn’t give a fuck about us when we were tossed in the streets, so fuck them.

  Besides, the King may not kill Renee. If the whispers through the villages is true, he doesn’t even believe the Prophecy to be real. For her sake, I hope that’s accurate.

  We didn’t have to walk for more than an hour before we were able to see the tops of houses. Homes on Relvaria are built differently than those on Earth. Instead of four walls and a square structure, most homes are built in all types of shapes. It honestly depends on the person living there. If they’re more of a carefree kind of person, their home will have a circular base. The structure may be wavy or it can go straight up.