*8* Dreams and Children
Sand.
There was sand everywhere.
Aira tried to stick out her hands but she felt trapped in the hot red sand.
Are we dead? I am not surprised!
She ignored Fire's remark and tried to force her eyes open.
It was then she heard them... Children.
They were laughing!
They sounded happy?
Aira knew that this had to be a dream because she could never remember a time when she had heard laughter as sincere as this.
As a slave in the Black Silver Pack,there was hardly a time for laughter and jokes.
How could that be possible when all the time was spent working or being punished.
The sound was so foreign in Aira's ears.
The lights were blinding when she opened her eyes.
Being quick and observant,she noticed that she was buried from her shoulders down in the sand,with only her head popping out.
She was at the bank of a river.
She could hear the gentle sound of the stream and feel the cool breeze of the late afternoon.
The atmosphere was so calm and peaceful.
She hated the fact that this was all a dream.
Strangely,she felt a feeling of belonging here in this dream land. It felt like she belonged here.
She heard the loud conversations of women at the other side of the river.
Everything was so normal.
Suddenly a little boy from the group of children ran to meet her.
She could remember his face.
He was the boy who met her the other night after her training.
Is he not the child from the other night?
'I am also really surprised.'
"Okwu!!Fire,you are here? Finally !"
His smiles were so bright,it was blinding.
"Who are you?"
Aira had finally managed to get herself out of the sand.
"I am a friend!I have been waiting for you!"
Aira was completely confused.
"Am I dead?"
She asked flatly. Death never scared her. What worried her was leaving her mother alone in the hands of those monsters.
"No...no..."
The boy giggled.
"I have to go to play now but you have to remember that we'll see soon. 'When the rabbit crosses the bushes,then shall he hear the woman's voice'."
He turned to go before Aira grabbed his hand, tightly.
"If you have something to tell me,tell me quickly! I have so much going on in my life and your pathetic dreamland would be the last on the list!"
The boy was shocked but Aira could care less.
She had heard of people going into spiritual realms to find answers and coming out with more foolish riddles.
She never asked to be brought here so whoever did it, should be sensible enough to give her solid reasons.
"I have to go!! Leave me!!"
The boy began to cry.
But Aira did not show any signs of letting him go.
She gripped him tighter, glaring straight into his eyes.
"Tell me now!!"
"Mama!! Mama! This woman is harming me!"
"Obinna! Do not let me get you there! I will beat the living day light out of you!"
The woman clearly thought that her son was the trouble maker.
The boy began to cry profusely.
"Now...now...mama would beat me because of you!"
Let the boy be. You are harming him
Aira let him go reluctantly.
"I want to go back! If I am not dead,then let me go back!"
The boy slowly withdrew and took off from Aira, probably thinking she was a mad woman.
"I WANT TO GO BACK!"
Suddenly,she felt dragged back into the sand.
The darkness enveloped her again.
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"Biko...hmm... wake up..."
"Calm down...Ola...she.... up..."
The voices were so loud in her ears.
She could recognise the both of them.
The only two people she cared about on this Earth - her mother and her teacher.
Her throat felt dry. She needed a drink.
But she could hardly open her mouth to speak.
It felt like it had been sealed with hot glue.
"Wa...water...Nmi...nmiri..."
In a blink of an eye,her mother had rushed to her with a calabash full of water in her hands.
It was obvious that Ola had been crying.
Her eyes were swollen and remnants of tears still remained in her eyes.
Cheta stood with his arms crossed at the other end of the room,looking at her with undecided emotions in his eyes.
"I am so sorry my daughter
...Ndô..Ndô..."
Tears were flowing out of the woman's eyes but that was not what had caught Aira's attention.
The fresh wounds on her mother's body was what did.
Her skin was torn in various places.
Her beautiful long hair had been shaved bald.
There was a fresh hot iron brand on her left cheek, ending very close to her eyes.
Aira could hardly recognize the woman standing in front of her.
Aira kept the porch down abruptly and fixed her heated gaze on her mother's left cheek.
"Who did this?"
Her voice held so much bitterness that one could taste it in the winds.
Her mother avoided her gaze.
She tried to stand up but Aira held back down.
"Tell me! WHO DID THIS!!"
"Aira... it is fine. I am feeling better now, seeing that you are fine."
Knowing that she would not get any response from her mother,she turned to her teacher .
"Cheta...was it that bastard master of hers?"
Ola shook her head at Cheta with warning.
For a split second, Cheta contemplated keeping his mouth shut.
"Mechi, the Beta. The father of Dera,the one who abused you. Yes,he was the one."
That was all it took for Aira to snap.
She had seen her mother suffer all these years but this was too much.
This was not just abuse,it was torture.
"What is wrong with you,Cheta!!?"
Her mother screamed in horror.
But Cheta's expression remained stoic.
"He punished her because of you. He and his son felt that punishing you was not enough."
Adrenaline filled Aira's body. Her eye turned to a blazing shade of yellow.
This was not the young slave girl anymore,this was Fire.
"I warned him to run back to his father's loins and hide. I promised him that he could not break me. He wanted to find out what this slave could do."
Her voice had changed. She spoke with the vengeance of all her ancestors.
This was the beginning of the ends.
Her mother and teacher watched as she walked out of the room, looking calmer than a sea without tides but raging like a tempest.
No one could stop her now..
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***Author's Note***
Hey y'all!!
I hope you all enjoyed this chapter.
I'm so sorry about the long wait.
Thanks for the love.
I love y'all 💜💜💜