Welcome to Gaia! :: View User's Journal | Gaia Journals

Dream World Mirau by Josephina Mari
Day Two of NaNoWriMo

Claria giggles to herself before she said “Why don’t you ask him yourself? He’s standing right there in front of you. He brought you here from the outskirts of the forbidden woods. What were you doing there in the first place?” Claria said looking at me with a puzzled look on her face. I was glad to see I wasn’t the only one confused around here, but unfortunately I didn’t have an answer for her. “I’m sorry I don’t really know...I woke up in the middle of the forest and then Karou found me and some giant wolves attacked us and I though we died...” I said realizing how foolish I must have sounded. “As I already explained while you were asleep. It’s been two days you know. Anyway I guess we should have some proper introductions now that we are in safe territory. I am Karou and this is my twin sister Claria. Claria meet Mariam...er Mari. The girl who I found in the forbidden forest.” Karou said motioning towards me as he spoke my name. As the two of them spoke about the forbidden forest a bad feeling began to settle into the pit of my stomach.

“...so you think she is the one. You know the one to gather to forces to defeat the Akuen?” I heard Claria say in a quiet whisper to her brother who folded his arms across his chest while he replied “Probably. Angela will probably know. I’ll speak to her later. For now it’s best we keep her origin a secret from everyone. They will be uneasy about someone who came from our birth land after all these years.” I heard Karou say. Even though both Karou and Claria were speaking English now, it still felt like they were speaking in some kind of code only known by the two of them. “What should I say or do...I don’t want to cause you any trouble. I almost got you killed already. I don’t want that to happen again.” I said looking at Karou and Claria hoping they would have a plan.

“First I’ll introduce you to our village leader Angela. After that I will request that Claria and I be granted permission to train you in the combat arts. I will tell Angela that you lost your way in the desert and are suffering from amnesia from over exposure to the desert heat. It’s something that’s not uncommon for those who aren’t prepared from that kind of weather. For now we will go with that story and once your training sessions are finished we can tell Angela the truth. I don’t think it’s a good idea to tell her everything right away...The Akuen will come here if they catch wind you’re here before we are ready to stand against them.” Karou said speaking in a tone that frightened me a bit. It sounded like the speech a general would give his troops before a decisive battle. What had I gotten myself into...and how would I be of use to Karou and Claria in their crusade.

“I understand. I will go along with your plan, but before we speak with Angela I have a few questions for you. You said you are fighting the Akuen, what are they and what do they want?” I said trying to learn more about the force Karou’s people were up against in hopes that would help me get an idea how to fight them. “The Akuen are an evil group of humans that came to this world a thousand years ago during a lunar eclipse. Ever since they arrived here this world has been out of balance. Malice has come into the hearts of both man and beast alike causing them to harm and kill others. The Akuen are behind the savage behavior. Everything was fine until they showed up. We must stop them or people will continue to live in fear that the Akuen will control them to kill next. It’s not something that happens suddenly without warning, but there is little we can do once their influence has taken root into the heart and soul. Very few have been strong enough to break free of their control. Angela believes the Akuen possess some kind of black magic that allows them to enter the mind of their target to gain control over them. If it’s some kind of spell in theory once the caster is defeated the effects of the spell should vanish, but we can’t be sure of that.” Karou said looking worried while Claria looked away from her brother to scan me curiously with her eyes.

“Are you sure you really don’t have amnesia? It sounds like you’re hearing this for the first time. We have been fighting them for a thousand years...so many have suffered and so many were lost. How will this one girl make a difference?” Claria said before she suddenly transformed into a white colored deer and then she ran outside of the house into the woods nearby. I had not noticed before but the house I was in was very small and did not have a door. There was instead a large opening leading to the outside to allow passageway in and out. This definitely wasn’t my world if people trusted each other so much that they didn’t require a place to lock themselves away from the world if they wanted to. Karou’s people must be really close, like family even. “I’m sorry. I truly want to help you, though I think Claria is right. How can I help you when I know so little? I have so much to learn and so little time...I may not be ready when the time comes.” I said starting to feel fear creep over me again. This was a fight to save an entire world after all, and how would I succeed where so many others more skilled then I have failed? It seemed kind of hopeless at the moment, but Karou believed otherwise.

“I saw you in a dream. I saw you call upon a thousand human warriors to help fight the Akuen. I was for sure we would all parish, but you and your warriors came and joined together with us to defeat all of them. I know it sounds crazy...but when I found you in the forest I knew for sure it was a sign. That forest is a special place since our ancestors were born there before they spread out across the surface of the world of Mirau. To see you in my dream and then find you there of all places, it had to be destiny. Please say you’ll help us, we will be lost without you.” Karou said almost as if he was trying to convince me to do something that I didn’t agree with. If I wanted to help or not wasn’t the issue. I wanted to save Karou’s world, but I didn’t quite know how exactly to go about doing that. “Of course I will help you. I just hope I can learn fast enough to be useful.” I said muttering that last part more to myself. Karou looked at me puzzled for a moment and then he said “In any case we should go see Angela. She can answer more of your questions about this city and the people here. Try to refrain for asking about the Akuen for now. I’ll tell you more about them later. Shall we head over there?” Karou said looking back at me as he smiled from the doorway. “What about Claria? Shouldn’t we go after her?” I said suddenly worried something might happen to her while she was away from them. “What if those wolves attack her?” I said as I stood up ready to bolt out the door on a high speed chase after Claria. I then realized that even if the wolves did show up I wouldn’t be able to do much against them...just like last time.

“Those wolves are another tribe that lives west of here. They blame this village for the Akuen, because this village has helped many humans who had lost their way to get back on their feet. The Kageru Wolf Tribe blame us for allowing humans to come here...they think we helped the Akuen too before they started killing. We never seen any of them pass through here other then the times when they attacked us...but the Kageru don’t believe that. If the Kageru meant to kill, we would not be alive now. The Kageru would not harm Claria...for a reason I can’t talk about right now. Come we have to speak with Angela as soon as possible.” Karou said to me signaling me to follow him. I nodded and then gathered my things into my backpack that somehow got transported with me into Mirau. I slung my backpack over my shoulders and then sprinted to catch up to Karou who had already begun to walk towards Angela’s house on the other side of town. All of the houses looked the same on the outside. Very basic construction using the bare minimum materials, but at the same time they were sturdy and provided enough shelter from the harsh elements. The people back home could learn a thing or two from the craftsmen here. I don’t think I’d ever get use to the idea of not having a door on my house though.